I am extremely worried about my betta. He loves his food and today he had no interest in his food. If he is worse when i get home from my classes today, I am tempted to bring him back since it is within the 30 day return policy. I can post pictures later.
Housing What size is your tank? 3 gallon What temperature is your tank? 80*F Does your tank have a filter? Yes Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Filter powered by air bubbles 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? Wardley Betta Food with color intensifier red. How often do you feed your betta fish? When I first got him, I fed him 2 pellets twice a day. Now its one pellet twice a day.
Maintenance How often do you perform a water change? I have only changed it once right now and that was 2 weeks after i got him What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I did 70% What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? None. I dont need to add anything to the water. I have well water.
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
I only test for Ammonia. Currently its in the safe zone.
Symptoms and Treatment How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Stomach seems bloated. no raised scales. How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No interest in food today When did you start noticing the symptoms? Today Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No Does your fish have any history of being ill? not that i know of How old is your fish (approximately)? Age is unknown. Bought on 11/24/2012 at a petco.
What do you consider to be the safe zone for ammonia? It should be well under 1ppm. Preferably .25ppm or lower. If you haven't cycled your tank prior to adding your fish, you are in the time frame where nitrites start to appear in a typical cycle - at the one month mark, especially having only changed the water once, the ammonia processing bacteria will have generated an uncomfortable amount of nitrite at this point in the cycle (if you haven't cycled the tank). I suggest a water change, but I also suggest testing for nitrites to help you understand the nitrogen cycle.
If you do not know about the cycle (I'll assume you do, but just in case --), check out this link: Water Chemistry Basics
The last I checked, it was under .05ppm for ammonia. it has been 3 days since the last change
Hmm.. this is where my knowledge ends. But like I said, you might want to look into the nitrites. As for bloat, does your betta have a fat belly? I've over fed my betta by accident one day, and he got very fat and lethargic, showing no interest in food. I just fasted the tank for a day, and fed him the proper portion the day after that, and things are back to normal. But one pellet a day wouldn't be overfeeding. Maybe he'd prefer the pellet to be crushed? My betta doesn't like whole pellets (yet), but he'll devour a crushed one. Yours could also be constipated from his unvaried diet. I've seen others suggest feeding daphnia and others suggest feeding the insides of a crushed pea to cure constipation. I use the pea method, although many are against it.
As of late, I've just been keeping up on the water changes, and feeding my betta homemade fish food using OldFishLady's recipe.
Hmm.. this is where my knowledge ends. But like I said, you might want to look into the nitrites. As for bloat, does your betta have a fat belly? I've over fed my betta by accident one day, and he got very fat and lethargic, showing no interest in food. I just fasted the tank for a day, and fed him the proper portion the day after that, and things are back to normal. But one pellet a day wouldn't be overfeeding. Maybe he'd prefer the pellet to be crushed? My betta doesn't like whole pellets (yet), but he'll devour a crushed one. Yours could also be constipated from his unvaried diet. I've seen others suggest feeding daphnia and others suggest feeding the insides of a crushed pea to cure constipation. I use the pea method, although many are against it.
As of late, I've just been keeping up on the water changes, and feeding my betta homemade fish food using OldFishLady's recipe.
He has devoured the pellets all the time. I do sometimes throw in a very small pinch of freeze dried bloodworms. He dose not seem lethargic at all. He was swimming around like normal. I have pictures of him last night and ill take some when i get home. it almost looks like it happened overnight. :/
He has devoured the pellets all the time. I do sometimes throw in a very small pinch of freeze dried bloodworms. I have pictures of him last night and ill take some when i get home. it almost looks like it happened overnight. :/
I hope things go well, maybe others on here will have more insight for you, but please update tonight so we can continue to help!
I hope things go well, maybe others on here will have more insight for you, but please update tonight so we can continue to help!
I will be sure to do so. But if I get home and his scales rose. Then sadly I will be bringing him back to the pet store. I fear that he would just die at that point.
Have the gills always been that brown color? The water chemistry basics link I sent names brown gills as a symptom of Nitrite poisoning. Just double check your symptoms against the link. Even if they've been brown since you got him, it's possible that it is a result of poor keeping at the pet store, but that wouldn't explain him not eating.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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But like I said, you might want to look into the nitrites. As for bloat, does your betta have a fat belly? I've over fed my betta by accident one day, and he got very fat and lethargic, showing no interest in food. I just fasted the tank for a day, and fed him the proper portion the day after that, and things are back to normal. But one pellet a day wouldn't be overfeeding. Maybe he'd prefer the pellet to be crushed? My betta doesn't like whole pellets (yet), but he'll devour a crushed one. Yours could also be constipated from his unvaried diet. I've seen others suggest feeding daphnia and others suggest feeding the insides of a crushed pea to cure constipation. I use the pea method, although many are against it. 
