Betta Fish Hanging Out at Bottom of Tank & Breathing Heavy

[PheonixKingZ]

Very glad you are looking for a bigger tank. He will be much happier, trust me!

 

[Ch4rlie]

If OP does decide to get a bigger tank, that would be great but first must do a Fishless cycle on the new tank first before adding his betta to this.

Seeding this with Tetra Safe Start or Dr Tims One and Only Bacteria will help jump things along a bit quicker and as long as instructions are followed really well on the fishless cycle article he should be done in a few weeks rather than the usual approx 6 - 8 weeks.

In meantime he can do near 100% water changes everyday from the smaller tank with Betta in it. Since it’s a small tank, easy enough to do on a daily basis.

That alone will help his betta a lot.

Then won’t need ammo lock or any other chemicals that could be to the detriment of the betta.

Believe that good water changes will do far more than simply adding chemicals to the tank water. The only chemical that is needed imho is dechlorinator to make tap water safer.

 

[Essjay]

I clean the filter using a hose & compressed air.

Do you use tap water?

 

[SpotiKona]

@Ch4rlie Thanks for the resources on tank cycling! I'll take a closer look at those tomorrow.

@Lajos_Detari Thanks for the instructions. I'll give the methylene blue dip a shot when I get the chance.

@essjay Yes, I do use tap water to clean the filter.

Any thoughts on how to address the fin rot?

 

[FishBearer9845]

The tap water will pretty much remove or kill any bb build up. You need to just lightly rinse anything in a bucket of tank water (day, during the WC)

 

[Essjay]

Tap water has chlorine or chloramine added to kill bacteria in the water supply. It will also kill the beneficial bacteria in filter media, especially in a new tank while the bacteria colonies are still developing.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Were you still doing daily water changes? Ammonia shouldn't be creeping up at this point, not if the tank is established and you're doing daily water changes. @EllRog @Ch4rlie @essjay ?

OP, can you tell us what filter you're using, and how you clean it please?

The way you've been getting ammonia readings since the end of last month though, and still today, makes me suspect chronic water quality issues are taking their toll in the poor thing. Ammonia poisoning is no joke, and it would account for his symptoms. When ammonia has continued to return, he hasn't even had a chance to recover, and it's possible that the damage done is just too extensive.

I had a few readings at zero, so I reverted to weekly water changes. Should I continue to perform daily water changes regardless of the water parameters? Here is the filter that I'm using.

I clean the filter using a hose & compressed air.

@Ch4rlie Thanks for the resources on tank cycling! I'll take a closer look at those tomorrow.

@essjay Yes, I do use tap water to clean the filter.

Any thoughts on how to address the fin rot?

@SpotiKona the fin rot is almost incidental at this point. The biggest problem with your betta is that your tank isn't cycled. Cleaning the filter with tap water has been killing any all or at least a good portion of the nitrifying bacteria we need in our tanks to keep the tank water safe, which explains why you keep getting rising ammonia levels, and likely nitrite too.

Your fish is suffering badly from this. Ammonia literally burns their gills and skin, causes all sorts of damage, as do nitrites. Never clean the filter with tap water, always use old tank water that you've removed to just swish the filter media around in to remove the worst of the muck. We're not aiming for spotless here. The main thing we want the filter media to do is grow colonies of nitrifying bacteria. One type of bacteria 'eats' ammonia and converts it to nitrites, the other type of bacteria 'eats' nitrites and converts them to the much less dangerous nitrate. High nitrate levels aren't good for fish either, but we keep those levels low by doing water changes.

Right now, you need to be doing daily water changes to keep your fish safe. There has to be zero ammonia and zero nitrites whenever you do a test, anytime they're above zero, you need to do a 75% water change. Don't touch the filter for now, leave it alone.

The look of his fins isn't the main thing. Chances are, if he can still recover from the ammonia poisoning, that handling this will also fix the fin issue. But worrying about the fins right now is like worrying about the wallpaper while the house is on fire, know what I mean?

His condition isn't a mystery, it's ammonia poisoning.

 

[FishBearer9845]

Have to say, I haven't washed my filters/parts of filters that much . I think the last time was a couple weeks ago, 'took it apart', swished it in the removed tank water and put it back. Didn't squeeze it or anything. Put it back, lovely job!
Probably won't swish it again for another month or so.

 

[Ch4rlie]

@SpotiKona the fin rot is almost incidental at this point. The biggest problem with your betta is that your tank isn't cycled. Cleaning the filter with tap water has been killing any all or at least a good portion of the nitrifying bacteria we need in our tanks to keep the tank water safe, which explains why you keep getting rising ammonia levels, and likely nitrite too.

