Rally boy isn't looking good...ideas??

[Magua]

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 7.5 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 7-ish months
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 78*
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Rally the betta and one nerite snail added one week ago

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? 1x a week (though I've just started doing 2-3 a week)
How much of the water do you change? approx. 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes...not super deeply but HOLY WOW can nerites POOP!

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No, did fish-in
What do you use to test the water? strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 6.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1x day
How much do you feed your fish? 5-ish mini pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega One mini pellets
Do you feed frozen? no
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 7 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? holes in fins, losing color, big belly
Have you started any treatment for the illness? just increased the WC frequency
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? yes...he was on his last leg...they gave him to me for free and he turned into a beauty...
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? lost a lot of color, shredded and holes in fins (he's a double tail/half moon)

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
a few days ago I noticed Rally's color was fading...then there was a small hole in his bottom fin...today the fins are looking raggedy and the hole is bigger. One week ago I rescaped his tank with new wood (bought from fish store, boiled for 6+ hours) and a nerve snail. Also, swapped out the internal low flow filter for a sponge filter (went from no bubbles to lots of bubbles but still not a ton of flow).

HELP!

 

[Dunk2]

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 7.5 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 7-ish months
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 78*
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Rally the betta and one nerite snail added one week ago

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? 1x a week (though I've just started doing 2-3 a week)
How much of the water do you change? approx. 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes...not super deeply but HOLY WOW can nerites POOP!

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No, did fish-in
What do you use to test the water? strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 6.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1x day
How much do you feed your fish? 5-ish mini pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega One mini pellets
Do you feed frozen? no
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 7 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? holes in fins, losing color, big belly
Have you started any treatment for the illness? just increased the WC frequency
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? yes...he was on his last leg...they gave him to me for free and he turned into a beauty...
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? lost a lot of color, shredded and holes in fins (he's a double tail/half moon)

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
a few days ago I noticed Rally's color was fading...then there was a small hole in his bottom fin...today the fins are looking raggedy and the hole is bigger. One week ago I rescaped his tank with new wood (bought from fish store, boiled for 6+ hours) and a nerve snail. Also, swapped out the internal low flow filter for a sponge filter (went from no bubbles to lots of bubbles but still not a ton of flow).

HELP!

About the internal filter that you swapped out with a sponge filter. . . You eliminated the internal filter and any media in it completely?

Are the water test results you posted before or after swapping out the filters?

 

[Magua]

About the internal filter that you swapped out with a sponge filter. . . You eliminated the internal filter and any media in it completely?

Are the water test results you posted before or after swapping out the filters?

Well, I was able to shove a few old bio-rings into the new filter. And I squeezed the old sponges in the water. maybe still not enough bacteria made the change??

Those readings are from a few days after the change.

Here’s a picture of Rally a week ago and one from just now…

 

[StarGirl]

Maybe you should get him some frozen Daphnia for his big belly. He could be getting constipated. Do a few fast days too. Change up his diet by adding some frozen foods to go with his pellets.

Yeah Im guessing not enough bacteria for the change. It should just be a spike though nothing like doing a new cycle. Keep changing water and you will get through.