Betta in bottom

I got a betta and he is in 5.5 gal tank. Bought all betta water for tank, no tap water. I have a heater and thermometer that shows 78 degrees. And a filter came with the tank.

He has been on the bottom all last night and all day today.

View video here

Do a 75% water change daily. It is possibly caused by ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Can you test the tank water for ammonia and nitrite?

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the fish for?

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH if you can. Then post the results in numbers here.

As @Naughts said, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until we work out what is wrong.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?

This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

It is a new tank and new fish. Tank, gravel, and decor cleaned with hot water. There is no tap water in the tank. I purchased "betta water" to fill the tank.

He's breathing heavily and that means there is something in the water affecting him. It could be the gravel or something else. A big water change now should dilute anything in the water and hopefully he gets back to normal.

If he continues to breath heavily after a big water change, you will need to remove everything from the tank and replace the water. Then monitor him over a few days in the bare tank. If his breathing is good when there is nothing in the tank but him and the water, then add some gravel and see how his breathing goes. If his breathing remains normal for a few days with the gravel, then add another item and monitor for a few days. Keep adding stuff until he starts breathing heavily again. The last item added is what's causing the problem.

If your tap water has a low GH and KH, and is free of nitrates, you can use that instead of buying water from a shop.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Try not to wash plastics under hot water because they can leach chemicals when they warm up.

It's ammonia poisoning forr sure. Betta water only ensures the water is clean and chlorine free. It is not cycled water. Please take the Betta back to the store and cycle your tank first.

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Below is the water that I used. I should also mention that I have done the exact same in another 5 gal betta tank and that fish is fine.​

I did the water change on the not fine tank this morning. The fish swam to the top during the change but is now at the bottom again.

Activ-Betta Bio-Activ Live Aqueous Solution Betta Water​

• Ideally suited for use in betta tanks, as well as any other freshwater environment.
• Living water is rich in denitrifying bacteria and beneficial trace elements.
• Helps create a completely safe, balanced aquatic environment and contains no chlorines or chloramines.
• Instantly cycles your tank so there’s no waiting – simply change the water and add fish!

He seems to be hanging out at the top now but still not active

Can you test the water please, full range of tests and post the numbers on this thread

I know you are thinking that the water is OK but the fish body language and behaviour is saying otherwise.

What is your maintenance routine...how often are you changing the water, what percentage, what filtration are you using and how often are you maintaining it?

Tbh I have yet to find any "instant" cycling method, and quite often anything that says that it will is usually a sales gimmick. Even when using transferred filter media, substrate etc it only kickstarts the cycle, it doesn't complete it in one go. I would be very doubtful about that water's abilities.

There's no such thing as instant cycling. They'd make lots of money of that were true. It is possible to cycle with your fish in and have it survive, but it's not recommended at all. It's extremely inhumane.

Cycling a tank requires adding a **** ton of nitrifying bacteria to the tank. You're not gonna get that in a bottle of water with a limited food source that has been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long. You're only going to get that with time. There could be *SOME* nitrifying bacteria, but no where near enough to handle all the waste from your fish. You can still use that water to perhaps speed up the cycle, along with some of the water from the other tank, but you cannot just buy water and the fish and expect the fish to live.

Fish store and I both tested water and it had no issues.

Cleo224 said:

Fish store and I both tested water and it had no issues.

Click to expand...

Can you give us the numbers please cos that fish is showing every indication of being in an uncycled aquarium with poor water chemistry.

I don't have the numbers. I didn't write them down. Store just said everything was fine.