My betta fish seems to be fighting to stay upright.

[wildeyed]

He has not been eating recently, either. This does not bode well.

I have him in a decent sized tank, with a bubbler. I change the water on a regular basis. I feed him a small pinch of dried mosquito larvae every day (occasionally I forget).

I just changed his water on the off chance that the kids had put something nasty in the bowl, although I did not see foreign objects.

Any suggestions?

on edit: We have only had the fish for six months. He was smaller when we got him, so I am assuming he was a baby. So I don't think he is suffering from old age.

[blueraven95]

1. a suggestion

My sister's beta did that, and she actually took him to the vet, which is an expensive trip for a fish with a relatively short life span, but what the vet suggested was to get antibiotic drops and add them to the water. If I remember correctly, you can get them at a pet store, and they need to be added everyday or so.

In the interest of being honest, the fish did not last that long afterwards anyway, but he was pretty old...a couple of years I think.

Hope that helps and good luck. Its amazing how attached to those little guys you get.

[wildeyed]

2. Thanks, I will try that.

I thought he was a goner this AM. I looked in the tank and he seemed to be floating on his side. But when I turned on the light, he started to swim. Still won't eat.

It is my daughter's fish. We just lost a dog and she is still processing that. It would be nice if the fishy pulled through, but I am not too hopeful.

[blueraven95]

3. yikes,

that is rough. I'll send good thoughts for the fish.

[wildeyed]

4. I put the drops in the tank.

The guy at the fish store gave me something special for bettas. I think it is just tea tree oil. But that would help with bacteria and the like.

Anyway, I did what I can do. He will either pull through or not. Thanks for the good thoughts.

[blueraven95]

5. just wondering how your fish is doing.

:hi:

[wildeyed]

6. Not well :-(

He died, finally. The drops seemed to help for a while, but he never did start eating again. I read up on bettas, and once they stop eating, they are pretty far gone. :(

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I was out of town for a while and must have missed your post.