Sad, Lethargic Betta

HI guys,

I have had a male betta named Gus for approximately 11 months, he hasn’t always been the most active fish but lately he’s been really lethargic and basically just stays at the bottom of his tank on his side or on a plant and just looks miserable. He lives in a 12 litre (I’m Australian, I think it’s just over 3 gallons?) tank with a heater set to a steady 26 degrees celcius (about 79F) and a filter. He shares the tank with a small apple snail and they don’t bother each other ever. The tank has a plant and a little decoration in it.
I keep the tank clean and conduct frequent tests and water changes, using a conditioner and chlorine remover. My water parameters are PH: 7, Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: 0, nitrates 20. He is fed a very small amount twice daily varying between blood worms and betta pellet and is still very happy to eat and gets excited for food, which is a relief. I fast him once a week.

This strange behaviour has been going on for a week or so now and I’m worried sick.
Besides the lethargy and the fact that he’s laying on his side, he has slight discolouration on his body and seems like he uses so much energy to simply swim around. He’s had some bloating too but nothing major. He used to flare a lot when we would approach the tank but not anymore. He has no signs of velvet or ich or anything like that.

I’m so paranoid, I love this fish and I would be beside myself if he died. I don’t know what else to try, I’ve been doing more frequent water changes, I’ve tried rearranging his tank to spark interest, I’ve removed the snail into a separate environment, I’ve fasted him when he seemed bloated - nothing works. I went to my local pet shop for advice and they told me that bettas are just lazy fish and that it’s normal. I know this isn’t true as I’ve had him for quite some time now. Where I live at the moment it’s approximately 40C (104F) daily, is it possible he’s too hot or something?

Any advice would be so appreciated, thank you.

 

Do you have a thermometer in the tank? I ask because sometimes heaters don't work properly, and it could be too cold/hot for him. Does the temperature of the tank increase when it's that hot out? Could you also attach some pictures of the bloating as well, and did it improve when you fasted him? Also, are you feeding freeze-dried bloodworms, and if so, how often? Sometimes they can cause bloating as well.

 

Betta's become lethargic when their water is too cold, I agree with Frizzfrog - check your temp.

Do you give him a good amount of attention? Oddly enough, Betta's become depressed when ignored

 

Do you have a thermometer in the tank? I ask because sometimes heaters don't work properly, and it could be too cold/hot for him. Does the temperature of the tank increase when it's that hot out? Could you also attach some pictures of the bloating as well, and did it improve when you fasted him? Also, are you feeding freeze-dried bloodworms, and if so, how often? Sometimes they can cause bloating as well.

I have a thermometer it’s almost always on 26 and if it ever fluctuates it gets to like 26.4 that I’ve seen. In saying that, I work during the day and have my airconditioning set to start 1.5 hours before I get home, so if it has the ability to rise and then cool with the outside air temp I’m not too sure. The air conditioning also doesn’t run over night so there is a possibility it could be rising at night time, I’ll have to investigate that further. I’ve only just thought that this could be a problem as I was writing this post just desperately trying to think of what could be bothering him.

I don’t have any pictures of the bloating, he usually became bloated at night time about 4 hours after feeding and then by the morning it would be better, I fasted him anyway and yes it did seem to work. He isn’t bloated at the moment.

The blood worms are HikarI Bio Pure Frozen Bloodworms. They come in cubes and I just cut a little bit off at a time, defrost in some tank water and serve.

Betta's become lethargic when their water is too cold, I agree with Frizzfrog - check your temp.

Do you give him a good amount of attention? Oddly enough, Betta's become depressed when ignored

I work during the day but he’s right next to my dinner table and my sofa, so whenever I’m in the living room in the mornings and evenings he’s always close by. Maybe that’s not enough haha

 

Try rearranging his decorations and maybe adding a new toy/decoration for him. He might be bored!

Are you feeding him a good, high quality food?

You don't seem to be overfeeding so I don't believe constipation is the issue

 

I don't think you're overfeeding him either, but I know some bettas can be very sensitive. How many pellets and how many worms do you feed at once? Maybe try feeding just one pellet for a meal and see if he looks better?

 

I heard some bettas like having a ping pong ball to play with and push around in the tank. I tried that and he just ignored it, maybe I’ll have to go to the pet store and buy something more interesting.

I believe it’s high quality, he’s been on the same brand food for 11 months and it’s never been an issue.

I’ll try and feed one pellet, usually he gets 2 pellets and maybe like 4 worms?

 

Get a decoration like a little cave maybe!

