Fish Acting Sick...

[LoveRosie]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? 3 Betta pellets in morning, 3 frozen bloodworms in the evening
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 2 times 100%, 1 50%
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Fins look a little clamped
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Acting extremely lethargic, floats near top of tank. Wouldn't eat when she is usually super excited for food. I couldn't even tempt her with bloodworms! :(
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No... not sure what is wrong
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Purchased her two weeks ago.

Hi everyone, I am a new user here. Have been wanting a betta for a while and did a lot of research. Finally excited when I bought her, she is a sweet little energetic female. (Sorry no pics! My camera's macro setting is not good).

I thought I was doing everything right but I noticed yesterday that she has been floating near the top not swimming and was concerned, but I didn't think too much of it. This morning she was floating in the same place still and wouldn't eat her pellets... I tried bloodoworms and she wouldn't eat those either. It breaks my heart watching her, she looks almost like she's pouting.

Any idea what could be wrong? Last week her tank temperature was fluctuating a lot as I tried to get her heater to the proper setting. I was horrified to see it was 85 at one point... I removed her and floated some ice in the tank to cool the water down.... Perhaps this is the cause?

Please help... I don't want to lose her!

[Ajones108]

She is probably just shocked from the temperature flux. Bettas can be very picky fish! Have you moved the tank around lately? Sometimes a scenery change can leave them a little frazzled. Right now she just sounds stressed, but nothing severe. Bettas can go 2 weeks without eating, so try not to force food on her. Start with small servings, maybe 1-2 pellets, until she's eating again.

Any change in color? Anything strange on her body? Fins ripped, torn or discolored?

[LoveRosie]

Thank you for the fast response!

Good to know it might just be stress... No change in color from what I can tell... Maybe a little paler.... Her fins look fine. Tank has not been moved.

I'm just suprised at her sudden change in behavior. She is usually constantly begging for food (which I ignore... lol) and zooming around. Would the temperature fluctuation affect her a week after it happened?

[PewPewPew]

It could, yes, if it was very sudden. The best way to cool a fish is to gently remove it from the tank and allow it to naturally cool at a slow/moderate pace... Adding in ice sharply decreases the temp, which is shocking.

85' isnt good, but its not HORRIBLE. If it only happens for abit and not long-term, just allow it to cool slowly.

[LoveRosie]

I will definitely keep that in mind next time something like that happens...

To clarify my response to the high temperature, I removed her and placed her on the counter in the 85 degree water. Floated a few cubes of ice in the tank after she was removed. An hour or two later when it was down to 78 in the tank I acclimated her and put her back in.... Was this the correct thing to do?

After this incident, she seemed perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with her until now.

Thank you so much for your help... This is my first fish so I'm trying to not make mistakes, and if i do, hopefully learn from them!

[PewPewPew]

Hm...Im not sure.

I know you said that its hard to get pictures, but Im sure that even a cruddy picture can help us a bit. As far as it would seem, you're doing things right.

I would cut back a little on the noms, though- thats my only issue.

[LoveRosie]

Okay... I will try to get a picture of her later tonight and cut down of amount fed

Is there anything else I can do to help her feel more comfortable or should I let her relax and check back on her later?

[Oldfishlady]

When you added the ice cubes to the tank-did you also add a bit of dechlorinator? if not, I would go ahead and make a 50% water only change and dose the dechlorinator for the full volume of the tank...not just the volume of the replacement water...also, if you ever need to add ice like that-place the ice in a zip-lock baggie or something to float in the tank and then you don't have to worry about adding dechlorinator.......

Keep us posted...

[LoveRosie]

Hello,

You're right, I didn't even think to put more dechlorinator in. I did a water change like you said on Friday and I thought all was well. She seemed to perk up and was swimming around more.

Sadly, she passed on sometime this night. I got up to check on her... I feel like I failed her in some way but I'm not sure what went wrong...

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry for your loss....stuff happens......don't blame yourself......