I feel like I post here way too often nowadays....
Anyways, hello all, Iām back with an interesting problem.
I work at a high end pet store chain now (which is pretty cool imo), and one of the things we carry are bettas! Itās always tempting to take home a third, fourth, or 15th betta, but I tend to hold myself back and admire the two cuties that I have. Unfortunately, since we keep them in tiny containers as usual, Iāve seen at least one death and one illness in the 2 months Iāve been there, which was bound to happen.
Since my boss is pretty chill, I asked him if I could take their old tank in the back (that they used to use to keep bettas of their own in the store) and nurse the sick fish that was left back to health. Of course, my boss said yes, and not to worry if the fish died during the process, and to even take him home to keep if I grew attached (to which I politely declined lol).
Anyways, long story short, I have a mess of a setup with what looks to be a gold halfmoon betta with a swimbladder disorder. My plan was to fast him for 3 days and feed him peas after to see if that would help since he gets fed like 10 pellets daily in the store
What Iām worried about now is if Iām accidentally doing a fish-in cycle with him, and if the waterās too warm. The tank is a 1.8 gallon bowl thing that was supposed to have a filter, but they lost the cord for it. I had to buy a seperate filter and heater, and I also bought some Nutrafin Cycle to try and cycle the tank quickly.
I know this sounds terrible, but he survived the night and has perked up in terms of actually trying to swim around, and the only thing Iām worried about is the fact that heās breathing a bit heavily. This could be because of the tank possibly cycling or because of the heater but I donāt know which one or if I should be concerned.
I would have bought a new, better tank and cycled it but Iām not technically allowed to have a third tank in the house and I was in a bit of a rush to get this guy home. The only reason I could bring this tank home was because I was borrowing it and it was only temporary, meaning my parents wouldnāt have to look after it after I move off to university. I also have no money left after Christmas shopping...
So, basically, am I setting myself up for a dead fish instead of fixing up a sick one?
If things are really that bad, I can divide my 10 gallon and place him in there; itās cycled, properly heated, and probably much better, but I donāt have a divider anymore and I donāt really have the funds to get one.
I guess Iām just confused and looking for opinions here haha. Sorry for the long post.