Betta Lethargic and Pale [Pics and Vids]

[KennyNOL]

I was given this guy a year ago. His previous owner abandoned him along with a bright blue Betta. They were stuck in this tiny tube thing and the water looked like cola. My friends gave them to me and I was intent on taking care of them before getting rid of them to someone else. Of course, I ended up keeping them and upgraded to a bigger tank.

I already lost the blue guy but my red one is still kicking. He lost his fins twice because of fish fighting but has since grown back. He's been great up until this past week. Last night I thought he already died so I was going to flush him today but it turns out he's still kicking, he's just very lethargic and on the side. I looked around the web but I have no idea what's wrong with him exactly. I have these pics and a video below on his current status. I gave him a water change, cleaned out the tank and his favorite hiding spots, filled the tank with filtered water and added Nutrafin Aqua Plus & Angi-fungal, boiled some of the water so it could get warmer a little faster, added a tiny bit of sea salt, and then brought him back in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7yGFjmwHEU

He seems to be better now. He's moving from the ground to the heater (I switched the small one to the big one so I can adjust the temperature more accurately) and the water is around 80-82Fº (before it was 78-80Fº). Just now I saw him swim around quite a bit before laying back down. Ultimately i'm wondering what he might have and what more I can do in the meantime (hopefully not fish TB). I was gonna groom my dog this weekend so I figured I might as well get some fish supplies. I sort of spoil my pets, my dog getting quite a bit of toys and my fish a whole tank and hiding spots to himself. But I try not to overindulge them.


And for fun, two vids of him in better days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2X0GZRJRM8

My dog barking at him a month ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTjbYgYVTZU

Him and his old cellmate when I first got them.

[Adastra]

I recommend trying to make him as comfortable as possible--lower the water level in his tank so that he doesn't have to struggle to reach the surface to breathe and keep the water as clean as possible.

Sea salt is not the same as aquarium salt--the only salts that are safe for freshwater aquarium use are kosher salt and aquarium salt. These salts do not have any additives such as iodine or potassium. If you used a different kind of salt it would be prudent to do a water change to get rid of it.

Answering as many of these questions as you can will help me understand his situation more clearly: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[ashleyy]

Originally Posted by KennyNOL

I was given this guy a year ago. His previous owner abandoned him along with a bright blue Betta. They were stuck in this tiny tube thing and the water looked like cola. My friends gave them to me and I was intent on taking care of them before getting rid of them to someone else. Of course, I ended up keeping them and upgraded to a bigger tank.

hahaha, same here. I got (my) betta as a gift for my boyfriend but, nope. It's mine now.

[ashleyy]

I agree in lowering the water levels so he can rest more. Keep him heated at about 82 degrees. Add the recommended amount of aquarium salt for you next few water changes. Don't add any medications without knowing for sure what he has. Feed him like normal and scoop out whatever he doesn't eat.

Keep us posted. :]

[luv2run21]

lower the water level,there could be something internally wrong