Could Water Change Be Killing My Fish?

[Mayu]

I fed my Betta last night... he was looking good, swimming good and eating good.

Woke up this morning and he was on the bottom of his tank, his body curved into a tight 'S'. he tries to swim, but you can tell he's not in good shape.

I'm assuming fish TB... but things seemed fine until 2 days ago I was cleaning my tanks. Usually I fill from the tap because I had well water... but recently due to issues with a faulty well, my mom had to switch the house to city water (which includes my apartment). The city water is highly chlorinated so I used a water stabilizer I got from the pet store that is suppose to neutralize water with chlorine making it safe.

it said to add 5ml per 10 gallons of water and the cap had a 5, 10 and 15ml lines so you can easily measure it out. I added 5ml to one of the gallons of water I was adding since it was a 10 gallon tank.

2 days later this happens.

could the water be killing him rather than tb? Did I add too much or not enough of the neutralizer?

 

[Mayu]

not sure if this is an improvement or not...

Today he was scrunched at the bottom of the tank pretty much all day in the 'S' position. He wasn't breathing hard, he was just looking very miserable.

Tonight I decided I'd still give him a small smidge of food just in case... and as soon as I did he shot to the top to start eating a little.

He didn't look as 'S' shaped, but he wasn't still normal...

So... not sure what to think. Tomorrow I'll re-test the water levels to see if its ammonia issues? (it wasn't bad when I tested it before the last water change 2 days ago...)

could it still be TB? I just don't know anymore.

 

[Mayu]

well, just an update, the Betta is still alive...

He's not as twisted as he was.. and he's swimming more... he's not swimming normally yet... he still seems like a sputtering engine when he swims... but it's a big improvement from when he was sitting in an 'S' shape at the bottom of the tank.

I haven't added any type of medication because I don't know what it is... I can't figure out what his problem is.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Was the water temperature matched when you added it?

 

[wastegate]

Is there much of a difference it Ph and hardness between the well water and the city water? Its probably totally different and your fish might be finding it hard to acclimatize to it. He seems to be on the mend so hopefully he will be ok, but if you are going to be using city water from now on, maybe just do smaller but more frequent water changes for a while. Keep us posted and Good luck mate.

 

[Mayu]

Is there much of a difference it Ph and hardness between the well water and the city water? Its probably totally different and your fish might be finding it hard to acclimatize to it. He seems to be on the mend so hopefully he will be ok, but if you are going to be using city water from now on, maybe just do smaller but more frequent water changes for a while. Keep us posted and Good luck mate.

the city water is chlorinated so I have to add the neutralizer, and to get hooked up to city water... I had to disconnect the softwater tank... so the water may be harder than normal. I'm going to do a water change... but I have to wait till tomorrow when culligan finally comes out and hooks the softwater tank back up.

My other two tanks did not seem effected by the transfer... so he may either be very sensative or it may not be the water after all. I don't know. all I know is, he's trying to swim, he's not too cramped looking now... and at least he's alive. hopefully he'll pull through. I'd like to add some kind of medicine to help him, but unfortunately I have no idea what I'm dealing with, so I could make things worse than better if I added meds... so I'll have to leave well enough alone.