How to give a sickly betta a happy life.

We got a older betta from our LFS about 4 months ago and he was already a older betta. So he was happy and healthy until he started getting sickly. First he got stressed, then ich, then fungus and he's stressed again. He's just getting really old. How can I give him a happy life?

 

Basically a nice warm planted tank with minimal flow, lots of tall plants to hang out in and maybe some shrimp to hunt. If he is a long finned betta you definitely want lots of places for him to rest on and very little water flow. Add some tannin with indian almond leaves and he should be happy.

These are my 2 nano tanks that I consider ideal for a single adult betta.

 

Do you have pictures of him?

 

No, but he just has clamped fins right now. Another forum said that he was stressed.

Here are a couple pics:

 

His fins look like they are in pretty rough shape. Frequent small water changes will go a long way to help with that, along with what Demeter recommended...

 

He is a crowntail.

The before pic is in my profile pic.

 

Oof, the pore little guy looks rough.

He is not old, he looks like a healthy young fish in your profile.

In his current pictures, he is extremely emaciated, and appears to have his fins nipped very badly.

Could you please fill out the emergency template? If you start now, you may be able to save him. He should be able to live many more years.

 

Pristine water will help with a lot of issues. I am sure that he is a sweet boy, and it was very great of you to adopt him.

Due to the environment that he was in and possibly where he came from, he may be genetically weak, and therefore prone to health issues.

The best medicine for him is a great environment.

 

Also, you need to find the root of his stress or he will never get better. Filling out the emergency template can help find out what's up making him stressed.

 

He is bigger then he looks. He is a crowntail so that's why his fins looks like that. He also has a false egg spot.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 5
How long has the tank been running? since 2019
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 78F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 cory catfish, a few MTS.

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? 1x week
How much of the water do you change? 1/3
What do you use to treat your water? none. Well/Spring water
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? vacuum

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes
What do you use to test the water? Tetra test strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”. ok
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5
pH: 7.4-8.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? I try to feed them 1x a day
How much do you feed your fish? until his belly looks full
What brand of food do you feed your fish? I feed him Omega 1 sinking shrimp pellets and tetra betta pellets
Do you feed frozen? no
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? almost 4 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? about a month ago.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Ha hade fungus so I treated that for him but now he's not very active and he has clamped fins.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Fungus and ich treatment a while ago. He recovered form the fungus and ich.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? no. He was just old. He was too big for his cup
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? clamped fins, not as active, He has a fake egg spot.

 

Like everyone else said, clean water! I also like to use tannins in my water by making almond and oak leaf extract.

 

Like everyone else said, clean water! I also like to use tannins in my water by making almond and oak leaf extract.

I'm trying to find IAL.

 

Keep his water really clean and add tannins. Id also reccomend a heavily live planted tank and lots of hides.

Has he been flairing or showing any sighns of aggresion at the male betta on the other side of the clear divider?

Why does he have a single cory in with him? Corys need a min of a 10 pref 20 gallon and can get depresed abd die withput there own kind.

I would reccomend adding some variety into his diet. My bettas love frozen brine shrimp.

What does "I try to feed him once a day" mean? Does he sometimes not get fed if you dont get time? Bettas need to be fed atleast twice a day.

 

He has 1 cory catfish and a few MTS. Here are his current pics after feeding.

 

My guy just had fin rot and I got a big pack of them on Amazon. Started using Stress coat also. He’s regrowing his fins and looking much better.

 

He has 1 cory catfish and a few MTS. Here are his current pics after feeding.

Keep his water really clean and add tannins. Id also reccomend a heavily live planted tank and lots of hides.

Has he been flairing or showing any sighns of aggresion at the male betta on the other side of the clear divider?

Why does he have a single cory in with him? Corys need a min of a 10 pref 20 gallon and will get depresed and die withoutt there own kind.

I would reccomend adding some variety into his diet. My bettas love frozen brine shrimp.

What does "I try to feed him once a day" mean? Does he sometimes not get fed if you dont get time? Bettas need to be fed atleast twice a day.

 

Keep his water really clean and add tannins. Id also reccomend a heavily live planted tank and lots of hides.

Has he been flairing or showing any sighns of aggresion at the male betta on the other side of the clear divider?

Why does he have a single cory in with him? Corys need a min of a 10 pref 20 gallon and will get depresed and die withoutt there own kind.

I would reccomend adding some variety into his diet. My bettas love frozen brine shrimp.

What does "I try to feed him once a day" mean? Does he sometimes not get fed if you dont get time? Bettas need to be fed atleast twice a day.

I am looking for some stress coat and IAL on amazon. Also, I do have a couple coconut hides too. I have a big clump of java fern that he likes to hide in sometimes. I don't have any bigger aquarium plants that he could hide in. At first he was pretty aggressive with the other male betta but now I don't see him flare at Neptune anymore. I had a school of six corys but the other ones died out. Once this one dies, I will probably replace him with mystery snails. I am also going to look for frozen blood worms or something like that. What I meant by "I try to feed him once a day" was That I sometimes forget a day but I then I fast him that day. But I feed him sinking shrimp pellets that he LOVES! He also gets bloated really easily so that's why I don't feed him 2x a day.
Are freeze dried ok?

 

I am looking for some stress coat and IAL on amazon. Also, I do have a couple coconut hides too. I have a big clump of java fern that he likes to hide in sometimes. I don't have any bigger aquarium plants that he could hide in. At first he was pretty aggressive with the other male betta but now I don't see him flare at Neptune anymore. I had a school of six corys but the other ones died out. Once this one dies, I will probably replace him with mystery snails. I am also going to look for frozen blood worms or something like that. What I meant by "I try to feed him once a day" was That I sometimes forget a day but I then I fast him that day. But I feed him sinking shrimp pellets that he LOVES! He also gets bloated really easily so that's why I don't feed him 2x a day.
Are freeze dried ok?

Ok. I wouldnt do freeze dried, frozen is better. That should hopfully help his digestion.

 

Where can I get frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp?

 

Where can I get frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp?

PetZone carries them behind the betta shelf\section in a mini freezer on the left side of the paludarium.