Vertical Betta... Please help!

B

B94Sport

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#1
Jul 23, 2003
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#1
For the past two days, my Betta has been very lethargic. He floats in his tank with his body vertical, mouth sticking above the water and opening and closing repeatedly. He will not eat his food. When he does swim, he swims only right below the surface of the water, with his head partially above the water, like a snake would do (if you have ever seen a snake swimming)... He also swims very rapidly while he swims near the surface, but that is a rare occurence. 95% of the time he is motionless and vertical.

I use regular tap water in his tank, which is then treated with the proper amount of Marineland Labs Bio-Coat and Bio-Safe. I feed him Tetra BettaMin Tropical Medley.

Does anyone know what could be wrong with him? What should I do?
 

Last edited:
FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#2
May 16, 2003
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#2
Hmm...sounds like there is definitely something wrong. Here are some questions for you to answer so we can try and figure out what is wrong..

How big of a tank do you have him in? How long has the tank been set up?
Do you have a filter? What kind?
What is the temperature? Has the temperature changed drastically in the past couple of days at all (overheated?)?
Is there anything wrong with him physically...spots, discolorations, lumps etc?
How long have you had him in this tank?
What are your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels in the tank?
Have you tried feeding him something besides his normal food?
When was the last time you did a water change?
Do you add anything to the water besides dechlorinator when you do water changes?

Answer those as best as you can and everyone should be able to get a better picture of the situation...
 

geKo

geKo

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#3
Jan 28, 2003
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#3
Answer all that froggy said. Sounds to me that it has something to do with ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels. Could be many things but this fish is obviously very stressed ad action should be taken fast to save him!
 

B

B94Sport

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#4
Jul 23, 2003
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#4
He is in what is probably a 3/4 gallon bowl.
I do not have a filter
I do not know the temperature, but it should be relatively constant. I keep him inside away from A/C vents and windows, and the temperature inside of my house is a steady 74 degrees.
Physically he looks alright. There are no spots or lumps but his color is not as bright as usual and a small part of the back of his tail fin seems to be transparent.
He has been in this tank for about 6 months.
I don't know what my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels are.
I have not tried anything besides his normal food
Up until today he was in his water for about 10 days without a change. I just changed it today to see if that would help anything though.
I add Marineland Labs Bio-Coat and Bio-Safe to the water when I change it... 5 drops of each because I put in 1/2 gallon of water.

Sorry I can't give you ammonia/nitrite/nitrate or temperature information... I don't have the equipment for that.:eek:
 

Last edited:
lizwinz

lizwinz

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#5
Oct 22, 2002
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#5
definatlley sounds like water quality issue to me

in an ideal situtation (cycled good sized tank and filter) you should change the water once a week

bettas bowls should be changed much more often than that imo...that poor fish is probably swimming in ammonia

i would continue to do daily 50% water changes until he improves and then do changs every other day to keep his water clean

he would do better in a larger tank (maybe a 2gal w/filter) and it would be less work and worry for you also

floating plants would help keep the water clean as well along with regular water changes

--liz:)
 

Last edited:
FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#6
May 16, 2003
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#6
Well since it was something that just happened suddenly the last couple of days it sounds to me like maybe he got overheated or something happened to stress him out more than he already was.

Even though bettas are sold in those little cups of water in the store...they really do need more space and a filter would be good. What a filter would do is eventually (say after a month or 2) the filter not only takes particles out of the water but it keeps those levels of ammonia and nitrites low because of the good bacteria that grows on it.

Also...in such a small amount of water the conditions fluxuate faster than when there is more water, so you might want to invest in a little 2 dollar thermometer to stick in the tank (I like the kind with suction cups...again at petsmart) just to make sure and catch it if the temperature goes higher or lower than optimum for the little guy.

Petsmart has a 1 gallon tank with a little undergravel filter for like 10 bucks that I would suggest if you don't want to upgrade to something bigger than that. Its kind of a stupid design...I like my bigger tanks better...but for what it is it works great :)

As for what would help right now...I think Lizwinz is right on. small water changes every other day, maybe some stresscoat in the water, make sure theres no light shining on the tank (darkness makes them feel more secure) and keep us posted. :)
 

B

B94Sport

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#12
Jul 23, 2003
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#12
Ummmm... Sometimes when he comes to the top he shakes his head violently back and forth... Does that count? Occasionally there are flies in my room, and I suppose that one of them could have landed in his water. Would he have tried to eat a fly?
 

B

B94Sport

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#14
Jul 23, 2003
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#14
Originally posted by froggyfox21
Well I hope Bernard gets better. Whether he does or not I think the SpongeBob setup would be GREAT for a betta :)
Click to expand...
Really? Good! I just ordered it. I drove to the local PetsMart and they didn't have it. Petco did, but they wanted $29.99 for it instead of PetsMart's final shipped price of $28.60... I am in school right now and since I have to drive back and forth between home and school, I needed a tank that could fit in my car's center console... The SpongeBob tank will be perfect because it is narrow enough to fit. I should have it Saturday or Monday. We'll see how Bernard is doing then.
 

lizwinz

lizwinz

Large Fish
#17
Oct 22, 2002
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#17
gasping at the surface can mean ammonia poisoning...i would get some test kits to make sure but in that small of a bowl going without waterchanges for so long, it seems likely...that it only started in the past couple days dosent mean anything except that that maybe thats when levels got high enough to stress him

did you just get him 10days ago? just curious

or it could be something else stressing him...sounds like you keep him away from things that could cause temp swings but you should get a thermometer i think

ime some freshwater aquarium salt would also help him

also the tank you ordered is great for bettas imo...might be a good idea to read up on cycling and the effects of the nitrogen cycle on fish...you might find this helpful

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

anyway good luck with bernard, i hope he feels better soon

--liz:)
 

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