[CocoFish]

What is wrong with Smokey? He's been like this for almost a week now. He hasn't been eating, or swimming, and he just sits on top of this leaf the entire day and either sleeps or sulks. I'm really worried about him. I don't see any sign of disease. He's in a 5 gallon tank, with an adjustable heater always put at 80F. I noticed he doesn't like the filter because the current is too heavy so I tend to leave it off, but he doesn't seem to be acting any happier. He's currently in the Fluval Spec tank. He's below one of his old bubble nests in the image, and I wonder if he's angry at the filter (located to the left of the leaf he is sitting on top), and he's protecting the remainder of his bubble nest or something. But that could just be my imagination...

 

[Aquatail]

Can you fill this out? It may help someone figure out what's going on.

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

 

[Hallyx]

What is his ammonia reading? What were you feeding him?

This is a good question to ask on the "diseases" section of this forum.There are more people there who can answer. Answering that questionnaire will help them help you.

 

[Graceful]

Just wanted to mention that I notice he's built a nice bubble nest. So that's a good sign, right? Not saying he isn't sick, just that he is feeling well enough to at least build a nest.

 

[Hallyx]

Betta sometimes build bubblenests in those nasty cold cups n the petstore. It's not an indicator of anything except their readiness to mate.

 

[CocoFish]

What is his ammonia reading? What were you feeding him?

This is a good question to ask on the "diseases" section of this forum.There are more people there who can answer. Answering that questionnaire will help them help you.

I just tested the ammonia levels and unfortunately it turns out it has a 0.25 reading (couldn't afford to buy a new kit until today sadly)...so I'm guessing this is why Smokey has been so sick? He ate a little bit today, but he's still sulking and having me really concerned.

I've been feeding him Tetrabetta Mini Pellets and then freezed dried bloodworms once a week.

 

[CocoFish]

Housing
What size is your tank?: 5 Gallons
What temperature is your tank?: 80F
Does your tank have a filter?: Yes, currently turned off because current was too heavy. Need to find a way to adjust it.
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?: None. He was living with a snail but he did die around the time Smokey got depressed. Does this event have anything to do with his sulking?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?: Tetrabetta Mini Pellets and bloodworms once a week.
How often do you feed your betta fish?: Twice a day. About 3 pellets each time.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?: Currently changing it every 3 days.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?: 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?: Aqueon Water Conditioner

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

Ammonia: 0.25

Need to buy another kit for the rest, ran out of test strips.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?: Color has dulled out. Fins drooping.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?: Not swimming, not eating, mostly sleeping on a leaf.
When did you start noticing the symptoms?: About a week ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?: More frequent water changes. Tried treating the tank with a little bit of aquarium salt.
Does your fish have any history of being ill?: No.
How old is your fish (approximately)?: Unknown. I found him at Petsmart a little over a month ago.

 

[Kithy]

Might want to up your changes to at least 50% twice a week.

It is really possible that he is depressed after losing his snail friend. My VT went nuts and destroyed his beautiful fins after his snail died.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=30139

Baffling is a great way to make your filter outflow less powerful so you can keep it on. You can cycle a 5g tank but you need to have the filter working. My 5g betta tank is cycled and I only change out about 50% once a week or less depending on parameters.

If you live near a pet store you can bring in some water in like an empty pill bottle (rinse well) and usually they test it for free. I did that for months til I could get a test kit.

 

[CocoFish]

Might want to up your changes to at least 50% twice a week.

It is really possible that he is depressed after losing his snail friend. My VT went nuts and destroyed his beautiful fins after his snail died.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=30139

Baffling is a great way to make your filter outflow less powerful so you can keep it on. You can cycle a 5g tank but you need to have the filter working. My 5g betta tank is cycled and I only change out about 50% once a week or less depending on parameters.

If you live near a pet store you can bring in some water in like an empty pill bottle (rinse well) and usually they test it for free. I did that for months til I could get a test kit.

Thank you so much for all the information and advice, I really appreciate it.

I agree, I'll do a water change tomorrow.

I was thinking that as well. He seem to have gotten along with the snail, and even though the snail wasn't with us long (unfortunately), I think Smokey did enjoy his company. The horrible thing is, I didn't take the snail out for 3 days when he passed because I was assuming the snail was asleep.

 

[Kithy]

Thank you so much for all the information and advice, I really appreciate it.

I agree, I'll do a water change tomorrow.

I was thinking that as well. He seem to have gotten along with the snail, and even though the snail wasn't with us long (unfortunately), I think Smokey did enjoy his company. The horrible thing is, I didn't take the snail out for 3 days when he passed because I was assuming the snail was asleep.

Oh goodness.. the smell must have been awful.

When Alacrity attacked the little apple snail (Appletini btw, BEST NAME EVER D: ) I didn't find out for many days >_< All that was left was the shell and the little trap door.

 

[CocoFish]

Oh goodness.. the smell must have been awful.

When Alacrity attacked the little apple snail (Appletini btw, BEST NAME EVER D: ) I didn't find out for many days >_< All that was left was the shell and the little trap door.

Yes, the smell was horrid...haha.

Haha, that must've been awkward, and really upsetting! And Appletini is the best name ever, wish I thought that one up! Haha!

 

[CocoFish]

Is it possible that Smokey could have a case of velvet? Both images are taken with flash.

Before:

What he looks like at the moment:

 

[Hallyx]

You might consider getting Prime water conditioner. Aqueon doesn't detoxify ammonia. Prime does. So does API Ammolock and Amquel Plus.

That said, 0.25ppm ammonia is not much. We recommend that as a maximum for fish-in cycling. Pretty sure that's not the problem.

Kithy is right, you can cycle a 5g tank. And you should.

Look into upgrading the food New Life Spectrum or Omega One Betta are among the better brands.

 

[Kithy]

It looks like he might just be marbeling but it is hard to tell.

Velvet will look like gold dust when you use a flashlight on him. I've never actually seen it though so hopefully someone pops in and helps on that matter.

 

[CocoFish]

Thank you both for your help. For the first time in days Smokey's been swimming around. Not as energetic as he used to be but at least he's starting to move. Still can't figure out what's the matter with him...

 

[CocoFish]

So I noticed Smokey's developed some black specks on his tail and fin. Is this a sign of a bacteria infection or just some new pattern he developed?

 

[CocoFish]

He seems to be doing a bit better now though, just did another 50% water change and he's starting to swim around again.

 

[CocoFish]

And is it just me or is his color changing? Or is that just because he's sick?

 

[Kithy]

Depends on the change. If the color is fading it might be because he's sick. If he's changing colors entirely he might be marbling. It's really hard to say. The black specks are fine though.

 

[CocoFish]

Depends on the change. If the color is fading it might be because he's sick. If he's changing colors entirely he might be marbling. It's really hard to say. The black specks are fine though.

Do you think he might have fin melt instead?