Betta RuPaul’s emergency! Flashing, lethargy, won’t eat.

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?
2.5 gallons

How long has the tank been running?
1 year

Does it have a filter?
Yes, but I was treating RO for flashing with Prazipro, and the carbon part of the filter was out for 2 weeks, though the filter was still running.

Does it have a heater?
Yes

What is the water temperature?
79-80

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 male koi betta. Got him 4 months ago as a juvenile. He already does 6 tricks!

Maintenance

How often do you change the water?
Weekly

How much of the water do you change?
30%

What do you use to treat your water?
Aqueous Betta Bowl Plus
I use 1/2 tap water and 1/2 spring water (NOT distilled!) because our water is so hard. It helps a little.

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
I vacuum the substrate

*Parameters - Very Important

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes

What do you use to test the water?
I used strips and just threw them out. I tested the water today with my new API Freshwater Kit. Yikes. What a difference from the strips!

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

WAS = This morning before I changed anything
NOW = How it is measuring at 2:30est

Ammonia:
WAS: 25ppm
IS: 0ppm
USE Aqueon Ammonia Neutralizer

Nitrite:
IS: 0ppm (phew!)

Nitrate:
IS: 0ppm (phew!)

pH:
WAS: 7.6
IS: 7.0
USE API pH Down

High Range pH: (I don’t know what this is)
IS: 7.4 or higher
*How do I adjust this without affecting the regular pH?

Feeding

How often do you feed your fish?
Twice daily: 10am and 6pm

How much do you feed your fish?
A total of 6 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets. They are tiny: 1mm probably. Half the size of other pellets

What brand of food do you feed your fish?
See above!

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
I recently tried a few freeze dried blood worms, and I have baby frozen shrimp that just seem to melt to dust in the water. 98% of the time I use pellets.

Illness & Symptoms

How long have you had this fish?
4 months

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
What I thought was flashing started 18 days ago. Then things deteriorated.

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Flashing, lethargy, won’t eat.

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Prazipro two weeks ago for flashing. Took out carbon insert but left filter running. Repeated one week later. Didn’t replace carbon insert until yesterday. Yikes!

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
He has gone from doing 6 tricks a day and being a total ham to lying in his cave dying. I’m heartbroken! His color has faded and his top fin is somewhat clamped.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

18 days ago: change in behavior, rubbing against plants, up and down in the corner.

7 days ago: color started to fade and top fin wasn’t relaxed. I started to have a sense something was wrong.

Yesterday morning: barely eating.

Yesterday afternoon: lethargic, resting on bottom of tank, belly looked maybe a little swollen, but I saw him poop the day before. I decided I needed to fast him, but that point is moot, because,

Today: he won’t come out of cave. When I did get him to come out a tiny bit so I could glimpse his face, his mouth was opening and closing a little, over and over.

Thank you for any help you can provide. I’d do anything for my talented little buddy!

Sincerely,
Zilly

 

I would start with a 50% water change. It’s possible the pH down and ammonia (was it 25ppm, or 0.25?) are causing him to be stressed. From now on I wouldn’t replace the filter media or use meds until we figure out what’s going on. It can crash the cycle, and I wonder if that’s what happened here.

 

That 25 ppm ammonia is definitely a problem. You need to do a large water change ASAP. Also, do you have any other media in your filter other than carbon?

 

Odd all your readings are 0. I see you've just got the API master test kit; you need to shake the bottles vigorously before testing because if you dont they will give you false 0s. If you think you've shaken them enough, shake them some more. The nitrate one is the worst. The tank has been running awhile it should definitely have some nitrates at least.

 

I would start with a 50% water change. It’s possible the pH down and ammonia (was it 25ppm, or 0.25?) are causing him to be stressed. From now on I wouldn’t replace the filter media or use meds until we figure out what’s going on. It can crash the cycle, and I wonder if that’s what happened here.

