New female betta inactive

[Carla]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? I bought a few new fish about 5 days ago from a very reputable pet shop (3 golden white clouds, 1 male dwarf gourami, 1 lemon tetra, 1 female betta). The female betta is very inactive, and doesn't seem interested in eating. She was very active and bright in the store (in a community tank there), then has just hung out since I got her home. All others were active and healthy until two days ago, when the new lemon tetra developed white scales on the top of his head, seemed shocky, then promptly died. No other fish have displayed this. It didn't look like ich, and it wasn't cottony- it just looked like the tope of his head turned whitish and the scales were peeling off? I have never had any diseases in my tank (that I'm aware of)- and I am kinda clueless on a lot of this stuff- I've just never had many problems with the fish!
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values. Ammonia, nitrates, nitrites all are 0. Temp is 75, pH is high-7.8. general hardness was huge (36), so I am going to try a water change using distilled water (at least, that's what I was told to try!)
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up? Tank is a 15 gallon tall that has been set up for approx 2 years.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Whisper power filter for 10-20 gal tank.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? I had 2 neon tetras, 1 lemon tetra, 1 glowlight tetra and 1 oto. I added 1 very small dwarf gourami <1inch, 1 female betta, 3 golden white clouds and 1 (now deceased) lemon tetra.
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? 1 week ago I cleaned the tank and changed approx 70% of the water. I usually just change about 25% every other week or so, and the water evaporates a lot, so I have to add about 1 gallon a week just to bring the water level up (and i know that his has probably added to my GH)
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? All the previous fish are at least 18 months old. New fish were acclimated over 2 hours of floating bag in tank and adding tank water gradually to bag (about 1/4 cup every half hour.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.? No, just new fish!
9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? i just feed tetra min, and one of them seems to have taken a liking to my anubias plant- the edges are slightly tattered!
Other than that, I have no idea- I'm fairly new to fish keeping, so I'm sure that there are lots of flaws in my tank-keeping skills!

 

[Meredith]

First of all, Welcome to AA
It could be that your fish are still trying to get used to their new environment. Are there places for fish to hide? Caves, plants..? It seems to me like there are a few too many fish in there for 15 gallons (just my personal opinion). It could be that one or more of the new fish you brought in were sick (these things aren't always apparent)
If it were me I would do small daily water changes 10 or 20% for a while and see if your betta improves. If you are going to use the distilled water, mix a little at a time with each water change. Any big swings in water parameters will stress your fish.

 

[Carla]

Thanks for the advice (and the welcome!)- I do have an anubias plant and a little driftwood for hiding in, however, she will usually just sit on the gravel or hang behind the spout for the filter. Occasionally, she will swim around for a few minutes, but then always seems to go back to behind the filter or sitting on the gravel. The guy at the pet shop said that having a high GH decreases osmosis (I think), so would that decrease the amount of O2 she's getting and make her tired? I know it's probably a long shot, but i just thought that I would throw it out there!!
Do you think that doing a water change would stress her out further? I have been half-afraid to do much with them because I don't know why the lemon tetra died and I don't want to cause any others to die either! I haven't put any kind of medicine in either because I don't know what I would be medicating for!! Any ideas?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Carla,
I think water changes are a good idea at this point. Are the other fish looking sick? I agree that you don't want to just throw meds in the tank if you don't know exactly what you're medicating for! I would do small water changes daily for 5-7 days and see what happens.

If your GH is very high, you could mix RO water with your tap water. I mix water for my changes in empty, bottled water gallon jugs. I use 1/4 RO water and 3/4 tap water. If you try this to lower your GH then remember to do it gradually so you don't shock the fish. Using 1/8 to 1/4 of a gallon of RO and the rest tap would be taking it nice and easy! My KH is 3 and my GH is 8 or 9 when I use my tap/RO mix.

Also, you said your general hardness of your water is 36 -- is that in dGH or ppm GH? 36 dGH is off the chart! But 36 ppm GH is very soft, and if you have this value, you don't need to mix RO water with the tap. My pH is also 7.8. Maybe you should try to double-check your GH test results.

How is the betta doing? One of my bettas, when new, didn't eat for a week. They need time to get adjusted to their surroundings. I wouldn't worry yet about the betta being "inactive". Bettas are often slow, "lazy" swimmers. They don't swim as actively as tetras, for example. Of course there are exceptions -- one of my bettas never was still enough to get a good picture, and one was always sitting on a plant for 5 minutes at a time. He was easy to get a picture of! So you need to observe your betta for awhile to see which type of personality it has.

Another reason the betta may be "hiding" is that another fish could be picking on her. A group of tetras may often pick on or nip a slow fish like a betta. If this is happening, make sure there are enough hiding places for the betta, like with the plants you have. If the betta hides too much from the other fish, she may need her own tank. I have my bettas in 5 gallon tanks.

The guy at the pet shop said that having a high GH decreases osmosis (I think), so would that decrease the amount of O2 she's getting and make her tired?

I have no idea about this -- about osmosis. I know I should read up on it a little! Bettas have a labyrinth organ that they use to get oxygen from the air. That's what the betta is doing when they go up to the water surface. So I'm sure she's getting enough oxygen.

Hope this helps a little, and welcome to Aquarium Advice!

 

[Carla]

My tests for GH were in dGH- and I've had a water place out to check my tap water, and they said it was 34 grains of hardness out of the tap (it's gross- and the worst part is, it's city water!!). By the way, where do you find RO water? Is it similar to distilled? Which is best?
Anyhow, none of my other fish appear sick- they are all very active and have good appetites. I'm just worried because within 24 hours of the white scaly stuff on the tetra's head, he was spinning around and died. Prior to the scaly stuff, he was chasing around my other tetra and acted just fine. I don't have any meds on hand, and I'm worried that if my other fish get the tetra's mystery disease, they'll all die before I can help them!
I've been watching them very closely and haven't seen anyone picking on Ms. Beta, but I'll keep an eye out for that as well! Today, she'll swim around for a few minutes every so often, then goes back to sitting. She does have a horizontal stripe down her side, which I've read in other posts is bad news, but I don't know if it's just part of her coloring? I guess if she weren't so busy and vibrantly colored at the store when I looked at her, I wouldn't be so worried now. She was a very bright red, and now she's a marroon color. I just don't know!
Thanks for all the advice! Does anyone have a good list of "medicine cabinet supplies" I should keep on hand?

 

[oscarbreeder]

I was told years ago never to use distilled water for fish but to use bottled spring water or RO water. Distilled water will kill your fish.

I use about 1/2 spring water and 1/2 tap with all my bettas.