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Any pictures or videos of him and the tank? That might help diagnose. The PH seems a little low but that's probably not the problem. Any idea why the PH is low? Is your tap 6.6?

I wonder if your driftwood leaching white slime could have affected him. Getting the gunk out of your filter I think will make a positive difference too. Maybe worth looking into the plant fertilizer. I use Easy Green from Aquarium Co Op which has worked great with no problems for my fish...

I have used tropical aquarium salt, though I do not know if marine salt would be advisable. In my experience, these types of problems with bettas are usually due to water quality, but it seems like your water is ok. I assume there are no tankmates? Have you cleaned out your filter lately...

He looks stressed. When you say the parameters are ok, what does that mean exactly for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH? How large is your tank? I assume you have a decent filter? It's not unusual for bettas to spend a lot of time at the top, but I suppose if his behavior changed dramatically...

What else do you have in the main tank with him?

I'm not sure because I haven't ordered peacock cichlids. It's my dream to do it one day so I've researched it a lot, but just don't have the space right now. I have ordered other fish from aquaticarts.com which I was really happy with. I also ordered fish from aquabid which I was happy with...

Great! Just do your research carefully. There's some bad advice out there. Start with the Aquarium Co Op video on keeping cichlids.

It's ok, but using the water won't really transfer any bacteria. Most of it resides on the filter media. So if you wanted to speed up cycling, you would need to transfer some filter media, not the water.

Two of them look like OB Peacocks. Or Orange Blue I think. You can get them at most fish stores (special order sometimes) or most online places.

Peacock cichlids aren't as aggressive as other cichlids, especially if you set up the tank right. But I agree, there's more to think about than with other fish.

Have you thought about a large school of smaller fish? I've always wanted to put a ton of neon tetras or something like that in a 75 gallon. You could also look into Electric Blue Jack Daniels, Acara, Oscar, Peacock cichlids. Those are some of my favorite larger fish but you would have to do...

In my experience they don't get their color back entirely, but they can get their health back.

I don't think shrimp make a significant difference. It's more about how many you like to see in there and if they start bothering each other and other tank mates, but bioload is not an issue really. There have been times when I had over 100 in my 10G and I didn't have any problem.

A Chinese Algae Eater. I got him to eat algae and he did a good job, but when he grew up, he was a very rude tank mate.

Good plan. I don't recommend getting anything in addition to the snails. I added some shrimp to my 5G with my betta and my snail and it works well, but only because he's a very chill betta. In my experience you can tell by how they react to things like their reflection or when you come to...

I don't recommend 100% as that's unnecessarily stressful for the fish. No need to do more than 75-80% at a time. Also preserves more beneficial bacteria.

Agreed. I have tried four different Bettas with shrimp in heavily planted tanks. Two of the betta murdered all the shrimp almost immediately. The other two left them alone and it worked really well. I have also tried bettas with other fish such as Harlequin Rasbora and CPDs. It worked out...

You might be able to get away with it, but I don't think it's ideal. The betta will get stressed out at best. Feeding is tricky too. In my experience bettas really do best alone.

The ammonia could be the problem. Although be careful. I find the API test under certain lighting can appear slightly green when it's really not. But any ammonia above zero will cause health problems in your fish.

I agree you need to test your water conditions, particularly for ammonia.

It sounds like dropsy and sounds like he is about to die to be honest. What do you mean by parameters are not that bad?

Yes, you should upgrade as that's heavily stocked, but that tank is too beautiful to dismantle.

I think that looks fine personally. I would only trim when it starts bending at the top of the tank. I try to keep taller plants out of the foreground and at least part of the tank to leave space for the fish. But I think around 30-40 percent of the tank with plants is fine. Fish like the...

I'm not sure about the cordy, but shrimp will be fine with the other tank mates. My experience is with dwarf shrimp and they are great, but they can reproduce rather quickly sometimes. If you have a fish store nearby, you can often donate the excess there. I even get store credit for mine...

Sometimes you just need to experiment with lighting and fertilizers to reduce algae. Usually it's coming from an imbalance between lighting and fertilizers. Sometimes you need to counterintuitively increase one or the other. I found when I reduced my lighting to around 9 hours a day, and...

I wouldn't add anything with the betta. They do much better alone in my experience. I would certainly not put barbs or rams in with a betta.

Not sure, but I wonder if it could be dropsy? He doesn't look good to me. Could he be over-eating? What else is in the tank?

What are your tank readings? Especially Ammonia? Try daily water changes for a week or two and add some salt and see if that improves it.

I use the Aquarium Co Op Root tabs too for my Amazon Sword in sand too and they have been working great.

I've had four bettas and sometimes have kept them for extended periods without a lid. Never did any of them try to jump. I'm sure it can happen with aggressive bettas in particular, but I don't think it's as common as people think. I did have a nerite snail climb out of my lidless tank and...

When you say readings are within range, I assume that means 0 nitrite and zero ammonia, right?

Yes, but does the bacteria not risk drying out and dying if 100 percent of the water is removed? Also, I always assumed a 100 percent water change is more disruptive and stressful for the fish, isn't it?

Is nitrite zero? Also, what is your ammonia reading? Personally, I don't do 100% water changes, because you want to preserve some beneficial bacteria. But maybe 50-80% is a good range and you can do it daily.

I think they need special conditions. My Harlequin rasbora did that and never spawned.

That is high. I would just increase your water changes until it's back down to a normal level. Then you need to figure out the cause. My guess is that it's either in your water supply, you're overfeeding, or you need to improve your filter/clean it.

I wouldn't add them. I think a betta and six neons is enough for that size tank personally.

How high are the nitrates?

Beautiful tank and betta. Well done.

You should change the water. I usually just use a siphon and gently swish over the gravel or sand and suck up some of the debris that comes up when I do my weekly water change.

Beautiful fish.