I think my fish is dying

[charr8]

:(

My Betta fish over the last week has been slowly getting worse. He is now at the bottom of the tank in a corner and I can't get him to come up. He's still alive - but barely. I feel so bad! Not sure what to do! Not sure what happend. His bright Red Color has slowly faded.....

Any suggestions as to what happend or if I can bring him back?

[Flashygrrl]

Tank size?
Water change schedule?
Feeding schedule and amount?
Do you have a filter and tank heater so your betta can have constant 78 degree water?

[charr8]

My Fish is in a 2.5 Gallon Tank since December
I do complete water and tank cleaning every two - three weeks. He has been on this schedule since December and has been doing good. I don't use any cleaning agents - just hot water and a algae sponge.
I put the aqua drops in.
I feed him about two blood worms twice a day (per the pet store instructions)
I use a filter but no heater. Our house is pretty warm and his average temperature is between 75 and 78 degrees.

He's been a happy little fish - not so many bubbles but overall swam around and was excited to see me and be fed.

He's now just lifeless on the bottom. If I move one of the silk plants he'll swim away but then sink to the bottom.

:(

[southafrica1001]

hey. there is a few problems that could be the cause (im not sure though)

1) its much better to do 15%-25% water change every week then doing a 100% water change every 2/3 weeks, 100% water changes should never be done as alot of the benefical bacteria is lost so a mini cycle begins putting stress on the fish.
2) blood worms given to a betta regularly can cause bloating so rather get some tropical fish flakes or betta pellets, im not sure about how many pellets to give but if you got flakes (many people say that the pellets are better though) give a small pinch three times a day (he should be able to eat it in 5 mins?).
3) as much as you house stays around 75 degrees, the water temperature could drop during the night also putting stress on the fish.

Other member please correct me if im wrong.
good luck with him and i hope he gets better. :D

[Flashygrrl]

+1 on that advice.

2-3 pellets twice a day, btw :)

[Kim]

What does he look like besides discolored? Bloated, ragged fins, any odd lumps? I'm going to guess that it could be ammonia poisoning, but without any other information I can't say for sure. I would test ammonia right away (if you don't have a liquid test kit get one asap). If any ammonia shows up on the test, start doing daily 25% water changes, and maybe do a 50% change to start (any other members correct me if this is too much). The problem with doing 100% water changes every 2-3 weeks is that you will get ammonia buildup and then you are washing away any good bacteria that may have started to build up. This means that the tank will never cycle (if you don't know what cycling a tank means I would highly recommend reading up on it), so you will get regular ammonia spikes which stress your fish (ammonia is poison to fish). Also, it woud be good to get your fish on a staple diet of betta pellets or flakes (whichever he will eat). Also, even if you are unable to test the ammonia right now I would still do a 25% water change now. It can't hurt. Good luck.

[Meatpuppet]

try feeding him a defrosted, cut up, pea. i will clean out his insides if he has that kind of issue

[ErinBBC]

You really should get a heater - just because your house is 75 degrees that doesn't mean his water is...cold water can make them sluggish.

Also I agree with what's been said about the water changes and feeding bloodworms.

As for the pea though, resident betta expert BettaBaby posed a comment a while back saying that on autopsies of dead fish that she's done (called necropsies), fish who are fed peas can have digestive system damage especially if they get constipated often. She recommends Daphnia that you can by frozen or freeze dried at pet stores and they are a better way to get your betta unclogged.

IMPORTANT - what are your water parameters, like ammonia, pH, and nitrate/nitrite levels? Ammonia poisoning can make a fish lethargic. It's very important to buy a water test kit and check these levels often.