My favorite and last betta Lawan has been staying at the bottom of her tank alot lately. He is in a divided 10 gallon tank. He did not eat the last couple of days and his usual coloring is a creamy color, he is a halfmoon betta I got from Thailand in January so he was expensive. His fins at the end of them are a rusty red color which was not there before. What can I do for him or is it too late. I think sometimes that he is dead and I put my hand in the tank and touch him then he starts swimming around and then ends up at the bottom of the tank again. He is in a filtered tank with a heater. I can't give you readings from the tank, I need to buy more tests since last time I used my ammonia test it showed nothing and then I took a sample to the petstore about 2 weeks ago and they said there was 0.5 ammonia and Nitrate was 40 so I did a 50% water change that day. Should I do another water change and see if that helps. Any suggestions welcome

hang on. I just pm'd one of the mods. someone should be with you soon.

I just did a water change to make sure if there was any ammonia in the tank I would take it out. As soon as I did the water change I took the old food off the top of the water and put fresh and he ate a little but now he is on the bottom of the tank again.

Hi,sorry to hear that your Betta is ailing.Yes,I definately think that his problems are from poor water quality,so it is good that you did a water change. Any amount of ammonia is really bad on a fish so two weeks ago ,the water should have been corrected. Nitrates at 40 are on the high side too.That water change was two weeks ago though,so
You really need to get into the habit of maintaining your tank on a weekly basis to keep params in order ,especially if you're going without a test kit.
How much water did you just change out? without test kits,you are just guessing and maybe placing your Betta at risk.You cannot tell if ammonia etc. is gone or not.Uneaten food should always be removed on a regular basis as it spoils the water in no time-especially during the summer months.
Truthfully,for the expense that you've paid for the Betta,you really do need to invest in a Drop Kit water test,instead of continuously guessing at what youre doing. Good luck,I hope he feels better.

I was thinking of going to get the test strips. And I haven't done the weekly water change because I have had trouble with my hip and got an injection of cortizone. I changed almost 50% of the water to make sure that any ammonia was out because of not having a test kit. The drop tests can be confusing with the colors so that is why I am getting the strips, that is what they use in the petstores and they are easy to use, I would do the tests more with the strips to make sure the water was good. I am going soon, this afternoon to get the test strips. I will probably do another water change in the next couple of days to make sure everything is fine with it.

I agree with Devs, most health problems are usually to do with water quality and this sounds like it is too.

If your tank has been filtered for some time, it should be cycled, so you shouldn't really be getting ammonia readings unless there is a problem.

You say it is a divided tank 10 gal, how many other fish share the tank and are any of those also unwell?

For your nitrAtes to get up as high as 40 in a betta tank and getting ammonia readings, I think maybe you are either overfeeding, or the tank is overstocked or you need to to be doing more frequent, regular partial water changes on at least a weekly basis.

For now, as Devs says, try to get a full test kit so you can assess exactly what is going on with the water quality on a daily basis.

Try to keep nitrAtes down to a minimium. So for now, guided by your test kit results, you may need to do water changes every couple of days to get things back on track. With good water quality he should start to improve. I would also feed more sparingly for now.

When you say the fin ends are a rusty red colour, it sounds like blood streaks so it could be the start of a bacterial problem as well. Other than that and colour loss and lethargy are there any other symptoms?

there is only a few tiger barbs on the other 2/3 of the tank and they are fine, eating well swimming well, looking well. There is no more symptoms than what I said. I will be doing more regular water changes since my hip is doing better. I need to do all my tanks today and through the weekend. I will test all of them when I get my test strips before and depending on what they say I will do one after water change if needed. I will be keeping a close eye on the test results and changing water until everything is ok. Thanx for the fast replies, I will keep you up to date with my betta.

OK, keep a close eye out for any more symptoms to indicate a bacterial problem, as you may need to treat him. Concentrate on the water quality for now. Best of luck with him, I hope he gets better

went to go buy some female bettas for my tetra tank and looked for test strips but they were either too expensive or couldn't find the one including ammonia test. So have to wait for them. He did not eat today, so have to take uneaten food out and still at bottom of tank except to get air once in awhile. Will do another water change today and see if he will eat then. Just have to wait and see what happens.

I found Lawan DEAD this morning. That was so upsetting. He must have had an internal bacterial infection and never had success in past bettas to help them with meds. It seems with bettas, once that the signs are there it is too late. I will miss him, now I don't know if I will get another betta for the tank or let the tiger barbs have the whole tank. Have had no luck with bettas.
Lawan was from Thailand that I got in January and was pretty close to being one yr old. For the money I spent if I get another I will just go to the petstore and buy one, but I loved this one, he was beautiful and I have never seen one this color here in any store I have been to.

Sorry you lost him I cant see the pic, but I bet he was gorgeous.

If you look at my photoalbum with photobucket you will see all the bettas I have lost, that is why I don't know if I will be getting anymore.

I'm sorry you lost him too He was beautiful

Maybe if you do get another Betta try keeping him on his own, that may lower the workload of the tank a little for you. Either way you gotta keep the water quality perfect or problems do come about. I know, as I went through a similar thing.

I agree with you, it does seem sometimes that when one problem starts it is a battle to turn things around again, but it can be done. The key does seem to be keeping excellent water quality. Good luck with your next Betta

I am doing a major water change in the tank, I don't want my tiger barbs to get sick. Just a precaution. I took out the divider and they now have the whole tank to themselves. I have 4 tiger barbs. Now that they have the whole tank is that the max i should have or can i get a few more. Just a reminder it is a 10 gallon tank, with 2 silk plants and two cave like decorations with gravel. Know that tiger barbs need alot of swimming room. The light in the tank does not allow me to have live plants.

I'm not sure how many tiger barbs you can keep in a 10 gal tank. Hopefully someone else will know, if not, try posting in the tropical forum. Best of luck with it