Help - Betta suddenly lethargic!

[chicagojo]

I posted some of this earlier in the general betta care forum but now that I'm more convinced it's an illness, I'm recapping/updating here to get some additional opinions...

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5G
What temperature is your tank? 78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? No
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? Hikari Bio-Gold pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x/day, 2 pellets each time

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 2x/week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50/100
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API Stress Coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? No

If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He looks "smaller" somehow - maybe he's not extending his fins as fully? Maybe a little paler too but hard to tell; his color has always been quite light. No apparent discolorations (no white spots, no blackness/redness of fins, etc)

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Much more lethargic than usual, spending lots of time resting in mug, bottom of tank, or surface of water. Occasional bursts of energy where he swims around quite a bit, but resting majority of the time. Lateral fins are clamped, except for when he's swimming. He is still eating normally and is still pooping regularly but a couple of times he has been so still and unresponsive that I thought he was dead.

When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yesterday

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? So far all I have done is a 50% water change yesterday morning when I first noticed he seemed ill. I was worried to do a 100% change in case it was stress-related I did not want to stress him further.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? No

How old is your fish (approximately)? Unsure; I got him about 2-3 months ago.

Thank you for any advice or suggestions!

[lelei]

Is this the one in regards to the Darting? I remember the name, did you get a picture or video yet, just so we can see how your fish is behaving..

[chicagojo]

Anyone???

Looking over the stickies about common betta fish illnesses, his symptoms seem most consistent with either Stress or Internal Parasites. What would be some good ways of telling one from the other? I won't have access to any fish medications today anyway so any treatment would need to wait to begin until tomorrow.

It sounds like maybe I should try additional 100% water change too? I will do that later today.

[chicagojo]

Originally Posted by lelei

Is this the one in regards to the Darting? I remember the name, did you get a picture or video yet, just so we can see how your fish is behaving..

Yes, that is the one (sorry, you were posting just as I was apparently!) I haven't been able to get a video yet. Every time I have my phone ready to take a video he decides to take a rest. I will keep trying.

[lelei]

Yea, It would really help, even a picture, because the coloring, and or clamped fins will show a lot, I think I mentioned sounds like parasites, if that is the case, just get some Aquarium salt, and Epsom salt, because if internal the Epsom is good for that, but if it's on the body, AQ salt will help. It's best to have both ready for emergencies.

[lelei]

Take a vid of him resting, and try to get some close ups of his eyes, if his eyes are sunken, or half closed, he may be tired, and fighting something, especially if very lethargic..

[chicagojo]

Oh, I have both of those (AQ salt and Epsom salt) already. I just don't have any other more serious medications. What concentrations should I use for those?

I did get a short video...now I am just figuring out how to upload it.

[lelei]

1 tsp of Aq salt, for external issues, but we need to determine what the problem is so it can be treated effectively, and not to treat for something that we are unsure of..if you have the vid, post it to Utube, and just post the link, in your reply..or to Photobucket.

[lelei]

Both work well, you really don't want to use anything else too strong, until you have exhausted those methods, some of those other meds can cause more damage..

[LebronTheBetta]

What does his poo look like? And if there are no visible problems, you shouldn't treat him. He might even get worse.