Worried about my betta

[wub]

I have had him for almost 2 months and up until 4 days ago he was super active and vibrant. Now he is very lethargic, pale, and sitting on the bottom of his tank. He has a filter, heater, snail, two ghost shrimp, and plenty of hiding places. I did a water change, tried fasting and giving him a pea and the snails and ghost shrimp are all fine, what more can I do?

[ChoclateBetta]

How big is that? Temp? Water Changes? Sounds like Fin nipping.

[wub]

His tank is 2g, temp is set at 78°, and I change his water about every 2-3 weeks.

[ChoclateBetta]

First that tank is overstocked with the snail and shrimp. Second you should be doing 2 100 percents weekly maybe 3. I would get a 5 gallon heater and sponge filter.

[wub]

I can get him a bigger tank no problem, but is this going to fix whatever is going on with him? Why was he fine for months and now all the sudden so sick.

[ChoclateBetta]

That and more water changes will really help him. If you add plenty of hiding spots he will love it. In a 5 gallon a 100 percent weekly should do.

[Wendyjo]

He's been swimming around in toxic levels of ammonia pretty much constantly for the past 2 months, and now he's sick from it. He may or may not get better depending on how badly the ammonia poisoning has harmed him.

[ChoclateBetta]

If the ammonia is kept low and it is given good nutrients it should recover. Some people keeps bettas in ammonia for years so a few months he should recover.

[whiskandbowl]

Looks like really bad fin rot to me. Fin rot is caused by excessive amounts of ammonia.
2g is fine for 1 betta, but not enough room for the shrimp and snails.
I'd either get a tank large enough to house the betta, shrimp, and snails, or find a new home for them, and keep the 2g with just the betta.

Here's how I treat fin rot: Add 1 tsp Aquarium salt per gallon (so 2 teaspoons for your tank) and do daily water changes for 10 days. Treat the water normally with water conditioner. Sometimes I add a bit of Stress Coat too, but this is not essential.

Once the 10 days of salt treatment are up, continue with regular water changes. With your size tank, two 50% changes and one 100% a week should suffice.

Hope this helps

[ChoclateBetta]

Or the shrimp it is fine for he snail it would not that is why I suggested 5 gallon. That is not fin rot there are no black edges. The ghost shrimp an snail should be moved during he saltwater treatment.