You can also add a nerite snail buddy in with him and see if he perks up. Snails usually do fine with Betta's.

That's a lot of food for a betta! He might be constipated then.

I would feed him part of a de-shelled, microwaved (15 secs) green pea, and then fast for 2-3 days. Then feed 1 pellet or shrimp per day.

 

HI there. Sorry your guy isn’t feeling well. In Australia you don’t have access to the same meds we do here in the states. So I would start with water changes. Do 50% water changes everyday or every other day for 7 days. Don’t underestimate the benefits of sparkling clean water. Even with perfect parameters, water changes help immensely.

Second thing I would do is a treatment for constipation. Fast him for 24-48 hours. No food at all. Then take 1-2 frozen peas, blanch and deshell them. (Place in micro with tsp of water and cook for 10 seconds) Once deshelled, smash them into a mushy paste. You can add some garlic to it at this point, it is a natural immune booster, it couldn’t hurt. Either minced garlic, or garlic oil/juice. Then feed him the mashed pea mix. Peas will act as a laxative and clear out his system. I would give it to him once, then wait 24 hours and give it a second time. Don’t feed anything else in between. See if the bloating goes away. It should settle his system down, flush out his intestines, and hopefully he will start feeling better.

As far as foods go, only feed the worms once or twice a week. Daily is too much. If they are dried blood worms, then be sure to soak them before feeding. They can cause a blockage if they rehydrate inside the intestines. I would search for some frozen brine shrimp to add as a treat too. They love that.

Good luck, I hope he gets better soon.

 

I would like to clarify the worms are no longer than 0.5cm each once they’ve been carved from the cube.

 

I heard some bettas like having a ping pong ball to play with and push around in the tank. I tried that and he just ignored it, maybe I’ll have to go to the pet store and buy something more interesting.

The funniest thing happened the other day with my guy Winslow. I got a new laser thermometer. I was checking the temps in all my tanks, and Winslow came out and was chasing the laser around. Just like a kitten with a laser pointer. It was so cool! I waited a couple of days and tried again. Sure enough, he chased it again. He is soo smart! Very entertaining for sure lol

 

HI there. Sorry your guy isn’t feeling well. In Australia you don’t have access to the same meds we do here in the states. So I would start with water changes. Do 50% water changes everyday or every other day for 7 days. Don’t underestimate the benefits of sparkling clean water. Even with perfect parameters, water changes help immensely.

Second thing I would do is a treatment for constipation. Fast him for 24-48 hours. No food at all. Then take 1-2 frozen peas, blanch and deshell them. (Place in micro with tsp of water and cook for 10 seconds) Once deshelled, smash them into a mushy paste. You can add some garlic to it at this point, it is a natural immune booster, it couldn’t hurt. Either minced garlic, or garlic oil/juice. Then feed him the mashed pea mix. Peas will act as a laxative and clear out his system. I would give it to him once, then wait 24 hours and give it a second time. Don’t feed anything else in between. See if the bloating goes away. It should settle his system down, flush out his intestines, and hopefully he will start feeling better.

As far as foods go, only feed the worms once or twice a week. Daily is too much. If they are dried blood worms, then be sure to soak them before feeding. They can cause a blockage if they rehydrate inside the intestines. I would search for some frozen brine shrimp to add as a treat too. They love that.

Good luck, I hope he gets better soon.

Yes you’re right, there’s not a lot here in Aus.

At the moment I’m doing a 20% change so I’ll boost it to 50% and hope that it makes a difference.

Should I fast him and do the pea treatment even though he is no longer bloated? The last time he showed bloating was the day after Christmas and he hasn’t been bloated since.

 

Yes you’re right, there’s not a lot here in Aus.

At the moment I’m doing a 20% change so I’ll boost it to 50% and hope that it makes a difference.

Should I fast him and do the pea treatment even though he is no longer bloated? The last time he showed bloating was the day after Christmas and he hasn’t been bloated since.

I fast all my fish once per week and feed peas. That way it prevents any issues. So you certainly could feed peas. It won’t hurt anything at all.

If you could get pictures of him, that would help too. The discoloration makes me think he has some sort of infection going on. I know there is a med there that starts with an E that usually is recommended for most illnesses, but for the life of me I cannot think of it. Esha? Ersha? Something like that lol

 

I really hope he hasn’t got an infection because medications for pet fish are scarce here sadly.

Excuse my camera quality but he’s a photo from a few days ago. The lightening/whitening on his body is what concerns me.

