Betta needs Help

Fish about 1 yr old, has become extremely lethargic.
Sits on the bottom. He's in a half gallon bowl. I usually change
50% water once a week, now i'm doing 30% every 2 days.
I use dechlorinated (aged 48hours) temperature matched water.
I was also adding dechlornator stress relief formula, but i stopped that
now. Any ideas?
....Kodiak

On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 23:07:36 -0400, Kodiak wrote:
Fish about 1 yr old, has become extremely lethargic.

Do you mean you have had him for one year? He was probably adult
when you got him, so it could be he is reaching the end of his
life.

Also in this hot weather mine don't do a lot. In fact I just
bought an apple snail as a companion for mine, which has livened
things up slightly - more action(!) So things have gone from
sluggish to merely lazy :-)

My old betta was actually happier without the disruption of water
changes, so I changed my regime to a 50-70% change once every
two weeks or so.

Sometimes a change is as good as a rest, so do you have any other
fish tanks? If you pop him in there in a breeding net cage (to
keep him separate) then he might perk up a bit at the new
surroundings. Be careful when catching - I'd actually use a
cup or jar rather than a net.

If he is actually ill (finrot etc) I would recommend meth blue
for a few days, as long as he is the only thing in the tank and
you don't have filter bacteria that you care about (presumably
not as you do so many water changes).

All these things helped mine as he got elderly. Of course YMMV.

--
Flash Wilson http://www.gorge.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"The geek shall inherit the girth."

Your right, I've only had him a year, but he could be older,
not much older I think since I got him from walmart and
I think they must have a connection straight to a breeder.
I didn't know they have such short lives, how long?
No signs of Dropsy
The dechlorinator is also a chloramine eliminator.
I thought that was the problem so I stopped it.
The temp is mid to high 70's, is that too high?
I thought these were tropical fish?
I will try a .05% salt solution.
(half the recommended for goldies)
I don't think he's bored, I have him next to another guy who's
doing great, once in a while I remove the cardboard between the
two tanks so they can show off/fight, but the lethargic guy is
barely putting up a fight anymore and sits on the bottom mostly.
I've been thinking about putting him in a breeding trap with my goldies,
but I thought they only like still water? Won't that disturb him too much?
Do they like high or low PH? ie: do I put him in my cichlid, or my goldy
tank?
Thanks...
....Kodiak

--
....Kodiak
"Flash Wilson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 23:07:36 -0400, Kodiak wrote:
Fish about 1 yr old, has become extremely lethargic.

Do you mean you have had him for one year? He was probably adult
when you got him, so it could be he is reaching the end of his
life.

Also in this hot weather mine don't do a lot. In fact I just
bought an apple snail as a companion for mine, which has livened
things up slightly - more action(!) So things have gone from
sluggish to merely lazy :-)

My old betta was actually happier without the disruption of water
changes, so I changed my regime to a 50-70% change once every
two weeks or so.

Sometimes a change is as good as a rest, so do you have any other
fish tanks? If you pop him in there in a breeding net cage (to
keep him separate) then he might perk up a bit at the new
surroundings. Be careful when catching - I'd actually use a
cup or jar rather than a net.

If he is actually ill (finrot etc) I would recommend meth blue
for a few days, as long as he is the only thing in the tank and
you don't have filter bacteria that you care about (presumably
not as you do so many water changes).

All these things helped mine as he got elderly. Of course YMMV.

--
Flash Wilson http://www.gorge.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"The geek shall inherit the girth."

On average bettas can live around 2-4 years and most bettas are sold when
they're around 2-5 months old. They like higher temps than most fish and are
happy at 82-84 degrees. What do you feed him?

I have bettas in a 5 and a 10 gallon tank with current and tankmates and
they are fine.

--
Mar

TotalFishKeeping
http://www.totalfishkeeping.co.uk
The Blood Parrot Forum
http://www.bloodparrot.aquariahobbyist.com/forum/


"Kodiak" wrote in message
. ..

