Help with lethargic betta

[bettasXD]

Hi, I noticed that my betta seems lerthargic(normal amount of excitement for most bettas but less than he normally shows) yesterday. Still doesn’t seem as active as before. What’s wrong? Or is it just that he has matured and became less active and more like a “normal” betta?


Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 7g(6.5 gallon filled)
How long has the tank been running? Since last December after I moved but was set up last June before I moved.
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? Currently 27C
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 male plakat betta

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 30-50%
What do you use to treat your water? Api tap water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
Vacuum once a month
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No, did a fish in cycle with previous betta(already diseased) Didn’t know about nitrogen cycle back then After moving U cycled the tank with fish with old filter media and monitored the parameters
What do you use to test the water? Api freshwater master kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: around 20
pH: forgot around 8 I think

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 3 times a day
How much do you feed your fish? 1 pellet broken into 2 parts
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Dr bassler bio-fish food
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 28 October last year
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Less active then usual
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Less active

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
It become less active since 2 days ago, everything else is normal

 

[Bsplendid]

Maybe she is bored, try putting a colorful straw in the tank, she will spend some time examining it

 

[bettasXD]

Maybe she is bored, try putting a colorful straw in the tank, she will spend some time examining it

Won’t he injure himself by biting the straw?

 

[Bsplendid]

How would that happen? I used to put different colours for my Betta from time to time, also ping-pong ball... Just make sure they are clean

 

[Sofiafish17]

Maybe just make sure the edges of the straw are pushed into the substrate. You can also rearrange decor, add some thing new like driftwood, rocks, plants etc. or even try interacting by training him to do tricks. I know it sounds crazy but I have done it too. Their are some tutorials on youtube. I have found you don’t actually need a target stick, you can just train your finger as the targey stick.

 

[bettasXD]

Maybe just make sure the edges of the straw are pushed into the substrate. You can also rearrange decor, add some thing new like driftwood, rocks, plants etc. or even try interacting by training him to do tricks. I know it sounds crazy but I have done it too. Their are some tutorials on youtube. I have found you don’t actually need a target stick, you can just train your finger as the targey stick.

I have been training him but he just doesn’t understand.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

As they mature, they do slow down a bit, lay around more, that sort of thing.

Is he still curious? When you do water changes, does he go around and check everything out afterward?

 

[bettasXD]

As they mature, they do slow down a bit, lay around more, that sort of thing.

Is he still curious? When you do water changes, does he go around and check everything out afterward?

Yes he does. But like he became less active in one day, not gradually so I was a little worried.

 

[CindiL]

Can you post some photos of him? How does he look?

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Are you seeing any other symptoms?

 

[bettasXD]

Are you seeing any other symptoms?

Just noticed that it’s top thing is more clamped than usual too

Can you post some photos of him? How does he look?

Sure! Excuse the green water, I’m having an algae outbreak.View attachment 833489

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Do you know what is causing the algae in your tank? When I had a hair algae outbreak, I cut the lights off for a few days, and that cleared it up.

Bettas don't care for bright lights, so keeping the lights dim, and keeping them off for a good 14 hours in a row always helps.

Has he been seeing his reflection much? Glass surfing, maybe? His dorsal fin does look a bit clamped in the photo, but that can happen sometimes when they are just swimming around.

He might be a little stressed. Adding Indian almond leaves to the water will help relieve some of his stress. It will tint the water brown, but the tannins that the leaves produce are very beneficial to bettas. They do have slight antibacterial/antifungal properties, so good for his health, too.

And if you are really concerned, you could always do some small water changes every other day for a little while, to keep his water pristine. It wouldn't take up much of your time, and might help him a bit. Even a small 10 to 20% change would work.

The only other thing that I can think of to recommend would be varying his diet. Baby brine shrimp and/or daphnia are great foods. They come in a frozen form, so they don't have to be live, and they help a lot with digestion and prevent constipation. Also, check the ingredients on your betta pellets to make sure that there are no fillers, and that it is high protein (38 to 40%).

