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is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 12:30 am
by lavenderbug
Hey everyone, I'm getting a bit worried about my betta Musa - he's just not himself lately. I'm no expert, so I thought I'd ask for some help identifying if there's something wrong with him.
His tank's a 5-gallon, pretty densely planted with some amano shrimp and assassin snails to keep him company. I feed him color flakes daily. I know I should have water parameters to share, but I'm all out of test kits - sorry about that! The plants seem to be doing great, though.
I just did a big water change - 90% - but he's still just lying at the bottom of the tank most of the time, only swimming up when it's food time.
Does anyone have any ideas what might be going on with him?
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:48 am
by barnicle
Musa is gorgeous, but I'm really worried about him - I've never seen him act like this before.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 4:48 am
by coltin
I'm concerned that Musa might be lacking some essential nutrients in his diet, so I'd like to know: what else do you feed him apart from color flakes? Do you mix it up or is it just the flakes?
Also, how often do you typically do water changes, and what percentage of the water do you change? Do you clean the gravel when you do a water change, or just leave it? And do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What kind of filter is on the tank, and how often do you clean it? Do you have a regular maintenance routine for the filter?
I think it's possible that Musa might be suffering from malnutrition if he's only getting flakes. I mean, variety is important, right? You should check the expiry date on the food and consider getting a new batch if it's been open for more than six months. It's generally recommended to use new fish food within four weeks of opening it. If you have a big container, you can put some in a smaller container and freeze the rest.
It's also possible that Musa's age could be a factor, or maybe the filter or substrate is dirty.
Let's start with some basic first aid for fish. Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Use a clean fish sponge to wipe down the inside of the glass – this will remove any biofilm that might be harboring bacteria, fungus, or other microscopic life forms.
For the next week, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified. This will help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for Musa to recover in. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine or chloramine before adding it to the tank.
If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last two weeks, now's the time to do it. However, if the filter is less than six weeks old, it's best not to clean it. Just wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. You can tip the dirty water on the garden or lawn. Cleaning the filter will help reduce the amount of gunk in the water and make any medication more effective.
Finally, try increasing the surface turbulence or aeration to maximize the dissolved oxygen in the water.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 5:31 am
by lavenderbug
coltin wrote: ↑Thu Dec 14, 2023 4:48 am
I'm concerned that Musa might be lacking some essential nutrients in his diet, so I'd like to know: what else do you feed him apart from color flakes? Do you mix it up or is it just the flakes?
Also, how often do you typically do water changes, and what percentage of the water do you change? Do you clean the gravel when you do a water change, or just leave it? And do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What kind of filter is on the tank, and how often do you clean it? Do you have a regular maintenance routine for the filter?
I think it's possible that Musa might be suffering from malnutrition if he's only getting flakes. I mean, variety is important, right? You should check the expiry date on the food and consider getting a new batch if it's been open for more than six months. It's generally recommended to use new fish food within four weeks of opening it. If you have a big container, you can put some in a smaller container and freeze the rest.
It's also possible that Musa's age could be a factor, or maybe the filter or substrate is dirty.
Let's start with some basic first aid for fish. Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Use a clean fish sponge to wipe down the inside of the glass – this will remove any biofilm that might be harboring bacteria, fungus, or other microscopic life forms.
For the next week, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified. This will help reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for Musa to recover in. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine or chloramine before adding it to the tank.
If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last two weeks, now's the time to do it. However, if the filter is less than six weeks old, it's best not to clean it. Just wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. You can tip the dirty water on the garden or lawn. Cleaning the filter will help reduce the amount of gunk in the water and make any medication more effective.
Finally, try increasing the surface turbulence or aeration to maximize the dissolved oxygen in the water.
I also give Musa brine shrimp every now and then, about once a month. I usually do a 70% water change on his tank once a week, and I clean the sponge filter and the substrate at the same time. I'm thinking maybe malnutrition could be the issue, but I really don't think it's old age since I've only had him for about six months. When I got him, he was pretty small and looked younger than most pet-store bettas, so I'm hoping that's not it.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 6:46 am
by lavenderbug
No idea what's wrong, but Musa is absolutely gorgeous, love the coloration on that little guy.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 8:53 am
by coltin
I think it would be great if you added some variety to Musa's diet by incorporating frozen or live food into his daily meals, in addition to his regular flakes. You could try feeding him his flakes first, and then supplementing with some frozen or live food.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:30 am
by lavenderbug
My flake food is actually pretty good quality, doesn't have fish meal as the first ingredient. And don't worry, it's not expired either. The brine shrimp I've been feeding him are frozen ones. I'll definitely start mixing it up more and feeding him the brine shrimp daily now, thanks for the advice.
Re: is my betta healthy?
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:58 am
by coltin
He's going to need a bit more variety in his diet, I think. You could try getting some new, high-quality flakes or even asking your dad if you can borrow some. Adding in some marine mix or raw/cooked prawn would be great too - just keep it in the freezer and use a bit each day to mix things up.