(Remember, just a tiny bit) These are fiber rich and act as a mild laxative. You can also try feeding him some daphnia (found at aquarium stores) or the inside of a cooked pea. If you suspect this to be the problem, try fasting the betta for a day or two. Another option to dry foods are live or frozen foods, which can be purchased at most aquarium stores. The general rule of thumb is a betta’s stomach is about as big as one of his eyeballs and that’s about how much you should provide per feeding. It also helps to soak dry food in tank water for about 10 minutes before feeding to allow it to soak up water before entering the betta’s digestive track. Make sure you are regulating your Betta’s portions and only feeding two to three bloodworms at a time, two or three times per day. This is most often caused by overfeeding or by feeding an abundance of dry foods like freeze-dried bloodworms, flakes or pellets. When pressure is placed on it you begin to see the fish fall to one side or most often face up. The swim bladder is a gas filled sack that the fish regulates in order to maintain his buoyancy. Once a betta eats the dry food, it can swell up with water in the fish’s gut causing blockage and pressure on the swim bladder. A betta’s natural diet of live insects and insect larvae have a high moisture content of about 95% or higher. They also have a very low moisture content of about 6% – 10%. Freeze-dried bloodworms are a good food source for bettas but alone do not make up a complete and balanced diet. Here’s more information on choosing a tank for your Betta.Īnother possibility is the food you are feeding. Ammonia becomes much more toxic in “basic” water. The only way to know is to test regularly for ammonia. I can only guess based on the size of the container and the frequency of water changes. This is not to say that you have poor water quality. Your old betta may have had a stronger immune system then your new one. Individual Bettas are also affected by their water conditions differently too. There are other factors that effect the toxicity rate as well including diet, water temperature and pH levels. Like people, bettas metabolize food at a different rate so while it’s possible your old betta produced ammonia more slowly (by metabolizing food) this one could be making it much more quickly. The rate at which ammonia accumulates is different for every fish. It is both colorless and odorless and in such a small container can build to dangerous levels in just a couple of days. Even though the water appears clean, it’s important to remember that the presence of ammonia is completely undetectable to the naked eye. gallons) is really to small to safely house a betta. Although your previous betta lived a long full life, a 1 liter contain (about 1/4 U.S. First, toxic water conditions could have lead to some sort of infection, possibly of the swim bladder causing him to not be able to right himself. Without greater detail into the water parameters I’m going to have to guess a bit but here are some thoughts based on what you provided. There are couple of likely possibilities. I read what I could on your site but didn’t find a similar problem as his bowl is always clean and it seems that fish with similar problems have been in toxic water. He is now going in spurts of rest and spurts of swimming.Īny help or advice you could provide would be so appreciated. I have been searching all over the web now trying to find some answers to what might be going on as it is clear he is sick. Not too long – 20 minutes – I found him floating vertically in the middle of the tank. After a few minutes he started swimming and darting around. He looks to be healthy visually otherwise – no spots, no strange fin problems. Today I found him at the bottom of the tank very lethargic and it looks like he was having trouble breathing. He is in a small bowl a little more than a liter. I change his water weekly and condition it. I have been treating this betta the same as my first. He is only my second betta – the first one I had for 3.5 years. I have a betta that I’ve had for 2 months. If you are a casual aquarist you and your fish will benefit from a larger tank. Though it may seem counterintuitive, smaller aquariums require a great deal more vigilance and maintenance. Siamese fighting fish, originally uploaded by davidhartstone.
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