Need urgent help with my betta fish!

[Splendour]

Hey all,
Im new to these forums, so I don't know if it's alright for me to go ahead and create a thread like this, but it's for some advice on what to do about my betta, he's not well, so if this thread needs to be moved etc, let me know. I'll give you all the story. My betta is a veil tail, pearl in colour with purple fins, he's just a small guy. I purchased him at a Pet Valu because he did not look very well off, and thought I could give him a better chance then life in a dixie cup . This is not my first betta, and I know about diseases, tempature, water parameters, etc. He perked up beautifully, but recently he turned for the worse. Starting about 4 days ago I noticed that his fins were clamping, and did a 50% water change. But tonight I checked on him and his fins, even his pectoral fins, were shriveled, there was nothing more then what looked like purple string where his fins should be. His tank is filtered and I do water changes. Could this be fin rot, or something worse? What can i do for treatment? I can try to provide pictures. He's sluggish as well. I just want the best for him and after recently losing a different betta to similar circumstances I don't want a repeat of that. I apologize if the post is long.
Thanks.

 

[NickAu]

Can you please tell us about tank conditions?

what are the Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate readings?
Water temp
How often you change water
What water treatments you use.
things like that
Also a photo would help a lot.

Do you know how your other betta died? Is the new Betta in the tank the other betta died in?
The more information you provide the better we can help you

 

[Splendour]

Here's the parameters, i forgot to put them in the first post, my apologies. I did a full water change lastnight and used conditioner (API brand) and salt (API also).
Nitrite: 0ppm*
Nitrate: 20ppm*
gH: 150ppm
kH: 40ppm
pH: 7.0
Temperature: 80 ℉
He's housed in a 5 gallon tank with a LED light hood. For media there are river stones and silk plants. I have a Whisper Medium filter on low, and a Tetra HT10 heater. I do full water changes every 2 weeks, with 50% water changes in between.
As for my other betta, I went away on a three day trip and left him in the care of a relative, instructing him to feed the betta daily. The day before he had seemed off, and I did a water change, but on my return, he was lethargic, didn't want to eat, and floated vertically. I got some food into him for a few days, but he got worse and just floated on his side at the bottom of his hospital tank. I assumed it was Swim Bladder Disorder? So i treated him accordingly. No improvement. He passed away a week after I returned... As for a photo of the betta in question, I will see to uploading one as soon as I can.
Thanks again.

*EDIT* Got Nitrate and Nitrite readings messed up, fixed.

 

[**sarahp**]

Nitrite: 3ppm

Hi

That's at least one of your problems, nitrite should be at 0ppm. Anything higher than that and fish are going to act strange because they are living in poison.

ETA - what's your ammonia reading?

You need to do lots of water changes until you get it to 0.25ppm max. What I don't understand is why you have that reading? How long has the tank been running? How long has the filter been running? Like Nick asked - is this the same tank the other betta was in? If so how long after the first one's death did you put this one in? What did you do with and to the tank in the interim? If you cleaned it - how?

Sorry for all the questions but it will help us to help you

 

[Splendour]

Oh, holy smokes, i am so sorry. I just retested it and turns out I read the results backwards/wrong . Nitrate is at 20 ppm, Nitrite is at 0ppm. Im always getting the two confused. I've had the tank running since lastnight, fully cleaned, new filter too. I would never put a new fish in dirty water that another fish died in, thats just inhumane. After the other betta died, I cleaned out the tank and stored it away for three weeks until this new fish came home with me. I fully cleaned it again, and introduced him to it. I don't use soap to clean as i know the harmful effects of the residual soap. I don't mind answering questions at all, ask away .
I'll go back and edit the other post to avoid any further confusion.

 

[Essjay]

Ah, so the new betta didn't go straight into the tank after the previous betta died, and the filter is new. Can I suggest you get an ammonia tester asap as the probable cause of your new betta's problems is ammonia. From the test results you gave, I assume you are using a strip tester? Unfortunately they don't test for ammonia.

With a thoroughly cleaned tank and new filter, you are currently doing a fish-in cycle. There is a sticky in the cycling section which will guide you through doing a fish-in cycle with least harm to the betta. But you'll need an ammonia tester!

 

[Splendour]

Hey,
I just want to thank everyone who tried to help me. Unfortunately, I checked on him again today, and he had passed away overnight... I appreciate your efforts in trying to save my fish. I hope the little guy is comfortable now. I'll miss him so much...

 

[**sarahp**]

Sorry to hear that

 

[Flubberlump]

Sorry to hear this it's hard losing a fish.

 

[Sam389]

Can you please tell us about tank conditions?

what are the Ammonia Nitrite and Nitrate readings?
Water temp
How often you change water
What water treatments you use.
things like that
Also a photo would help a lot.

Do you know how your other betta died? Is the new Betta in the tank the other betta died in?
The more information you provide the better we can help you

 

[Sam389]

Sorry to put this photo here but I can't figure out how to start a new thread!! And my poor betta has white tips on his fins I'm not sure if it's fin rot or regrowth!