Whats Wrong with him?? :(

[kif3]

Housing
What size is your tank? 14 L (around 3.7 gals i think)
What temperature is your tank? im trying to keep it at 75F but with winter now its starting to fluctuate alot :(
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? n/a

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? he hasn't been eating, i tried blood worms today and i saw him eat one, i left and when i came back i couldn't see the others, other food i have are Aqua One Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? i try twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? it will be once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? small amount of epsom salts

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: about 0.05
Nitrite: n/a
Nitrate: n/a
pH: about 8 ish
Hardness: n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he curls into one side a little bit (i haven't had him for long)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he is really active for a little while and then goes and hides in his plants and seems very dull
When did you start noticing the symptoms? yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?n/a
Does your fish have any history of being ill? n/a
How old is your fish (approximately)? i think he is still quite young

[Murka]

Maybe post a picture? I think you might need to do more water changes...Like, maybe twice a week or so. Wait for other people to reply to know for sure.

[kif3]

okays, i will do more frequent changes (i only got him 2 days ago)

my computer just peed itself and deleted the photos i had of him so i will have to take some more.

also some extra info includes:
he stays on the bottom of his tank under his plants
he used to be in a tank with alot of guppies (could he be not used to being alone?)

[kif3]

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=72132

theres a picture of him the first day i got him which was the only day he seemed to be happy and looked healthier.. (2days ago, Monday afternoon)

[Wyvern]

If you only got him on monday, give him time to relax. Keep the tank dark so he can get used to it. It took my one boy 3 days before he would eat the granules I feed them. Now he eats EVERYTHING in sight! Hes just still settling into the tank and getting used to the new environment most likely.

[Sakura8]

Originally Posted by Wyvern

If you only got him on monday, give him time to relax. Keep the tank dark so he can get used to it. It took my one boy 3 days before he would eat the granules I feed them. Now he eats EVERYTHING in sight! Hes just still settling into the tank and getting used to the new environment most likely.

I second this. It can take a new betta a week to adjust to his new home and feel like eating. My first betta adjusted within minutes but my second betta, my little girl, didn't and I panicked. Turns out all it took was some time and a change of diet. Which reminds me. Also, it could be that the pellets are too big for his little mouth, especially if he is young and small. If you want, you can try to crush them a little so they're in smaller pieces or flattened like a disc and see if he will eat them that way. Another method to try is soaking the pellet for 10 minutes in a small bowl of his tank water. This makes it soft so he can take a bite from the pellet instead of having to try and swallow it whole.

Does he have any little caves to hide in? Oddly enough, the more hiding spots they have, the more secure and confident they will feel and the more they'll swim around. You can get a clean coffee mug and tip it on its side or use a piece of clean PVC pipe. Or you can always buy a little cave at the pet or aquarium store.

[turtle10]

Originally Posted by kif3

Housing
What size is your tank? 14 L (around 3.7 gals i think)
What temperature is your tank? im trying to keep it at 75F but with winter now its starting to fluctuate alot :(
I would get a new heater that doesn't fluctuate
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? n/a

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? he hasn't been eating, i tried blood worms today and i saw him eat one, i left and when i came back i couldn't see the others, other food i have are Aqua One Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? i try twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? it will be once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25-50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? small amount of epsom salts
Always add water dechlorinator/conditioner. Also, why are you adding epsom salts? Salt should only be used for treatment.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: about 0.05
Nitrite: n/a
Nitrate: n/a
pH: about 8 ish
Hardness: n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he curls into one side a little bit (i haven't had him for long)
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he is really active for a little while and then goes and hides in his plants and seems very dull
When did you start noticing the symptoms? yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?n/a
Does your fish have any history of being ill? n/a
How old is your fish (approximately)? i think he is still quite young

I would stop adding in epsom salts, why where you doing that? Just wondering..

[kif3]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

I second this. It can take a new betta a week to adjust to his new home and feel like eating. My first betta adjusted within minutes but my second betta, my little girl, didn't and I panicked. Turns out all it took was some time and a change of diet. Which reminds me. Also, it could be that the pellets are too big for his little mouth, especially if he is young and small. If you want, you can try to crush them a little so they're in smaller pieces or flattened like a disc and see if he will eat them that way. Another method to try is soaking the pellet for 10 minutes in a small bowl of his tank water. This makes it soft so he can take a bite from the pellet instead of having to try and swallow it whole.

Does he have any little caves to hide in? Oddly enough, the more hiding spots they have, the more secure and confident they will feel and the more they'll swim around. You can get a clean coffee mug and tip it on its side or use a piece of clean PVC pipe. Or you can always buy a little cave at the pet or aquarium store.

i hope so. his pellets are very small and would fit into his mouth.

there are lots of plants that he likes to hide in, his favourite is in the corner behind a potted plant.

In reply to turtle10 i havnt really got enough money to buy another heater but i have thought about it a bit and what if i kept a heater on in my room to help with the heating problem? so my room temp wont affect the tank temp as much?

and with the salts someone said to put them in the tank a while ago, plus ive read it can help with plant fertilisation, i dont put much into the tank [only 1/2 teaspoon to my whole 14L (3.7ish gallons) tank and not with every water change]
sorry, i should have expanded on that a bit more :/.

another reason im worrying is that he built a bubble nest on the first night i had him and after that he started being like he is. i also think his fins are clamped really bad as he doesn't use them very much at all and i havnt seen him spead them out since i first put him in the tank :(

[kif3]

heres a picture of him if it helps..


(sorry its not very good one)

oh and sorry for forgetting to add this i do always add conditioner thankyou ^^

[Sakura8]

What kind of heater are you using? Is it one that is preset or can you adjust the temperature that it keeps the water at? If it's a preset one, there's not much you can do about that. If you want to keep a heater in your room you can, but only if you're comfortable with it yourself - don't make yourself sweat here. Don't put it too close to the tank, though, as it could cause it to actually overheat. Some fluctuation in temp is going to be natural, although 75-80 does seem a little drastic. Are you using an in-tank thermometer to help keep track of things?

Continue to try various methods to get him to eat. The pellets I had for my male were so tiny I was amazed but they were still too big for my girl. Remember they expand once they're in the water so by the time your betta gets his mouth around them, they may be too big to swallow.

I have heard of betta owners, especially those who breed them, keeping a small amount of aquarium salt in their tanks at all time. A prophylactic, my betta book calls it. Dictionary . . . dictionary . . . ah, prophylactic: a preventative measure. That said, I personally don't know anyone who does this so I can't speak for long-term results. If you want to continue keeping salt in there, switch to aquarium salts, not epsom salt.

You haven't even had your little guy a week so give him some time to settle in. Sometimes adrenaline kicks in and they seem fine the first night or so but when it wears off, they have to adjust to things. I know, it's very easy to worry about them. My male adjusted right away but he's also the carefree and kinda dense kind of guy. In contrast, my female took several days to adjust and I fussed and worried over her the entire time. I've had her roughly two weeks and she's now pretty much completely adjusted, but she still clamps up occasionally when there's a sudden movement near her tank (she hates cameras). So, it does take time. It's hard to be patient, especially when they aren't eating, but sometimes time is what they need.