[puplove52]

Hi everyone, My male betta fish has not eaten since Saturday. The only thing he would eat was a pea. I thought it was swim bladder but it's not. He use to show interest in food since Saturday, but today he wants nothing to do with food. This all started when I cleaned his bowl. Maybe I did something wrong, I'm not sure. Please help.

Size of tank? 1 gallon bowl, will upgrade to 2.5 gallon.

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia?
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH?
e. Test kit? Unsure

3. Temperature? No thermometer. But I put a heat lamp on often.

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? FW

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? Since last November. I clean it once a week.

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? Betta fish. just one, he is smaller then others. Since last November.

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? He lives alone so he isn't quarantined.

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? Just one hiding decoration.
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? Replica of spongebob's house.

9. a. Filtration? No
b. Heater? a heat lamp

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? A lamp that also gives off heat. I turn it on when it gets cold.
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? No sunlight exposure

11. a. Water change schedule? Every Saturday
b. Volume of water changed? 100%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? conditioned tap water
d. Water conditioner used? Aquasafe
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? Will vacuum when I get new tank.

12. Foods? Betta min pellets
How often are they fed? Once a day, but he doesn't eat it.

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
b. Appearance of poop? No poop at all.
c. Appearance of gills? small black spots under gills, but they have been there since I got him.

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis?
b. What meds were used? I have need but not for this case.

 

[Ogre44]

Bettas need pretty warm water, with winter coming your house is probably colder than he needs.
I'd try getting his tank temp up to around 80 degrees F and see how he does.
You could also try some different foods, perhaps he's gone off the pellets.

 

[Vikkio4]

I don't know if I can really help but I just need to say that betta a should really be in a tank with heater and a small filter for them to really live a long healthy life. Also doing 100% water changes can be quite stressful for the fish, maybe do 2 x 50% changes a week or something similar? Maybe try a different type of food? My betta stopped eating after about 3 years of having him but he have in a little when I brought out the bloodworms
P.s. I'm very much a prime advocate when it comes to water conditioner, only need a tiny amount and it temporarily detoxifies ammonia etc which could be helpful in such a small tank.

 

[puplove52]

He use to be on flake food, but I switched him this week because he didn't eat it anymore.

 

[Vikkio4]

When he spits out the food do you scoop it out or gravel vac? Could be a water quality issue from leftover food affecting him.

 

[puplove52]

Well I just cleaned 50% of his bowl water and put new gravel in. He is just swimming around a lot now.

 

[Vikkio4]

If he's still not eating you could try soaking his food in garlic or seachem's garlic guard. I don't know if it works but it's supposed to increase appetite.

 

[srf312]

Garlic guard usually works for me, especially with medicated food