Betta fish...................keeps on the bottom of tank

[lilacben]

My Betta, Sam, has been fine since august but the last couple of days he is at the bottom of the tank more than swimming around. Changed the water yesterday and took tests to make sure water is ok. the nitrite n 02 was too high. so went to pet center and got something to lower it. which it has. but Sam is still at the bottom. what more can I do for him.?

[hammerman]

Do you have a heater and filter in the tank ? what are you feeding him on ? How often do you change the water and how much do you change ?

Answer these first then we can eliminate any problems.

[lilacben]

Ok Hammerman, usually change water weekly but didnt do it last week. take out and replace about 10% water. he has Nutrafin max micro granules for food (as wouldnt eat anything else) and feed him once a day. He has a filter, changed it this week and heater which is on 25.

[hammerman]

Nice one...good to see someone's keeping a fighter in proper conditions. Unless there's any physical signs of disease or parasites, it's very hard to tell what's wrong withn him. I used to breed fighters so had a large collection of males for spawning and they all acted differently to each other. Some would be very active and agressive, others would just mope around and sit on the bottom.

Do you have any other fish in with him ? It might be worth adding a trio of pygmy corydorus to hoover up any food off the bottom and it might be worth giving him some frozen bloodworm twice a week.....just 4 or 5 bloodworm as it's high in protein and shouldn't be fed every day.

Good luck

[divegirl]

When you say you changed the filter,did you change it completely? The Media [sponges] only needs rinsing in old tank water or you will kill off all of the good bacteria! That would explain the nitrite spike. Try doing 50% water changes every other day to let the filter catch up.
Anything bought from a store that claims to reduce anything can be substituted by water changes, just make sure you use a good de-chlorinator!
One last thing, if he is not going to the surface to breath, try dropping the water level so it is easier for him!

Lisa x

[lilacben]

Thankyou for your answers. Well have just asked my husband and he said when he changes the filter,sponge, he just put it straight into the filter holder and didnt put it in the tank water first. So maybe this is the problem. Sam has been on the bottom all morning but when the light went on just now he is swimming around quite happy. Have done another change of water, more than 10% I would say. Also tested the Nitrite N o2 again and it is on high still. So the Nitrite (teabag) remover we got from the pet place is not doing any good. There are other fish with him. They I am not sure what fish it was but I used to call him Gummy. He was small, never really grow from having him. He used to stay on the side of the glass all the time. Since I started this message Sam is now back at the bottom.!

[lilacben]

There is just one more thing, When he is at the bottom he seems to be breathing quickly, his whole body is swaying which I hadnt noticed before.