I came home and my betta’s mouth was open (and not closing) so I panicked (knowing that this is a sign of stress) and tested the water levels, the hardness and PH was maybe a little high (but still within the OK range) so I put him in a smaller bowl with a heater and piece of driftwood (to lower the PH). he’s in a 5gal planted tank, all the tank condition levels are okay and stable.
looking closer, I realized that his mouth looked a little wonky, like maybe he had injured it? hes swimming around like normal, active, breathing at the top and asking for food. does anyone have any idea of whats wrong with him?
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1rdx4q5
Posted by Bulky-Woodpecker871
4 Comments
Low oxygen
What are the ammonia levels, also (I say this with care) living in a bowl will be a death sentence for him. It’s almost impossible to keep stable parameters in this environment, this is probably what is causing his health issues.
If he’s swimming around normal it might just be an injury, they can be delicate. The most likely explanation is oxygen but as you’ve said you have a filter that adds oxygen, but if he’s going to the surface a lot that may mean it’s not enough. He could also have something stuck in his mouth or throat. It could also be a bacterial infection affecting the gills you could treat with Kanaplex and Focus mixed with food, these are good to have on hand anyway. Make sure to remove any invertebrates and activated carbon during that, and re-add after dosing for a week.
UPDATE:
Thanks for the help! I added a second filter in his 5 gallon planted tank (a small shrimp filter I got on accident one time lol), and put him back in to see if maybe it was just the oxygen levels. Turns out it was (I feel dumb). I had just bought a new filter, because his old one created too strong of a current for a betta, and I needed calmer water flow. It’s been a few weeks and it seemed to work well, but I guess it wasn’t breaking the surface tension very well and the oxygen got lower overtime.
The gist is: his mouth is now closed and he seems less stressed, and is hanging close to the filters (which he doesn’t usually do), I’m assuming because of the higher oxygen.
Looks like I’ll be buying a new filter again 😭, if anyone has any recommendations for a filter that is powered by an air pump, breaks surface tension well and is also calm enough for a betta, please let me know.