Stressed & Not Eating

[fishy]

On Saturday, we fully changed the water in our betta's tank for the first time. I thought it was room temperature, but i realised it must not have been. For our betta lost his colour & became very lethargic. He also refused to eat.
He became happier as the water warmed up, with his colour returning & his swimming increasing. It's been three days now & he seems to be lathargic & he's refusing food. If he eats, he just spits it out again. His water has also become cloudy (possibly from the uneaten food?)
I am reluctant to change it again because i don't want to stress him out. but i am planning to change the water again this afternoon - this time i will ensure temperatures are correct.
Can someone please offer any insight? What can i do? How long can he go without eating? Should i change his food?
Thanks

[ACKislander]

Hi.
Bettas can be vary sensitive to their environments and thus require some simple but important steps when caring for their water. First, when changing their tank water, it's best to purchase an inexpensive thermometer from the fish store. I prefer the kind that has a suction cup so that I can take it out of the tank and put it in the bucket where I prepare new tank water. That way I can get the temperature exact. It's good to keep betta's water temp as stable as possible. I try not to let the water temp fluctuate more then 2*F degrees in 24 hours. (Though this is proving more difficult in the warmer weather) Depending on the size tank you keep there are several options for tank heating. Bettas need water temperatures around 78*F (25.5*C) although 76-80F (24.5*C - 26.5*C) is acceptable as long as it's stable. 75*F (25*C) or below is unsafe and can perpetuate illness and 70*F (21*C) or below can be fatal. Additionally, when using tap water it's necessary to add water conditioners to neutralize chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals. I like Kordon's AmQuel and NovAqua but there are others. Not doing this simple but important step can affect your betta in a variety of ways.

Since you just did your first water change I'm guessing your betta is very new to your home so it's not uncommon that he's not eating. Most bettas go through an acclimation period where they are more stressed then usual (and subsequently more prone to illness) when they first arrive home. It's totally normal for a betta to refuse food for about 5 - 10 days upon arrival. It takes a betta about 2 weeks to starve to death so don't panic if he doesn't respond to food right away. Most bettas are fed very nutritious high-protein diets when living with the breeder and it can be a difficult adjustment for them when switching to dry food like pellets, flakes and freeze-dried food. The spitting reaction to these foods is common. Dry foods don't taste great to most bettas because they are so drastically different from their natural diet. I personally like to encourage people to continue that diet by offering them frozen or live foods. These foods can easily be bought at fish stores, online and through aquarium catalogs like Drs. Foster and Smith. Consider frozen bloodworms, daphnia, mysis shrimp, beef-heart, glass-worms, grindal worms, white worms, brine shrimp or wingless/flightless fruit flies. A combination of two or more guarantees a well balanced diet.

If you would like further comments, please fill out the general help text and some of the mods and other users can add their thoughts on your regimen.

* How long have you had your fish?

* Have you made any changes recently – tank size, food, water source, conditioners, etc?

* Does he (or she) have any tank mates?

* What size is the tank and is it filtered? Is it cycled? (A small tank that gets complete water changes won't be.)

* How often do you change the water and what conditioners/water treatments do you use?

* Are you currently using any medication?

* What do you feed your fish, how much, and how often?

* What is the water temperature? (All betta owners should know this and should have a thermometer to monitor it.)

* What are the pH and ammonia levels? (Also nitrate and nitrite levels if it is a cycled tank.) Do you regularly monitor these levels? If you don't have test kits for these, many pet stores will do it for free. If you don't know them right now, it’s not too big a deal, but might be something worth looking into.

* Describe your fish’s symptoms and your concerns. How long have they been present and have the symptoms changed?

* Additionally, any other information that you think would be helpful for members.

[fishy]

Thanks! I changed his water (more thoughtfully), again last night & he's much happier - more active and responding to his surroundings, still spitting food out! but i will be patient. Thanks for your help.

[Rachel]

Glad to hear your betta is doing a bit better. Water changes in general can be a bit stressful for bettas and all of the activity of his new home and trying to catch him for the water change probably was a bit too much for him. Once he settles in and gets used to the routine, he'll probably handle it much better.

We have a new Care article up on the HealthyBetta homepage that you may want to check out. It gives some basic information if you are just getting started with bettas. If you go to www.healthybetta.com, it is labeled "Care" on the menus.

[fishy]

Thanks! I read all the care info first thing & it was very very useful. I was disappointed that the guy at the aquarium was so uninformed & i think he gave us some misinformation! so i really do appreciate finding this site.
Cheers.