[camicham]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum and betta fish care, so please do be patient with me.

I bought my second betta fish (I had one as a small child) approximately 2 weeks ago. He was very good for a few days and seemed very happy in his tank. I came home one day and felt the water temperature for the first time since his first water change and it felt way too cold. I thought that it would stay room temperature, but I sleep with a fan on and it chilled his water. He had been acting a little strange (not swimming around much, spitting out his food, staying in corner of tank, etc.) before but now he seemed almost lifeless. I frantically ran out to the nearest pet store and bought an appropriate heater for his tank along with some freeze dried bloodworms. I also went online and purchased a well recommended food since I had been feeding him cheap pet store food, not knowing they were picky.

He gobbled up two bloodworms while I did another water change and stuck the heater in. After some research I thought he had a swim bladder, and I read that it would go away after a consistent water temperature (78F). It has been about a week since I purchased the heater and he still has swim bladder symptoms.

When he got used to the water he would swim to the bottom a little, but he still stays in the corner of the tank for 90% of the time and keeps his body in an "s" shape with the end of his body looking bloated. There is no discoloration in his body or fins, but he isn't wanting to eat any pellets (both brands) and I don't want to overfeed with bloodworms.

Please help me keep my fish alive! I was super excited when I got him and I am already attached to him. ): I appreciate any answers!

 

[VivianKJean]

Stop feeding him freeze dried foods since they lead to bloating and constipation.

Are you sure he has SBD. Just sitting at the bottom does mean that he has SBD.

Will you please answer ALL of the questions below

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)?

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

^+1

 

[camicham]

I suppose it could be due to the bloodworms too. Self diagnosis aren't very smart ;-), although I do believe he had it for a while because when he was in colder water he would swim down and float back up, which I believe is a kind of SB.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 Gallon. I don't have room for more.
What temperature is your tank? 78F
Does your tank have a filter? No
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

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I just barely bought New Life Spectrum Betta Formula. I used to feed him Top Fin Betta Bits from Petsmart and I fed him about 2-3 freeze dried bloodworms total.
How often do you feed your betta fish? When I first got him I fed him 3 pellets 2x a day but he started to spit them out so I only gave him 2 pellets 2x a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly or sooner if water appears dirty during the week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50-100% depending on cleanliness
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqueon Betta Bowl Plus

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? No
If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? No change in color but his back end looks bloated or swollen and he curves his spine into an S shape.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
Before water heater: Clamped his fins a lot, didn't ever swim around, stayed in corner, couldn't swim down. Ate, but spit out cheap pellets.
After water heater: Swims down once in a while, when he does he stays under his plant for a long time. 90% of the time in the corner, no clamped fins, just seems like he is chilling there. Is not eating any pellets, but I don't want to feed him the freeze dried bloodworms.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? I started noticing him go in the corner as the water got cold, so about a week or a week and a half ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not other than keeping a consistent water temperature.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? I got him two weeks ago and he is much smaller than my sister's betta, and they are the same kind. I'm guessing he is younger than hers? No idea.

Added note:

Last night after I started this forum I went to check on him before I went to sleep and he was in a very strange U shape. His head was facing down, his tail was facing down, but his body was curved up. He later swam in a little circle and went to the corner by the heater again. He also turns sideways once in a blue moon too, I just thought I should add that in.

Thanks so much for the replies so far! I really hope he gets better!

 

[lilnaugrim]

He sounds like a normal stressed fishy too me that just hasn't had the right food, good on you for getting the NLS! Spitting out pellets means generally that they are too big for him so you can slice the pellets in half with your fingernail or crush them to see if he'll eat them then.

The back end is not swollen, what you are seeing is his swim bladder organ. Much like people, bettas are all built slightly different so for some of them, the organ is very prominent while others you can barely see it. Sitting in the S shape unless he seems like he can't move at all in that shape or is stiff, is a normal resting position as well so it doesn't seem like there is much wrong about him, you're just happening to notice different things. It can also come about with stress.

Stress from the big move (it's a huge step for Bettas to go from a cup to a tank, so it's a big stressor for them) is most likely what is causing all this, half the time they don't eat, they hide, they float, they stay at the bottom, there's a bunch of different things that can happen depending on the fish. And other times you could have a fish with such an outgoing personality that he just doesn't care and is happy to see you right away. My fish in my avatar took a whole month to finally eat and realize that my face usually meant food lol.

 

[VivianKJean]

+1 to lil

you also are not doing enough water changes. It is highly recommended that you do not keep a betta in a tank that is smaller than 2.5 gallon. This is because of maintenance and safety of your fish. With a 1 gallon tank you have to do DAILY 100% water changes to keep the ammonia levels down and prevent ammonia poisoning. 1 gallon tanks are hard to keep clean. I know you said you don't have room for a larger tank and thats okay. But if you are going to keep the 1 gallon is need to start doing daily 100% water changes.

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

^+1

^+1

Basicly you need to remember he is always giving off toxins, like if we were trapped in a sealed room we'd die of co2 poisoning before we starved, for him it's ammonia which comes from his poo and gills. In a 1g tank you have 3 options: a 100% change 5/7 days a week, 2 40% changes a day (what I'd do since he is stressed), or find a way to get a bigger tank (although you say you don't have room the tetra 2.5g crescent moon actually takes up less foot space than a 1g kritter keeper)

 

[camicham]

Thank you for the answers so far.

