Problem with my betta...

I've had this betta for about 4 or 5 days now, put him in a 1 gal fish bowl with nice blue rocks on the bottom (to match his own color). When i tried to feed him the first few times he would pick at something then spit it out again. I use the same stuff my gf uses for her betta (bettamin or something? tiny little flakes). So i just left the food on the top and assumed he'd eat it at his own leasure eventually. And after i thought i saw him eating a bit but was far away so i couldn't be sure.

After that i've never seen him eat at all these past 4 days or so. Then last night he started darting around very quickly like he was very distressed. This morning he's doing the same thing but after a few minutes of darting he'll just fall to the bottom and sit there for some time, get up and dart around again. I used some plain poland springs water for his bowl, but just in case i've moved him to a smaller bowl with new (regular poland springs) water. he seems to be a bit better, not darting around quite as much, but still much more active than my gf''s betta. He also still won't eat in this bowl either.

Also, when placing him in the new water i used some drops of stress coat each time, which might have been what made him feel better in the small bowl.

Any ideas?

Edit: I also noticed when i brought him from the big bowl he had a white-ish stripe down the side and his other fins looked paler. Since he's been in the new bowl he looks back to normal blue though.

 

Now he's wigging out again in his smaller tank, just pushing against the glass and moving very fast :\, though not as badly as before still.

 

Test the water for ammonia and post the results. Are you removing the uneaten food? What size is the smaller bowl? How often are you doing water changes?

Most bettas don't like flake food. I lucked out had 2 bettas that actually liked it. Then when I got my newest one, he hated it and barely ate for about a week. Try getting some frozen blood worms. Thaw them out and feed him about 5/day.

Also put him back in the 1 gallon (or even better buy him a bowl that's at least 2 gallons). Despite what a lot of people say, bettas do not like cramped conditions. Plus, the less water you have, the less diluted the ammonnia is and the quiker it will build up and make your fish sick. And if you're just leaving food in his bowl, that's breaking down and adding to the ammonia.

-Chelle

 

i took the food off the top after about 5 minutes, don't know how to test the amonia though.

 

i'm bridger's aforementioned gf, hehe.
it's not really flake food. it's "tetramin tropical granules", which my betta eats just fine. we got frisky, my betta, and blue, his betta, at the same store (i got frisky around septemeber but we got blue last week) so i figured blue would eat the same food as frisky.
i was checking a site and it sounds like maybe blue has a fungus or parasites.....?

 

Bettas can be really picky eaters. Like I said, I had 2 bettas in the past that really loved flake food, but my newest one refuses to eat anything other than blood worms.

And what makes you think he has fungus or parasites? Does he have any unusual marks (white patches or spots)?

And to test ammonia, you need to buy a test kit at your LFS. It will come with instructions.

-Chelle

 

on the site i was on it said whiteish colours could be fungus and running into stuff might be parasites. we went to the pet store and got some aquarium salt, brine shrimp and some anti-fungus stuff, so we'll try it later and hope for the best.

 

Oops, missed the part about the whitish stripe. Does it just look like a pale spot or does it look like there's actually something on the surface of his body? Does it look cottony? I still need to know the ammonia level. It won't do much good to treat an infection while the ammonia is still high.

-Chelle

 

he definatly looks like he has a fungus. I went to the pet store today and got some fungus stuff, then when we got back he was coverd in the white stuff.


We put him back in the big tank with new water, extra stress coat, and the fungus-away stuff. He still seems quite sick, so we're just crossing our fingers to see if the fungus stuff works in time.

 

buy some bowl bodies i have a betta and it did the same thing like 3 day then i put a fake lil plant in it and the he will liye on it and then he ate some food then after that blow some bubble ( that means he is happy with the bowl and the stuuf thats in it)

 

Betta food!

Hi there, sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your betta. As far as feeding him what he will eat, mine love Hickari's Betta Bio-Gold. They are floating pellets. Betta's can be finnicky eaters. If you try to change his food he may not try the new stuff for a few days. Bloodworms are also nice ( frozen and thawed, not dried) as a treat. As far as the bowl I would keep him in a one or two gallon. Just use the smaller one for when you have to clean the larger one.