Will moving my betta make him depressed???

Hey everyone,

My betta, Joffrey, who I love very, very much, doesn't seem to be doing very well. Right now, he lives in a 10 gallon tank with 4 cardinal tetras, 3 fancy guppies, and some snails, all of whom he is fond of, but I've been considering moving him to his own 5 gallon tank- at least until he starts to look a bit better.

I would like to make this new 5 gallon tank basically the ideal betta home, but I'm worried that if I move him away from all his friends he'll be sad or become depressed.

I really want what's best for him... do you guys have any tips?

Thank you so much!

 

What do u mean by “doesn’t seem to be doing very well”

 

What do u mean by “doesn’t seem to be doing very well”

He doesn't seem to be eating, he doesn't swim around much anymore, and he's getting odd lumps on his body

 

He doesn't seem to be eating, he doesn't swim around much anymore, and he's getting odd lumps on his body

Can u send a picture of the lumps or describe them? Are they just like on his side like he’s bloated or like spots? Are they white?

 

I don't think that moving him to a new tank will help any of the symptoms you described. Moving to a new home is stressful, leaving the other fish can be stressful unless the other fish are the thing causing stress.
Try tempting him to eat with some thawed froxen blood worms, or garlic in hanced food. or New life spectrum thera plus A pellets.
and post a picture please!

 

He doesn't seem to be eating, he doesn't swim around much anymore, and he's getting odd lumps on his body

From what you’ve described, the spots and lack of appetite could be ich. But from sinking I think it could be swim bladder disease. Since it’s sinking I think you’re over feeding him. A Betta fish stomac is usually around the size of their eye and many owners tend to over feed them. If the lumps are tiny white spots then I’d get a parasite remedy for betta fish which are sold online and at most local fish stores and petcos. I’d quarantine him as to not get ur other fish sick. If the lumps are just a curve in his back making him Shaped like the letter S then it’s most likely swim bladder disease and I’d just feed him a bit less.

I don't think that moving him to a new tank will help any of the symptoms you described. Moving to a new home is stressful, leaving the other fish can be stressful unless the other fish are the thing causing stress.
Try tempting him to eat with some thawed froxen blood worms, or garlic in hanced food. or New life spectrum thera plus A pellets.
and post a picture please!

If it’s a parasite I think the tank should be changed as to not transfer the parasite or disease to the other fish

 

If it’s a parasite I think the tank should be changed as to not transfer the parasite or disease to the other fish

If he has ich, then the hole tank needs to be treated, his illness is not from overfeeding if he isn't eating. unless the water quality is bad from decaying waste caused by overfeeding.

 

If he has ich, then the hole tank needs to be treated,

And the diseased fish removed as well?

 

And the diseased fish removed as well?

Ich is microscopic until infesting a fish. They don't do that until they've got significant numbers in a tank. The entire tank needs treated and moving the one expressing symptoms will likely do nothing but cause undo stress to a sick fish and make work for you in having to eradicate ich from two tanks instead of just one.

 

And the diseased fish removed as well?

I'm not sure what you are asking. But if you have one fish with ich, the invisible baby ich tomites are swimming in the water, infesting all the other fish too. even if you do not see the spots yet. removing any one fish is pointless, unless that one fish has to have a different medication/treament then the others.

 

I'm not a disease specialist, so I'll leave that to others.
Also, the hiding away of the betta, (not swimming much) is probably from the other fish.

Bettas don't appreciate to live with any other fish, except for snails, shrimp, and any of inverts.
Definitely try to move him as fast as possible.

 

Or remove fish to treat in another tank/container and leave main tank (say heavily planted where you not want to wreck plant growth) and leave main tank barren for a month.

But I wouldn't jump to ich right away unless the cardinals are new? Sounds like the tank hasn't had anything new for a bit and there is no bullying?

Personally I treat ich in QT tank because I never seen ich in the main tank out of no where. Not saying it's not possible, just I don't believe ich comes through the tap and that fish always harbor small amounts. I actually haven't seen any ich in 10 years, but i'm paranoid about buying new fish.

 

The lumps could be caused by different factors, as people posted above, a picture would be really helpful in the case that it's ick. Based on your stocking, I'd move the betta to its own five gallon anyways. He may be stressed from the other fish, or its an illness. Before moving him though, it would be best to see if he has a disease that requires you to treat the rest of the tank.

 

None of the other fish he lives with are new... he's lived with the tetras as long as I've had him (about 4 months) and the guppies for weeks now. They all really do get along pretty well- they eat together and would swim together peacefully.

He's not sinking... he just doesn't move around a lot. Right now he spends the majority of his time up near the surface right beside the heater (although the temperature of the tank has remained constant for months) which is where he usually sleeps. He does sometimes do a small circle around the heater.

He had what I suspect was a mild case of fin rot, so I had been doing lots of water changes, though his fins seem to be in much better shape now.

As for the lumps, it's mainly near his chest sort of, it just seems to be larger than usual- almost swollen? - and it's not the blue colour of his body. You can sort of see what I'm talking about in the pictures.

I'm not sure it's a tank-wide problem, since the rest of my fish are happy as can be and behaving normally.

Thank you for all your help!

 

Are the spots like little tuffs of fluffy?

 

Are the spots like little tuffs of fluffy?

No... they honestly look like a slight discolouration of scales

Here are some more pictures... you can see the lumps better





Update: Joffrey has passed away.

Upon closer investigation, I believe he had a rather large tumor right under his chin. I only noticed it today, so it must have been very fast-moving.

Thank you all for your help today

 

So sorry for your loss. It can happen sudden like that.

 

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately if it was the tumors (those smaller bumps were likely also tumors) that killed him then there was nothing you could have done. Splendens are extremely prone to developing them due to how severely inbred they are. You did your best so try not to blame yourself for his passing.

 

sorry about your fish!, at least it did not take too long.

 

My condolences. Its plain to see from the thread how much you cared about his wellbeing and I am certain that his time in your care was a high point in his life.

 

Thank you all for your support <3

 

That's horrible!
I'm very sorry for your loss