Betta Wierd Behavior

Question
I'm having a big problem with my Betta "phee". For the past few days
he's been acting sort of oddly, hiding in the plant & treasure pot
(aquarium accessory) more then usual.

Today I swear he's tyring to kill himself. I found him after he
stuck himself in the plant, vertically, head completly out of the
water.

He's still got a great appetitie, ate his food just fine this
morning. I just changed the water, and that seems to have made a little bit of an improvement; and I bent the plant all down (it's
plastic) so that he can't suffacate himself!

His tail looks a little frayed, but I'm not sure that's not just
because of him getting older, he used to have a clear coating over
the end of his tail, but that seems to have gone, so I do suspect
tail rot, but I'm not sure that's the answer.

Phee is a white fish (w blue/red fins) but he looks a little more pink then usual, but again I'm not sure that this isn't just a normal part of him growing up & changing colour a little bit. I did have a gold fish that had that disease were she turned bright red, so I've seen that, but I don't think that's what this is.

He's also sort of skittering around his tank, he usually swims wierdly, that's just part of his personality, but this seems worse then normal. He jsut swims with little twitches of his back tail, but he looks like he's seizuring or something.

His aquarium is a little too cold for him, I don't really have a
means of heating them individually, and no matter how hot it is in
my room the betta tank always seems to stay a couple degrees cooler. (they are around 20C is my best guess)

My other fish "sai" seems to be doing just fine, so it can't be the
food or anything.

I have had Phee for about a month now, and I've never seen him to
act this way before. I have seen sai sleep in his plant for long
periods of time, but never to this extent.

If you have any suggestions as to what could be wrong with my fish
please e-mail me right away, I really don't want to lose him :*(

Thanks for your help!
-Vanessa

(BTW: Phee & Sai are Thai names meaning "Ghost" and "Magic")


Answer
Hi Vanessa;

You need to warm them up somehow. They need to be at least 25 c. It will certainly improve things for him. If you can get a lamp to put the bulb next to their containers, it will raise them.

He may already have had a problem before you got him. Whatever it is my be affecting his brain and causing this strange swimming behavior. Cool water will also lower their immune systems and cause them to be prone to sickness more easily.

Fish also try to escape their containers when the chemistry is off. Try a water change. It may perk him up quite a bit.

Followups welcome.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins