Lethargic Female Betta?

[DarkLies]

Okay, about 2 weeks ago I moved my female Betta, Jasmine, into the one gallon. Yes, I know, she could be in a bigger tank, but before that she was cramped into a bowl (long story, don't ask).

While in the bowl she was very active, always coming up to the glass whenever I walked near and all of that.
Since it's getting colder at night and I can't keep her under a lamp for 24 hours (she wasn't under a lamp to begin with, she was against a wall that received the morning sunlight...no, she didn't get any direct sunlight), I decided to move her to my one gallon with the snail and fry (they're leaving soon, don't worry). For the past few days she's been very inactive: floating at the top corner or lying in some plants.

Just this morning I noticed three small white dots on her spine! I quickly added "Quick Cure - A fast, effective cure for tropical fish parasite infestations like Ick." It's supposed to cure Ick in 2 days.

What can I do for Jasmine? She's eating fine and isn't bloated or "pineconeish."

The tank's temperature drops to about 73ish at night and rises to 76-78 during the day. I'm going to get a heater as soon as I can get to the store. But a question on the heater: would one of those small heaters that shut off automatically at a set temperature overheat the tank?

Oh, and she's on a diet of a mixture of: betta flake food (mixed with shrimp), tropical fish flake food, freeze-dried bloodworms, and freeze-dried shrimp (crushed up to fit into the fishes' mouths of course). Yes, I rehydrate the food before I feed it to them and they get fed twice a day. Occasionally, I'll throw in a few frozen (thawed) bloodworms.

Sorry for the long post, I'm just really worried about her. =/

 

[Newman]

1. the temp changes will stress her out to no end, and are the direct cause of ich (assuming your tank's water parameters are perfect)

2. Temps below 78F will cause bettas' immune systems to run weaker than normal (cmon they live in 80F water in the wild)

3. Get a thermo and that heater you talked about. that way you can set the temp to 79F or so and monitor any overcooking with the thermo.

4. weak immune system often = ich.

5. she'll prefer betta pellets (hickari beta gold or something like that) to flakes any day. The pellets sell for $2, it would be a crime not to get them for her.

6. the bloodworms and shrimp are an excellent idea. keep soaking them in tank water before feeding. that way theres no need to crush the shrimp, just break a small chunk off, soak it, pick out a few for the betta and feed any extra to w/e other tanks you have.

Just know, that youre not alone with this betta sickness business. My betta is actually suffering from eye cloud in one of her eyes (got it from the store on both eyes...i didnt notice at first DOH) now she has eye cloud in one eye...

I hope she gets better

 

[DarkLies]

Thank you soo much for reassuring me! I feel as if I've been horribly mistreating my poor girl =/=/

I should be going to the store Sunday to get the heater (already of a thermo) and the pellets

I truly hope your betta gets well! I'm sure that with your exquisite care, she'll recover! I'm curious, is this the gorgeous tealish color betta?

 

[Newman]

ya, the only betta i own for now ... :[
thanks i appreciate it.

 

[bassbonediva]

I'm gonna add this to here rather than making a whole new thread for it. My female crowntail, Alice, is not doing so hot. While the other females mostly swim around or just chill either mid-water or near the top, she spends the day resting on the bottom. I don't mean just sitting on the bottom upright, 'cuz some of the other females do that. I mean she rests there at whatever angle she happens so sink at, whether it's on her side or halfway on her tail. If I prod her (either with the net or by tapping the tank where she is), she'll get up and swim, but not very far. What's weird is that she's eating fine and her color is just as spectacular as ever. No barring from stress or anything like that. I am having some algae issues in the tank at the moment (first a bacterial bloom, now the algae...I'm at my wit's end with this tank!), but I'm not sure that's the cause since it hasn't seemed to effect the other females. Any thoughts? I have to strip down my 10gal that had my three male veiltails in it because I don't know what killed one of the males and if it was a disease, I don't want it passed along to the other two males, and I'm going to take one of the dividers out and just dividing the tank in half. I was thinking about putting my older blue/yellow male, Edward, in one half because his fins are longer and then putting Alice (my crowntail female) in the other half. I have an unused 2gal Hex that I can put Carlisle, my cellophane male, in until either Alice gets better or whatever happens. Does that sound like a good idea?

 

[Newman]

as long as you cycle it yeah. i know it seems like the betta wont really durty up the water if you do weekly water change sin a small tank, but you'd be surprised. its safer if you cycle anyway.

