Help is my Betta fish sick?

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Alice

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I think my Betta is sick. Just today morning, he was lying on the bottom of his bowl. (This is a very big bowl. It holds up to 2 gallons of water)

He's moving sluggishly. Normally he'd eat like a pig, but today he refused to eat much. I'm not sure if he has fin rot, but through these symptoms describe I hope someone can help me. He's still like this right now.

I have a picture of him, but it's not clear:

http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp113/Chex_Mix_Cat/Picture452.jpg
 
In order to help you, you need to hear some home truths. A 2 gallon tank is TINY - not very big at all. Even bettas shouldn't be in less than 5gal. The buckets I use for water changes are the same size as your bowl. Seriously - by the time you've added filter and heater, there's no space for the fish to move - and if you consider the filter and heater as the fish's life support system, you wouldn't be wrong. He NEEDS them.

Next, the words "fish" and "bowl" don't belong together - at all. Ever. All fish - including bettas - deserve to be in a rectangular or square tank, with a background, and decoration for the fish to retreat to when threatened, or to explore when they're not. It gives them some life enrichment.

Thirdly, it looks like the bowl is rather bare. Not only can I not see any sign of a filter or heater, it looks like there's no decoration in the tank. What does he have to hide in or rest on?

Do you have any test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? If not, you need to buy a test kit and find these out immediately. Toxin levels build up sooner in smaller tanks.

Do you dechloronate the water?

My guess is that this is down to water quality and lack of enrichment, but without the answers to the above questions, I honestly can't tell you for certain.
 
bettas are tropical fish and MUST have an aquatic heater

also i would change your substrate to something dark and natural as this makes your fish look allot better

and add some live plants
 
That's a very pretty fish. However, he needs a heater, since bettas are tropical. Hydor makes 7.5 watt mini-heaters that are perfect for small tanks. He also needs some plants or other decor to hide behind.

Even though it's a big bowl, all fish do better in actual tanks. Buy him a 2.5 gallon tank, a heater, and some plants and he'll probably perk right up.

I don't see any fin rot, but halfmoon/delta bettas like yours are VERY susceptible to it, especially in cold water.
 
He might not have anything.
But I would try and raise the heat in his bowl and maybe add a plant so he can hide beside/under. I have a heater a gentle sponge filter with a weak current. And he also loves his java moss and his java fern.

Just maybe your little guy would like to try out those things too

Good Luck
 
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