Betta acting lethargic

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Consecration

New Member
I have a Halfmoon betta who has been acting off for the past couple months. He just sits at the bottom of the tank. I never see him move or eat. Ive done water changes, Ive added Melafix in case it was some sort of disease, Ive tested the water multiple times, Ive even added a filter and heater. I just don't know what else to try. He looks normal and hasn't lost any weight which is odd considering he never moves to eat. He shares a 10 gallon tank with another male betta, they are separated by a divider. The other betta act completely normal, He eats and swims around a lot. When I first got the halfmoon, he was extremely active like this betta, constantly swimming and flaring up at his reflection in the glass. Now he just sits there on the bottom of the tank, sometimes in awkward positions. PLEASE HELP! :bounce:
 
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Ratlova30

New Member
Hmmm... a heater would have been my first suggestion. What do you have the temp set at? What is he being fed and how long have you had him?
 
DMD123

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
Consecration said:
Now he just sits there on the bottom of the tank, sometimes in awkward positions. PLEASE HELP! :bounce:
Click to expand...
When you say awkward is it like he cant quite keep himself upright? Maybe a swim bladder issue.

Maybe he is bored, change his tank around a bit, put something different for him to check out and explore. I would have said the heat thing too, is it at least 76 degrees? Have you tried to add a bit more air to the tank with a pump and airstones? Have you tempted him with a treat? This time of year little earthworms are easy to get amongst the leaves on the ground. Only if you do not use pesticides in the yard.
 
DMD123

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
If you cant get him to eat his peas, you can also try Epsom salt. This can help get things moving... :lmfao: Did not mean for that to come out like that, but it was funny!
 
C

Consecration

New Member
I feed him Omega One Freshwater Flakes. Its real seafood, and very little filler. Good stuff, all my other fish love it! I have the temp set at 78 degrees and there is two airstones in the tank. I have also added a little epsom salt to the water a few days ago. I do not believe he has a swim bladder problem, He just seems to lay around on his side at times. When I first saw him do it I thought he was dying, that was over a month ago! I just tried to give him about 1/4th of a skinned, warm, pea. Sadly he just let it hit him on the head as it floated to the bottom of the tank. Hes not even interested. I'll leave it there for him to see if he changes his mind later...

I'll try and take a picture of him and post it shortly. He doesn't look sick he just never moves. Its so weird. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm pretty stumped here...
 
C

Consecration

New Member


This is him, he never moves out from behind that airstone. I moved the plants so I could show. He just sits still, quite the opposite from how active he was before. My default picture is the same fish, It was taken a few months ago. I think hes rather stunning when he flares up, but lately I don't get to see cause he just sits there. Maybe he needs a girlfriend? :lol!:
 
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czeiszler

New Member
You know a few months ago we moved my daughters Betta Casper into a new 2.5 minibow aquarium in my daughters room and added a betta log and about a week later we realized he was lethargic and would lay on his side so we put him back in the 1 gallon bowl w filter to treat him for illness and we thought for sure he was going to die and it turns out he was just depressed. He wanted his old bowl back because now he follows us when we walk by and he flares if you point at him. You could try moving him to a different tank? GL :D
 
C

Consecration

New Member
Hmmmm, I did transfer him to the 10 gallon a few months ago, I didn't really think there was a problem with the tank because my other betta is acting so healthy. Perhaps he misses his old tank...
 
C

Consecration

New Member
I just put Halo to sleep using clove oil. He was suffering greatly and couldn't get up off his side anymore. Thank you for all your help and suggestions. :(



RIP
 
J

jrmakawoody

New Member
I had the same problem for a while. My Betta was acting weird so I moved him to a smaller "hospital" tank, equipped with a heater, and treated with melafix for a week. He lost his color while he was sick, but now he's back in the regular tank, regained his color, now he's right as rain :) I'm surprised you didn't have any luck with the melafix. Supposedly if you use it in a tank with activated charcoal, it gets filtered out and doesn't do anything.
 
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