Tropical Fish Laying On Bottom Of Bowl...sick?

[rhinoman763]

I have a tropical fish.  I am not sure what type or anything about it really.  Someone left it and I felt bad for it so I have been attempting to care for it.  I am feeding it tropical fish flakes and I change the water every so often.  It is in a single bowl by itself.  For about a week, it has been staying at the bottom where the rocks are.  Its sides are moving so I can tell that it is still breathing.  When I feed it, it sometimes comes to top to get food, but at other times does not.  I have a picture of the fish in hopes that maybe someone can recognize the type just not sure how to attached it, so I made it my member image. Help please! I have just felt bad for this poor creature since the get go, but fish are not my specialty. Does anyone have any advice? What could be going on here?

 

[Jenste]

Ok, If it is in a bowl, I assume you do not have a filter. The ammonia build up from waste and left over food, combined with lack of oxygen due to no circulation from a filter, mixed with temperature swings from being in a small environment are killing the fish.

Bowls are not meant for fish - they are gimmicks and a waste of money.

What type of fish do you have? (asking so we know how large of a set up to recommend etc)

You ARE going to need to buy a tank ASAP, how large depends on what fish you have.
Filtration, the nitrogen cycle, and cycling a tank are very important things to start reading about in the beginners section.

For now you need to do daily water changes, make sure you are treating the water with a Tap water conditioner such as API.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

You could start by getting the biggest food safe container you can (if you cannot get a tank straight away)... the bigger the container, the more diluted any ammonia building up will be. But daily changes will be necessary with water that has been temperature matched and has dechlorinator added. You need to find a stable source of heat for your fish... could you tuck a heating pad up against the bowl/container for now?

You could seek out a tank on ebay or freecycle (if you are lucky) for less cost... you will need an appropriate filter and heater... your local fish shop might be able to help you to get mature media (the sponge/floss that goes in the filter) so that is could start helping to break down ammonia right away.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I can't tell if it's a betta or a goldfish after fiddling with the photo in Photoshop. Either way, it's distressed. When you change the water "every so often" do you use a dechlorinator? Where are you located?


The more I look at the photo I fiddled with, the more it looks like a betta to me. 

 

[rhinoman763]

I am in New Jersey.  I am going to go to Petco right now and buy everything.  Thank you all so much! It is greatly appreciated.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Good plan, be sure to ask them for mature media to go in your filter. If you haven't go back and ask, that is what will make the world of difference for your filter doing its proper job.

 

[cpwebsite]

Get a large tank. Also figure out which fish it is to see if it needs a heater. Do regular weekly water changes. Work hard and try and put some prime in the tank to keep the fish safe while your cycling the tank.