I just want to make sure I’m telling this right:
1. I did a 30% water change at midnight last night.
2. All his symptoms were present this morning. There was no question he was stressed! When I woke up this morning, these were the parameters:
pH: 7.6 (or higher)
Ammonia: .25 ppm (NOT 2.5)
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
3. After treating the water with pH down and Ammonia neutralizer, pH is now 7.0, and Ammonia is now 0 ppm.
4. I thought it was the high pH and elevated ammonia that would stress him, not the treatment of those things! Was I wrong?
5. Thank you so much for your help!

That 25 ppm ammonia is definitely a problem. You need to do a large water change ASAP. Also, do you have any other media in your filter other than carbon?

The ammonia was .25, not 25! My mistake!
my filter uses tetra filter cartridges.

Odd all your readings are 0. I see you've just got the API master test kit; you need to shake the bottles vigorously before testing because if you dont they will give you false 0s. If you think you've shaken them enough, shake them some more. The nitrate one is the worst. The tank has been running awhile it should definitely have some nitrates at least.

I did read that, and I shook the Nitate for a full minute! I will go try again, though, and report back. Thanks!

You were right! I shook like crazy, and it did make a difference, albeit a small one.
Nitrites: still 0 ppm
Nitrates: 5.0 ppm
Thanks!

 

I just want to make sure I’m telling this right:
1. I did a 30% water change at midnight last night.
2. All his symptoms were present this morning. There was no question he was stressed! When I woke up this morning, these were the parameters:
pH: 7.6 (or higher)
Ammonia: .25 ppm (NOT 2.5)
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
3. After treating the water with pH down and Ammonia neutralizer, pH is now 7.0, and Ammonia is now 0 ppm.
4. I thought it was the high pH and elevated ammonia that would stress him, not the treatment of those things! Was I wrong?
5. Thank you so much for your help!

A pH of 7.6 actually isn’t that bad. I kept bettas in a pH of 8.2 with no issues. I think that the pH swing is what was stressing him out, as a stable pH (even if it’s not perfect) is usually much less stressful than a fluctuating one.

The ammonia detoxifier probably didn’t stress him out, but it’d be a good idea to do daily 10% waterchanges for a week or two in case it was the ammonia or something.

It’s also possible he’s just getting old, and reaching the end of his life. Unfortunately bettas don’t live that long and if you’ve had him for a year it’s possible (although not likely) this is being caused by old age.

 

That 25 ppm ammonia is definitely a problem. You need to do a large water change ASAP. Also, do you have any other media in your filter other than carbon?

Sorry, my mistake, my ammonia was .25 (NOT 25!). Mistake of a first-time poster. My Filter uses Tetra whisper filter cartridges. From the packaging, they appear to only have carbon.
He is literally fading in front of my eyes! He is usually dark black, white, and red!

A pH of 7.6 actually isn’t that bad. I kept bettas in a pH of 8.2 with no issues. I think that the pH swing is what was stressing him out, as a stable pH (even if it’s not perfect) is usually much less stressful than a fluctuating one.

The ammonia detoxifier probably didn’t stress him out, but it’d be a good idea to do daily 10% waterchanges for a week or two in case it was the ammonia or something.

It’s also possible he’s just getting old, and reaching the end of his life. Unfortunately bettas don’t live that long and if you’ve had him for a year it’s possible (although not likely) this is being caused by old age.

Unfortunately he’s not old. I got him as a juvenile and have only had him four months.
My worry, and I keep saying this, is that he was in the same shape before I changed the pH as he is now. Something was wrong before. Good to know not to do that again, though!

I have been told to do a 50% water change right now,but I’m waiting to make sure that is still the best practice, since I misstated my ammonia level originally. It was .25, not 25, and I neutralized it, so now it’s 0.

Should I still change 50% of the water today, and then 10% everyday for a week?
Can someone please help me know if I should still try the 50% water change? The two people that recommended it were going on a stated ammonia level of 25, when it was really .25! I wrote it wrong! I treated it with neutralizer, and now it’s down to 0. I don’t want to make things worse by changing too much water!

