My Betta fish has been having some problems lately. About a month ago, he stopped swimming often. His fins are becoming transparent and all he does now is mope around. He also has a hard time eating. He would throw up when I try to feed him pellets and is kind of chubby. Could this be a parasite? Water shock? Is there anything I can do? Thanks.
By "chubby", do you mean bloated? Look at him from overhead: are his scales sticking out like a pinecone? If so, he has dropsy or mystery bloat, both of which are essentially untreable. Sometimes you can get it gone for a little while, but it comes back and will kill him. "Mystery bloat" 's cause is unknown, dropsy is bloating due to kidney failure caused by underlying diease or bad/cold water.
If you're feeding him more than 2-3 pieces food/day and he's spending a lot of time at the top, it could be constipation. To eheck, get a frozen pea (check ingredients for salt-get one without salt as it will make him retain more water), put it in some water in a cup, heat the cup of water with the pea in the microwave for 2 min., take it out, deshell it and feed some of the innards to him on the end of a toothpick. If he's better in a few hrs. then this was the cause.
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I know you say he's thowing up the pellets, but if he's a picky eater, refusing or spitting out food is common. Sometimes they crunch it down to a better size they can eat more easily, sometimes they don't don't like the taste and sometimes just play with it. Other times, they don't recognize that what they're being fed is food if it's different than what they were fed before. Use a toothpick to "play" with the food: drag it along the surface, make it sink, etc. Usually that gets their attention and they'll try a piece, If you can get it, live food's best, as it's similar to what he'd eat in the wild and they often like to " ; hunt "it. Frozen food is 2nd best. PetSmart/Petco both sell frozen foods: brine shrimp, bloodworms, glassworms, etc. It's around $ 4-5/bubble pack of food. Flakes, pellets, and freeze dried food have lots of filler that goes right through them because they can't digest it and it the least nutritious. In order of best-to-worst for digestion/nutrition it's live, frozen, freeze-dried, flakes, then pellets.
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Does he have a heater? Bettas are tropical fish and if his water is cold (below 78 degree) it causes poor digestion, lethargy, color loss and/or illness. Depending on tank size, he needs: 1-gallon (7.5 or 10 watt heater: PetSmart and PetCo have them), 2.5-3 gallons: 25 watt heater (most pet stores have this size), 5 gallons: 50 watt heater (most pet stores have this size).
How often do you change his water? Water changes remove ammonia, which is toxic and develops in the water from uneaten food, waste, even his breathing. Ammonia is odorless, colorless and you can't see it, so just because the water " ; looks "clean doesn't mean it's not at toxic levels which will stress, sicken or kill your fish. If water changes aren't done often enough it stresses them out, which leads to loss of appetite, illness, lethargy or death. Water changes remove ammonia, which is toxic and forms in the water from uneaten food, waste, and even breathing. The frequency of water changes depends on the size of the tank. For uncycled 100% water change tanks, this is a guide: 1 gallon or>: change 100% of the water (and rinse off plants, gravel, etc.) every 1-3 days; 2.5-3 gallons 2-3 times/week; 5 gallons 1-2 x's/week.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com * I'm thinking it's this *- How long have you had him? If he's "old", he may be having swim bladder (SB) problems, which shows itself in different ways including difficulty swimming up or down. The causes vary , but some develop it as they reach the end of their lifespan.
If you want to try and keep the dropsy/bloat at bay or want to determine whether the SB issues are caused by age or a bacterial infection in his SB, do this:
The best med is Kanaplex/Kanamycin (online only), as it's best for any range of infections and easiest on the fish, so I'd order it, but you need meds ASAP so for now pick up Jungle Fungus Eliminator or Clear. You can find it at PetCo/PetSmart. He needs a broad-spectrum antibiotic, so if you can't find either of those pick up Maracyn 1 and 2 (yes, you must have both, since each only treats one type of infection). They're at Petco, PetSmart, most local pet stores. Maracyn is recommended least of the three because it's been around a lot longer and sometimes doesn't treat current infections and because it's not as potent. If he's in a cycled tank, take out the carbon or it removes the med. With any of the above meds, you can treat daily for 3 days (doing the appropriate water changes needed for your tank size, 100% each day if his tank isn't cycled) and retreat if necessary for another 3 days.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com FYI, if it's old-age SB it's likely permanent. If it is, know he isn't in pain or suffering even if seeing him like that really bothers you. And sometimes it comes and goes: some may have a few good days/week or a few good hours/day. If he's having trouble surfacing, lower his water and put in plants or flat-topped decor that he can rest on near the top. If you do lower the water though keep in mind you'll need to do more frequent water changes since there's less water in there.