Your fish is suffering badly from this. Ammonia literally burns their gills and skin, causes all sorts of damage, as do nitrites. Never clean the filter with tap water, always use old tank water that you've removed to just swish the filter media around in to remove the worst of the muck. We're not aiming for spotless here. The main thing we want the filter media to do is grow colonies of nitrifying bacteria. One type of bacteria 'eats' ammonia and converts it to nitrites, the other type of bacteria 'eats' nitrites and converts them to the much less dangerous nitrate. High nitrate levels aren't good for fish either, but we keep those levels low by doing water changes.

Right now, you need to be doing daily water changes to keep your fish safe. There has to be zero ammonia and zero nitrites whenever you do a test, anytime they're above zero, you need to do a 75% water change. Don't touch the filter for now, leave it alone.

The look of his fins isn't the main thing. Chances are, if he can still recover from the ammonia poisoning, that handling this will also fix the fin issue. But worrying about the fins right now is like worrying about the wallpaper while the house is on fire, know what I mean?

His condition isn't a mystery, it's ammonia poisoning.

Literally took the words right out of my mouth!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, doing large water changes with dechlorinator daily will do far more than you realise.

One, will vastly help the ammonia / nitrite levels and to help the betta breathe and cope better.

Two, large water changes has been proven to help fin rot more than adding chemicals.

Good water quality counts for a lot.

Don’t worry, we all have made our fair share of mistakes, it’s listening and taking on board advice from experienced keepers that will help more at this point.

Hopefully you still have plans to get a larger tank for your betta and carry on doing large water changes in the bettas current tank while you wait for the new tank to be cycled.

This is what I would do personally if I was in your position

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Have had a look at your filter and please ignore the advice it gives on the box about how often and how much to water change, and about changing the cartridge out for a new one once a month. Throwing away the old cartridge and getting a new one will mean causing a mini-cycle every month, and it's just a way for filter manufacturers to keep making money from you. @essjay can tell you how to modify the filter using plain old filter sponges cut to size that will last for years, and only need cleaning in tank water to maintain.

The water change schedule the filter company suggests (10% per week or 25% a month) is no where near enough, especially in such a small tank. Most of us change 50-75% per week in an established tank, and as we've already gone over, you need to be changing this amount daily until your tank is cycled, and to heal the fin rot if your betta survives the ammonia poisoning. I hope he does survive and recover, he's a beautiful boy.

 

[Essjay]

For filters with nothing but carbon cartridges, you can either leave the cartridges there and don't change them, just wash them in old tank water; or you can cut a slit in the bag of the cartridge and empty out the carbon. Then cur some filter sponge down to the shape of the cartridge (any make will do), hold the sponge and the empty cartridge together and put them in the filter. Sponge just needs washing in old tank water and will last for years.

 

[SpotiKona]

@FishBearer9845 & @essjay Thank you for the tip! I'll wash the filter using tank water from now on.

@AdoraBelle Dearheart Thank you very much for the detailed explanations. I figured the recommendation to replace the filter cartridge monthly was bogus but never gave the water change recommendations a second thought

@Ch4rlie I do still have plans to configure a larger tank. I'll keep up with the daily water changes until I'm ready to move him over

@essjay Thanks for the tip about filter sponges! I may have to give that a shot one day.

On a more positive note, his appetite appears to have somewhat returned, so that's a good sign!

Once again, thanks for all the advice. I'm new to this, so there's a lot to take in, but I appreciate every piece of advice. I'll keep you guys posted on how he's doing!

 

[Stefan3289]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I did measure the pH again last night. It still read 6.0. However, after the 80% water change, pH increased to 6.8. Ammonia levels have also improved today; the new reading is about 0.25 parts per million. I will continue to change his water daily until the reading stabilizes at zero. Any thoughts about the slime on his coat? It does seem a bit better after the water change. To answer a few questions, I am using API Stress Coat+ to condition the water after changes. To test the water, I am using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I'm a bit worried though as he's still at the bottom of the tank breathing heavily & not interested in any food.

When there is a PH drop like that, it usually signifies that there was a spike in something else, which I believe was your ammonia

 

[SpotiKona]

Hi again.

I'm really at a loss here. I've been keeping up with the daily water changes while waiting on the new tank to be cycled. The ammonia level has been at zero for several days now. Unfortunately, my betta's condition is getting worse by the day. I've noticed that his scales appear to be falling off. I agree that ammonia was to blame for much of this, but is it possible that there's an infection at play here?

 

[HoldenOn]

Don't know anything about bettas sorry. @Crispii @Deanasue @PheonixKingZ @EllRog ?