My Betta is not eating for 2 days, please help!!!!

[ueo]

Hi,
My male betta, THIRSTY, hasn't been eatng for the last 2 days (over 50 hours).
He was very inactiv last week, sitting on his plant all day long and I figured it was because his water temp. was only 70F so I put him on the radiator and the temp. now is oround 80F and he is better. Now he swims around and plays when I show him a mirror, but he stopped eating after I changed his place (I believe). He does not want food and when I give he doesn't eat.

Some history: I got him from Petco 7 months ago, I don't know his age. I feed him Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets (normally 2-3 times per day/ 8-10 pellets each time) and he seems to love it. He lives in a 1 gallon container alone, he has a full water change every 10-15 days where he moves to a similar container that is clean (he has two of the same containers) I put chlor out, bulls eye, stress coat and aquarium salt to his bowl and nowadays I also put betta fix since he seems unhealty. He is not really friendly but he dances when he is hungry, other than that he is a pretty laid back fish))

I might be over feeding him, cause he seems to get bigger and bigger, I attached some pictures of him for you to see. Can that be the reason? I try to feed him peas once in a while, sometimes he eats them. He is my first fish, so I really don't know much about him, but I really don't want him to die(( PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you



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[ueo]

It is me again, I realized that I couldm't post the pictures of Thirsty in the message, so here is a link where you can see them, thanks

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ueo122...SYO.CBAw3hll5n

[Whizper]

Hold on, going to repost your question in one of my other forums.

[Amethystbelle]

I think your problem might be water quality as in a 1 gallon i'd do a water change every 3 days to keep the water in excellent condition for him, i'd also say you are slightly over feeding him maybe cut back his meal to just twice a day especially as he's living in a smaller container. I think the main problem is the water quality as he's in a small container without filtration so he's effectively living in his own excrement and over a period of 10-15 days this is building up and slowly be poisoning him hence him being less active and not eating. Although Bettas unlike other fish can breathe oxygen at the surface sometimes this isn't enough for them and the effects can get them down which it seems you are experiencing. I'd increase the water changes to at least twice a week maybe doing 50% at a time so not to disturb the tank too much as inorder for his waste to break down you need a build up of good bacteria in there so best not to over disturb the tank. Or you could think about getting a slightly bigger tank for him around a 3 gallon and adding a small filter in there to help with the water quality. As for foods to tempt him have you tried brine shrimp, daphnia or blood worms? As like humans fish like a variety in life and maybe Thirsty is just bored with the pellets ? But I personally think that its going to be water quality as to why he's been lethargic and off his food and once that is sorted i'm sure he will be fine!

He's a beautiful fish, please keep us posted

[Formula86]

i agree with amethystbelle - when i had my previous betta in a bowl i would have to change everything out every week. i would say to get a slightly bigger tank if possible (one with a filter), put a lot of plants in there for him and also add an airator (the air pump that makes bubbles in the water). i hardly have to change out the water for my betta this way. and when i do, i only do a partial water change and clean the plants.

the ideal temperature is about 78 degrees.

also, try feeding him dried blood worms. they love those. and you should only feed him once a day.

good luck!

[Formula86]

i just looked at this pics - you cannot keep the top of his bowl completely covered like that. he needs to be able to have air when he goes to the surface to breath. you should remove the lid.

here is a pic of the setup i have for my betta. maybe it'll give you an idea of a more ideal environment. (btw - this pic is from when there were some other schooling fish in there with him. he's just by himself now, but everything's the same).

[ueo]

Hi:
I just did a 50% water change, and I am going to buy him an aquarium ASAP. Do you think it is OK for him not to eat for almost 3 days now?

[ueo]

Thanks for the picture, he is cute I actually do not close the lid all the way, there is a 1" opening. I am afraid that he will jump out. Should I just leave it open?

[Amethystbelle]

Quote: Originally Posted by formula86 i just looked at this pics - you cannot keep the top of his bowl completely covered like that. he needs to be able to have air when he goes to the surface to breath. you should remove the lid.

I forgot to mention the lid, i wanted to know whether or not it has holes in it or a gap round it? I wouldn't advise to remove it as bettas can jump and many a person has found their poor little fishy dried up next to the tank. Bettas can jump better than most fish it seems so a lid is advisable but it needs to have small holes in it for aireation or at least a small gap round it so the betta can get as much oxygen as he can this also could be why he's lethargic and off his food

[Formula86]

bettas can jump - i agree with amethystbelle. my nan's did this on occassion. i just remembered that after my post. a 1 inch opening isn't bad, but a bigger tank would be better.

it is not normal for him to not eat for 3 days.

[Amethystbelle]

Yes, its definately not normal for him to not eat for 3 days but fish can go for over a week without eating with no ill effects and sometimes if they feel ill or off colour they won't eat just like humans. I'd do a small immediate water change and see if that has any effect i'd also probably stop adding the aquarium salt and the stress coat and betta fix too as all could be reacting against each other and having some reaction towards your betta's condition, try leaving them of for a few days to see if that helps at all. I'd try some of the other foods i mentioned to see if they tempt him to eat

[Guppie_girl]

Quote: Originally Posted by formula86 i agree with amethystbelle - when i had my previous betta in a bowl i would have to change everything out every week. i would say to get a slightly bigger tank if possible (one with a filter), put a lot of plants in there for him and also add an airator (the air pump that makes bubbles in the water). i hardly have to change out the water for my betta this way. and when i do, i only do a partial water change and clean the plants. the ideal temperature is about 78 degrees. also, try feeding him dried blood worms. they love those. and you should only feed him once a day. good luck!

my beta, Zeus, was having the same problems as yours so i used blood worms and he loves them. i now am able to alternate between worms and pellets every other day and he seems to be doing fine. good luck with him!

[mm_simb]

I'd say that a bigger tank would work out well. You can try getting a filter with it with an adjustable flow nob and a heater, as bettas prefer to be in 76-80 degree water. If the water moved from 70 - 80 degrees in one day, that can also be making him lethargic. The do not take drastic changes really well. Water changes should be done more often and he is being overfed. You can try giving him a pea to get rid of everything he currently has in his system. To do this, you take a frozen or fresh pea, put it in boiling water for a bit, let it cool, take the shell off so that leaves only the inside, and cut it in really small pieces (I do it with my fingernail). I haven't seen a betta that doesn't like peas. You should lower the food to 2 times a day and only like 5 pellets. I normally feed mine 3 pellets 2 times a day.
If you've been putting bettafix for more than 7 days I would stop putting that. You can also try buying a product called Blackwater Extract. It's works wonderful with my betta. It lowers stress.

[Pet Sitting 14]

ok well u know a betta has to have atleast a 10 gal tank right? My nephew kept his ina 1 gallon and it died.... Ok get him atleast a 10gal tank , it has to have heater , thermometer and filter. Also betta don't just eat pellets u have too feed em the betta fish flakes also trie putting some dead maggots in their . He might just wnat a change of food. Mine was the same due to him not eating that musch at petco and being in a small cup. Now he is doing great.

[mm_simb]

Actually most bettas do great in 1 gallons. You nephew's probably died because they didn't do frequent water changes which is what would kill it in the end...not the smaller space. A 10 gallon is great but a 1 gallon is ok. I think a 2.5 gallon is better and water changes on those would be 2 times a week and 100% water change.
Bettas can eat just pellets but they do need a varied diet like frozen or fresh daphnia, bloodworms, blackworms, brime shrimp, and a pea a week. I think there are other frozen or fresh foods that you can feed I just can't recall them right now. Never give them freeze dried because they are not good for their systems and will eventually get them really sick.