Betta Laying On The Bottom Of The Tank.

[spankysalad]

I purchased a betta yesterday, i tried to pick the most active and healthiest one available in the store. It looked fine and settled in well or so i thought. Now it's laying on the bottom of the tank, with no visible signs of disease or illness. I have checked for all the symptoms of diseases listed, and the only thing it has is lethargy. When it wants to go up for air it does so quickly, and when i've fed it it's ate food fine.
I've done about 4 water tests today, all coming back 0 for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, the water temperature is 26 celcius, and its a 6-7 gallon tank. There are no other fish in there. The ph is normal, i've used a dechlorifier for the water as well.
Is there anything i can do? it seems to be slowly dieing... it hasn't moved properly in a while but its eyes are still moving and its gills are going.

 

[SimoUK]

Did you cycle your tank before adding the betta, no nitrates would indicate that its not cycled? someone correct me if iam wrong.

 

[spankysalad]

it is an uncycled tank, i am doing a fish in cycle.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

it is an uncycled tank, i am doing a fish in cycle.

Did you have dechlorinator in the water?

I did the same as you and bought a really active fish; but the minute I put him in a critter keeper (in the water he was in) whilst I put the ornaments in his tank he just lost all interest and sadly he didn't survive

 

[Athena]

Someone else on here had a similar problem the other day and I suggested that maybe the filter flow of water was a bit too noisy/turbulant. The moment she turned her filter off, the betta began swimming around again. Her filter didn't have the option to alter the flow of current, which is why she turned it off. I don't recommend turning off the filter, but if yours has the option to slow the output current, you could try that and see if it makes any difference to your Betta.

Another trick is to position your filter so that the output current is below the water surface, thereby lessening the noise and surface agitation.

My male Betta sulked on the gravel every time the water level dropped (through evaporation) below the spray bar and the spray of water coming out was obviously noisy and causing a lot more ripples in the tank, which he didn't like.

Other than that, maybe your Betta is still unsettled from being moved and finding himself in new surroundings. Keep a good eye on him, though, because if something is stressing him and it goes on for a few days like that it could lower his immune system and that's when health problems arise.

All the best - Athena

 

[spankysalad]

Thanks for the replies
He seems much better today, much more active, haven't seen him on the ground once all day. I think he must have just been stressed from the move, i will continue to keep a close eye on it for the next couple of days but i think it's crisis over