What's Wrong Firefly?

[Meeresstille]

I hope it's just a little indigestion. I placed some Red Cherry Shrimp in her tank yesterday after doing the weekly water change, and I know she'd eaten at least one of them! There are a lot of plants and moss in her tank along with some drift wood and rocks, it will be impossible to see all the shrimp and count them without tearing the tank apart.
 
Firefly is just hanging around the heater, not greeting me like she usually does, not swimming curiously up and down the tank, just hanging there in inch from the top! She didn't want her Betta food, looks fine otherwise, nothing swollen, no marks, nothing torn! 
 
I probably should have left well enough alone and left the shrimp in the big tank!

 

[Meeresstille]

So I tested the water this morning, after I'd turned the heater up a little. The temperature was at 78, so I'm thinking a little warmer may help her. What shocked me though is, that I have no Nitrates. I think I may have lost the cycle somehow. 
 
I can't check for Ammonia, I'd given my Ammonia reacting drops to my son, who is going to start an aquarium of his own. To go and get the drops is impossible at the moment, so I'm just going to assume, that Ammonia is high. I did check for Nitrites, which are 0 and pH is at 7.
 
What I am going to do next is do a large water change, and pinch some ceramic rings from my big tank, to place inside the Betta tank's filter. Battling a nasty cold at the moment and my head is so stuffy, just can't think! Am I missing anything?  

 

[Meeresstille]

 
Firefly is staying at the bottom, and she is lightly gulping! She is looking at me, and turning her head slightly to follow my finger along the glass, but staying where she is at. There is nothing unusual about her appearance, so I'm hoping the water change and the transferred media will take care of things. 
 
As soon as I can go out I will get a new testing kit. Or, I could ask my husband to stop by at a pet shop on the way home this evening...
 
Never thought of it before, but would it be better to keep the room darker? Would this help make a sick fish feel more comfortable?

 

[Meeresstille]

I took another picture. Shes been hiding at the bottom, all day and I`m seeing some abdominal swelling this afternoon. Her scales are smooth, no pine-coning that would indicate dropsy at the moment. Wondering if I should add some salt to her tank or if that would stress her even more. 

 

[Meeresstille]

The white dots on her fins are just air-bubbles on the glass, left-over from the previous water change! Sorry, it`s not the greatest picture because of the location, where she is hiding.

 

[Meeresstille]

OK....here is the newest status:
 
My husband brought me a brand new test kit. Tested for Ammonia, not really expecting any. After all, I`d already changed the water twice not counting the initial water change on Tuesday, and I had added some ceramic rings media from the other tank to help the suspected bacteria problem.
 
The Ammonia reading showed .6!!!!!!!! At the pH of 7 I calculated that the harmful form of Ammonia is quite low, but did another water change anyways. Tested the tap water as well, just to make sure, which had no readings of Ammonia.
 
After the water change the Ammonia reading in the tank showed around .2 or .3 and I figure it will be safe enough through the night.
 
I`ll do another WC tomorrow, after the test, I`m sure. So, now I`m suspecting that the bacteria had died off for some reason, maybe some cleaning solvent was transferred from the bathroom onto the buckets and into the water....that`s the only thing I can think of. I`m always making sure to rinse my hands well, before handling the tanks!!!
 
Here are two more pictures, they`re not the best, but I used a camera instead of the camera of my phone:

 

 

[Meeresstille]

I don't have good news this morning. Firefly is laying at the bottom her gills moving, her mouth moving, but otherwise all still! She was hiding in the plant roots when I found her, and to get a better look moved the plant. At first I thought she was already gone, because there was no reaction, then she struggled somewhat but could not even swim.
 
Her body looks perfectly fine, and the remaining ammonia has been converted over night. The test came out clear this morning! The shrimp in the tank are doing great, I see this as a sign that there aren't any toxins in the tank. 
 
I'd like to give her any chance to pull through, but I just don't know what else I can do? Or at this point, would it be kinder to euthanize her? 

 

[Meeresstille]

 
I dare to be a little hopeful. Someone asked me if she is getting enough oxygen, so I turned the filter to the highest setting. When I returned to check on her she had made her way to her favourite corner of the tank. She was swimming again! To take a picture of her I had to squeeze behind the tank and I think she did not appreciate being disturbed so she swam away. She is still hiding, but she is looking better than she did this morning. 
 
Unless someone has another suggestion I will remove some of the water to lower the water level, and turn the filter down again. The stronger water flow may be too much if she starts swimming again, but with the lowered water level the re-oxygenation of the water should be better.

 

[Meeresstille]

Firefly did not make it!

 

[ReiRei]

Really sorry to hear that, I took a look at this earlier, but its not something I've dealt with before, so couldn't offer any advice ):

 

[Meeresstille]

Thank you ReiRei! I will miss her.

 

[Wildbetta]

I am really sorry to hear of Firefly's passing.  I looked in on this thread yesterday and since have been trying to figure out what might have been going on with her.  I have been having computer issues which didn't allow me to post a response saying that I had no idea what more you could be doing for her just so you know that someone was indeed listening.  I am still not sure what exactly was wrong with her.  Possibly an internal infection that didn't show signs until it was too late would be my guess.

 

[Meeresstille]

Thank You Wildbetta. I really appreciate your post. I still feel terribly sad about losing her, and feel so responsible. I did not know that one could get this attached to a fish, I'm still crying, isn't that silly!?
 
I figured people just did not know how to help, and so I thought I'll just keep posting to keep everyone up-dated. 
 
My husband wanted another Betta. We went this morning to see if they had any females. Came home with a boy! I will take some pictures and introduce him in a bit.