Betta isnt doing well even after treatment

My betta is not looking so good. We've had trouble with him getting bloated ever since we got him a few months ago because he over eats ( Hes in a community) and we've tried everything but nothing seems to work. The past two weeks we've noticed him being rather lethargic and hanging around at the bottom of the tank so we tried to give him a pea to deal with the bloating and that didn't work,not sure if he even ate any since he wouldn't go for it. Then I realized the red spot he had a month or two ago on his fin was back and also his fins look more torn so we started treating with polyguard- I think (blue powder stuff) and we justed finished the last round yesterday. We've also been skipping days feeding to avoid bloating. He's never shown signs of pineconing so I don't think its dropsy. But today he's not bloated but still lethargic and doesn't look good. The water parameters are all normal, the temp is at the usual 78, ph had gone up from 7.0 to 7.2 at one day last week and we fixed that with neutral regulator. Any clue what to do now? He was a normal healthy betta other than overeating. I just caught him arched over a fake plant on his side and I thought he was dead but I flicked the light and he moved right side up, I'm really worried. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I think we'll need more information in order to help you out.

How large is the tank?
What fish live in the tank with the betta?
What are the specific water parameters besides normal?

One thing I can say though is that adding products to alter pH is never a good idea. Especially not when your pH is at 7.2 which is perfectly fine for any community tank.

 

I think we'll need more information in order to help you out.

How large is the tank?
What fish live in the tank with the betta?
What are the specific water parameters besides normal?

One thing I can say though is that adding products to alter pH is never a good idea. Especially not when your pH is at 7.2 which is perfectly fine for any community tank.

Its a 10 gallon with a Tidal 35 filter and a sponge filter. We also have 3 neon tetras, 2 green cories, a nerite snail and a baby pleco (all our schools are small because we're in the process of upgrading to a 20long and that baby pleco is going to be rehomed). 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. We've always altered pH since we started the tank a year ago and haven't had an issue related to that os I would be surprised

 

Its a 10 gallon with a Tidal 35 filter and a sponge filter. We also have 3 neon tetras, 2 green cories, a nerite snail and a baby pleco (all our schools are small because we're in the process of upgrading to a 20long and that baby pleco is going to be rehomed). 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates. We've always altered pH since we started the tank a year ago and haven't had an issue related to that os I would be surprised

What is the pH at if you don't use any pH altering products? Usually people advice against using them if it isn't necessary. If it should be necessary there are natural options that people seem to use instead of chemicals.

Seems odd that there aren't any nitrates, especially when the tank is overstocked at the moment. What test kit are you using to test the water?

There's the option of buying a 5 gallon tank for the betta to be kept alone in which I'm sure you've considered. You could also upgrade to the 20 gallon long tank and keep the betta in the 10 gallon with some shrimp and snails. Both would solve the issue of over-eating.

 

Just checked and our tap water pH is 7.6, no one ever told us not to use it so just always have so it stays consistent. My boyfriend tested the water last week and that's what he told me, I just retested the nitrates and waiting for it to develop. We use API master test kit. We thought about getting another tank but we do plan on leaving him in the 10 gallon when we upgrade so we're just going to wait it out, sadly I can't just set the 20 up now because we have to wait for someone else to get their tank out of the house first. Looks like 5.0ppm nitrates, my bf probably didn't wait the 5 mins

 

Just checked and our tap water pH is 7.6, no one ever told us not to use it so just always have so it stays consistent. My boyfriend tested the water last week and that's what he told me, I just retested the nitrates and waiting for it to develop. We use API master test kit. We thought about getting another tank but we do plan on leaving him in the 10 gallon when we upgrade so we're just going to wait it out, sadly I can't just set the 20 up now because we have to wait for someone else to get their tank out of the house first. Looks like 5.0ppm nitrates, my bf probably didn't wait the 5 mins

Do you know when the 20 gallon will be up and running? If it's going to be a while I think I'd go ahead and find a cheap 5 gallon for the betta.

The parameters seem just fine then and as for the pH altering product you can of course continue to use it. Just know that 7.6 is perfectly alright.

Could you post a picture of the betta?

 

Hopefully within the next month, its fully dependent on when the other tank gets out of the house (nothing I can do about it since its not mine) and how long it takes to cycle, we do plan on putting the sponge filter into the new tank and some filter media from the 10 to it shouldn't take too long to cycle. We have no space for another tank right now so we just have to count on that person getting their tank out. If we stopped altering it, should we find a way to slowly increase the ph to tap water pH or just stop using the altering product. I don't want to shock them. please ignore the algae we are trying to deal with it and he would not stay still and I realized he is bloated, coudlnt tell earlier

This is what he looked like august 25th when we were dealing with the red spot

 

The difference between 7 and 7.6 isn't much so I think I'd stop using the product and then do small water changes to slowly bring it up. Definitely don't make it jump from 7 to 7.6 in one day, but if you change lets say 1/3 of the water Monday, 1/3 Wednesday and 1/3 Friday it should be back to 7.6 in a week.