Betta Fish Forum banner

Worried about my betta

853 views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  ChoclateBetta 
#1 ·
I have had him for almost 2 months and up until 4 days ago he was super active and vibrant. Now he is very lethargic, pale, and sitting on the bottom of his tank. He has a filter, heater, snail, two ghost shrimp, and plenty of hiding places. I did a water change, tried fasting and giving him a pea and the snails and ghost shrimp are all fine, what more can I do?
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#4 ·
First that tank is overstocked with the snail and shrimp. Second you should be doing 2 100 percents weekly maybe 3. I would get a 5 gallon heater and sponge filter.
 
#6 ·
That and more water changes will really help him. If you add plenty of hiding spots he will love it. In a 5 gallon a 100 percent weekly should do.
 
#8 ·
If the ammonia is kept low and it is given good nutrients it should recover. Some people keeps bettas in ammonia for years so a few months he should recover.
 
#9 ·
Looks like really bad fin rot to me. Fin rot is caused by excessive amounts of ammonia.
2g is fine for 1 betta, but not enough room for the shrimp and snails.
I'd either get a tank large enough to house the betta, shrimp, and snails, or find a new home for them, and keep the 2g with just the betta.

Here's how I treat fin rot: Add 1 tsp Aquarium salt per gallon (so 2 teaspoons for your tank) and do daily water changes for 10 days. Treat the water normally with water conditioner. Sometimes I add a bit of Stress Coat too, but this is not essential.

Once the 10 days of salt treatment are up, continue with regular water changes. With your size tank, two 50% changes and one 100% a week should suffice.

Hope this helps
 
#10 ·
Or the shrimp it is fine for he snail it would not that is why I suggested 5 gallon. That is not fin rot there are no black edges. The ghost shrimp an snail should be moved during he saltwater treatment.
 
#11 ·
#13 ·
I was just about to edit my post, but you replied back first :)
Regardless of whether it's rot or biting, the treatment is the same.

And I didn't realise I wasn't supposed to reply??:-? I didn't see any indication the the OP has resolved the isses. The OP hasn't posted back since she said:
I can get him a bigger tank no problem, but is this going to fix whatever is going on with him? Why was he fine for months and now all the sudden so sick.
Therefore she still had questions, so I gave my opinion. And to answer the above, depending on the cause (rot or biting) a bigger tank may help his issues. More room to swim, with lots of hiding places helps alleviate boredom, which usually manifests in tail biting.
If it's rot, clean water is the best remedy, so a properly cycled 5g maintained with appropriate water changes will certainly help fin rot.
 
#15 · (Edited)
If the op wanted they could get rid of the snail and shrimp. Make sure there is a heater. Add more water changes and you could get away with one gallon. You can edit a post only 20 minutes after posting. So me posting does not take away from your ability to edit.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top