Problem With Betta losing color and not active

Hello! I don’t know how to use this website at all, and I hope you get this message. I had gotten my betta fish a couple months back and put him in a tall 3 gallon tank with a heater and gravel and many fake plants for him to hide in. I feed him 2 betta pellets a day and he seemed very happy and swam around a lot, but one day I went on a 3 day vacation (my mother took care of him) and when I had come back he had drastically slowed down and was much less active! I tried cleaning his water and changing out the water and gave him an moss ball because I thought it was a lack of oxegyn? But he still won’t be as active. He is losing his color and I’m getting worried. No, I don't have a filter but I change water often.

 

Welcome to fish lore. I think the problem could be the static and uncycled water, it might be worth investing in a sponge filter. Do you think your mother could have over fed him? Any pictures?

 

Could you post pictures, and fill out the sick fish template?

Sticky: Fish Emergency Template

 

Can you please answer the following questions.

How big is the tank?
Has it got a heater? What is it set to?
Has it got a filter?
How strong is the current?
Is it cycled?
How often do you change water?
How much water do you change?
Do you vacuum the substrate?
What additives or chemicals do you use? Eg De Chlorinator?
Do you use tap or bottled water? If bottled water please give us the brand.
Do you have a water test kit?
Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
When you clean the tank can you tell us exactly what you do.
What do you feed him? how much? how often?
Any tank mates? What sort how many?
How long have you had the Betta?
Has he got a history of illness?
Any plants or decorations? Please give details?
Can you provide a close up photo of the fish?
Can you provide a photo of the tank?

 

Nick is our conscience
All he says is very relevant

 

Can you possibly test the water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? If you can, try attaching a photo of him as well.

How often have you been changing the water? What is the temp of the tank?

 

Unless you are doing water changes nearly everyday or had it full of fast growing live plants the water changes are probably not sufficient to keep the water quality good in a 3 gallon tank. Filters don't have to be expensive and will add much more aeration than a moss ball.

Sponge filter:

Air pump (These are a dime a dozen secondhand in thrift stores and online where I live):

Airline tubing at Walmart is cheaper than Amazon or big name pet stores. Total under $20.

 

Hello! I don’t know how to use this website at all, and I hope you get this message. I had gotten my betta fish a couple months back and put him in a tall 3 gallon tank with a heater and gravel and many fake plants for him to hide in. I feed him 2 betta pellets a day and he seemed very happy and swam around a lot, but one day I went on a 3 day vacation (my mother took care of him) and when I had come back he had drastically slowed down and was much less active! I tried cleaning his water and changing out the water and gave him an moss ball because I thought it was a lack of oxegyn? But he still won’t be as active. He is losing his color and I’m getting worried. No, I don't have a filter but I change water often.

Put airpump for oxygen.and change water only 50%

 

The silver/gray scales on the hills were definitely not there before and I just discovered that when moving the fake plant he is resting on, he barely reacts anymore! Thank you for suggesting the filter I will try to get one as soon as I can.

 

What are your water parameters?

When a fish gets sick or is not acting normally the first thing I do is a 75% water change.

Suggesting filters air pumps and air tubing at this stage is pointless because the fish needs help now, It can't wait till a new filter is cycled

 

What are your water parameters?

When a fish gets sick or is not acting normally the first thing I do is a 75% water change.

Suggesting filters air pumps and air tubing at this stage is pointless because the fish needs help now, It can't wait till a new filter is cycled

Air pump I used for breed betta

 

What are your water parameters?

When a fish gets sick or is not acting normally the first thing I do is a 75% water change.

Suggesting filters air pumps and air tubing at this stage is pointless because the fish needs help now, It can't wait till a new filter is cycled

I did a 100% water change the moment I noticed something wrong but nothing has changed

I did a 100% water change the moment I noticed something wrong but nothing has changed

100% other than the cup with the fish in its old water of course

 

What are your water parameters?

When a fish gets sick or is not acting normally the first thing I do is a 75% water change.

Suggesting filters air pumps and air tubing at this stage is pointless because the fish needs help now, It can't wait till a new filter is cycled

It isn't pointless. It immediately adds aeration and solids filtration. Plus in the longterm it will likely solve the issue that caused the current predicament so it does not happen again. I agree it is not an immediate fix but it is not pointless.
Everyone had already asked the basic questions and without more information that is what I felt I could contribute to the conversation without being redundant.

I did a 100% water change the moment I noticed something wrong but nothing has changed


100% other than the cup with the fish in its old water of course

Are you temperature acclimating? After a big water change like that I let the cup float in the top of the tank until they are both up to temp gradually. It prevents a major shock to the system kind of like when I walk outside right now

I also want to verify you are using dechlorinated water for water changes as that can cause the listless behavior you described.

Also your Betta's gills look very inflamed I would act quickly. 1st and foremost is water quality as others have mentioned. I would do 50% waterchanges everyday. 2nd I prefer natural forms of medication this is admittedly a personal preference. From the looks of the picture you posted I would heat a cup of water (dechlorinated) and make some rooibos (noncafinated) tea. Let it cool then add a small amount to your fish tank. It should only slightly tint the water then stop. You can add some with each waterchange. The tannins that dye the water are antI fungal and calming to bettas.

 

Well since most of my questions were left unanswered I will biw out of this thread for now but I will say this.

I feed him 2 betta pellets a day

2 pellets a day is nowhere near enough food, you should be aiming for about 3 pellets twice a day.

 

((UPDATE)) I’ve added a nano filter about a week ago as well as a little bit of antI fungal treatment to the water. It took a couple days but I’ve noticed that my fish is doing so much better now! His gills are returning to their original color and he has started swimming and eating more! I’m going to also start giving him 3 pellets in the morning and one at night

 

((UPDATE)) I’ve added a nano filter about a week ago as well as a little bit of antI fungal treatment to the water. It took a couple days but I’ve noticed that my fish is doing so much better now! His gills are returning to their original color and he has started swimming and eating more! I’m going to also start giving him 3 pellets in the morning and one at night

So glad to hear he is doing better!
The filter will not build the good bacteria for awhile so make sure to keep up on water changes.
The jist is the bacteria that will live in the filter change harmful things into less harmful things (this is what the water test kits are for, they tell us about the health of our tank and why everyones first response was to ask your water parameters) making a cleaner safer environment for our fish! So when you clean the filter you don't want to run it under chlorinated or cold water like from a sink to clean it as that will kill the bacteria. Most people make it a habit to clean the filter during a water change and use the old tank water that they removed as it is warm and dechlorinated already. If that doesn't make sense or you want to know more about how the bacteria works in the nitrogen cycle you can look into "fish-in cycles" and "the nitrogen cycle".