I've got her in a 5 gallon tank with a heater, filter, live plants, and a hood. Yesterday I changed out about 1 & 1/2 gallons of her water which was treated with conditioner. Her little buddy, and otto has been living with her for about 2 and 1/2 months and he looks just fine. Lately, she's been sitting on the bottom of the tank and her color has faded significantly. She's not eating much, but never really does eat that much. I don't know what's wrong with her, I love her so much, she's always so feisty and happy. Any answers are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
It's odd that an Oto would be OK while a Betta wasn't. Otos are extremely sensitive little fish, who need excellent water to survive. (They also need to be kept in groups of 6 or more, and in 30 + gallons, but that wasn't your question ...)
Anyway, I'd suggest a test of your water parameters just to be sure that nothing's off.
Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate?
What is your temperature set to?
How old is this Betta?
And, how long has she been in this particular setup?
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Knowing the answers to the above questions may offer a clue as to what's going on with her.
Try testing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. A pet store will usually do this for free if you don't have test kits yourself but make sure you see the readings yourself and don't just listen to them if they say "it looks okay" I worked at petsmart and one of my employees would say the water was fine even if the nitrates were over 80ppm (they should really stay under 25ppm but never be over 50ppm)!
how often do you change the water?
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also as aquaella said the oto needs more room and other otos and is very sensitive, maybe it was a mislabeled siamese algae eater? I know this happens sometimes and those are a lot more hardy. they can become aggressive when older and need a much larger tank too. I'd suggest finding this guy a new home either way.
but this is a prime example of why you ALWAYS want to do your OWN research, never just trust a petstore employee as they usually don't know what they are talking about.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
I'd suggest getting the water tested. With your water changes 9and the fact that the oto is fine) I suspect everything is in order but I would test just to be sure ..
the temp is a little low, 78F to 82F is a much better range but that shouldn't be making a big difference. next water change try moving some decor around maybe she's just bored ...
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white poop usually means internal bacterial infection or parasites.
pregnant or sick
How old is she? they only live 1.5-2 years from the time you buy it in a pet store. (they are 8 months old when sold ) Betta are air breathing so they can handle a full water change. With betta-the fresher the water-the more healthy the fish will be. Betta are ultra sensitive to dirty water.
Faded color and resting on the bottom usually means they are at the end of their life. If she struggles to reach the surface at all-change her to a shallow tank and or have real or fake plants near the surface for her to rest on. When my betta are in their last days-I have the water shallow enough that they need only lift their head to get the air they need to survive. As hard as this is-Its wrong to make them suffer just because you don't want to let them go tho ... so ...
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com If worse comes to worse ....
If you see her start to really suffer-the best way to help her is to place her in a 2 cup deep tupper ware half full of water and place it in the freezer-the dark and slowly dropping temp will put them into a deep sleep well before the water freezes.
Is she possibly pregnant
