Concerning a Betta (Picture included!) Please help?

Question

So. Im babysitting my friends betta, and I have a betta as well. Mines happy as can be, flaring up, eating, racing around

While my friends betta doesnt at all. I havnt seen him flare at all, his fins are clamped, and when hes not eating, hes resting on a plant or at the bottom of the tank. What could this be? When I come near, he moves well enough, but when I leave hes still

I have a photo of him, sort of blurred, but I hope you can sort of see the problem im talking about

Also, he is probably around 2 years old, so not an extremely young pup either.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n66/Anythiing/fish005.jpg

Answer 1

Well, what I can see from the picture are clear stress lines. Maybe he is just stressed from being with you in a new place.

How are the parameters in the water? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate? Can you see any visible signs of illness like a white patch or fuzziness?

edit: actually when a female is ready to breed they display vertical lines not horizontal :)

here is a site on Betta diseases please look through and see if anything looks like what might be wrong. It has pictures and treatment options.

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases....

I hope your friends Betta makes it, good luck

Answer 2

He is stressed out, clamped fins are a sure sign of that. First off, add some aquarium salt to the water, about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water, to prevent disease (if you are not experienced with aquarium salt, this may sound weird, but is actually very beneficial to freshwater fish. It also produces a slime coat for the fish to fight infection, because often when fish get stressed it is easy for them to become infected.) After that, put 1/4 teaspoon of NovAqua per 2.5 gallons, or 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons, into the bowl/tank. And don't perform any full water changes, instead just do 50% water changes to clean the tank. Lastly, for the next three weeks, change the water twice a week (only 50%) and put in a drop of Aquarisol per gallon after treating the new water. If your betta becomes infected, change 30% of the water every day for a week and put in a drop per gallon of Aquarisol in the new water that goes into the bowl/tank. Your friend's betta should come back to full health.

Answer 3

That looks like a female betta that has a lined body because it wants to breed.