It just seems unfair...

[harrypotter]

My friend has had a betta for over 2 years and he's been thriving great. He lives in this:



It's horrible and small, he swims tiny little circles all day becuase she has crammed 2 plants in there as well. She overfeeds him ridiculous amounts of crappy flakes and YET HE'S BEEN HEALTHY THIS ENTIRE TIME. When I try to encourage her to upgrade his home she tells me "he's lived this long like this so I'll just save the money, but thanks!"

I just bought a betta at the end of June and it's been a constant struggle to keep him alive! I knew nothing about fish when I bought him (I foolishly thought 'how hard can it be?') but he's in a 2 gl tank, has a heater, 100% water changes twice a week, I test his water twice a week for ammonia/nitrate, he's fed pellets and bloodworms and yet he's still listless and just sits on the bottom of his tank.

How is it fair that she has a thriving betta and mine seems so difficult when I've provided such a wonderful home for him?!?!

/rant

[dragonflie]

I'm sorry. I know that has got to be really frustrating. All I can say in situations such as these, are "surviving is not thriving."

With some fish we can give them the best of circumstances and conditions and still see problems. Why? Unfortunately sometimes there isn't an answer for that.

*hug*

[harrypotter]

I guess I don't know that he is thriving great but he seems healthy. Gorgeous fins, flares once in awhile, seems to perked right up.

I don't know what is up with Malfoy - knowing my luck I probably just got the laziest betta there is, sigh.

It was nice to vent though, nobody else IRL gets it!

[ForbiddenSecrets]

Unfortunately the betta you bought might have been weak from the selling process and maltreatment these fish go through. It can make the initial care for them challenging sometimes. :/

Hopefully your boy picks up soon.

Edit: Does your boy have good color? Does he regularly want to eat? Also nice fins don't really mean too much besides the fish is eating and doesn't move too much in a lot of cases. A lot of times tail biting seems to be a response to moving to a bigger environment and not having the strength yet to carry all that weight.

[harrypotter]

Yeah his fins are really nice and I've looked them over carefully and I see no signs of fin rot, ich, or anything else. He's also quite the little piggy, I think he'd eat everything if I poured all the pellets into the tank.

I had a scare with him about two weeks or so ago because the ammonia levels in my water were really high but I got them brought back down and he was doing awesome. In the past few days though, he's resorted to spending a lot of time at the bottom of the tank, just hanging out.

It's weird, but he seems almost happier without a heater in the water but I know that can't be true because the temp is like 60 - 70 F without the heater. I just don't know how to please the little bugger!

[ForbiddenSecrets]

Do you live in a cold area or where the temp swings often? Maybe the heat in the tank is fluctuating which is bothering him [cheap heater]

Or he might just be bored. Maybe try switching things up in his tank? For ammonia I love anacharis in a small tank. Great for floating and for building bubblenests in. They also help with the ammonia levels [not a replacement for changes of course but a little aid never hurts c:] and grow like champs. Also they can be quite pretty.