Help please!

[Sara07013]

Hello, I have a beautiful blue and red betta. He lives in a 5 gallon all to himself with a filter and heater. I have had him for about 6 months maybe longer. All was going well until he suddenly stopped eating. It has been 4 days and I'm afraid if he doesn't eat anything soon he'll turn for the worst. He looks healthy and happy. He swims around just as much and still flares at me but he suddenly shows no interest in food. I know he's gotta be hungry! I've tried diff betta fish brands and even tried feeding him bloodworms! Still he show's no interest. I clean his tank once a week and do 50% water changes. I don't know what I could be doing wrong! Any help is appreciated. I don't wanna loose another betta =(

[Sakura8]

Hi Sara, I'm sorry your guy has lost his appetite. Here are some tips that might help:

One thing you might try doing is increasing the water changes to one 25% and one 50% a week. 50% is fine but I'm not sure if it's somehow putting his appetite off. You can try the increased water changes and see if that perks his appetite up.

You can also try soaking his pellets/food in fresh garlic juice. You can use fresh squeezed garlic or you can dissolve some garlic powder - garlic only, no salt - in tank water. Garlic can stimulate the appetite.

You can try holding a mirror up to him right before you feed him or right after you've fed him. Sometimes if a betta thinks he has competitition for food his survival instinct will kick in and he'll eat because he doesn't want the "other" betta to get the food.

If you feed him frozen bloodworms, you can use tweezers to pull the worm through the water to make it look alive. This might stimulate your guy's hunting instinct and he may think the food is prey to be eaten.

I hope one of these tips helps you.

[Sara07013]

Thank you Sakura!! I will try the more frequent water changes and the mirror idea! Hopefully my little guy will perk up and make a nice big bubble nest for me Haven't seen one in a while!

[Sakura8]

I certainly hope so. Bubblenests are always so fun. Best of luck!

[Littlebittyfish]

Does he look bloated at all? Is your tank heated?

[Sara07013]

Yes actually his tummy does look bloated. I've just noticed that. Uh oh's What should I do??

[Sakura8]

Is he pooping? And do you think you can post a pic of him? If he's not pooping, he may be constipated. You can treat him with epsom salt. With epsom salt, you can treat him in his 5 gallon or you can put him in a smaller QT tank or container. The dosage is one teaspoon per gallon, dissolve the salt before putting it in. Do a water change every other day. Keep him in this mixture for five days. If it hasn't helped him pass waste or go down in size, up the dosage to two teaspoons per gallon and continue for another five days. If at any time during the treatment, he starts pooping regularly but remains bloated, post back because he may have developed a bacterial infection.

[Littlebittyfish]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Is he pooping? And do you think you can post a pic of him? If he's not pooping, he may be constipated. You can treat him with epsom salt. With epsom salt, you can treat him in his 5 gallon or you can put him in a smaller QT tank or container. The dosage is one teaspoon per gallon, dissolve the salt before putting it in. Do a water change every other day. Keep him in this mixture for five days. If it hasn't helped him pass waste or go down in size, up the dosage to two teaspoons per gallon and continue for another five days. If at any time during the treatment, he starts pooping regularly but remains bloated, post back because he may have developed a bacterial infection.

This.

If you have a lot of gravel It may be helpful to put him into a quarantine container floated in his heated tank so that you can see if he is pooping or not...If his poop is white it means he may have a parasite...If its normal colored he may just be constipated. How much and how often are you feeding him?What type of food does he eat?

[Sara07013]

Thanks for the replies!! The only aquarium salt I have is API and it's in the lil milk jug. I hope that's the right one! The only betta food he ate was the top fin color enhancing betta bits. I fed him about 4-6 a day once in the morning and once a night...I hope I wasn't over feeding him! Today he looks like he's getting worse. Laying at the bottom of the tank and his belly looks kinda white/silverish and extended. It's been about over a week since he has eaten. How soon should I add the salt and should I do a water change before adding salt?

[Littlebittyfish]

Originally Posted by Sara07013

Thanks for the replies!! The only aquarium salt I have is API and it's in the lil milk jug. I hope that's the right one! The only betta food he ate was the top fin color enhancing betta bits. I fed him about 4-6 a day once in the morning and once a night...I hope I wasn't over feeding him! Today he looks like he's getting worse. Laying at the bottom of the tank and his belly looks kinda white/silverish and extended. It's been about over a week since he has eaten. How soon should I add the salt and should I do a water change before adding salt?

You need to use epsom salt for constipation..not aquarium salt..Epsom salt can be bought at most grocery stores or pharmacys. Aquarium salt is used for infections and epsom for swelling/constipation.