Sick Betta?? HELP!!

[RheannGiomo]

http://pinterest.com/pin/253890497713677059/my bf and i just got a betta about 2 weeks ago. hes in a vase that is around 2.5 gallons. as the picture below shows there was a castle in it, however we took that out to give him more room to swim around. I did as directed and treated the water, let it sit for 30 mins prior to putting him into his new home. his water was changed approx 4 days ago. as directed by the fish guy at the pet store we feed him 3 pellets in the morning but he doesnt seem to have any interest in it. we werent advised to use a heater and were told that room temp. would be just fine for him. I noticed that he lost a lot of his beautiful red colour and he usually just sits at the top of the bowl blowing bubbles here and there. the 2 pictures on the left are from when we got him, the picture on the right was taken about a hour ago.
should we get a heater and switch his food or is this normal for bettas? my boyfriend thinks im slowly killing him =(

[WildFlower]

What type of pellets are you feeding him?
You should ABSOLUTLY get a small heater for the tank as betta's are tropical fish and need warmer water. That should help him gain back more color and not stress him out.
You said you took out a castle, does the tank have anything else in it? If not, than that would also be a contributing factor. Betta's like to have silk or live plants to swim around and hide in. So if there is nothing in the tank it would stress your betta out even more, thus the loss of color would occur.
It seems like you care for your betta's well being and posting this shows that you care. So don't worry about what your boyfriend says and try to help your betta out first. :)

[Laki]

Congrats on your handsome addition! He's pretty :)
The vase should have a heater in it. Pet store employees are not always well informed themselves or they don't care. Bettas are indeed tropical fish and require a heater.
By the looks of the pics, he doesn't have a whole lot of swimming room. Did you remove the castle?? You can buy cheap terracotta pots at the dollar store (make sure the hole in the bottom is smaller than your pinkie nail) for him to hide in (some don't always hide. My CT never hides!. It could be the water is just not comfortable enough for him, usually when there isn't a heater used the fish lays around. With warm water if you don't see an improvement then feel free to come ask us!

[RheannGiomo]

yea, i left the plants in there. I believe they are plastic though. Im going to get him to take in a water sample to the pet store we purchased him at so they can test the water levels. I'm pretty sure they are the Hikari Betta pellets.

[Laki]

Is the protein analysis on the pellets over 35%??

[RheannGiomo]

yes, it is listed at 38%. I'm going to do a 50% water change tonight and try putting him in a warmer place with not as much light. i'm also going to switch up his food and try the flakes, he may just be high maintenance . I made the mistake of leaving the kitchen light above his bowl on throughout the night last night and this may have affected his stress levels (or so the guy at the pet store just told me) but my bf said he was swimming around in the middle of his bowl today and hiding in his plants which is a good sign I think. I'll update on his condition daliy, thanks so much for your help and comments!

[WetBetta]

IMHO... a vase does not make a good home for a betta. 2.5 gallons of water in a wider container would be better. Just my opinion. I know stores sell them in vases, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's best.

Definitely get an adjustable heater. 80 - 82 degrees works best for me.

I think he is just stressed. Warmer water will help that.

Also, when you do your water changes... do it gently. Try to leave him in his container... pour water off and then add your new water very slowly and gently so it doesn't bump him around.

Hope this helps!

[Laki]

Also, the guy at the pet store - take his advice with a grain of salt. Oftentimes we get new members here in a panic bc something is gone wrong but they "followed the pet store's advice!".. ;)

[RheannGiomo]

I got home from spin class last night and he was just bobbing around fairly life-lessly so i did a very gentle water change and that seemed to perk him up a wee bit. i took some of the water to the pet store and they checked the toxin levels and everything came back normal. I bought different food and some more water treatment and when i got home home he had taken a turn for the worst and was nose dived to the bottom of the bowl, no longer alive.
thanks all for your help.
RIP lil fishy.

[Laki]

Oh god I'm so sorry!!
This is not your fault. You were doing everything right, he must have had an internal parasite or something. Don't beat yourself up, this kind of thing happens. It's too easy as a new fish owner to blame yourself but I'm thinking he must have had something wrong internally. Sorry to hear though. My condolensces.