Help! Beta fish at bottom gasping for air after change in water.

Hello! So as of Tuesday night I completely changed my betas 3 gallon tank of water. I was just reading up on this and I guess you shouldnt be doing that. Besides the fact.. so I changed the water and I had him sit in his bag in the top before adding him in and giving him time to adjust to the temperature and also used beta water conditioner by top fin. As of Wednesday, I added some new plants and moss and added new bamboo to the filter up on the top.I also added an wall bubbler to the back of the tank but cut off the air like a little so it’s not so splashy. But as of last night (Thursday) I noticed he was staying at the bottom. And I thought he could’ve been sleeping so I thought I’d wait to see how it goes tomorrow and today he hasn’t really gone up the the surface (where he usually stays). He looks as though his mouth is opening wide and gasping. Same with his gills and he’s laying on his side. He also returns to this little hiding space when I put my finger in front of him, he swims in a little circle and goes right back down to the same place. Is it too late to do anything? Is there anything I can do? Do I need to add more water conditioner? Thank you!

 

Hello! So as of Tuesday night I completely changed my betas 3 gallon tank of water. I was just reading up on this and I guess you shouldnt be doing that. Besides the fact.. so I changed the water and I had him sit in his bag in the top before adding him in and giving him time to adjust to the temperature and also used beta water conditioner by top fin. As of Wednesday, I added some new plants and moss and added new bamboo to the filter up on the top.I also added an wall bubbler to the back of the tank but cut off the air like a little so it’s not so splashy. But as of last night (Thursday) I noticed he was staying at the bottom. And I thought he could’ve been sleeping so I thought I’d wait to see how it goes tomorrow and today he hasn’t really gone up the the surface (where he usually stays). He looks as though his mouth is opening wide and gasping. Same with his gills and he’s laying on his side. He also returns to this little hiding space when I put my finger in front of him, he swims in a little circle and goes right back down to the same place. Is it too late to do anything? Is there anything I can do? Do I need to add more water conditioner? Thank you!

Do you have a water testing kit by any chance? In a 3 gallon tank, ammonia and any leftover waste in that little of an amount of water will rise quickly. As you mentioned, a full 100% change isn’t the best idea, because you are removing any beneficial bacteria that has built up from the waste your fish produces. In your three gal, I would suggest smaller, more frequent water changes (two/three times a week)
Also! I would highly recommend SeaChem
Prime as a water conditioner, as it detoxifies ammonia and nitrites for 24 hours and that will temporarily protect your fish from any ammonia rising between water changes.

 

Impossible to say the cause without knowing the exact parameters before and after WC. If the fish was in dirty water for sometime then the complete WC could have shocked him. He would have adapted to poor water quality and the sudden change to completely clean water would have stressed him out. He would not have been able to handle the sudden shift in parameters.

 

I do not have a test kit but I can grab one, I really don’t like seeing him suffer and I want to help out fast, do you think I should get the seachem prime and add it in as he is in there or add healthy bacteria? I don’t want him to pass away

Impossible to say the cause without knowing the exact parameters before and after WC. If the fish was in dirty water for sometime then the complete WC could have shocked him. He would have adapted to poor water quality and the sudden change to completely clean water would have stressed him out. He would not have been able to handle the sudden shift in parameters.

This is definitely what happened. He was In dirty water, so I wanted to change it. I lack knowledge and understand I need to research more before doing things, is there anything I can do for now? It was dirty water, and completely changed to clean water. How would I go about changing little amounts of water? Thank you!

 

I do not have a test kit but I can grab one, I really don’t like seeing him suffer and I want to help out fast, do you think I should get the seachem prime and add it in as he is in there or add healthy bacteria? I don’t want him to pass away

I highly suggest getting the api master test kit if you can. It's important to know you water parameters especially if it is a new tank. Did you cycle the tank before adding him?

Unfortunately the damage from the 100% WC has already been done and there is really nothing you can do. You just have to wait and see if he adjusts. You could turn the lights off to further help reduce his stress.

RE smaller WCs, I recommend getting a gravel vacuum to suck up decomposing organics from the gravel during your WCs and doing at least 2-3 50% WCs weekly.

 

oof, looks like he had been suffering for quite a while. Does this tank have a filter?

 

I'm guessing bad water change.

I switched to Prime by Seachem after a bad water change killed 1 upside down catfish, 3 skirt tetras and a few neons a little over 2 years ago.

if no symptoms before and then suddenly ill - water change.

is he still alive? any update?

sorry this happened.