Maevin
New Member
Hi,
I have a Siamese fighting beta called Steve. 4 days ago his behaviour changed, he usually swims around the tank and seemingly plays with the other fish but now he’s very lethargic and is lying on the bottom of the tank only moving to the surface to get air. When he does this he struggles to swim up to the top and sinks back down rather than swimming down. He has no interest in food and we haven’t seen him eat for 3 days. He’s in a 7.7 gallon (35 litre) tank with 5 of his babies, he’s been with these babies since they were born which varies between 2-3 months. His tank is fully planted and has a marina i25 filter. The water is crystal clear and has never been an issue. He recently swallowed a whole algae pellet which we thought might have caused this but googling it suggested not. We don’t know what medicine to give him as he has no aesthetic symptoms, no colour change, no bulging, his fins are normal etc. We’ve done a part water change in case there was too much food in the water or a ammonia spike but this hasn’t changed his behaviour. We can’t believe this is the end of the road for him as we’ve only had him for just over a year, however he as bought from a large pet shop, but we still figured he has at least another year of life left. We are at a loss of how to help him and we don’t want to give him medication that he doesn’t need as it might kill the shrimp/babies in the tank. Please give any and all advice TIA, two very worried fish parents
I have a Siamese fighting beta called Steve. 4 days ago his behaviour changed, he usually swims around the tank and seemingly plays with the other fish but now he’s very lethargic and is lying on the bottom of the tank only moving to the surface to get air. When he does this he struggles to swim up to the top and sinks back down rather than swimming down. He has no interest in food and we haven’t seen him eat for 3 days. He’s in a 7.7 gallon (35 litre) tank with 5 of his babies, he’s been with these babies since they were born which varies between 2-3 months. His tank is fully planted and has a marina i25 filter. The water is crystal clear and has never been an issue. He recently swallowed a whole algae pellet which we thought might have caused this but googling it suggested not. We don’t know what medicine to give him as he has no aesthetic symptoms, no colour change, no bulging, his fins are normal etc. We’ve done a part water change in case there was too much food in the water or a ammonia spike but this hasn’t changed his behaviour. We can’t believe this is the end of the road for him as we’ve only had him for just over a year, however he as bought from a large pet shop, but we still figured he has at least another year of life left. We are at a loss of how to help him and we don’t want to give him medication that he doesn’t need as it might kill the shrimp/babies in the tank. Please give any and all advice TIA, two very worried fish parents