 

I posted earlier, but I have two new photos that might be significant. Just now I got a good picture of his gills! Is this a disease I can treat? He doesn’t look like he will last long. In the second picture you can see that he can’t stay upright! I couldn’t get a clear answer on whether or not to do a large water change the last time I posted, because I wrote my parameters incorrectly. That has been fixed below. Help! I’m panicking!


Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?
2.5 gallons

How long has the tank been running?
1 year

Does it have a filter?
Yes, but I was treating RO for flashing with Prazipro, and the carbon part of the filter was out for 2 weeks, though the filter was still running.

Does it have a heater?
Yes

What is the water temperature?
79-80

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 male koi betta. Got him 4 months ago as a juvenile. He already does 6 tricks!

Maintenance

How often do you change the water?
Weekly

How much of the water do you change?
30%

What do you use to treat your water?
Aqueous Betta Bowl Plus
I use 1/2 tap water and 1/2 spring water (NOT distilled!) because our water is so hard. It helps a little.

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
I vacuum the substrate

*Parameters - Very Important

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes

What do you use to test the water?
I used strips and just threw them out. I tested the water today with my new API Freshwater Kit. Yikes. What a difference from the strips!

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

WAS = This morning before I changed anything
NOW = How it measured at 2:30 est

Ammonia:
WAS: .25 ppm
IS: 0 ppm
USE Aqueon Ammonia Neutralizer

Nitrite:
IS: 0 ppm

Nitrate:
IS: 5 pom

pH:
WAS: 7.6
IS: 7.0
USE API pH Down

High Range pH: (I don’t know what this is)
IS: 7.4 or higher
*How do I adjust this without affecting the regular pH?

Feeding

How often do you feed your fish?
Twice daily: 10am and 6pm

How much do you feed your fish?
A total of 6 Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets. They are tiny: 1mm probably. Half the size of other pellets

What brand of food do you feed your fish?
See above!

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
I recently tried a few freeze dried blood worms, and I have baby frozen shrimp that just seem to melt to dust in the water. 98% of the time I use pellets.

Illness & Symptoms

How long have you had this fish?
4 months

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
What I thought was flashing started 18 days ago. Then things deteriorated.

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Flashing, lethargy, won’t eat.

Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Prazipro two weeks ago for flashing. Took out carbon insert but left filter running. Repeated one week later. Didn’t replace carbon insert until yesterday. Yikes!

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
He has gone from doing 6 tricks a day and being a total ham to lying in his cave dying. I’m heartbroken! His color has faded and his top fin is somewhat clamped.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

18 days ago: change in behavior, rubbing against plants, up and down in the corner.

7 days ago: color started to fade and top fin wasn’t relaxed. I started to have a sense something was wrong.

Yesterday morning: barely eating.

Yesterday afternoon: lethargic, resting on bottom of tank, belly looked maybe a little swollen, but I saw him poop the day before. I decided I needed to fast him, but that point is moot, because,

Today: he won’t come out of cave. When I did get him to come out a tiny bit so I could glimpse his face, his mouth was opening and closing a little, over and over.

THIS AFTERNOON: I got a good picture of his gills! Is this a disease I can treat? He doesn’t look like he will last long. In the second picture you can see that he


Thank you for any help you can provide. I’d do anything for my talented little buddy!

Sincerely,
Zilly

 

I'm sorry I cant help I have no idea what to suggest but heres a bump so hopefully someone who can help will jump on

Edit: things you can do to reduce stress;
Turn down the lights on the tank
Add tannins to the water; put in some indian almond leaves and driftwood. You can also use rooibos tea (make sure to get some without caffeine or other ingredients, just 100% rooibos). Boil the teabag in a mug, leave to cool completely, then pour into the tank. Tannins will also boost his immune system.