[AdonisVsqz]

My betta, Adonis, hasn't been his usual self lately. He usually swims to the front of his tank when I come closer to say hi. He also usually eats a lot. However, as of late, he hasn't been swimming much, he does not swim to the front and say hi anymore, does not eat much (he even avoids it sometimes) and tends to stay at the bottom of the tank or between leaves, away from sight. Oh, and he looks like he's been struggling to swim a little bit. No signs of anything serious from what I can see but I'm really worried that he's acting like this.

Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? Usually 78-82 F
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? Two otos.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets, bloodworms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% when he's acting normal, 75% as of late.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner.

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

Ammonia: 0 ppm (about a month ago, it went up to 0.25 ppm but I'm assuming it's because I had just added the otos to the tank)
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
pH: 7.8
Hardness: I don't know
Alkalinity: I don't know

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He looks like he lost a bit of weight.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Been very lethargic, anti-social.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A few days ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Nothing beyond water changes.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? When I got him from my boyfriend's coworker, he had fin rot. He's also had a short bout of swim bladder disease but that went away after a few days.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him for 7 months but I don't know how long he was with my boyfriend's coworker before I got him.

 

[HeroicPoison]

How long ago did you add the new fish to his tank?
What brand of food do you feed him?
does he have places to hide in his tank near the surface of the tank?

 

[AdonisVsqz]

I added the otos almost a month ago.
I feed him Nutrafin pellets and blood worms.
And yep, there are loads of leaves at the top of the tank. He usually sleeps on them but lately he's been using them to hide from everyone

 

[HeroicPoison]

You can try changing his food, new life spectrum and omega one pellets are very good for them.
My guess is that he is just very stressed out, keeping the lights off and interacting with him for short periods of time everyday will help him. One thing you can do for him is make him a betta bed this will give him a place to rest near the surface where he can also hide. Its very simple and cheap to make. You just need craft mesh, fishing line and a suction cup. cut the craft mesh into a rectangle, cut off any sharp points on the edges and on the mesh (sometimes little plastic points stick up) tie it into a tear drop shape with the fishing line, you can attach it to the suction cup by either sewing it to mesh or if you can tie it that will work too... attach the suction cup to the glass ensuring that the top of the tear drop shape is up out of the water and just like that u have a betta bed/hiding place.

 

[AdonisVsqz]

Maybe you're right, he has been refusing to eat his usual food more and more lately...
Also, I'll try that mesh thing. He seems to like being on the surface and just staying there at night...
If all else fails though, I don't know what I would do :/

 

[AdonisVsqz]

Thank you for suggestions by the way, I'll make a trip to the pet store tomorrow!

 

[HeroicPoison]

well give it a try... the high quality food will do him wonders (fingers crossed that he will eat it)
Give him a water change since he has new tank mates it will get dirty a lot faster, do a 50% water change midweek (make sure u stir up the gravel to get the waste from the bottom), and 100% at the end of the week.
Like i said before, lights off will reduce stress. His tank mates could be stressing him out so just keep an eye on them making sure they arent bothering him.

 

[AdonisVsqz]

I've seen one of the otos try to "clean him up" I guess you could put it. Like, when Adonis would swim by them, the oto would do what he does with the plants and tank walls. But I haven't seen that happen in over a week now...
Oh and I forgot to mention, he sinks vertically sometimes. That's swim bladder disease right?

 

[HeroicPoison]

If he lays at the bottom does he slide to one side? like kinda flop over?
is he swimming level? if these two things are happening then id say SBD
which end is sinking? how often does this happen? does he have difficulty straightening himself out?

 

[AdonisVsqz]

It's hard to tell whether he's sliding to his side or not cause he's usually leaning on something. He just looks like he's struggling to swim and stay afloat in one area without having to lean on something or incessantly flapping his fins.
When he does try to stay afloat without moving his fins, his tail sinks first. When he's swimming though, he's usually level, but like I said he struggles a lot.

 

[HeroicPoison]

He could be constipated... have you noticed any waste? if so does it look regular and not stringy or strangely bigger than normal?
If you feed him freeze dried bloodworms they puff up in their tiny tummies which can make them constipated.

 

[AdonisVsqz]

Hmmm, now that I think about it, I don't see a whole lot of waste from Adonis. I usually see the otos' waste...
I didn't know bloodworms do that! I would have to really decrease bloodworm consumption, then! He just seems to like it so much that I can't resist! Haha!
Should I fast him then? Or give him an epsom salt bath?

 

[HeroicPoison]

Epsom salt should be used as a last resort, it is hard on their organs and stressful to the fish. Make sure his tank is staying at about 80F the warm water can help get things moving ... if you have a small 1g tank you can use i would put him in there just so u know for sure if anything is starting to move.
I wouldnt fast him since he seems to have done that himself already. I would get a frozen pea from the freezer, get a sqaure of paper towel and dip it in his tank water and wrap it around the pea placed the wrapped pea in the microwave for a few seconds... when its done peal it and break it into two halves... cut up one half into pieces (each piece about the size of a pellet) and try to get him to eat it... the fiber in the pea will help if there is any blockage. feed him about a quarter of one pea... you should see poop in about a day

 

[AdonisVsqz]

But I've heard that peas aren't good for bettas?
Hmmmm, I guess I'll wait it out until he's better... It's just that this is the longest I've seen him struggle like this >.<

 

[HeroicPoison]

Peas r ok for them, and they often like them
I have read many posts that suggest the pea treatment and i have also researched it online before informing you of it just to be sure

 

[AdonisVsqz]

Alright! Thank you! Will definitely try it tomorrow when he's not sleeping

 

[HeroicPoison]

well let me know how it goes... keep me updated! im rooting for the little guy

 

[AdonisVsqz]

I shall! Thanks for the help! I'm hoping for his quick recovery too!

 

[AdonisVsqz]

SSaying this with a really heavy heart. My dear Adonis is up in fishy heaven now. Does not look like anything killed him since he looks pretty much the same as when I first got him. So I'm assuming it's old age :/

 

[NeptunesMom]

I'm sorry for your loss. SIP Adonis.

I have also heard that peas are not the best treatment and that it is AQ salt that is hard on their organs because it can cause water retention not Epsom salt, which causes fluid to go down. I used Epsom salt and daphnia to treat a pretty bad case of SBD in a rescue from Wal-Mart, he looked bad for a few days (I thought it might be a genetic problem and not SBD at one point), but then "surprise" he was just fine one morning. He's been fine ever since. I've now added daphnia and brine shrimp to all my fish diets about once a week. Just to ensure they get the fiber needed to keep everything moving.