I do hope this helps!

If you see any other symptoms, please post them.

(Sorry if you know all of this already! I am attaching a pic of my tank so you can see what the tannins do to the water.)

 

[bettasXD]

Do you know what is causing the algae in your tank? When I had a hair algae outbreak, I cut the lights off for a few days, and that cleared it up.

Bettas don't care for bright lights, so keeping the lights dim, and keeping them off for a good 14 hours in a row always helps.

Has he been seeing his reflection much? Glass surfing, maybe? His dorsal fin does look a bit clamped in the photo, but that can happen sometimes when they are just swimming around.

He might be a little stressed. Adding Indian almond leaves to the water will help relieve some of his stress. It will tint the water brown, but the tannins that the leaves produce are very beneficial to bettas. They do have slight antibacterial/antifungal properties, so good for his health, too.

And if you are really concerned, you could always do some small water changes every other day for a little while, to keep his water pristine. It wouldn't take up much of your time, and might help him a bit. Even a small 10 to 20% change would work.

The only other thing that I can think of to recommend would be varying his diet. Baby brine shrimp and/or daphnia are great foods. They come in a frozen form, so they don't have to be live, and they help a lot with digestion and prevent constipation. Also, check the ingredients on your betta pellets to make sure that there are no fillers, and that it is high protein (38 to 40%).

I do hope this helps!

If you see any other symptoms, please post them.

(Sorry if you know all of this already! I am attaching a pic of my tank so you can see what the tannins do to the water.)

I have live plants in the tank, so I am only turning on the light for 6 hours a day. Will the plants be fine without light for a few days? His dorsal fins are always a bit clamped when he swims. He does class surf a lot when he sees me, but I’m sure he can’t see his reflection as whenever he sees his reflection, he will flare. I forgot to add I also feed him dried brine shrimp as I can’t find find frozen ones.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Some aquarium plants only require low lights, and others need lots more. What plants do you have in your tank? There could also be a nutrient imbalance of some sort.

Do you know what type of algae it is? Narrowing that down can help with fixing the problem, too.

Adding an algae eater of some sort could help, too, like maybe a nerite snail. They do well with bettas.

This was an article that helped me figure out what to do when I had an algae issue.

Different Types of Aquarium Algae - How to Identify, Treat & Prevent - FishLab

He may be just happy to see you, too, when he gets excited and starts glass surfing. But he doesn't necessarily have to flare when he sees himself, too. Sometimes they just swim up and down close to the glass. It can be a major sign of stress.

 

[bettasXD]

Some aquarium plants only require low lights, and others need lots more. What plants do you have in your tank? There could also be a nutrient imbalance of some sort.

Do you know what type of algae it is? Narrowing that down can help with fixing the problem, too.

Adding an algae eater of some sort could help, too, like maybe a nerite snail. They do well with bettas.

This was an article that helped me figure out what to do when I had an algae issue.

Different Types of Aquarium Algae - How to Identify, Treat & Prevent - FishLab

He may be just happy to see you, too, when he gets excited and starts glass surfing. But he doesn't necessarily have to flare when he sees himself, too. Sometimes they just swim up and down close to the glass. It can be a major sign of stress.

He doesn’t do it often, only when he sees me. I forgot to include, his food includes 55% crude protein. Is that too much? The dried brine shrimp has 57% protein. Forgot to mention, I also feed him ocean free super miniature sometimes when he is bloated but I can’t resist to feed him, that has 45% protein. Could the amount of protein be too high? I am not sure what plants I have. I have 3 and I am sure that one is an Amazon sword. Not sure about the rest. The algae is maybe green water algae? Only the water is green but I can’t find algae on any of the surfaces.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Yes, that sounds like green water algae. And the protein levels in the foods that you listed are very good. There's no such thing as too much protein for a betta!