 

[bassbonediva]

I was thinking of using water from one of the other tanks when I set up the 2.5gal for Carlisle. I need to do a water change on my Hex5 anyway, so I was going to use the water from there since that tank is my longest established one and in the best shape (not that my other small tanks aren't doing well, but they can hardly spare the water to fill a 2.5gal when none of them are any bigger themselves ). Would that work? The 2.5gal for Carlisle won't have a filter or anything, just a bubble stone and since it's temporary, it probably won't have plants in it either (since I don't have any extras because they're all in the big tank ).

 

[Newman]

adding used tank water does nothing but add nitrates in from the old tank. youre better off using new tereated tap becuase its much cleaner. the wont be any notable bacteria in the tank water anyway since bacteria lives on hard surfaces and in the filter. adding a peice of decor from the main tank into the little one, and a betta would work better if you cant cycle for w/e reason. or gravel.

 

[DarkLies]

Since we're on the subject of small tanks and bettas, Jasmine now only has a snail for company I finally got the heater and it stays around 78*F. She's got an undergravel filter. Now, how often do I COMPLETELY clean all of the nastiness from under the filter and how often do I do a 50% water change etc? Since she's more comfortable than the bowl, I want to spoil her as much as possible

 

[Newman]

do a 50% water change every week and gravel vac the gravel while youre at it.

 

[Doomhed]

I'm gonna add this to here rather than making a whole new thread for it. My female crowntail, Alice, is not doing so hot. While the other females mostly swim around or just chill either mid-water or near the top, she spends the day resting on the bottom. I don't mean just sitting on the bottom upright, 'cuz some of the other females do that. I mean she rests there at whatever angle she happens so sink at, whether it's on her side or halfway on her tail. If I prod her (either with the net or by tapping the tank where she is), she'll get up and swim, but not very far. What's weird is that she's eating fine and her color is just as spectacular as ever. N Does that sound like a good idea?

I am going to give the same advice I gave before. Shallow water. Take those bettas out of the 45 gallon Tank. Not tomorrow, not next week, but yesterday. The reason they land all funny is because the depth screws up their swim bladders. Bettas hate higher water pressure. It is like me taking you and every time you had to sleep butting a volvo on top of your chest. Would you be able to sleep? What if every time you had to breath you had to move that volvo? Bettas have very tiny swim bladders in comparison to most fishes (that's why they have such thin bodies compared to gouramis, their closest wild cousin), so higher pressures of a bigger tank can cause strain on the swim bladder and possible ruptures/hemorrhages.

I learned this the hard way when I kept a standard 55 gallon with 2 dozen bettas. I lost the 3 males and 10 of my females until a Thai breeder told me what I screwed up. Once bettas are over 1/2 inch long they can't live in those depths. All of these were fry from my "mustard gas" male and female I bought from Uncle Junkin, these fish were retailing for over $600 each at the time. You are lucky you haven't lost them yet, but if you keep them in that tank you will. If you want multiple betta girls in a tank get a 20/29 long, you have a huge surface area and a low water pressure for them.

 

[Newman]

yikes, thats good to know...and i was going to put female betta fry into my 40 gal >_<

 

[Doomhed]

yikes, thats good to know...and i was going to put female betta fry into my 40 gal >_<

how tall is the tank? If you use enough substrate you can lower the water depth and pressures on the little fishes.

What can I do for Jasmine? She's eating fine and isn't bloated or "pineconeish."

Are you letting her fast every 7th day or is she being fed every day?

You have been feeding her a pretty varied diet, but bettas, especially females, have been known to get constipated fairly easily. I used to skip feedings on 1 day a week and feed them a de-skinned boiled pea once a month to prevent constipation. This isn't an issue because in the wild they skip meals whenever they can't find a bug to eat, and they have been known to nibble native plants that, like the noble pea, clean out their systems.

 

[Newman]

my 40 gal is around 17" tall. i dont believe im going to be putting any betta in there unless i have no room in my other tanks. there is also a goldfish in there, so i cant really lower the level just for the bettas. goldfish likes its water level and space just where it is right now lol! the 40 gal is always the tank in my avatar.

 

[DarkLies]

Are you letting her fast every 7th day or is she being fed every day?

You have been feeding her a pretty varied diet, but bettas, especially females, have been known to get constipated fairly easily.

Yes, I let her fast on Sunday usually. Also, is the varied diet bad? =/=/ I feel as if I've got too much different stuff going on. Oh, I don't remember if I posted this earlier or not and I'm a little too lazy to check, but, I'm feeding her a few flakes (re-hydrated) a bit more often (mostly both meals) because I had Elaine (my oldest female guppy) in the breeder's box and she would only eat freeze-dried bloodworms...do you think the diet changes are bad? =/