New to fish keeping and my Betta seems to be sick.

[Shaney216]

So I recently got a tank setup and cycled for a new Betta Fish, The water is good and actually almost perfect besides hardness. However my Betta has seemed to have lost his appetite and his fins seemed to be clamped. I started treatment for constipation however he just seems to get worse. He has this goldish coloring to him since I got him, but now I’m worried it might be velvet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve added pictures to show how he was originally and now.

 

[foxgirl158]

velvet shows up as yellow or gold spots or a sheen over the body. If you shine a torch (flashlight for the US) on a fish at night, that will show up any velvet as a yellow sheen. A digital camera with the flash set to ON, will also show it up.

Velvet also causes fish to rub on objects in the tank.

Copied from @Colin_T

 

[Shaney216]

velvet shows up as yellow or gold spots or a sheen over the body. If you shine a torch (flashlight for the US) on a fish at night, that will show up any velvet as a yellow sheen. A digital camera with the flash set to ON, will also show it up.

Velvet also causes fish to rub on objects in the tank.

Copied from @Colin_T

Thanks I took some pictures in the darkness he has also been spending a lot of time near the edges of the tank and decorations.

 

[Naughts]

I don't see velvet.
What are the water conditions? We need readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
What is the hardness in numbers, and what is the water temperature? How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?

 

[Shaney216]

I don't see velvet.
What are the water conditions? We need readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
What is the hardness in numbers, and what is the water temperature? How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?

He has only been in the tank about a week so the first water change with him is it will be done this weekend.
Here are the test.
0 Nitrate
0 - .5 Nitrite
75 -150 Hardness
0 Chlorine
80 Alkalinity
6.8 pH
.5 Ammonia
Water Temp is 78

 

[Naughts]

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

The problem is the tank isn't cycled so the ammonia and nitrite are poisoning the fish.
Do a 75% water change. Use dechlorinated water at a similar temperature to the tank.
Test for ammonia and nitrite every day, do a water change any day the readings are above zero.

 

[Shaney216]

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

The problem is the tank isn't cycled so the ammonia and nitrite are poisoning the fish.
Do a 75% water change. Use dechlorinated water at a similar temperature to the tank.
Test for ammonia and nitrite every day, do a water change any day the readings are above zero.

Thanks I just went to the get some water and I’ll change it tonight

 

[Colin_T]

Until the tank is cycled, you should reduce the feeding too. The less food going in, the less waste produced by the fish, and the cleaner the water will be. Just feed him once every couple of days until the filter has cycled. This will take about 4-6 weeks. Once it has cycled, you can feed every day.

What sort of filter is on/ in the tank?
Did the shop show you how to clean the filter?
Did they tell you to replace filter media/ materials every month?

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

I see you have a thermometer, what is the temperature of the tank??

 

[itiwhetu]

Have you got lots of floating plants, hanging around the edges implies he is looking for protection from above.

 

[Shaney216]

I see you have a thermometer, what is the temperature of the tank??

The tank is at 78degrees

Have you got lots of floating plants, hanging around the edges implies he is looking for protection from above.

Its a smaller tank only about 3.5 gallons wish it could be bigger, but he has 2 live plants and one fake plant

Until the tank is cycled, you should reduce the feeding too. The less food going in, the less waste produced by the fish, and the cleaner the water will be. Just feed him once every couple of days until the filter has cycled. This will take about 4-6 weeks. Once it has cycled, you can feed every day.

What sort of filter is on/ in the tank?
Did the shop show you how to clean the filter?
Did they tell you to replace filter media/ materials every month?

Yes I have to switch the media in the filter every month.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

The problem is the tank isn't cycled so the ammonia and nitrite are poisoning the fish.
Do a 75% water change. Use dechlorinated water at a similar temperature to the tank.
Test for ammonia and nitrite every day, do a water change any day the readings are above zero.

Thanks for your suggestion it seems to have done the trick. It’s been about an hour after a 50% water change and his fins are not as clamped and he seems to be back to his normal behavior

 

[Colin_T]

Yes I have to switch the media in the filter every month.

Don't do that.

If you replace the filter media every month, or any time, you remove the good filter bacteria that helps keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0ppm. Then it takes a month or more for new bacteria to grow and replace the ones you got rid of.

When the filter has established and you no longer have any ammonia or nitrite readings above 0ppm, then you can clean the filter once a month. Take the filter media/ materials and squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden.

You can re-use media until it starts to fall apart, then replace it. If you have carbon (black granulated substance) in a filter pad, cut one end of the pad open and tip the carbon out and throw it away. Then re-use the pad without carbon in it.

You can use sponge instead of the factory supplied media and sponges last for years and get cleaned in a bucket of tank water, as described above. You can buy sponges for different brands of filter and use a pair of scissors to cut the sponge to fit in your filter. I use AquClear sponges but there are other brands too. You can add sponge to the filter while it has the original media in it. After a few months you can throw one of the old filter pads away and put more sponge in. Wait a few months and replace any remaining filter pads with sponge.

You can also wrap a bit of sponge or buy a cylindrical sponge to go over the intake strainer of most external power filters. The cylindrical sponges have a hole through the centre.

 

[Shaney216]

Don't do that.

If you replace the filter media every month, or any time, you remove the good filter bacteria that helps keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0ppm. Then it takes a month or more for new bacteria to grow and replace the ones you got rid of.

When the filter has established and you no longer have any ammonia or nitrite readings above 0ppm, then you can clean the filter once a month. Take the filter media/ materials and squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden.

You can re-use media until it starts to fall apart, then replace it. If you have carbon (black granulated substance) in a filter pad, cut one end of the pad open and tip the carbon out and throw it away. Then re-use the pad without carbon in it.

You can use sponge instead of the factory supplied media and sponges last for years and get cleaned in a bucket of tank water, as described above. You can buy sponges for different brands of filter and use a pair of scissors to cut the sponge to fit in your filter. I use AquClear sponges but there are other brands too. You can add sponge to the filter while it has the original media in it. After a few months you can throw one of the old filter pads away and put more sponge in. Wait a few months and replace any remaining filter pads with sponge.

You can also wrap a bit of sponge or buy a cylindrical sponge to go over the intake strainer of most external power filters. The cylindrical sponges have a hole through the centre.

Awesome thanks for letting me know.