Listless betta fish

[Sebastians mom]

My 1 year old Betta is sick, I guess. He won't eat, won't swim, just sits on the bottom of the bowl and does nothing. He hasn't eaten since Sunday night. Once in a while he comes up, looks at me, then sinks back down. What do I do? I need help! He's an adorable little betta, and I don't want anything bad to happen to him.....

I did change his water yesterday, and it is still clean.

[willow]

hi
i don't know anything about Bettas,but i hate to see
people who are in need.
did you use de-chlorinator in the new water ?
has he been to the bathroom(pooped)
if he has,what does it look like?
if he has not been,then perhaps he is a little constipated
perhaps ? maybe try dropping in a cooked shelled pea.
any good ?

[Sebastians mom]

He looks like he's pooped, and it looks normal. I've been told he could be moving on to the big aquarium in another astral plane. Any comments? Anyone?

[Lupin]

Welcome to Fishforum.com.

What size is the tank and how long has he been with you?:)

[Sebastians mom]

Hi Lupin,

I've had him for a year, and I have him in a 1/2 gallon container I bought at the pet store. It's one of those that has a divider in it so you can keep 2 bettas, but I took out the divider to give him more room.

I change his water frequently, use the chemical to condition the water, and he prefers pellets to flakes. He's coming up a little and he's eaten 3 pellets this evening.

Thanks for any imput you can give me.

[sean117Ply]

Is the water heated? because betta's often lay on the bottom if the water is too cold.

[MegK]

i find bettas depressing when they have no room to move, he needs more space.


when u think bout it, the "general" (finger quotations cuz not very accurate) rule is one gallon per inch of fish, and the betta can grow 3'' long...

i think its his living space, get him bigger and he will get so excited :)

[Falina]

Do you have a test kit? I'd recommend a liquid test kit to test for amonia, nitrite and nitrate, the test strips are very unreliable. If you can, post your results for the 3 parameters I mentioned. You should have 0 amonia, 0 nitrite and a low reading of nitrate.

The water needs to be heated if your room temperature is not warm enough. They are tropical fish and need a temp of around 24-28 to be active.

The size of his tank could be an issue. If you can, get him a tank of at least 5g and I think you will really see a difference in him.

[Sebastians mom]

I will try everything that has been suggested! Thank you so much! I know, some people think he's just a fish, but I've grown very fond of my little guy! You are all so wonderful! Thank you!