I've been struggling recently a lot to keep up with feeding and cleaning my fish, wally's, tank, and keeping his filter working. About two hours ago, i realized he hadn't been swimming around as usual and accidentally poked him when he was hiding behind a rock while looking for him. He really quickly swam up a bit out of hiding and almost immediately stopped moving before floating back down to the tank bottom.
I was honestly freaking out like hell and dunked my hand in and gently scooped him up, bringing him to the surface while putting down some food cause i thouhgt he was just incredibly hungry or something. He surprisingly didn't even swim away at all, but was visibly breathing and looking around. He took about 5 little bites, trying to swim away once or cause i couldn't keep still from how much i was shaking
I set him back down and checked literally everything. The water's temperature is completely fine, the air pump is flowing nice and clean, i even managed to get his filter working in my panic and tested the water with a test kit, which it literally told me everything was fine aside from the pH and hardness being a little high.
I genuinely have NO idea what could be going on, i had to leave for an hour because i had to go somewhere and thankfully when i came back i poked him a little and he reacted by flapping his fins a little and looking around. He's even changed positions a little while i was writing this. All i can think of is that his chin is a little white and so is his belly if i recall correctly, so please do with that what you will. Any help is appreciated.
TDLR ; my fish might be dying, i have no idea, and he's been barely moving at all but is visibly breathing, looking around, and ate a little when i held him up to the surface. All of his things are in working order, the temperature is fine, the water levels are safe, but there is a bit of white on his chin and belly which i don't exactly remember seeing. Any help or advice is appreciated, im desperate to help my boy 🙁
https://i.redd.it/uun50x2xji2g1.jpeg
Posted by MarrsBars_
3 Comments
Tank Size: 10 Gallons
Heater and Filter: Yes
Parameters: 0 Nitrite and Nitrate, 9.0 pH, 180 GH, 180-240 KH, used API water testing kit
Tank and Fish: I’ve had my fish wally for about 3 and a half years now, same with the tank if i remember correctly
Tank mates: none
Water changes: once every month, 25-50% is removed, i siphon out the water and clean up as much of the substrate as i can before dumping it out, filling a bucket with new water and de-chlorinating it, waiting about 8 hours-a day before slowly putting back in the water to try and not stress out my fish much
Food: I feed flakes for tropical fish, meant for a healthy diet and the such, I’ve struggled to keep up recently with feeding so i’ve maybe fed him once or twice a week for i don’t even remember how long ughgh
Plants + decor: I’m not even sure what plants they are, but they’re KIND of new, not really, but haven’t made too many long roots yet. I’ve got some rocks in there with sand substrate and 2 hides + a square feed hole thingy
Can I see a picture of the whiteness on his chin/belly? From reading your description nothing immediately stands out to me besides he might be stressed. I’d watch for signs of dropsy (bloating and pine coning) as it matches kinda how my betta was like when he had it. Also make sure to monitor your water parameters to make sure nothing goes crazy off.
Aside from the general advice to never ever let your filter “stop working” for any length of time, you aren’t actually doing anything to cause this. 3 and a half years is a respectable lifespan for a betta. 5 is ideal, but because of genetics, it’s a toss up. He might just be old. I would definitely suggest not handling him anymore at all. That sort of thing will only stress him further and if he is just sick, that isn’t great in his weakened state. But really, I’m sorry but it might just be his time.