Who Gives A Fish Forums

I've got a pretty established tank going on - my betta's 2.5 years old, my nerite snail's almost 1.5, and my Cory catfish is under a year (thinking of rehoming him soon). They're all living it up in my 20-gallon aquarium.

Recently, my betta went through a rough patch - she lost vision in one eye for a bit, probably from an injury. Apparently, some fish can regrow their retinas, so that's a plus. Anyway, she was bumping into stuff and getting more injured because of her limited vision. This was all over a month ago, and she was almost back to normal. But now, she's acting weird. She used to always come greet me when I'd approach the tank, but now she just slowly turns around. And she's been coming up for air way more often than usual. I'm wondering if this is just old age catching up to her, or if her injuries made her more prone to getting sick. I'm guessing she's sick, but I'm not sure. I'm planning on doing a water change to see if that helps. On a good note, she did seem pretty normal for a bit yesterday.

It seems like your betta might be showing some signs of aging. You might want to consider lowering the water level a bit and adding some taller plants for her to rest in, so she doesn't have to swim as far to get air. I've heard that as betta's age, they can start developing cataracts too. If that's the case, you could try feeding her blood worms and pellets, dangling them in front of her with tweezers so she can easily find them. Keep up with the regular water changes, by the way. What's the temperature of the water in her tank? And are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels all in check?