Help with Betta

[southcity]

Last week I purchased a Betta. Brought him home and took the day getting him
acclimated. I floated him for an hour to bring the water temp in the bag up and then slowly added small amounts of his new tank water every half hour. 8 hrs. later I released him into the new tank. Two days later he died. So I repeated the process with a new Betta and he also died after only a couple of days. Please help me and let me know where I am going wrong.
I have a 2 and 1/2 gallon tank set up for the Betta. The Betta is the only fish in the tank. I only used my fish buckets to fill the tank, so nothing has ever been in those buckets other than tap water. No soap was ever used to wash either my fish buckets or the tank. Used a dechlorinator. Have the temp set at 76 and bring it up to 77 the following day. If the fish had lived I would have brought it up 1 degree daily until it reached 80. Even though I had them in this 2 and 1/2 gallon tank I still did a partial water change the following day. I place the thermometer under running water so I can match the temp of the new water.
There was no visible sign of disease on either Betta. The first few hours they both swam and then sort of just became very lethargic and kind of hung in one spot. Then I find them on the bottom dead. The first Betta had a good appetite and came up when I offered food. The second Betta never did eat. I tried mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp but he had no interest in food at all.
I use the API liquid test kit, ammonia 0, nitrite 0. pH is a bit higher in my tap water than what he came in but I took several hours to acclimate them so that shouldn't have killed them. I did test the water that the second Betta arrived in and it had a fair amount of ammonia in it. Who knows how long those fish are in the jars or if they get any kind of water change once they arrive at the store.
If you have any idea's on what I am doing wrong please let me know. I honestly don't understand why both of these fish died only two days after purchase.

[bruinsbro1997]

Do you know the nitrates?

Honestly those bettas kept in those plastic cups in stores are always sensitive. I tried moving my betta from his five gallon to a forty gallon and he's not coping very well.

[southcity]

Yes, very low in my tap water, maybe around the 5ppm range or even lower. Colour in test tube is quite yellow with not even the slightest orange to it.

[bruinsbro1997]

Originally Posted by southcity

Yes, very low in my tap water, maybe around the 5ppm range or even lower. Colour in test tube is quite yellow with not even the slightest orange to it.

Hmm. Could be the acclamation process. Depending on when the bettas were shipped in their little containers the toxins could have built up quickly and permanently damaged your betta. Do you have any idea what day you got it prior to them being shipped in?

Maybe drip acclimate them.

[southcity]

Originally Posted by bruinsbro1997

Hmm. Could be the acclamation process. Depending on when the bettas were shipped in their little containers the toxins could have built up quickly and permanently damaged your betta. Do you have any idea what day you got it prior to them being shipped in?

Maybe drip acclimate them.

The first Betta was purchased the day they arrived at the store. The second one wasn't bought until about 4 - 5 days later. New stock arrives every Wednesday.

[Sharkbait54]

You might wanna wait a at least a week so the Betta gets settled in the LFS then buy him 2 many tank changes 2 fast could def stress the fish out IMO.

[aqua_chem]

Originally Posted by Sharkbait54

You might wanna wait a at least a week so the Betta gets settled in the LFS then buy him 2 many tank changes 2 fast could def stress the fish out IMO.

Depends on the LFS. Many stores will just let them sit in those cups. I've always figured that the longer they're in those freaking cups, the more damage they'll accumulate (ammonia burns and whatnot). I've always thought of bettas as pretty tough critters that don't need to be coddled as much as some fish.

[Sharkbait54]

Well I got mine in a LFS that puts them in a long tank all separate by tank dividers. I had recently set up my 10g let it run for 3 days. I went to the store to pick up supplies the employee advised me that bettas are very hardy and I could go ahead and put him in, I did Long with a dwarf crayfish both are very active and happy. It might just be their stock idk. Try a diff store maybe...

[Reygan2]

I bought a Petsmart "Betta in a cup" and simply floated him in the cup he was in to acclimate him to the temp for about 15 minutes, then I released him. He's doing great. He's the boss of his very own 5 gallon filtered, heated tank. I can't imagine going to all the trouble you did and still suffering a loss.

[southcity]

Originally Posted by Reygan2

I bought a Petsmart "Betta in a cup" and simply floated him in the cup he was in to acclimate him to the temp for about 15 minutes, then I released him. He's doing great. He's the boss of his very own 5 gallon filtered, heated tank. I can't imagine going to all the trouble you did and still suffering a loss.

I am on the list to receive a pastel green Betta from this site. Exactly like the first pic you see.
BETTAS by Jim Sonnier/stockshop
Not too sure I want to give Petsmart another try.