Male CT betta dying?

[bassbonediva]

Well, I think Al is finally on his way out. He's been hanging at the top of his tank next to the filter housing for the past few days and won't move. He'll try to move if I tap the tank, but other than that, he just hangs there. I tried to feed him bloodworms last night, but wasn't interested at all (usually he'll wait for me to drop them onto the leaves of his big fake plant, then he'll go snatch them up). I fed him flakes instead and this morning when I went to check on him, it didn't look like he'd touched them. His fins are also looking kinda raggedy. He's always had very long, flowing, beautiful fins, but now the ends are kinda crimped/bent and they don't flow as well as they used to (flow as in move).

Here's a pic of him taken just a few minutes ago...this is not like him at all, and his color is a little off as well:

This is him healthy:

What should I do? Should I just let him live in peace until he dies? I don't want to put him to sleep if he might live for a while longer. I'm very sad about this. I've had Al for over a year and a half and he's always had so much personality.

 

[OrangeCones]

What are the readings of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? I've had betta live over 3 yrs with me.

 

[bassbonediva]

I don't have my own test kit, but I can get the water tested tomorrow at the LFS. His is my most stable tank, though. I hardly ever have to clean it and just do weekly 15% water changes. In that second pic, I hadn't actually cleaned the tank in at least four or five months, and I will admit I was overfeeding a little at that point (was feeding twice a day because up until then he'd been eating everything I gave him, but he suddenly started only being interested in the food two or three times a week).

 

[OrangeCones]

I don't have my own test kit, but I can get the water tested tomorrow at the LFS. His is my most stable tank, though. I hardly ever have to clean it and just do weekly 15% water changes. In that second pic, I hadn't actually cleaned the tank in at least four or five months, and I will admit I was overfeeding a little at that point (was feeding twice a day because up until then he'd been eating everything I gave him, but he suddenly started only being interested in the food two or three times a week).

Maybe someone with more betta experience will chime in. I've never fed any of my fish 2x a day, except fry with greenwater or infusoria. Without knowing the water parameters, no way to tell if its the water making him sickly. That would be the first thing I'd check.

With all of your tanks, I'm surprised you don't have your own liquid test kit.

 

[bassbonediva]

Yeah, funny thing that. Until very recently (as in when I joined this site), I didn't know about testing water parameters and such. I was one of those "a tank is a tank is a tank" people..."you just let it run a couple of days and add fish, like the books tell you." I've kept fish successfully like that in the past (had a koi in a 20gal growing up and several bettas through the years, as well as some tiger barbs a while back), but I realize now that was basically luck on my part. Without a job to speak of (very sporadic income since I'm a college student) and getting most of my stuff second hand or for free, I haven't been able to afford to purchase a really nice test kit for myself. However, I'm going to start saving up to get one soon since I'm changing out my 46gal (going into storage for future use) for a 50gal better suited for the female bettas.

Anyway, from talking with other people and with some friends of mine who used to breed bettas, we've come to the conclusion that poor Al is indeed just old and preparing to die. He was not a young'un when I got him a year and a half ago. He's the only one I've ever had who has eaten twice a day, though. Everyone else are two- (at most four) times-a-week eaters.