HELP!!! I'm having betta trouble and I need help asap!! (this is really long but full of detail sorry)

Background: I just got my betta yesterday afternoon and Im very worried that he is developing fin rot or is becoming ill. I have had a betta in the past when i was 11-12 and he lived in a small bowl for 3 years. I thought that this would be easy but so far it is not and i could really use some help.

His current set up: i got him a glass 2 gallon tank. I filled it with tap water and put 20 drops of "betta H20 conditioner" from zoo med into it. it also has two plants (both are not sharp and very soft, but fake) and a large smooth shell and a little stone shrine for him to hide in. he has smooth gravel as well. he has a heater that keeps the water at 78 degrees F and a filter as well as a color changing LED light. I fed him with "betta micro pellet food" also from zoo med. His tank is on my dresser and away from direct sunlight.

His behavior/appearance : when i put him in yesterday he wouldnt move from the top of the tank. he hid behind the filter and would not move or eat. he kept gasping for air and wouldnt move even if i waved my finger or face in front of the glass. right now he is just floating on the very surface of the water near the heater with his mouth at the surface. when i get up to get a look at him he flitters about a bit and hides behind the filter. he swam right by his food and will not go down to the lower parts of his tank. he attacked his reflection in the glass for a minute or two but besides that he does not move at all. he is droopy, he only holds his head up to the surface but the rest of him droops and doesnt move. even when he swims slightly only his fins move not his tail. he is a crowntail i believe, he has very long tail strings that look like noodles. the ends of his tail are curled and white. he is naturally a deep red color with specks of reflective blue. im not sure if the tips of his tail was white when we got him or if its early set fin rot.

what ive done to help him so far: i put in a bit of stress coat to help him, but that didnt seem to do much. i did a test strip in his water and everything was normal except very hard water. i live in california so our tap water is very hard. im not sure if that causes fin rot or not but i believe it does cause tail curling. to combat this i put some of our drinking water (which i also tested and it is extremely soft) into his tank and treated it. this woke him up for a little bit and he even traveled to the bottom of his tank but it didnt last very long.

what should i do?: i dont want to go crazy and buy some chemicals or anything but id really like some help, i dont want him to die but i dont want to return him to the store either. Im wondering if what hes doing is normal for new fish? but hes acting like a corpse and im very worried. ive watched many videos and read many articles but i cant figure out what im doing wrong. please help! i dont want my fish to die, i havent even come up with a name yet (((

thanks for reading !
P.S. i attached some photos of his set up, he hasnt moved from that spot in several hours

Take the shell out as it will harden the water. Do a 75% water change with de- chlorinated water. Don't use any more stress coat as it could clog up his gills. Put a background on the back (and sides?) of the tank to reduce reflections - black paper cellotaped on will do. Add a floating plant.
Please post water test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and GH. If you are right about the hard water (GH) you may have to find another source but get the results first. We need numbers and units for the results. If you don't have a test kit get one or get the fish shop to test it. You might find the GH on your water providers website.

Naughts said:

Take the shell out as it will harden the water. Do a 75% water change with de- chlorinated water. Don't use any more stress coat as it could clog up his gills. Put a background on the back (and sides?) of the tank to reduce reflections - black paper cellotaped on will do. Add a floating plant.
Please post water test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and GH. If you are right about the hard water (GH) you may have to find another source but get the results first. We need numbers and units for the results. If you don't have a test kit get one or get the fish shop to test it. You might find the GH on your water providers website.

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I did a test before water change, j can't change water right now. Ammonia .5 Ppm. nitrate 20 ppm. Nitrite .5 ppm. hardness 300 gh (that's what I'm worried about). Chlorine 0. alkalinity 120? Ph 7.8. I'm not sure if anything besides hardness needs to change. When I do the water change should I use my very soft drinking water or my very hard tap water? I really don't have access to anything else but I have dechlorinator for both. I'll take the shell out but I don't have floating plants or anything. Edit: what if I did half hard water and half drinking water to even things out?

What is the source of your soft drinking water? Bottled water or tap water that has been through a water softener?

