Betta fish sick/how to properly cyce tank?

[lgeihm]

Hi there,

I have some questions before I make any changes to my tank. I have a 5 gallon tank for my (one) betta fish, it has a heater that keeps the water at about 78-80 degrees, it is filtered (not a very powerful filter, as to not stress him out). Anyway, I made a mistake a few days ago and did an full tank change because the ammonia level was ridiculously high (I did not know any better at the time). So, I added fresh dechlorinated water and, a pH balancer (of 7.0). I tested the water immediately after changing and the ammonia was STILL high, so I added an ammonia remover. I have not changed the filter cartridge, aside from rinsing it with water. However, my betta now has a white film on his body, and it seems to be growing more each day. I'm very worried about him, and I don't know what to do. Should I medicate his tank with "betta fix" or aquarium salt? Should I put in a new filter cartridge? Should I start with a fresh tank and not add anything except dechlorinator? I really don't want to lose him, and he's becoming more lethargic every day. Any advice is appreciated.... thank you so much!

 

[V227]

Treat your situation as a "fish in tank cycle" redo. Change 25% of the water every day during the process, approx. A month. It's okay to treat the tank with Bettafix or Melafix, those products are all natural and probably won ' t hurt the growing BB. Don't clean your filter during the process. When cleaning resumes, only use old tank water to rinse off the filter media.
Hope the Betta makes it.