Need Suggestion

[madamebutterfly]

Ive had my blue beta for about a year now. Ive always kept him in a 3 gallon tank, alone. Water temp is a constant 75 degrees.

Ever since I bought him, hes always acted kind of strange though. Sometimes he would sink to the bottom of the bowl and just lie there on his side but when I would move the bowl to see if he was all right, he would go to the top again. He has weeks where hes "nesting" and eatting well and other times hes lethargic again and he skims the water quickly with his mouth. Weird.

Lately, hes been on his side or in one corner of the bowl, motionless for some days. He wont eat like normal either. Ive always fed him Hikari pellets.

Even though I change his water once a week, I always test the ammonia in the water and its always very low.

Ive looked at him in detail and I dont see any discoloration or spots or anything. He looks normal. His fins are in excellent condition. Hes not bloated and he has normal droppings everyday. (well at least when he eats)

Ive racked my brain trying to figure out what can be wrong but cant.

Anyone suggest any medication or anything I can use on him?

[betta mom]

do you treat your water ? try adding bettafix . :thumb:

[madamebutterfly]

Yes Ive used Beta Fix before. Sometimes it does the trick and sometimes it doesnt. I guess Ill just begin the treatment again.

I also add Complete Beta Water Conditioner everytime I change the water. Even though I use Spring Water, I still put that in anyways.

[kimmers318]

The red flag I see here is "ammonia is always low", your ammonia should be 0 for the optimum health of any fish, regardless of whether they can breathe from the surface or not. Living with low levels of ammonia can be damaging to the fish. Imagine if you spent a week in a chlorinated pool how your skin would feel, how your sinus's would feel breathing it 24/7. Swimming is not bad, and the chlorine helps keep the pool clean and free of bacteria, but you would start to feel uncomfortable if you never got out of it. The chlorine would irritate your skin, nose, eyes, etc. The same can happen to fish that live in even small levels of ammonia, it is very uncomfortable for them, and can lead to lowering their natural defenses making them more susceptible to disease. I would suggest changing some of the water daily for awhile and see if he perks up and stays up. If that helps you can work out a schedule of how often you need to do small water changes between the large change to keep his bowl ammonia free.