Ive noticed my betta breathing odd and sinking more to the bottom. I separated him from the tank with some catappa leaves. What else can I do ):
He started acting this way after adding 3 ghost shrimp and another snail in my tank.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1stngbb
Posted by Dense-Mechanic-5763
7 Comments
Kanaplex. It’s a medicine that you drop into tank water first then add to the bowl. Aquarium salts may also work.
I don’t believe it’s related to the new additions as shrimp have a low bioload, unless you’ve been overfeeding and that could increase ammonia levels and either give the fish poisoning or make it vulnerable to illness.
With betta, you probably shouldn’t be adding shrimp anyways. It’s a waste of money. They hunt them.
hmmm….. go to the store and get test strips to check your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels. Also, if your tank is around 3.7 gal, you may need to upgrade to a bigger one to keep your water levels more stable. As of now, it may be an ammonia spike in the tank. To treat this, I would recommend removing the the water from his quarantine tank if you took it from his original tank. fill the cup your betta is in with fresh tap water *BUT BEFORE YOU DO THIS, PLEASE PUT THE TAP WATER IN A SEPERATE CUP AND USE DECHLORINATOR, REMOVE AS MUCH OF THE WATER IN YOUR BETTA’S QUARANTINE TANK, THEN PUT THE NEW DECHLONRINATED TAP WATER IT IN BETTA’S QUARANTINE TANK *
Have you tested the water for ammonia and nitrites ?
Maybe too many leaves those might be the problem could be leaching too much ammonia into the water
What are your water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH in the tank? Has it been nitrogen cycled?
Water quality can only be measured with testing, this will be essential. The water in the tank could be toxic and him poisoned by it.
There are multiple species of shrimp sold as “ghost shrimp”. My shop sells the predatory kind that will totally attack a betta. Is it possible you got Macrobrachium labeled as ghost shrimp?
Parameters? Maintenance routine?
If he’s breathing weird consider adding some aquarium salt fully dissolved. 1 teaspoon per gallon. Methylene blue or Paraguard. Paraguard is probably the best bet because it covers all bases since you dont know exactly whats going on. Bacteria, parasite, or fungal… it will take care of all 3. If you cant find that you can use higher doses of aquarium salt to eradicate most things.