The second photo was from a while ago and is a screenshot from a video which is all I have as I got a new phone and don’t have anything older...but just to compare.

 

The only thing I see is some fin rot. It isn’t too bad, but bad enough to definitely treat. The daily water changes should help that, more than anything.

Do you have access to Methylene Blue (MB)? It is used in bacterial testing in labs, but it is also an antiseptic. It works wonders on fish. It can treat topical infections, and also increases oxygenation in the blood stream. So usually the fish will improve quicker by using it. You can usually find it on Amazon, but again not sure if it is available to you.

Take a 1 gallon or more food safe plastic container. One you don’t mind being stained blue. Fill with tank water. Add 10 drops of MB per gallon. Then add your fish to the container. Let him swim for 15-20 minutes. Be careful with the MB, it stains absolutely everything it touches. And it doesn’t come out. One drop can ruin multiple articles of clothing, countertops etc. I wear an apron and gloves when I use it. It is very messy. Do the bath once daily for 3-4 days, see if there is an improvement.

You can also try adding an Indian Almond Leaf to the tank. It is a natural anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. Bettas love them. It might turn your water a tea color, but it will go away with water changes. It also improves fin health pretty dramatically sometimes. I usually leave mine in there until it sinks and then remove it. Once a month or so I put another one back in there. Just to keep him happy more than anything.

Good luck!

 

The only thing I see is some fin rot. It isn’t too bad, but bad enough to definitely treat. The daily water changes should help that, more than anything.

Do you have access to Methylene Blue (MB)? It is used in bacterial testing in labs, but it is also an antiseptic. It works wonders on fish. It can treat topical infections, and also increases oxygenation in the blood stream. So usually the fish will improve quicker by using it. You can usually find it on Amazon, but again not sure if it is available to you.

Take a 1 gallon or more food safe plastic container. One you don’t mind being stained blue. Fill with tank water. Add 10 drops of MB per gallon. Then add your fish to the container. Let him swim for 15-20 minutes. Be careful with the MB, it stains absolutely everything it touches. And it doesn’t come out. One drop can ruin multiple articles of clothing, countertops etc. I wear an apron and gloves when I use it. It is very messy. Do the bath once daily for 3-4 days, see if there is an improvement.

You can also try adding an Indian Almond Leaf to the tank. It is a natural anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory. Bettas love them. It might turn your water a tea color, but it will go away with water changes. It also improves fin health pretty dramatically sometimes. I usually leave mine in there until it sinks and then remove it. Once a month or so I put another one back in there. Just to keep him happy more than anything.

Good luck!

Thank you so much that’s really great. I’ll have to look into whether I can get this stuff in Australia, hopefully I can. This may be a silly question but may I ask how you were able to identify it? I didn’t pick up on anything on his fins so now I feel like a bad owner!! Could fin rot be why he’s feeling so poorly? Thanks heaps it is so appreciated.

 

Thank you so much that’s really great. I’ll have to look into whether I can get this stuff in Australia, hopefully I can. This may be a silly question but may I ask how you were able to identify it? I didn’t pick up on anything on his fins so now I feel like a bad owner!! Could fin rot be why he’s feeling so poorly? Thanks heaps it is so appreciated.

His fins look matted and sort of stuck together I know he is a crown tail, but in some spots I could see some brownish areas. This all points to fin rot. It is hard to see on crown tails. So don’t feel bad.

Fin rot could be why he isn’t feeling good for sure. It is an infection of some sort. So hopefully you can get him fixed up.

That med I couldn’t remember before is eSHA 2000. It is a fin rot treatment. I am 99% it is available there in Australia. So I would look for it. It is at least an actual med to try. Not sure how expensive it is though.

 

His fins look matted and sort of stuck together I know he is a crown tail, but in some spots I could see some brownish areas. This all points to fin rot. It is hard to see on crown tails. So don’t feel bad.

Fin rot could be why he isn’t feeling good for sure. It is an infection of some sort. So hopefully you can get him fixed up.

That med I couldn’t remember before is eSHA 2000. It is a fin rot treatment. I am 99% it is available there in Australia. So I would look for it. It is at least an actual med to try. Not sure how expensive it is though.

Thank you so much for that. I’ll definitely look into it. I’m from one of the less populated states where a lot of things aren’t readily available so if I have to order it in I hope he can pull through until it arrives! I’m stressed!

It doesn’t really matter how expensive it is... I spent $145 AUD on my water testing stuff here so I’m not expecting anything to be cheap anymore haha.

Thanks so much.