why is my betta fish not eating and stays at bottom?
by Aquaboy on Friday, May 21st, 2010 | 4 Comments
my male betta fish seems to be afraid of me now and wont eat he just hides and sits on bottom of tank or oon a plant. he also hasn’t ait for a week now. is he dieing? what do i do? the temp is 78 its warm and a big tank but he just sits there
http://www.thepetsdir.com/Pets_Shopping/Pet_Fish/9377.html
I found a great information for you at the above mention link. This will give you in detail about all the things that you need to take care of about your betta fish.
Their are also plenty of detail listings about all the related stuff regarding feed, diet and other planes for your fish. Go find your answer over their. Good Luck
Hi!
I’m having the same problem with one of my fish at the moment too! She’s a black moor, hasn’t eaten for days, won’t swim, barely moves. I got so worried, so I did a whole lot of research and here are some of the answers I’ve found.
First of all though, someone else has also asked this question, so check out these answers for extra info: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100310194726AAxBnYP
Generally betta fish aren’t very active fish. If you go into a pet store you’ll often see them sitting, limp on the rocks. They’re mainly active when presenting to a mate or going into a fight against another fish, where their fins will flare up and their behaviour becomes highly aggressive.
I also found some research on why your Betta isn’t eating: “Bettas don’t eat very much, especially right after you move them. Try some frozen blood worms, only feed him just a little bit. He can go for at least a week without eating, and his tummy is about the size of his eye. You can use a turkey baster to clean up what he doesn’t eat in a couple of minutes. It’s also good to have a small filter or aerator in the aquarium.
When you do the weekly water changes, try changing only 25 percent of the water. Replace it with water of about the same temperature, and use a good water conditioner.”
It seems like you’ve kept the tank well and the temperature steady, just in case of amonia poisoning do a check of the water pH and also make sure you use water ager when adding new water (It’s about $4 from the supermarket, so is a worthwhile investment!)
I also like to get an expert opinion when my fish are sick. I find the guys at http://www.marinemaster.com.au have great advice and quickly reply to emails
Has this helped you out?
Good luck!
Well, it might depend on a LOT of things. Is this a new tank? How long have you had him? Was your tank cycled before you put him in?
If not, here is a bunch of great information that may help you:
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-beginners/14296-read-first-freshwater-beginner-important-topics.html
Now, aside from that – a lot of people say that bettas are lazy. However, being overfed and poor water/tank parameters attribute to this. Unlike what most people thing, this is like your average tropical fish. He needs heat and a filter. You say your temp is 78, that’s good. I’d probably say that’s just about right. do you have a filter? Perhaps it’s not enough. He could also benefit from throwing in an air stone if there is not enough oxygen in the water for him. My betta was usually quite active. Oh, you say a large tank, how large? Are there decorations? Other fish in the tank?
You also might find some fun facts here that can help you!
http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/betta-fish/ (the people in this forum are VERY knowledgeable and ROCK)
try rearranging the decorations and get him to flare by using a mirror
http://bettacare101.com