Is This Betta OK?

[John Collins]

We've had this Betta for a little over a year (I don't know how old he was in the local pet store. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite and Nitrate are 0, PH, GH, and KH are where they have always been. Temp is 76 to 77 in a heavily planted 5 gallon tank. He's being lethargic. Not all that interested in eating (and I'm not sure he always sees well). Any ideas? I've been somewhat concerned about his fins, but he's a crown tail and looking at old pics, they've always been that way.

[John Collins]

On 1/11/2022 at 6:50 PM, John Collins said:

We've had this Betta for a little over a year (I don't know how old he was in the local pet store. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite and Nitrate are 0, PH, GH, and KH are where they have always been. Temp is 76 to 77 in a heavily planted 5 gallon tank. He's being lethargic. Not all that interested in eating (and I'm not sure he always sees well). Any ideas? I've been somewhat concerned about his fins, but he's a crown tail and looking at old pics, they've always been that way.

Food is 3 pellets of Xtreme Betta twice a day, with Hikari Vibra Bites sometimes substituted instead.

[PineSong]

 

He's a very dramatic looking fish and that looks like a betta heaven of a tank with all those plants!

Is the temp what a thermometer is saying or what you have the heater set on? Just asking because if the heater has failed, cold water would explain the slowing down.

Does he flare at himself in a mirror if you show him one? Just wondering if that would be a vision test.

I know when I had only one betta, a container of betta food would last forever--way too long for the food to stay fresh.

Maybe you could try a new, fresh food to see if it stimulates his appetite--frozen bloodworms for the "almost live" experience or dried daphnia for the roughage maybe? 

 

 

[John Collins]

On 1/11/2022 at 8:57 PM, PineSong said:

 

He's a very dramatic looking fish and that looks like a betta heaven of a tank with all those plants!

Is the temp what a thermometer is saying or what you have the heater set on? Just asking because if the heater has failed, cold water would explain the slowing down.

Does he flare at himself in a mirror if you show him one? Just wondering if that would be a vision test.

I know when I had only one betta, a container of betta food would last forever--way too long for the food to stay fresh.

Maybe you could try a new, fresh food to see if it stimulates his appetite--frozen bloodworms for the "almost live" experience or dried daphnia for the roughage maybe? 

 

 

Good Questions: Temp is what the thermometer says. I will get a mirror and try the flare test. I haven't seen him flaring lately. The food gets thrown out and replaced every six months, but we're on the tale end of that, so I'll try something else and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[zacwen]

Sorry for being late to this but has he been lethargic? Maybe you could try some medication and observing him. If You signs of Ich, Fin rot etc etc you can bring out the heavy medication. Best of luck with your betta, Hope he recovers.

Edited January 12, 2022 by zacwen

[John Collins]

Just put a mirror in the tank, no response. Definitely blind. (I tried both sides and it was a mirror bigger than he was 1 inch away from him.)