Something Wrong With My Betta

[draenic]

My betta is usually really active, he swims around a lot, always goes crazy when I stand next to the tank, etc.. Had him about 7-8 months now, he's always been a very active fish. (If this matters- he's in a 5 galleon tank, has a heater, filter and light).

About 2 days ago I bought him a new heater (the current one wasn't doing its job well enough in this cold weather). The new one seemed great, heated up the tank nicely. However now I'm worried. I wonder if I cleaned it thoroughly enough. Since this morning my betta hasn't been very active. He's laying at the bottom of the tank and doesn't swim around when I stand over him. I thought he was dead at first that's how inactive he is. His fins are looking a bit ripped as well (not badly, he's had fin rot in the past and it looked horrible, but he stayed very active regardless during that time). I put some medicine for his fins in there just in case. Though I am really worried it's the heater, maybe the plastic from the heater has poisoned his water somehow?

I took a PH test and it was normal. I do remember feeding him more than I usually would earlier today before he started being inactive (not much more, around 2 pellets more than usual, but still less than what the packet says to feed them). He swims up to breathe then goes back down to the gravel.

I really don't know what to do. I wanted to do a water change but our tap water is dirty and yellow (current problem with our water tank). We have reverse osmosis water for drinking but I've heard that isn't good for aquariums unless you have the right minerals to put in it, which I do not. I can't get to an aquarium store as it's 1am. I'm desperate, any help would be great. Thank you.

 

[Storm23]

I can't see it being the heater, how did you clean it.

Could it be fun rot, I see he's had it before so it could be that. If he was Lfs bought it could be old age. Any chance of a picture, try doing a water change as soon as possible, you could also try putting a mirror against his tank, that might get him going

 

[Rummynose]

Do you have a thermometer in the tank (on the tank)? Maybe the setting is too high or heated up the water too quickly?
Do you measure for Nitrate? How often do you change his water and how much? Did you change his filter?

 

[draenic]

I can't see it being the heater, how did you clean it.

Could it be fun rot, I see he's had it before so it could be that. If he was Lfs bought it could be old age. Any chance of a picture, try doing a water change as soon as possible, you could also try putting a mirror against his tank, that might get him going

I washed it in salt water, dried it with paper towels before putting in the tank. But I worry I didn't spend enough time on this. He was from a lfs, I don't think it is old age, he's always been a very active boy until just a day ago. I'll upload a picture soon, just need to get him back into his tank. He's currently in a spare while I warm up his aquarium.

Do you have a thermometer in the tank (on the tank)? Maybe the setting is too high or heated up the water too quickly?
Do you measure for Nitrate? How often do you change his water and how much? Did you change his filter?

I couldn't do a water change last night due to our bad water at the moment. I was lucky enough to get some tap water from a friend today though. I've changed it over but he's still very sick.

I have a thermometer, it always sits in the green part (70-80) so I'm sure it can't be his tank overheating.

Yes, tested for everything. There were no imbalances. I change his water every 2-3 weeks. Usually leave 20% in, but today I did a full change. The last time I changed his filter cartridge was about a month and a half ago. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying an Aqua One filter which are, in these parts, rare to find parts for. So I have to make an hour journey to buy more, which I will have to do in the next few days.

Today he seems worse. His fins are clamped to his body, and he is barely moving. I tried feeding him a cooked pea but he didn't want it. I went to the Aquarium store, they gave me some salt to put in his tank to help the fin rot medicine. His filter is currently off so it doesn't remove the medicine.

I'm really worried and not sure what else to do

 

[DarkPride]

your new heater, is it reflective underwater? im just thinking you said that his fins looked a little ripped up, he could have gotten into a fight with himself

males that see another male weather it be a reflection of them self's or not, will attack, if he turns around and sees his own tail he will think it is the other male,


another thing is that maybe the heater is a little too good, heating too much or something

 

[Man of fish]

Turn the filter back on! It's what processes the ammonia and nitrite, that are lethal to fish above .1 ppm. the carbon will be inscribe by now and won't interfere. Also don't throw away your cartridges. This just effectively throws out all of your helpful bacteria. Just rinse it once a month, maybe add a few other types of media such as sponges or ceramics.

I can't see it being the heater, how did you clean it.

Could it be fun rot, I see he's had it before so it could be that. If he was Lfs bought it could be old age. Any chance of a picture, try doing a water change as soon as possible, you could also try putting a mirror against his tank, that might get him going

I washed it in salt water, dried it with paper towels before putting in the tank. But I worry I didn't spend enough time on this. He was from a lfs, I don't think it is old age, he's always been a very active boy until just a day ago. I'll upload a picture soon, just need to get him back into his tank. He's currently in a spare while I warm up his aquarium.

Do you have a thermometer in the tank (on the tank)? Maybe the setting is too high or heated up the water too quickly?
Do you measure for Nitrate? How often do you change his water and how much? Did you change his filter?

I couldn't do a water change last night due to our bad water at the moment. I was lucky enough to get some tap water from a friend today though. I've changed it over but he's still very sick.

I have a thermometer, it always sits in the green part (70-80) so I'm sure it can't be his tank overheating.

Yes, tested for everything. There were no imbalances. I change his water every 2-3 weeks. Usually leave 20% in, but today I did a full change. The last time I changed his filter cartridge was about a month and a half ago. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying an Aqua One filter which are, in these parts, rare to find parts for. So I have to make an hour journey to buy more, which I will have to do in the next few days.

Today he seems worse. His fins are clamped to his body, and he is barely moving. I tried feeding him a cooked pea but he didn't want it. I went to the Aquarium store, they gave me some salt to put in his tank to help the fin rot medicine. His filter is currently off so it doesn't remove the medicine.

I'm really worried and not sure what else to do

 

[draenic]

your new heater, is it reflective underwater? im just thinking you said that his fins looked a little ripped up, he could have gotten into a fight with himself

males that see another male weather it be a reflection of them self's or not, will attack, if he turns around and sees his own tail he will think it is the other male,


another thing is that maybe the heater is a little too good, heating too much or something

It isn't too reflective. I don't think that's it, but I'm starting to wonder if I should just put the old heater back in there and see if he gets better.

Turn the filter back on! It's what processes the ammonia and nitrite, that are lethal to fish above .1 ppm. the carbon will be inscribe by now and won't interfere. Also don't throw away your cartridges. This just effectively throws out all of your helpful bacteria. Just rinse it once a month, maybe add a few other types of media such as sponges or ceramics.

Awesome thanks, I didn't actually know that. I've just been replacing them. Okay, filter going back on. I'll report back in a few hours if there's any change.

Also he's now floating at the top of the water instead of sitting on the gravel. Not sure if that's an improvement or not. He ate a little bit of the pea I gave him.

 

[draenic]

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Sorry for the poor quality, my phone is my only camera.

(Also for some reason I couldn't get images to work properly, so the best I can do is provide links to photos, sorry)

 

[Rummynose]

When you changed your filter you turned your tank back into an uncycled tank!

When you said you checked the parameters and everything was fine, that could mean different things to different people. Could you give us the numbers on the readings of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? That would be great.

If your Betta lived for 2-3 weeks in an uncycled tank where the water wasn't being changed it would explain him getting sick!

Oh, how do you measure the parameters in your tank? If you're using those dip-sticks those readings are unreliable. It's better to be using the liquid test bottles with the test tubes!

 

[Storm23]

Any signs of improvement ?