I really looked at his color today, and it does seem to have faded more than I observed. I'm trying to attach a photo but it isn't working very well.

I brought his little tank downstairs to do a water change and bring him to some natural light, but on the way down I felt I was stressing him out. He was racing around the tank, and I'm really hesitant to do another 100% water change (I did one yesterday) because I feel it will stress him more. He used to be a vibrant blueish green and now he is a dull gray/purple with the blue/green only on his top and bottom fins. Maybe if I put him in the smaller cup he will try to eat since the food will be right there?

 

[lilnaugrim]

Actually, honestly Betta fish don't make enough ammonia for it to be so toxic. Twice weekly is just fine for a 1 gallon, heck I don't even do my 1 gallons that often. I suck out the solid wastes during the week and maybe do a 50% change on them at the end of the week. Granted my pH is much lower than most people's so ammonia is turned into ammonium which is less toxic. But I digress.

 

[camicham]

How do you get pictures up? Sorry for the random link, I tried to copy/paste.

I think I'm going to put him in the cup I got him in and try to get him to eat the new pellets. Maybe that will help with his color and his behavior once he knows I'm feeding him good food.

If I can't feed him freeze dried bloodworms, what do you recommend?

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

I stick by the daily rule because when I had ryuuji in a 1g if I didn't do a 50% daily change he's get fin rot within 2 days, but then he tailbit so...

If you don't wanna do a 100% just do a 50%

And for pics "go advanced" "manage attachments" "choose file" "upload" "close window"

 

[lilnaugrim]

How do you get pictures up? Sorry for the random link, I tried to copy/paste.

I think I'm going to put him in the cup I got him in and try to get him to eat the new pellets. Maybe that will help with his color and his behavior once he knows I'm feeding him good food.

If I can't feed him freeze dried bloodworms, what do you recommend?

You can use Photobucket to upload your picture there and then copy the IMG coding link to here. Just keep trying the pellets, eventually he'll be hungry enough to eat them.

I stick by the daily rule because when I had ryuuji in a 1g if I didn't do a 50% daily change he's get fin rot within 2 days, but then he tailbit so...

If you don't wanna do a 100% just do a 50%

And for pics "go advanced" "manage attachments" "choose file" "upload" "close window"

That's fine but you should also let people know that it's not the only way to do thing.

 

[VivianKJean]

+1 to bikeridinguckgirl.

at least do 40-50% every day.

for the food

he should be fed pellets that are low in fillers. The forum recommends Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets or New Life Spectrum Betta Formula, Small Fish Formula, All Purpose Formula (1mm or smaller). You can feed him FROZEN bloodworms as an occasional treat.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Actually frozen bloodworms can also be fed daily but it's better to have him on a staple diet of pellets if you can get him to eat those fish and then you can use the frozen bloodworms whenever you feel like it. They don't cause bloating but the general rule of thumb with bloodworms is that the more blood that is in them, the healthier and more nutritious they are for our fish.

 

[camicham]

+1 to bikeridinguckgirl.
he should be fed pellets that are low in fillers. The forum recommends Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets or New Life Spectrum Betta Formula, Small Fish Formula, All Purpose Formula (1mm or smaller). You can feed him FROZEN bloodworms as an occasional treat.

I'm trying to feed him New Life, but he simply looks angry at me now for moving him around into a cup. He definitely has stress lines, and when I get a picture uploaded you can see his discoloration. Is there anything I can do now to help him really relax? It's hard to see him like this.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Yeah, just keep trying to feed him until he eats it, it could be a few days or a week or more. It took my first fish a whole month to finally settle down to eat but no worries they can survive for months without food. Make sure you remove uneaten pellets as well so they do not foul the water.

At night, or even right now, you can put a towel/blanket over his tank to block out the light. The total darkness helps them calm down so they can unwind more or less. Keep him in a quiet area as well for now too.

 

[camicham]

Thank you so much!

After placing him in the cup, I crushed two pellets and put them in there, and it was like he was purposefully ignoring them. He swam away from them and had his mouth and gills open very wide. I then did a 50% water change and brought him back to my room. I put the heater back in, covered his tank with towels (leaving a little uncovered at the top for air) and now I'm just going to wait.

I will keep you all updated on his condition. Thanks again for the help!

Earlier I said he was much smaller than my sister's new betta. They are the same kind. Does that mean he is younger? Her betta has had no problem at all, which is really frustrating.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Oh, he was flaring at something lol, most likely at his reflection or something ^_^

It is possible that he's younger, could be different genetics making him smaller or your sisters betta is bigger.

 

[camicham]

I think I uploaded the photo correctly this time. If I did, his head looks much lighter and his stress marks more defined with some color loss. He was so so so gorgeous when I got him. ):

The top two photos are right after the purchase and the bottom was a few minutes ago.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Okay yes, it is color loss. I was hoping maybe it would just be marbling but he's definitely very stressed out here.