Need advice about betta, ASAP

chrisinha

chrisinha

AC Members
Jan 5, 2005
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brooklyn, ny
Hey guys!

I need some advice here.

My friend left her betta with me while she went for a trip abroad. He was doing fine until this morning when I fed him and he didn't want to eat. He's in a 3 gallon eclipse tank with a filter and bio-wheel. The water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrites 0, pH 7.6, temp was 82F, but I've turned the heater on and it's now 84-86F.
As soon as I saw he didn't want to eat I removed him from the tank and put him in this little bowl to clean his main tank. I removed 30% of the water, added new de-chlorinized (sp?) water, waited about 20 minutes to put him back in the tank.

He doesnt have any signs of disease, but seems apathic (sp?) and doesn't want to eat. What should I do??

Thanks

Chris
 
84-86 is getting a bit hot for bettas, plus the dissolved oxygen in the tank dissipates out. Try to turn down the heater so the tank is at about 80F. Since you did a tank cleaning, that should be find. He might just be a little upset at not having his old keeper there but he should come around fast. I'm assuming your friend left you the same food he's used to eating. A healthy fish can go for a week without eating without too much trouble so just keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't developing a fungus or other illness. He may be just pushing your buttons and giving you a hard time.
 
Ok, I just turn off the heater. The reason I turned it on was because his owner told me to keep the temps at 84-86F. According to her "he liked it this way" and was more active. She used to keep two heaters in the tank but since I brought him to my house I've been using just one and the temp goes to 86F.

Yes, she left me the Hikari pellets to feed him. When she got him I told her to not overfeed him, but she told me she was giving him 8 - 10 pellets a day or something of the sort. Again, since he's been with me I've been feeding him just 2 pellets am's and 2 pm's.

Im so worried... this is too much responsibility... I dont know what Im going to do if this fish dies on me. I have 2 goldfish tanks and a tropical tank, but I've never used any of my equipment in this betta's tank because I was afraid of causing any harm to him... god knows... if I had something in one of my tanks ...

Could he be constipated? He spends most of the time on the bottom, hiding inside his cave and when he comes up to gulp for air I saw some bubbles coming out of his mouth. Is it normal for bettas to open their mouths to breath while underwater? I've never paid attention to it before, but I see him breathing through his mouth (open/close).

Thanks for helping
 
offer him some shelled peas (frozen is fine, just thaw first). If hes constipated it would help...no pellets that day though! I bet hes fine, just noticing that somethings different. Bettas have HUGE personalities!
 
I've already offered him the peas... but he would not take them :(

He's been with me for a couple of weeks (2, I guess), could he be having this behavior after all this time???
 
Can we please stop feeding the insectivors peas... It does DIDLY for them and is most likely the cause of digestional upset... think dog that eats grass...
84 is way too hot, 80 is more then suffiecient. It takes 7 weeks to starve a Betta to death, so dont fret if he is off his food for a few days....

Did you gently net him and return him to his tank OR plop him in? Plopping can really mess them up....
 
TheMightyQueenPixie said:
Did you gently net him and return him to his tank OR plop him in? Plopping can really mess them up....
Click to expand...


You must think I'm an idiot???
I've had fish for almost 2 years, I know at least what not to do.
If anything the fish was acting like this, not eating, before I moved him out of the tank. Then, I cleaned the tank to see if it would help, then I put him back in, and NO, I did not plop him.

TheMightyQueenPixie said:
think dog that eats grass...
Click to expand...


BTW, dogs and cats look for grass when their stomachs ARE upset. The grass helps them clean themselves out. It's not bad for them. On the contrary, their instincts tell them to do so.
 
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