Here we go....
Here's the info:
1)Saturday
2)81-82 degrees
3)Yes he was clamped up laying on his side in the corner of the tank
4)75ish
5)No I put some bettafix in the water
6) Yes, he eats betta pellets. Thats all he'll eat, he's very picky.
7) He was in a 10 gal and now he's in a one gal.
8)I've had him about six months.
For starters, the higher the temp, the faster bacterial infections grow. 81-82 degrees is not that hot when you compare it to the 90-95 degrees my fish outdoors in the summer in FL have to go through so we can only assume that the conditions in the 10 gal were not up to snuff for him since you said he was in there for about 1 month.
My suggestion would be as follows:
Lower the water level to about 1/2 the height of the bowl (this will make it less strenuous for the fish to come to the surface to breathe.
Prepare a gallon of water with 1/2 teaspoon of non iodized salt and let stand for a few hours to match the temp of the current water temp in the bowl (assuming the bowl has no heater.) If using a heater, put heater into gal of water to warm it up.
If the fish is still eating, I prefer to use a product called FURAN-2. It is an antibiotic that treats both gram+ and gram- bacteria. If you cannot get that, I also use Jungle's Fungus Clear that I get at my local Walmart. It contains the same nitrofurizone that FURAN-2 uses. If you need to go this route, take the pill (which is designed to treat 10 gal of water) and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Use a measurable amount of water in a cup(I use a turkey baster assigning 1/2 oz of liquid for 1 gal water) and dissolve the 1/4 pill in enough water for 2 1/2 gal. water to be treated. When dissolved, you'll notice some "grit" at the bottom of the cup. Stir medication to disperse this grit and remove 1 gal worth of medicated water with floating grit and add to your gal container. (Grit is one of the other meds in the pill) When temp is set, put your fish in this water. Reduce feeding to once per day and use remaining medicated water to change bowl in 2 days. Repeat treatment as necessary using remaining dissolved med water. (hint: make sure the water amount in the med remains the same for 1 1/2 gals of water. If water eveporates, just replace the amount that evaporated prior to use.)
If the fish has stopped feeding:
Use a combination of Erythromycin and Maracyn 2 for SALTWATER fish. Maracyn & Maracyn 2 for SW have vitamins and medication that are absorbed through the skin. Follow the directions on the packages. (You can either prepare a larger volume of water or proportion it down as in above directions.)
If the fish is not too far gone, 1 of these treatments should fix the problem. Once the fish is healthy again, return the water level to normal.
If using the turkey baster method, YOU CAN NOT USE THAT BASTER AGAIN for human food so don't grab your Mom's/Wife's favorite holiday baster!!! I get mine from the dollar store and just use it for my fish.
I should point out that I have not had much success with the Meds that are designed specially for Bettas. I'm all for Holistic fish keeping but if kept properly, there should be no need for treating your fish other than with the salt (which is part of their chemical makeup anyway.) If they get sick, you need quality meds.
As for proper housing, if you have a long finned Betta, you have a fish that has to exert a huge amount of energy to swim. You will need to feed more food per day to your fish than someone with the same type in a bowl. If you are feeding more, you are creating a dirtier environment and cleaning and filtering are paramount to your fish's health. If you are not feeding more, you are making your fish struggle on meager rations which will lead to multiple problems down the road. While each is doable, your care techniques has to adapt to each way. For me, I prefer shallow water for my Bettas.
Hope this helps...
