Help!EMERCENCY!!! My fish is lethargic...why? Is he dying?

[SqueeTheFish98]

So...we got this beautiful, fan tailed betta less than a week ago (on Sat. the 26th) and just changed the water of his 3 liter tank yesterday...putting back in abt 1/4 of the old water...put drops in as directed..etc...we feed him like twice daily, 3 or so granules of betta food and removing uneated food. Now today, he just started kinda hanging out at the bottom of his bowl and not as active! WHY?! the bowl has a small LED light in the lid, its a 'Marina half moon' tank, in a warm room, any light anyone can shed on this, he looks perfect, but just not moving around like he was before... His tail isn't fanning out and it is just sagging at the bottom... He always goes to the same spot and seems to be breathing...WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?????? My daughter is on the verge of tears almost every 5 seconds since it's her fish...

[AngelicScars]

What size tank? What is the water temp. at?

[SqueeTheFish98]

The tank is 3 liters and we have no idea the water temp. Probably about 70 degrees. The fish was fine until we changed his water yesterday. Maybe we didn't add enough "Betta safe" drops?

[SqueeTheFish98]

And he was fine until today

[dramaqueen]

70 degrees is too cold for bettas. I would recommend getting a heater. Bettas are tropical fish and need temperatures of 76 to 82.

[moraismeep]

Yeah, that and possibly a kind of bubbler or live/safe silk plants to put in with him usually reduces the stress levels of fish that could possibly cause lethargy.

[vaygirl]

As said, water that's too cold will cause them to be lethargic. Betta's are tropical fish no matter what the pet store tells ya. They last longer in cold temps because they're very hardy fish but it's not natural for them. Over time they'll degrade, some faster then others. How did you change his water? Did you let the water sit out for a day to get it to room temp? Was the temp very different from his old temp?

Also, a one gallon needs to have the water changed completely (don't save any old water) a couple of times a week. You'd be better off with a bigger tank for him, at least 2 and a half gallons. Then you could get away with less water changes.

[SqueeTheFish98]

Hey y'all, thanks for all your help and advice! He seems so much better today, swimming around happily and being active...only now there's a small hole (?) on his dorsal/top fin! argh...and i dont even know the water temp, no thermometer...i'm gauging on the room's temp....and the water change? I did it just how the woman at Petco advised: keep the fish in like a 1/4 or 1/3 or the old water, then add the (warm) filtered water with the drops in the cleaned tank...also we do have a slik plant/flower in there too. So, anyway thanks alot for all your help!

[kelly528]

Hmm how to break this down...

1) The employees at any fish store are 99% noob and have no idea what they are talking about. IMO you literally have a better chance of getting correct fishkeeping advice from a random person off the street. That is no exaggeration. Always remember: the core purpose of a pet store is to sell products. They will tell you whatever will increase their revenue the most, not what is best or even humane for your fish!

2) You need to change all the water when you change his water. The people at the pet store may tell you to leave some of the water in to preserve the 'good bacteria'.... yeah.... not in a 3L tank with not filtration/oxygenation lol!

3) The tank needs to be heated to 80 degrees. Unfortunately this is impossible to do unless you heat your whole room to 80 degrees. Why? Even the lowest-wattage heaters on the market will totally cook 3L of water... you want to aim for about 5W of heater strength per gallon. So for example 5g of water would need a 25W heater.

4) The minimum tank size recommended for a betta is 1g. Not even very experienced betta owners (including myself) would attempt this because the smaller the tank, the more maintenance. They are also difficult to keep the water quality stable. The smallest i would ever go for myself is 2.5g but i recommend 5g for beginners.

5) Until you find a more convenient sized tank you will need to change the water daily to prevent the fish from being poisoned by his own waste (known as ammonia). You saw how perky he was after his water change. This is because you removed some of the ammonia from his tank. It will build up quickly again in a tnak that small.

[SqueeTheFish98]

All I have to say is :O