Betta fish not doing well

[HeatherW]

I am still quite new to the fish business, but I am sure my Betta fish is not doing well! I have had him for 8 days now and he hardly ever eats. I mean really! I think he has eaten maybe either one or two pieces of the betta food (little balls) and I even tried some frozen blood worms. I think he might have eaten one. He looks like he is loosing some of his scales on the top of his head? and now maybe some on his sides as well. he was swimming around fine yesterday, but now again today he is not really swimming much at all and looks a little funny. he did this before and that is when he actually ate one piece of food and then with in a few hours he started swimming around again like normal.

My water is not great. I keep doing water changes but it is not working very well. He was in a 2.5 gallon tank with 5 neon tetras. yesterday I moved my platys out of my 5 gallon, emptied about 90 - 95% of the water, refilled, let it run for 24 hrs and then moved the betta and tetras into the 5 gallon. the water paramaters on both the 2.5 and 5 gallon were equally poor, so I figured the move would not hurt them anymore and the bigger tank was better. the top of the tank (the water surface) looks kinda nasty, but I don't know how to make it go away. I keep changing the water and it keeps coming out of the filter. I even took the charcoal part of the filter thing out and rinsed it and it is still happening. don't know if that is my problem or not. the neons seem to be fine. everyone is eating except the Betta.

I am only checking the Ammonia and Nitrite levels right now since I am changing the water so frequently. The nitrates were 0 last time I checked.

Ammonia 1.0
Nitrites 0

did 50% WC and ammonia is down to .5 Just did another water change and will check again in an hour or so.

the question I have is should I move the Betta back into the 2.5 gallon and treat with Betta fix? I would rather fix him without medicating if I can, but I don't know which is the best way to go.

I will try to add a picture

 

[blackmolly]

personally i would go ahead and do the bettafix... the only issue is that you'll need to keep doing water changes while he's in there to keep levels down...

 

[HeatherW]

how do I post a picture??

 

[HeatherW]

personally i would go ahead and do the bettafix... the only issue is that you'll need to keep doing water changes while he's in there to keep levels down...

OK, so if I do the Betta fix then do I re-add the medicine everytime I do a water change as well. What if I add Ammo-lock since the only thing that is wrong with the water is the ammonia and the Nitrites and Nitrates are ok?

Is the ammo-lock bad for the water?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I'm sorry WHY the Betta fix??? To me he sounds like he is suffering from ammonia poisoning. More frequent water changes are needed. Good for you for moving him to the larger tank! Don't move him back! The ammonia levels will take longer to rise in the larger tank so he's better of in there.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

how do I post a picture??

Are you on droid, iPhone (or similar) or computer?

 

[HeatherW]

I am on a computer. got a pic uploaded to the gallery - now how do I get it over to here?

 

[HeatherW]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum.../4/3/6/img_1458_smaller_thumb.jpg[/img][/url]

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I can't see much on the picture. It's kind of blurry. Is he missing scales? Is he rubbing on anything? Bloated? Did he get caught between anything in the tank? In the net? He might be sulking from the move (they can get very emotional LOL) but I still stand by what I said about the ammonia being the cause of the behavior.

 

[HeatherW]

I can't see much on the picture. It's kind of blurry. Is he missing scales? Is he rubbing on anything? Bloated? Did he get caught between anything in the tank? In the net? He might be sulking from the move (they can get very emotional LOL)

if you click on the pic it gets bigger.
he did not get caught on anything. I am not sure if he is sulking or not, but I am worried about the top of his head. I guess it looks like he is missing scales. no, he is not rubbing on anything.

 

[blackmolly]

unless his scales weren't like that when you got him, i think it's just a part of his coloration. if that is the case, then water changes are your best bet. if he really is losing scales... you may have a bigger problem then just ammonia.

 

[HeatherW]

unless his scales weren't like that when you got him, i think it's just a part of his coloration. if that is the case, then water changes are your best bet. if he really is losing scales... you may have a bigger problem then just ammonia.

I am pretty sure he did NOT look like this when I got him. does that mean I need to use the betta fix?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

if you click on the pic it gets bigger.
he did not get caught on anything. I am not sure if he is sulking or not, but I am worried about the top of his head. I guess it looks like he is missing scales. no, he is not rubbing on anything.

Sorry on my iPhone. They don't get any bigger

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I am pretty sure he did NOT look like this when I got him. does that mean I need to use the betta fix?

Stress can cause loss of color in fish. They can appear 'washed out'. No need for the bettafix. If he has lost some scales they will grow back with clean water.

 

[HeatherW]

what about the not eating part? do I not worry about this? I bought some of the frozen blood worms and everyone else seems to like them. should I keep trying to tempt him with these? It won't make them all spoiled and not want the cheaper flake foods will it?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

what about the not eating part? do I not worry about this? I bought some of the frozen blood worms and everyone else seems to like them. should I keep trying to tempt him with these? It won't make them all spoiled and not want the cheaper flake foods will it?

I would not worry (yet) bettas are emotional/fussy things, some more than others. Some will stop eating if something gets moved/changed in the tank. He isn't feeling too well from the ammonia and is scared from the move. Keep offering him foods and he will eat eventually. Make sure you remove any uneaten food because it will add to the ammonia.
Feeding him blood worms won't spoil him but could make him bloated/constipated so feed sparingly like once a week. A small high quality floating pellet is the best thing to feed him. He can eat flakes but they can give him digestion issues. His stomach is about the size if his eye so keep that in mind when feeding him.

 

[blackmolly]

fish can go a while without food. try feeding one pellet once every other day. if he takes it feed him another, and do that until you can feed him 3. after that becomes a regular thing, start moving back to daily feedings. there's no reason to increase ammonia in order to get him to eat.

 

[HeatherW]

OK, well that is what I have been doing. I keep offering him one pellet and he just doesn't want to eat. I guess I will wait on the blood worms since he they all ate those on wed.
still doing water changes and I just can't get the ammonia to go down.
Ammonia:
10am - 1.0
240p - .75
440p - .75
should I try not using the filter charcoal part of the filter? should I change the filter? Not sure what I need to do to get it to go down

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Water changes and gravel vacs are all you can do. Do not change the filter at all at the moment. Don't even rinse it. You want to preserve as much bacteria as you can at the moment. I've forgotten what dechlorinator your using. I recommend Prime. It will convert the ammonia to a less toxic form for 24 hours but will still allow it to be processed by the BB. Also have you checked your tap water for ammonia?

 

[HeatherW]

Betta not doing well

Water changes and gravel vacs are all you can do. Do not change the filter at all at the moment. Don't even rinse it. You want to preserve as much bacteria as you can at the moment. I've forgotten what dechlorinator your using. using API brand products, so I am using the Stress Coat I recommend Prime. It will convert the ammonia to a less toxic form for 24 hours but will still allow it to be processed by the BB. Also have you checked your tap water for ammonia?yes, I checked it the other day and the ammonia was .5

he seems to be doing better - at least he is swimming around again. but still not eating anything.