Just try not to over feed him, as that does cause problems and leads to constipation.

 

[bettasXD]

He has gotten more and more sluggish and I noticed a tiny white speck on both of his eyes that he did not have before. It’s not on the whole body so I’m sure it’s not ich. He also seems way less interested in food and sometimes spits it out after eating it. He doesn’t eat the brine shrimp at all while still eats most of the small pellets and some of the big pellets. Parameters are all stable and good. What’s wrong? I’m so worried. Here is two photos:

 

[Rose of Sharon]

That may be the beginning of ich. If you are unsure, you can use the aquarium salt and raise his temp a bit, just in case. There is a lot of info about how to treat this parasite.

You can up his temp slowly- one degree every 12 hours until you reach around 82 degrees or so. And add the aquarium salt to the tank, if you haven't already done so.

If you use the aquarium salt and raise the temp a bit, it won't hurt him if he doesn't have ich. The salt will help with his osmoregulation processes (breathing, gas exchange, fluid release, etc.).

If you see more white spots appear, and you want to medicate, you can get some meds that treat ich - ich-x by hakari or rid-ich by kordon. Lethargy and appetite loss are symptoms of ich, besides the white lesions that you will see on his skin.

If you choose to treat him in a hospital tank, then I do recommend that you raise the temp and treat the main tank with salt in order to kill any free swimming parasites.

It's good that he is still eating. Apparently his stress level is fairly high right now, so his immune system is taking a bit of a hit. Try soaking his pellets in some garlic juice to boost his immune system.

Keep an eye out for other symptoms. If you keep him in the main tank, do small water changes every other day to keep the water pristine. Just keep track of how much you change so you can keep the aquarium salt at the right levels.

I hope this helps, and he gets better!!!!!

 

[bettasXD]

That may be the beginning of ich. If you are unsure, you can use the aquarium salt and raise his temp a bit, just in case. There is a lot of info about how to treat this parasite.

You can up his temp slowly- one degree every 12 hours until you reach around 82 degrees or so. And add the aquarium salt to the tank, if you haven't already done so.

If you use the aquarium salt and raise the temp a bit, it won't hurt him if he doesn't have ich. The salt will help with his osmoregulation processes (breathing, gas exchange, fluid release, etc.).

If you see more white spots appear, and you want to medicate, you can get some meds that treat ich - ich-x by hakari or rid-ich by kordon. Lethargy and appetite loss are symptoms of ich, besides the white lesions that you will see on his skin.

If you choose to treat him in a hospital tank, then I do recommend that you raise the temp and treat the main tank with salt in order to kill any free swimming parasites.

It's good that he is still eating. Apparently his stress level is fairly high right now, so his immune system is taking a bit of a hit. Try soaking his pellets in some garlic juice to boost his immune system.

Keep an eye out for other symptoms. If you keep him in the main tank, do small water changes every other day to keep the water pristine. Just keep track of how much you change so you can keep the aquarium salt at the right levels.

I hope this helps, and he gets better!!!!!

I already have ich medicine as he experienced that before so I will be using that as medicine oh he has ich. I checked, there are three spots on the gills. Two on the left, one in the right. It doesn’t look like ich. The white spots are not 3D. They look more like colouring than ich. The spots on the eyes are still there. The medicine says that it is for the prevention and cure so can I add a smaller dose just in case he has ich? Good thing is that he is definitely more interested in food today.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

I already have ich medicine as he experienced that before so I will be using that as medicine oh he has ich. I checked, there are three spots on the gills. Two on the left, one in the right. It doesn’t look like ich. The white spots are not 3D. They look more like colouring than ich. The spots on the eyes are still there. The medicine says that it is for the prevention and cure so can I add a smaller dose just in case he has ich? Good fine is that he is definitely more interested in food today.

Yes, trying a smaller dose sounds good. Glad he is eating!!!!