Betta Males inactive.help please.

Hi everyone.Hope somebody can help me with this one.

I have a tank with about 8 x females and 6 males.The males is in their own holding tanks inside the main tank.The holding tanks is 15cm x 15cm x 15cm.

Now the problem is that the past week they are completely inactive.They only get up for air and food.They don't seem interested in the females anymore.Sometime they built bubblenests in the holding tank but that stopped completely.On the other hand the females are still active as always.

Any ideas?

 

I think we will need a bit more info, are the tanks heated? What are the water conditions, how to do you do water changes, what do you add to the water when doing water changes, what do you feed them.

 

Yes it is heated to between 24-26.I do a 20% water change every 3-4 days with aged bore hole water treated with tropical aquarium salt, "aquadene stress shield special 10" and " tetra aqua blackwater extract".I feed them frozen blood worms every second day and "sanyu betta gold pellets" as normal day to day diet.

 

Try starving your males a bit. Overfeeding them can lead to them being lazey... Not always the case but worth a shot

P.S. Up your water temp to 26-28°C

 

I would say feed them rather once every second day, and the bloodworms as a treat - unfortunately bloodworms don't have enough dietry fiber in it to suffice as a food source. Rather give them the blood worms once a week and you can alternate that with brineshrimp or even better daphnia if you can get hold of some fresh. Also try switching them around in their tanks - They get bored very fast if there isnt anything for them to interact with. And they will stop flaring at other males if they see the same ones constantly. If you can add some plants or wood into each tank and then swop the boys around every now and then to make life more interesting for them.

 

Thnx @Wyvren and @Double-D
I will take it slow with the blood worms for now.I'll also try the switching around and see what happens.

This morning they started hanging vertically facing upwards.Unfortunately I don't have water testing kits.Only for PH.What could this be?

 

That sounds like they have been over eating, I would suggest fasting them all for at least 2 or 3 days. If you want to give them something shelled peas - but I know my boys hated the stuff.

Also do a water change in case there is a water quality issue. But is sounds like they are a bit constipated and over fed.

 

Hi @johanbosman, firstly I think your water changes are too sudden. You basically "shock" your fish too often in my opinion.
Secondly. The borehole water needs to be tested. Borehole water can be very bad for fish. You said no test kit. My advice is to take a sample to your lfs. They should test it for you for free most probably.

How long do you let the water stand for?

 

@Wyvren I haven't given them anything today and I already see that they are slowly turning back to normal.They are starting to flare again.Holding thumbs.

Hi @SloMo.00. I'm going out tomorrow to get myself some testing kits.I let it sit for about 10 - 12 days before I use it.I used to breed guppies and never had a water quality problem with the borehole water.But I will test it as soon as I have all the testing equipment.

 

A remember dale in cape town saying he only fed his bettas twice a week, and he had stunnng fish.

More regular feeding would be required if you were conditioning them for breeding only.

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk 2

 

I actually fast mine for a few days if I want to get them breeding... Breeding food normally consist of live brineshrimp and spirulina flakes every 2nd day to 3rd day

 

I think I found the problem.I tested the water and the Ph levels was sky high.I reduced the levels back to around 7 and I can already see a change in behaviour.I don't know where the Ph spike came from.I will keep the feeding in mind.Thnx everybody for the help and advice.Lets see what happens the next few days.

 

@johanbosman, Good luck with the breeding. Hope you breed stunners. Keep us posted. I bought a bought a stunning male this weekend. Will try and post a pic for you.

 

@ SloMo.00. Thnx.Yes please would love to see them.Thank you for all the advice.

I'm happy to say that everything turned back to normal.The males already started building bubble nest in their holding tanks.They look happy and full of energy.I will still keep a close eye on them and do regular water test.

Also a big thanx to @Wyvren , @Double-D , @Zoom for the advice.

 

@johanbosman - Im glad we could help! Now I want to see pics of this setup - it sounds intriguing.

 

Hey @johanbosman, Pleasure. Here are some pics of him. Not good quality. Don't have a proper mik en druk...

 

@SloMo.00.

Lovely betta!

I also got a new boy this weekend - something different for a change not sure of his colouring but he is a lovely Double tail.

 

@SloMo.00. Beautiful male.I also bought 4 double tails this weekend.Will try and take some pics tonight.

This pics below is what I could get so far.Not very camera friendly.

@Wyvren I don't have much of a setup yet.It's just plain now.Going the planted tank route in the next week or 2 then I will put up some pics.Waiting for my custom build 1.8M tank.Thats going to be fun.

 

@Wyvren, Thanks. Love your male's color. Very unique.
@johanbosman, I love the crowntail. I also wanted a crowntail, but couldn't find one in my area.

Any Idea what mine is called? Double tail? I don't think it's a fan tail? I could be wrong.

 

@SloMo.00. - your male is also a Double Tail

@johanbosman - love the males, especially the second one. 9Im not a Crown tail fan