Lethargic Betta...

[Stonehenge]

One of my Bettas has gotten really lethargic over the last week. He will do a lap and then rest on a leaf in his tank. He is a Half-Moon Double Tail. He was just fine a week ago. I separated the two tanks to give my bettas some room apart so they would not be stressed out by flaring at each other constantly.


Specs

5gal
Temp 79
Filtered
Water tests are all nominal.

Any ideas, or is he just old. I have only had him for about 9 months, got him at PetCo and he was just fine until a week ago.

[sainthogan]

Are there any other symptoms? Color changes, clamped tail, stringy poo, bloating, etc?
Lethargic behaviors usually indicate some sort of illness. Bettas should live between 6 and 10 years in perfect conditions. 3-5 years for most people, so no, he's not getting old - technically, he's still a young-un.
What exactly are you testing for when you do water tests? Does that include ammonia? And how often do you do water changes? I have the exact same tank as you, and I do a 50% water change once, sometimes twice weekly.

[Stonehenge]

Originally Posted by sainthogan

Are there any other symptoms? Color changes, clamped tail, stringy poo, bloating, etc?
Lethargic behaviors usually indicate some sort of illness. Bettas should live between 6 and 10 years in perfect conditions. 3-5 years for most people, so no, he's not getting old - technically, he's still a young-un.
What exactly are you testing for when you do water tests? Does that include ammonia? And how often do you do water changes? I have the exact same tank as you, and I do a 50% water change once, sometimes twice weekly.

My job can keep me busy some weeks. So I try and do a 75% water change weekly. On weeks that I miss it I will throw in a tab to kill the amonia in the tank. He has no other symptoms either: not bloated, fins are fine, eats like a horse, poop looks fine (i guess) color is still good as well.

[Myates]

He may just be missing the other fish.. bettas like to be solitary, yet they still don't like to be completely alone all the time. Usually if someone has just one betta they have always been alone so the betta is used to it, or they use us for company.
But if he had a tank mate (even divided) then he had gotten used to having the company and being social. Possibly put the two tanks closer together and see if that helps.
I have an older male that will rip his fins to shreds if he doesn't see another fish for any length of time. I keep him in a divided tank just to make sure he is stress free.
They will flare, but they know when enough is enough and will stop when they wish to.