Betta Fish Very Sick! Please Help.

Hi, I got my new male betta fish 2 weeks ago. He was very active until I did a half water change this past Saturday (2 weeks after I got him). On Sunday, I saw that he had an injury on his gill where some tissue was exposed underneath it (I assumed this was caused by a water change injury) and thought that this is what was making him lethargic. I added to the tank. However, his symptoms have gotten worse (see below), and I am not sure what is wrong. I did a quarter water change today and yesterday to see if that helps.

Lack of appetite- Will not eat anything at all (he expresses absolutely no interesting in food whatsoever)...he hasn't eaten anything since Saturday. I usually feed him 2 pellets (omega one betta buffet) or 2 omega one dried bloodworms once a day (except Friday), and he loves them. He tried to eat on Sunday and Monday, but he looked like he was having a hard time and gave up. Now he just won't eat at all.

Lethargic and clamped fins

Tank : 2 gallon, filtered, unheated (I realize I need a bigger tank, but I am looking for solutions to make this better before I get a bigger tank, so please do not comment on that); no , , , or ; around 7.2-7.5; he's the only fish and there are no in the tank.

I have attached some pictures if that helps.

Thank you!!

 

First, Bettas need a heated tank of 77-80F
Second, did you add chemicals to neutralize the chlorine in the fresh tap water?
Third, if you have no nitrates, that means your tank isn’t cycled which can be disastrous.
Fourth, is your tank decorated at all? Bettas like tall plants and crevasses to squeeze trough. It makes them feel safe.
Fifth, I don’t really see the gil problem. Because Bettas have flaring gills, there should always be red-blue folded “skin” under his jaw.

 

First, Bettas need a heated tank of 77-80F
Second, did you add chemicals to neutralize the chlorine in the fresh tap water?
Third, if you have no nitrates, that means your tank isn’t cycled which can be disastrous.
Fourth, is your tank decorated at all? Bettas like tall plants and crevasses to squeeze trough. It makes them feel safe.
Fifth, I don’t really see the gil problem. Because Bettas have flaring gills, there should always be red-blue folded “skin” under his jaw.

I realize he needs a heated rank which I plan on doing once he gets better. However the lack of heating doesn’t explain his sudden downward spiral.

I added water conditioner and there’s no chlorine in the water.

Aren’t nitrates bad for fish? The testing kit I have says so.

There’s usually a nice yellow/orange plant in his tank, but I had taken it out for cleaning/taking the picture.

 

He’ll need more then one orange plant. Nitrates are bad, but there will always be nitrates no matter what in a cycled tank. You just don’t want them getting higher then 20ppm. After a water change, more then likely the nitrates will sit around 5ppm and slowly build until your next water change.

Ammonia (very toxic) turns into nitrites (toxic), nitrites turn into nitrates (toxic in large amounts), and then the nitrates just sit there waiting for the next water change to dilute them. I never have less then 5ppm in fish tanks.

Why are you waiting to heat his tank? That makes no sense. If he’s sick, your first priority should be making his living quarters better, which would mean a heater. It could definitely be a contributing factor to his illness.

 

He also has a betta hammock and a Rock cave.

Well whatever the nitrate amount was it was below whatever was detectable by the test strips I have. I am familiar with the ammonia cycle, so I do test the water for ammonia and nitrates/nitrites regularly.

I didn’t want to shock him, but I will look into getting the right heater for his tank

 

Nitrates are actually beneficial except in high amounts. Test strips are known to be inaccurate most people recommend a liquid test kit specifically the API master freshwater test kit. You already have a thread on this everyone was just concerned about the possible velvet threat you can mention something about it on that thread. Can you please circle the area in question he looks fine to me.