Bottled water is OK as long as you stay with the same brand. But water softeners usually swap the hardness minerals for something else and if that something else is sodium (or possibly potassium) it should not be used for fish as there are no fresh water fish that can cope with a lot of sodium in the water (except just maybe Rift Lake cichlids)

essjay said:

What is the source of your soft drinking water? Bottled water or tap water that has been through a water softener?

Bottled water is OK as long as you stay with the same brand. But water softeners usually swap the hardness minerals for something else and if that something else is sodium (or possibly potassium) it should not be used for fish as there are no fresh water fish that can cope with a lot of sodium in the water (except just maybe Rift Lake cichlids)

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Our water is from a big vending machine that fills up 5 gallon bottles that we use. Idk the brand it's like glacier something. But how can I check if it's dangerous for my betta? And would using one gallon of that and one gallon of tap be better than all tap? I did a water test on the drinking water and it seemed all safe, very soft and nothing much in it but I'll re do the test

We can't test for the 'bad' things that would be in water that has been through a softener.

Does the vending machine have to have refills every so often? That would imply it's bottled water. Or is it attached to the water mains? That suggests a water softener inside the machine.

essjay said:

We can't test for the 'bad' things that would be in water that has been through a softener.

Does the vending machine have to have refills every so often? That would imply it's bottled water. Or is it attached to the water mains? That suggests a water softener inside the machine.

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Oh I have no clue, they are just at grocery stores and I don't refill them lol. I just don't know what the best option of water would be ):

Naughts said:

Take the shell out as it will harden the water. Do a 75% water change with de- chlorinated water. Don't use any more stress coat as it could clog up his gills. Put a background on the back (and sides?) of the tank to reduce reflections - black paper cellotaped on will do. Add a floating plant.
Please post water test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and GH. If you are right about the hard water (GH) you may have to find another source but get the results first. We need numbers and units for the results. If you don't have a test kit get one or get the fish shop to test it. You might find the GH on your water providers website.

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@Naughts Stress Coat is actually good for aiding in reducing stress and healing fins in bettas. I think you are confusing it with Melafix.

The problem with Stress Coat is that it contains aloe vera which is known to coat the gill membranes. It started being added to water conditioners when everyone thought it was a wonder product without thinking of the consequences.

I just asked Kim, my friend in aquatic research. Her fist response was “ that’s BS!” She then sent this...”If it could coat betta gills it would coat all fish gills. The aloe Vera extract is very water soluble. Doesn’t stick to anything. It aids in restoring slime coat by interacting with other ingredients in the stress coat and water conditions to help the fish increase their production and excretion of “slime”. It will not, I repeat, not harm a fish, even a betta. From lip to tail tip. In fact, it is very effective in recovery of a betta’s tail after severe fin rot.“

There was a study done a few years ago, I can't remember the details but I'm pretty sure it was Byron that posted the details of the study.

I have seen a similar (possibly the same) study and it did refer to all fish.
Personally I don't / won't use it because it does not naturally occur in water

What is the GH of the tap water? It may not be as high as the tank water if the shell hardened the water.

Hi ! Update on my fish. So I took his shell out and re arranged his plants. I did a water change but I'm not sure how much, not a ton but just as much that I could get out with a cup. I also put up a background and he seems much better already. He's still very slow and still but Everytime I look at his tank he's in a new spot so he's moving a bit haha. I did put some stress coat in just because I have it and I hoped it would help. He seems fine and even ate when I put his food in. I blew in the water a bit and he seemed to like it. I think he was just scared or something but he seems to be doing better. I still need a name tho ;-;

Naughts said:

What is the GH of the tap water? It may not be as high as the tank water if the shell hardened the water.

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I tested the tap water and it's the same level of hard. About 300 gh, as high as the test tab goes. I even did a little experiment where I did half tap and half drinking water in a cup but it was still just as hard as plain tap water. So I think im just going to remove the shell and keep using tap water because I'm not sure what other options I have, everything else about the tap water is good. Where as the soft water had bad levels of the other things