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Betta suddenly skinny, though eating - HELP!

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  JulesKD 
#1 ·
Hello all! I'm new here and I have an emergency. In the last few days, my beautiful betta Leon has gotten extremely thin. He still eats like a horse and is active - though he does float on his side when he stops moving.

Here's the big picture. A few weeks ago he started side-floating and I panicked and did my research. Most web pages said I was overfeeding him and it was swim bladder problems caused by constipation. (I gave him and the other fish a bit of food, twice a day.) So I cut them all back and fed him a pea. This seemed to do the trick for a day, then he was side-floating again.

I've had Leon since last Spring. I don't know how old he is. He is in a very warm (80+) 10 gallon tank with three mollies. They all get along very well. I change about 10-20% of the water weekly and I test it frequently. The only problem it's had is nitrates a bit high once in a while. Ammonia, nitrites, chlorine, etc. these are all fine. I use only filtered drinking water, treated with Aqua Plus, and I add some salt too.

I feed Leon and the others frozen fish foods, thawed. Like Formula Two, Emerald Entree, brine shrimp. I don't use flakes with wheat gluten and ethoxyquin. Once I did give them blood worms but that seemed to be when the side-floating started.

Now, Leon side-floats whenever he stops swimming. He is still very active and he still eats every time I feed him.

But I can make out every tiny bone in his spine.

What am I doing wrong? Leon is the jewel of the tank and my lovely friend. It'd crush me to lose him.

Thanks, everyone,

Jules
 
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#2 ·
I'm not certain, this isn't my area of expertise, but maybe he has a parasite? Can you describe what his poop looks like, maybe? That's usually a good indicator. If you're feeding him and you know that he's getting the food (like, his tankmates aren't getting it), that would be my next guess.
 
#3 ·
Hmm, good point. it looks like the poop of the rest of the fish. But keep in mind, I haven't had fish in a long time so I don't know if that's "right" or if maybe they all have a parasite?

Anyway, it's just a long, pale string that eventually breaks off. I switch the food around a lot so sometimes it's darker, sometimes lighter.

Does that sound about right?
 
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