problem with betta

[D-Bak]

Hey guys...

I bought a crowntail betta on sunday, and put in an established 20 gallon tank with several other fish in it already. Since then, the fish has does absolutely nothing accept hang out at the very top of the tank. He will occasionally swim down to the bottom (with quite a lot of effort) but he is down there for about 30 seconds at best until he just floats back up to the top. It is not a "death float".... it almost seems like he has a huge air bubble in him or something. I was thinking that maybe the fish's muscles have a grown weak from living in the little jar for so long, but after 3 full days there has been no improvement....

I know it sounds harsh, but I do not want this fish if the only thing he will ever do is float like a bobber in the back of my tank... and i am thinking about taking him back if the condition does not improve....

One more thing.... the fish has not eaten one thing as far as I can tell....

Any thoughts on what might be the problem?

Thank you in advance for any help....

 

[nancec]

First off, you should have quarantined him for awhile in case he came home with something. You don't want to contaminate the whole tank.

Every time I've come home with one, I've put him in a smaller container for awhile (bigger than the container at the store, though) & started out feeding him pellets. I have one betta, Casper, who wouldn't eat anything but crushed flake food for about the first 3 weeks. Then, little by little, he started eating pellets. Now he's one of the biggest pigs out of my 7.

Be patient & give your new betta some time to adjust.

 

[TKOS]

Well I would suspect that there is still a good chance that the muscles are still too weak to deal with a full sized tank.I would persoanlly give it time.

It is odd that he hasn't eaten, but they are picky. Are you feeding the same food they did in the store. My last betta woudl only eat flakes. My newest betta will only eat pellets.

 

[D-Bak]

i have tried every type of food i have... including the pellets the store was feeding it.... At this moment there is a pellet and a bloodwork hovering about 1 millimeter from his mouth and he hasnt touched them for 5 minutes.....

 

[mandimoron]

It took my betta about a week to adjust to having a filter-generated current, so if that's the main problem, give him a little more time. Also, is this the first time that the betta has been kept in a community tank? He may be overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle of his new home, and doesn't quite know what to do with himself. Again, he'll need more time to adjust and become comfortable enough to develop an appetite again and start exploring his new home if this is the problem.

What's the return policy from your store? Give him the maximum amount of time you can if you're thinking of bringing him back. Once he comes around, I bet he'll be an awesome addition to your tank, and it would suck to lose him when all he needs is a little more time to get used to the new routine.

 

[WrittenLyric]

You said it's like a huge air bubble inside him.. Does he appear bloated?

 

[D-Bak]

no... the air bubble analogy just was to explain how he pops back up to the top like a bobber..... he just stops swimming once he hits the bottom and just floats (rather quickly) back up to the top of the tank and hangs out there for an hour or so....

 

[plah831]

it sounds like a swimbladder disorder to me. I had a fish develop one after I neglected water changes (a bacterial infection, due to the dirty water), and he floated to the surface like a cork, even though he was a bottom-feeder, a loach.

Has he ever eaten? If so, was it floating food? These can cause fish to swallow too much air and develop either swimbladder problems or digestive issues.