Who Gives A Fish Forums

My betta's been acting sluggish lately, fins clamped, not eating much. Water params are good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate. Tank's a 5 gallon with a sponge filter, heated to 78F. Any ideas what's up?

Sounds like it could be a bacterial thing. I'd try upping the temp to 80F, maybe add some aquarium salt. How often do you do water changes?

My fish did that once, turned out he was just bored. Threw in a leaf hammock and he perked right up. Maybe yours needs a vibe check?

visorguide wrote: ↑Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:11 pm Sounds like it could be a bacterial thing. I'd try upping the temp to 80F, maybe add some aquarium salt. How often do you do water changes?

I agree with the salt idea, but go easy on it. Too much can stress them out. I do 25% changes weekly, seems to keep things stable.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the temp bump and a bit of salt. Water changes are every week, about 20%. Fingers crossed.

Cool, keep us posted. If it doesn't improve in a few days, might wanna look into meds. I've had luck with kanaplex for weird bacterial stuff.

Yeah, or maybe just chill and see? Sometimes they're just having an off day. Mine sulks if I move stuff around too much.

goldenEye wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 2:33 am Yeah, or maybe just chill and see? Sometimes they're just having an off day. Mine sulks if I move stuff around too much.

True, but clamped fins are usually a red flag. I'd monitor closely, maybe skip a feeding day to see if it helps.