[iskandarreza]

A friend of mine had to go back to Europe recently, so he gave me his 25 gallon tank with 5 fishes, 12 gallon tank with 20 fishes and 1 gallon bowl with 2 guppies and half gallon glass vase with a single betta.

The betta is the laziest betta I've seen. Totally relaxed and spends almost all it's time sleeping, propped up against a pebble or a leaf or the glass wall. Just for a lark I transferred him and 25% of his water to a 3/4 gallon plastic tank. He swam a bit more but was still lazy. And when he swims, it seems kinda awkward. It's like a person who just came out of the hospital after an operation and recuperation of a couple of months. It looked like he needed physiotherapy.

So I put the plastic tank into my 9-gal planted tank. This tank has guppies, kuhlis and cardinals. The plastic tank floated inside and formed a barrier between the betta and the rest of the tank. The betta was unfazed and preferred to rest at the bottom of the floating tank, occasionally swimming to the side to get a closer look at the guppies.

This morning the tank sank to the bottom. The betta was still in it. A gay guppy came in and checked out the betta. Other guppies swam in later to survey what was going on. I decided to tip the plastic tank over and dump the betta into the planted 9-gal.

About an hour later I see the betta is making some effort to swim around. Not sure if he is motivated by the guppies swimming about or because the environment is better. Either way, there is some progress. He'll swim about for 5 seconds, then rest on a leaf for 10. Swim 5 seconds, rest 10 seconds.

Hopefully this is kind of a like a physiotherapy for him. Has anyone else ever had success rehabilitating a bedsore betta?

 

[RandomMan]

What's the water temp? Bettas need warm waters preferably around 80f.

 

[shrimpNewbie]

not just warmer temps but way more space to swim, the fact that it is still common to see them in small containers saddens me, if you have a 12 gallon long or 20g long those are perfect for them, nice and long and shallow which is much closer to their habitat than a bowl or vase, with a little flow he'll get exercise and will become stronger and you'll notice him swimming more. I had rescued a betta from someone who kept him in a cup before and experienced the same thing you did with the 9 gallon, I eventually put him into a really long rubbermaid for about 2 months, planted and had a small amoount of flow with 3 zoomed 501s, feeding live food and making him fast for a day or two a week will help also, but in the long run a little flow goes a long way, you have found a great betta if he isnt eating your guppies =]

 

[iskandarreza]

Temperature should not be a problem. I'm in Malaysia, the ambient temperature is 90 degrees. Once I've revamped the 25-gal I'll probably move him to that tank. It's got lots of room as it's only currently supporting a T Barb, a Clown Loach, a Talking Catfish, a Knifefish and a Pleco. I'm just not gonna do it yet because in a bout 3-months I'm moving house, so that's gonna be a big headache moving 3 occupied tanks. Don't want to think about it.

I think he'll be alright for the meantime in the 9-gallon. It's fully planted, the marsilea is quite overgrown and its a whole lot better than the little vase he was in. He seems quite ok with the guppies. He's only worried about the 6-inch pleco.

 

[iskandarreza]

Oh, and he did fast for several days before I got him. It was an accident. When I took the 12-gal and the 25-gal, I forgot about the bowl and the vase. My friend had already gone off, but his neighbour had the keys to his apartment. His neighbour was away for 3 days but the minute the guy was back, I came over to get the keys and the left behind fishies. Glad they were still alive, I was worried.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I think you should just keep him with the guppies. In the bigger tank the t barb might go after him. and the talking catfish will eat anything that fits in his mouth. i dont even know about the knife fish. guppies are fast enough to get away if chased.

 

[Betta Maniac]

Some are just lazy. My HM is one of these. He likes to lounge on the plants and is never very active (and yes, he's in a 20G-long). I think maybe his fins are just heavy.

 

[wendyjo]

I doubt he's lazy - he's probably got ammonia poisoning from the conditions he was in.

 

[iskandarreza]

@amcoffeegirl: good point about the T Barb. It does look like it's a nippy one. And I didn't know that about the Talking Catfish. Do you think if I put the Golden Chinese Algae Eater that has been isolated in my hospital tank (because he chases the other fishes) into the Talking Catfish tank it'll be alright?