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A Tad Concerned...

664 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  ShortSwimmer 
#1 ·
This is my first time keeping a betta in some time, and I'm a little worried about his behavior. The fish in question is a blue and red male Crowntail (seen as my avatar) who is, at present, nameless. I've only had him for about a week, but he's become sort of listless lately. At first he was swimming around the tank a fair bit and his fins were flaring some after the first day or so I had him. Unfortunately, it was about at this point that there were some issues. His tank mate is a black mystery snail (I've had him about two weeks and his name is Hershel) who was, for lack of a better phrase, befouling the tank. I got a filter that worked on my second try (the first one was too big) and, about a day later, the water was clear. But it's started since a little before I've had this filter that the betta hasn't been doing too much. The snail's far more active now that the water is cleared up, but the betta is truly concerning me. He sits on the leaves of the Anubias I have or hides beneath it. He's made slight divots in the gravel that he'll lay in or he ducks behind the rather large rock that's also there. He used to be far more active than this... Plus, he hasn't been eating. I've heard that switching his food or breaking the pellets might help, but I'm truly not certain if I should be worried about his behavior or if I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill. A little help would be greatly appreciated.

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? N/A
Does your tank have a filter? Yes - a Tom Mini Internal Filter
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? A black mystery snail

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Top Fin Color Enhancing Betta Bits
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day, two to three pellets

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I haven’t had to yet
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I will be changing 10-15%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? N/A

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? The test was done a few days ago, so I’m afraid I’m rather uncertain on some of the results.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 120 or 180
Hardness: 150 or 300
Alkalinity: 300

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He’s gotten brighter since I first got him.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He seems to be a tad lethargic
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A few days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I’m afraid I don’t know what to do
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I’m aware of
How old is your fish (approximately)? I’ve only had him for about a week now. How long he was in the store for, though, I can’t say.
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the forum and sorry your Betta is not doing well...

What is the water temp?

In a 2.5gal filtered tank-it needs twice weekly 50% water changes to maintain water quality-with one of the twice weekly water changes the substrate needs vacuuming.

Right now I would do some 50% daily water changes for a few days and see if that won't perk him up...also, check the water temp and keep it in the 76-80F range...make sure to use a good dechlorinator with any new water if on city water supply and try and keep the water temp within a few degrees between new and old water to prevent water temp related problems...

Keep us posted.....
 
#3 ·
Thank you for responding.

I’m afraid I don’t have a thermometer or a heater, so I can only really guess at what the temperature might be... Considering my room is warmer than the rest of the house, I’d say that the temp of the tank would be somewhere in the mid seventies, at least?

Really? I hadn’t been aware that it needed that great of a change so frequently. I’ll definitely begin doing those changes from now on.

I’ll see if that helps. I’ve discovered breaking the pellets doesn’t do much, as he simply spits them out and then watches as the filter carries them away or they sink to the bottom...

Anyway, thank you so much for the help. :) I’ll be sure to post any updates on his condition.
 
#6 ·
I figured as much. Heck, I might even have one lying around the house somewhere that I can use. And is it, now? Again, hadn't known that... It does make sense, though. Thank you for the input. :)
 
#5 ·
Sometimes too low of temp alone can cause some of the issue that you are seeing....Bettas are tropical fish and need/thrive in that tropical temps....remember if the air temp is 80F the water temp can be 5-10 degrees lower than that.....

Regardless of filtration or even when the water looks clean and clear...its what you can't see that is harmful to the Fish...especially the fins of the long fin Betta.....one water changes is for control of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and DOC's the other one is for fin health......

Love to see some pic.....we love pic around here.....
 
#7 ·
So I’ve heard, yes. I’ll certainly be getting a heater in the next few days, at least... Especially if the temperature may very well be the cause of all this.

Which is rather scary, when you think about it. :/ As I haven’t had him long, I’ve only had a chance to really check the water quality once, but I’ll be doing so on a weekly basis just to make sure.

Well, he’s actually hiding under the rock in the tank right now, so I can’t really get any more pictures of him for now. I don’t have many great shots to begin with, as I haven’t taken very many... But there’s a decent-ish one that can be seen if you take a look under Aquariums at “Tank One.” You can see the whole tank setup and everything.
 
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