Is this ich on my betta or just stress?

Hi everyone!
My betta has been staying at the bottom, sinking tail first EVERYTIME, and only comes up for air. He usually notices me feeding and will swim as fast as he can to eat. But recently, he has been hiding in the caves. And isn't that excited to see me/to eat.

He also tackles for food. Like he doesn't tackle his tank mates, he tackles for his food. Basically jumping for it but then usually misses. He has NEVER tackled his food before. He just came up, opened his mouth and ate. He usually flowed my finger, and at least looked at it, but now he just ignores my finger as if it isn't there. I thought maybe it was because he was getting old and getting blind. ( I had him for 1 year and 4 months.)

But then he can still *see* me. And he swims up to me, touching the gravel when I'm watching him. I also noticed him scrubbing his scales off on some plants, decoration, and hammock. So I think it has something to do with ich even though I don't see ANY white spots. My betta has white scales, and they're in order, and he had them before so I don't think that it's ich.

So I think it's stress. I don't know what caused the stress though. I water changed last week, and added plants.

How can I make him become active like swimming more often? Does he have ich? Is it stress? How should I cure it?

 

Hi everyone!
My betta has been staying at the bottom, sinking tail first EVERYTIME, and only comes up for air. He usually notices me feeding and will swim as fast as he can to eat. But recently, he has been hiding in the caves. And isn't that excited to see me/to eat.

He also tackles for food. Like he doesn't tackle his tank mates, he tackles for his food. Basically jumping for it but then usually misses. He has NEVER tackled his food before. He just came up, opened his mouth and ate. He usually flowed my finger, and at least looked at it, but now he just ignores my finger as if it isn't there. I thought maybe it was because he was getting old and getting blind. ( I had him for 1 year and 4 months.)

But then he can still *see* me. And he swims up to me, touching the gravel when I'm watching him. I also noticed him scrubbing his scales off on some plants, decoration, and hammock. So I think it has something to do with ich even though I don't see ANY white spots. My betta has white scales, and they're in order, and he had them before so I don't think that it's ich.

So I think it's stress. I don't know what caused the stress though. I water changed last week, and added plants.

How can I make him become active like swimming more often? Does he have ich? Is it stress? How should I cure it?

Got a picture of the lad?

 

Got a picture of the lad?

Is this view okay?

 

Not the best picture, but it’ll definitely do I think. That doesn’t really look like ich. However, he looks sick and stressed. His tail and fins should not look like that. What do you normally feed him?

 

I feed him Hikari pellets I just fed him right before I made this thread too and I usually feed him 2 - 3 days. And yesterday and today , when I fed him, he tackles for food.

 

I feed him Hikari pellets I just fed him right before I made this thread too and I usually feed him 2 - 3 days. And yesterday and today , when I fed him, he tackles for food.

I’m not a veteran betta keeper but I’ve kept them in the past. I would guess the tackling is stress, but I can’t confirm that. Usually a general broad spectrum antibiotic can rid them of whatever infection they may have. I’d root out parasites as it’s very unlikely in his scenario. I think it’s fin rot but it could be something similar. My advice would be to dose with something like API general cure which consists of metronidazole and praziquantel. I’ve read you can also treat fin rot with medications containing erythromycin.

 

Is the tank cycled? What was the cycling process?

This betta probably won't make it. It's not looking good

 

Is the tank cycled? What was the cycling process?

This betta probably won't make it. It's not looking good

Its in a 20 gallon high tank with 6 neon tetras. I had a fish in cycle an year ago. How can I make him feel better?

 

What kind of betta is this?

 

What kind of betta is this?

There was actually no name on this betta. It just stated "baby boy" in the betta fish section. I bought him at petco.

 

Hmm I guess ideally a dark shallow tank with drip system would be the best setup. But you are not probably not gonna hack up this setup any time soon...

If it's some wild/hybrid then it might need acidic water which is another issue.

 

Hmm I guess ideally a dark shallow tank with drip system would be the best setup. But you are not probably not gonna hack up this setup any time soon...

If it's some wild/hybrid then it might need acidic water which is another issue.

If it is an wild/hybrid, I do have to move my neon tetras to another tank right? I do have an extra 5 gallon tank. Maybe I can use that for my betta?
I realized that he can't swim really well because the filter is too strong so I turned it off today, only when I'm feeding it. Still, his hunting skill isnt that good but he was able to eat more than the last time I fed him.