I didn't know they have such short lives, how long?
The temp is mid to high 70's, is that too high?
I thought these were tropical fish?
I will try a .05% salt solution.
(half the recommended for goldies)
I don't think he's bored, I have him next to another guy who's
doing great, once in a while I remove the cardboard between the
two tanks so they can show off/fight, but the lethargic guy is
barely putting up a fight anymore and sits on the bottom mostly.
I've been thinking about putting him in a breeding trap with my goldies,
but I thought they only like still water? Won't that disturb him too much?
Do they like high or low PH? ie: do I put him in my cichlid, or my goldy
tank?
Thanks...
...Kodiak

--
...Kodiak
"Flash Wilson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 23:07:36 -0400, Kodiak wrote:
Fish about 1 yr old, has become extremely lethargic.

Do you mean you have had him for one year? He was probably adult
when you got him, so it could be he is reaching the end of his
life.

Also in this hot weather mine don't do a lot. In fact I just
bought an apple snail as a companion for mine, which has livened
things up slightly - more action(!) So things have gone from
sluggish to merely lazy :-)

My old betta was actually happier without the disruption of water
changes, so I changed my regime to a 50-70% change once every
two weeks or so.

Sometimes a change is as good as a rest, so do you have any other
fish tanks? If you pop him in there in a breeding net cage (to
keep him separate) then he might perk up a bit at the new
surroundings. Be careful when catching - I'd actually use a
cup or jar rather than a net.

If he is actually ill (finrot etc) I would recommend meth blue
for a few days, as long as he is the only thing in the tank and
you don't have filter bacteria that you care about (presumably
not as you do so many water changes).

All these things helped mine as he got elderly. Of course YMMV.

--
Flash Wilson http://www.gorge.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"The geek shall inherit the girth."

|| Your right, I've only had him a year, but he could be older,
|| not much older I think since I got him from walmart and
|| I think they must have a connection straight to a breeder.
|| I didn't know they have such short lives, how long?
|| ...Kodiak

That's been a long debate over how old they are when you get them.... VERY
hard to determine....

Here's my take on it... I try and KNOW when the LFS gets them, mine actually
gave me the birth date of my "Bob da betta", so I actually know... mine is
going on 3 now.... he's turning a bit gray around his face, which I saw on
another betta when I first got into the hobby.... I got him and his face was
already graying... a year later he died... I learned that it was from old
age, and they really only live for 3-4 years if kept in perfect
conditions....

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
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In really good conditions they can live over 5 years pretty easily. I
think the low estimate comes from lack of betta care knowledge. The
average person (with little or no fish keeping experience) is
encouraged to purchase a betta because they're "easy to keep and need
no special care". I fell for that back in the early days.

"He'll be happier in a tiny bowl", "just feed him these flakes", "he
doesn't need a heater", "change his water every couple of weeks." With
all this BS flowing out of the mouths of store employees everywhere,
it's no wonder they only live a couple of years at best.





"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message ...
|| Your right, I've only had him a year, but he could be older,
|| not much older I think since I got him from walmart and
|| I think they must have a connection straight to a breeder.
|| I didn't know they have such short lives, how long?
|| ...Kodiak

That's been a long debate over how old they are when you get them.... VERY
hard to determine....

Here's my take on it... I try and KNOW when the LFS gets them, mine actually
gave me the birth date of my "Bob da betta", so I actually know... mine is
going on 3 now.... he's turning a bit gray around his face, which I saw on
another betta when I first got into the hobby.... I got him and his face was
already graying... a year later he died... I learned that it was from old
age, and they really only live for 3-4 years if kept in perfect
conditions....

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
| ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
| ((((º`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ((((º ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ((((º
| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com

|| In really good conditions they can live over 5 years pretty easily. I
|| think the low estimate comes from lack of betta care knowledge. The
|| average person (with little or no fish keeping experience) is
|| encouraged to purchase a betta because they're "easy to keep and need
|| no special care". I fell for that back in the early days.
||
|| "He'll be happier in a tiny bowl", "just feed him these flakes", "he
|| doesn't need a heater", "change his water every couple of weeks."
|| With
|| all this BS flowing out of the mouths of store employees everywhere,
|| it's no wonder they only live a couple of years at best.

LOL!!!---exactly!!!

--
| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
| 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
| ==========================
| ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
| ((((º`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ((((º ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ((((º
| for any questions you may have....
| www.gmail.com