Why is my betta fish so listless that he barely moves half of the time?

How old is your betta? Or how long have you had him? As a tropical fish, bettas are not very long-lived. The ones I’ve had usually live for about 2 to 3 years. When you buy them at the petshop, they are most likely already half-a-year to a year old. So if you’ve had your betta for more than a year, he’s probably suffering from old age.

The other likely possibility is that the recent illness he had took its toll on his overall health, and not having eaten for awhile depleted a good deal of his energy and body mass. He might be carrying an internal bacterial infection (as he also had fin rot).

One more possibility is that your betta is suffering from an air bladder problem, due to aging, and it disables him from swimming properly or even just moving around normally, so all he can do is lie at the bottom of the tank.

I would lean towards he is still recovering from illness. It takes time. Make sure the temp in the fish tank is where it needs to be as well, in the past when my heater broke or something and the temp went down my fish would become a lot less active.

@MRSHINYSHOES: he floats near the top. As I wrote in my question, I had him about 7 months.

@tedd: I had a heater and it got green and slimy, and when I posted question about fin rot, one of my fellow Jellies told me to remove the heater in the summer. It’s now summer and the room temperature is about 80, so his water temperature should be similar. I just removed the heater about 2 weeks ago, when I noticed the fin rot.

I am aware that cold weather makes them listless, and in the winter, I got the heater due to his listlessness.

Do you have an aerator in the tank? Also a bigger tank is more stable than a small one so he’s be healthier.

@jca You are correct you wouldn’t need a heater in the summer (usually). Keep a thermometer in and just eyeball the temp. I usually keep my heaters in year round, and just turn them off or unplug them during the summer. But if you’re going to go that route you need to have a thermometer in the tank (they’re like a dollar at most pet shops). 70 degrees is too cold for most tropical fish, and that’s your standard room temp.

In all, I still am leaning towards the he’s recovering answer. If it goes long term you may have another problem.

@jca If he’s floating on top and just “wiggles” once in awhile, struggling to swim normally, it may be a problem with his air/swim bladder.

If I move the tank or poke him, he swims normally. Sometimes he swims normally on his own but a lot of the time he is listless.

@jca Is he eating? If he’s eating, even a bit, that’s a good sign. If that’s the case, he’s probably just still recovering from his recent sickness. You might want to do a small water change in his tank (10 percent), and add a bit of “aquarium salt” (sold at pet stores, Wal-Mart, etc.) as a “booster” tonic and preventative aid.

He eats.

Seems odd. I’d check the water again for temp, ammonia etc.

He should “perk” up with the meds, not become listless.

Does he perk up for food? I’d feed him if he does.

@jca That’s good he’s eating. I’d just make a water change, and monitor the water quality. 90 percent of fish problems usually stem from water quality problems.

How does his overall form look? Does he look a bit wasted? If the water quality is good and the temperature is in the high 70s to 82 F., I would guess it’s old age. When bettas get old, they sort of “shrink” and lose their robust form.

If his body form still looks okay, I would say it’s his lack of energy from the recent fin rot and treatment.

His body looks ok, fins don’t look long and glamorous like they used to. I did change about 80% of the water last Friday (four days ago) after using that Pimafix stuff, which, after the 7th dose, he looked comatose and I thought he was on his deathbed. So I changed the water, and he is alive, but not too energetic. I think I will feed him – good suggestion.

@jca 80% is quite a bit, maybe too much. I would have just changed about 25 to 40 % of the water after the treatment. If you change too much water, that can disrupt the biological cycle of the tank, which might spike up the ammonia level. Future water changes should only be about 10%.

Sounds like your betta is recovering. Good luck.

He died last night. He was just floating, and I put food in there, and he ignored it. It seemed like it got so he couldn’t swim, unless I touched him. Even then, he would do a little swimming but then go back to floating. This morning he was at the bottom.

I’m sorry to hear of it @jca. :(

I’m sorry to hear that as well @jca . RIP betta.

Thanks, all.

Sorry to hear that. :(

Toward the end I felt bad for him because I didn’t want him to suffer, but at the same time, I didn’t feel it was up to me to do the deed and flush him. I am glad, if he was suffering, he’s not any longer.