what is wrong with my betta?

[lwstinkinsweet]

i have had my betta for six months now. he eats bloodworms, lives in a two and a half gallon filtered tank. i do almost full water changes monthly. he has for two weeks been laying at the bottom of his tank. he doesnt come up to eat. or get air. he just lays there gasping. the only time he moves is if i touch him with something to see if he is alive. then he only sort of flutters away and runs into anything in front of him. he is getting pale. i have given him betta max to see if it will help. i have looked at countless disease sites and cant figure out what this is. he doesnt have ick or velvet or any external parasites. i have done water changes. i put him in a shallow bowl for now so that he can come up for air easier. but now all he does is lay on his back. he breaths once a minute it seems. i am pretty sure he is beyond my help at this point. you should see him. it is depressing. i dont know if i could euthanize him although i have thought about it. i would like to know if anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong with him. that way i can diagnose any other fish that may get it in the future. i thought maybe swim bladder, but i dont feed him more than a bloodworm or three a day.

[kelicom]

For the moment, the best thing to do is lower his water in the tank to only about four or five inches so he doesn't have to swim far to get air. Second, I would go out and get some other food besides bloodworms--these are great for snacks, but bettas need a more varied diet.

I feed Hikari Gold betta bites and my bettas do well on these (in addition to other products, but this is the main one). He may have an internal parasite, virus or bacterial infection and there may be nothing you can do. If his water is clean and he is getting a varied diet, there is really nothing more we can do for our fish. Meds work sometimes, but more often than not, don't do a thing because you have to know exactly what's causing the ill health. So I would just lower his water to keep him comfortable and get him some different food and see if these two things enable him to get stronger.

I had a betta act the same way recently and he eventually died. I gave him an anti biotic for his water (maracyn 2) because his fins looked a little frayed on the end, and I made sure he had clean water and good food regularly but he eventually stopped eating (the kiss of death) and just lay panting at the bottom. But he wanted to live, so when I lowered the water he was appreciative--blew me a couple of bubbles. I've never euthenanized a fish so I wouldn't recommend it--sometimes they can surprise us and get well just when we think we're going to wake up the next morning and find them dead.

Good luck.

[kristian18f]

I agree, putting him in a bowl may do more harm than good. Especially if the bowl has ever been washed. I'd stick him back in his 2.5 gallon and lower the water level. If you can stick fake plants in there that are just below the water level it wouldbe good. I had a crowntail that was sick, wouldn't eat, had ich etc (friend bought it that way at petco) and he liked to lay on my plants just below the water level so he could stick his head out to breathe. He is now healthy.

I have no expieriance with internal parisites, so I can't offer any help there.

I would defentally say don't euthenize it. I expected my crowntail to be dead every morning for a week or two until it started getting better.

Also, in the future with this betta or any other one, try to change the water more than once a month. I do 25% changes on one of mine every other day (he's in a bad spot for algea) and a 10-25% change on my crown tail once or twice a week

[Mobydock]

I noticed your post asking about your pH. If you can get your hands on some Indian Almond leaf, it will help bring your pH down and work as a herbal remedy. The betta fighters do this to heal their fish after a fight; as well as putting the fish in a place with dim lighting.

Whether or not you agree with the ethics of fighting fish, those who do it know best how to keep their fish in tip top shape, or else they loose the fight and their wallet.

[micstarz]

alot of peeps are against salt, but my betta has recovered from hunger strike because i added a little salt.

[ron v]

Originally Posted by lwstinkinsweet

i have had my betta for six months now.
he has for two weeks been laying at the bottom of his tank. he doesnt come up to eat. or get air. he just lays there gasping.

I just noticed your other thread..... So, is this the same betta that has been in PH 8.4 water since last August???? And now we have a mysterious illness? Is it possible that maybe we should pay more attention to PH and hardness and quit rationalizing that " fish will adapt"????

lwstinkinsweet, this is not directed at you. It's a question for the aquarium hobby in general.

[Damon]

If you have had him for 6 months and acquired him from a lfs, then he may be almost 2 years old. He may be on his final days................
If not, I noticed you change 100% of your water monthly? Not nearly enough. Even in a 2.5 gallon you should do 25% or more (more is better) weekly. A bloodworm only diet is not a healthy one either......try feeding brine shrimp and quility pellets. Whats the tank temp at? 80 degrees is optimal with 78 being the lowest you want it to go. A flux in temp is more harmful than a steady one.

[sambi7878]

First of all, dont euthanize! Ive had a few fish that got ill and luckily they all survived with proper treatment and care.

IMO, the culprit might be your water change. I believe that you shouldnt always do 100% water change. For bettas, a 25% weekly water change will be enough.

For now, I suggest that dont feed him yet with fresh food. Internal bacteria or parasites come from these sources and you wouldnt like to ad more to the problem. Ive heard about the brand of food posted above and i think its good. I give my betta Sanyu betta gold. So far, my betta seems to like it and no problem with it yet...lol! Do a 25% water change if you havnt done one. I also agree with micstarz, some may not like doing salt treatment but I believe it helps. It also helped my fish before. Lastly, continue observing your fish and post any new good or weird observation on your fish.