CinderellaFishMom

I am a bad mom. I havent cleaned my tank at all for maybe 1 month. I have nothing in my tank except 1 betta and rocks and water. not hip to any fish lingo. Fish has been ok w/ this and doing well until now. I just put cinderella fish in new poland spring water while I cleaned the filthy tank and she is swimming sideways and not able to float well. has not eaten in days. do not want to expose 5 yo to fish untimely and preventable death. PLEASE HELP ASAP!!!! Feel like she might not have enough time for whole cycle process.(which I am still not clear on)

Amanda

Welcome to fishlore!
What are your water parameters?

joy613

Some so called spring water actually has chlorine in it. You have probably started a new cycle in your tank by over cleaning it. The best thing to do is do small water changes. I have had tanks start a mini cycle for no reason it is a 10 gallon or smaller. I do 2 smaller water changes a day for a few days. Get some prime for your to treat your water with it will bind the ammonia and make it somewhat safer for your fish.

Steve113

do you have a heater & filter in your tank?

And as amanda said - post your water test readings and we'll have a better Idea of what's up.

also, bottled water isn't always as pure as the manufacturer would have you believe.

Water changes are your best bet though.
Keep us posted.

pepetj

CynderellaFishMom: Easy, your Betta can survive if you do daily partial water changes, or maybe every other day. For us to help you we need to know some info on your setting.

Tank size and volume would be nice, if you don't know how many gallons please measure its lenght, width and height and we can take it from there.

What filter do you have, if any? Do yo have a heater there? Airpump maybe? What water conditioner you have?

Do you have a test kit for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? If not we can still help you and do a cycle with fish that might take a few weeks but be safe for your betta.

Don't bang yourself. We are all learning her.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

pamd

How long ago did this happen? I agree that it sounds like you might have done too much too fast, but I also realize this was in the best interest of your fish to the best of your knowledge. None of us knows everything, which is impossible when it comes to best fishkeeping practices.

Here's an essential article that will help you understand the cycling process:

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Has she eaten today? Is she still swimming sideways? If she still hasn't eaten and is still swimming sideways, it's an emergency. I don't know if you'll be able to pull her through, but it would be very helpful if you provide the information the above posters requested so we can all try our best to help.

Did you acclimate her to the spring water -- that is, first treating the water with a dechlorinator solution even though it's supposedly pure water, floating her in a bag or cup before putting her into it so there were no sudden temperature or other water parameter changes, then slowly dripping some of the new water into the bag? Depending on the difference in water parameters and temp, this might have needed to be done in reverse when you put her back into the tank. (Or did you use the same spring water in the tank?)

However, for next time it would be better, if you absolutely have to temporarily remove a fish from its tank, to use the old tank water so there is not such a drastic change in water parameters and temp. Mostly, you don't need to remove fish from a fully cycled tank, and partial water changes can keep a tank going a very long time without removing the fish.

Small water changes done gradually will not disrupt your cycle. A gigantic one, especially if you clean your filter and substrate with anything other than treated water or used tank water, will.

I hope this is not too much info and is helpful.

CinderellaFishMom

Thank You all for your help! The snow that fell here is ridiculous and I won't be able to get anything to help you figure out what to say to help me until Monday but the stores may not be open. My tank's label says 2.5 so I am assuming that's in gallons? He is no longer swimming sideways but he is still not eating. I have temporarily put him in a small fishbowl where he originally stayed when he joined our family.
I have no heater or filter system. I was told that they are not neccessary. Also I have no air pump.
I am going to reread the nitrogen cycle thing to see if I get it.
Couple of questions:
What kind of test kit should I get?
What kind of "parameters" are you asking for?
What kind of de-chlorinator stuff should i get?
Is it ok that my fish only eats blood worms( when he eats)?

Amanda

1 - the API Master test kit is used by most members on this forum.
2 - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
3 - I know tetra puts out a water conditioner - yellow bottle
4 - blood worms are a good betta food
Bettas do require a heater & filter. Without a heated tank, they will be ill more often and have a harder time digesting food. It would be a good idea to invest in a small heater & filter.

CinderellaFishMom

ok will do...I still am not 100% clear on nitrogen cycle. but I understand the pH has to be under 7 and ammonia is BAD. must use water conditioner and only replace 20% of water when cleaning the tank. RIGHT

Red1313

pH for the most part can be ignored as long as it's not extremely acidic or basic it's not a big worry. My tanks for example all sit at around 8-8.5 ph just b/c that's the water from my tap. Fish like a stable pH so as long is it's steady don't worry about it. You've got the right idea on the water conditioner and changes.
Here's a quick unscientific run-down of the nitrogen cycle.
Ammonia (fish-waste) is added to the tank, ammonia is toxic so you want to get rid of it. Luckily for us ammonia eating bacteria start to grow in the filter and gravel of the tank and turn ammonia into nitrite. Unfortunately nitrite is toxic as well. But yet again mother nature has it under control as another group of bacteria grow that turn nitrite into "harmless" nitrate. Now that the bacteria are doing all the work all we have to do is monitor all of this stuff and once a week or so do a water change to keep the nitrate at low levels. When it's concentration gets too high then it's toxic as well.

Now with the test kit you'll want to test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. As your tank cycles you'll see ammonia rise, spike and start to fall off. As ammonia falls off nitrite will rise, spike, and start to fall as well. Now that the nitrite is falling you'll get a nitrate reading. Once you're tank is fully cycled there will be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and x nitrate.
When that happens it means that you've got enough bacteria in you're tank to neutralize ammonia in less then 24 hours. If you increase the amount of ammonia (add new fish) or decrease the amount of bacteria (toss filter cartridge, change gravel, over clean) you'll disrupt the balence and will go through a mini cycle until the bacteria can compensate for it.

I hope that helped and I didn't confuse you more.