Is My Betta Dying?

[aDcOoL]

Oh....crap...I actually did just dump it in....that was a bad idea, wasn't it?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

well yes i think that is a two gallon bowl i used one like that before. Something like this has happend to my fish before. hed lay at the bottom only come up for air and the ends of his fins kind of roll up almost in to one long thick string. im not sure if thats the same as you or not but sadly he only lasted 5 days after it started happening. to this day i have no clue what it was maybe a close up picture of him would help some the the more knowledgable people.
DL

 

[aDcOoL]

I didn't even touch the fish during this whole process (just changed his water last night).

All I did was dump the gravel into the bottom of the bowl, and put the plant in, and then dump in a half of a teaspoon of Aqua salt which was apparently supposed to be "dissolved" first.

My betta is pretty much like yours was Discus, so I guess that's it for him then.

Here's a picture I just took of Spudnick...sorry about the quality...

http/a.1asphost.com/aDcOoL/Spudnick.png
That's pretty much the position he's always in.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

try googlein dieases of bettas or sumthin like that maybe betta fin dieases. see if anything comes up that will help. i hope your betta doesnt turn out like mine

 

[liz2]

I really think if he is still alive a heater will perk him up. are you UK, cant remember.

 

[aDcOoL]

I woke up this morning, and he's still going up for air, and then falling back down, but he does seem a little bit better than last night.

No, I was not kidding about dumping the salt in. This is what it says on the freaking box:

----------
DIRECTIONS FOR USE:

As a general tonic and stress reducer:
Add 1 rounded tablespoonful for every 5 U.S. gallons (19 L), or 1/2 rounded teaspon for every U.S. gallon (3.8 L) of aquarium water.

To enhance tropical fish disease treatment:
Add 1 rounded tablespoonful of every 5 U.S. gallons (19 L) of aquarium water.
----------

It does not say anything about dissolving the salt first. The salt is in little chunks.

So you're saying I pretty much just killed my fish? (Oh, and I live in Canada)

Should I start feeding him again?

 

[black angel]

As long as the salt didnt touch your betta he is ok. I add salt straight to my tanks with no harm.

Your betta seems to be suffering from the cold and until you get a heater there isnt much you can do. What temperature is the room he is in? Make sure he is in the warmest room and near a heat source but not directly on it. When you change the water how are you heating it to the right temp? Its simpler to heat a kettle and add a little hot water in a cup of cool water to get it fairly warm and add to the bowl to get it warm. Buy a thermometer so you can see how warm the water actually is.
With the fluctuating temperature it could be he has now got a bacterial infection so getting him warm is crucial to his recovery. You need the water at around 80f to get him moving again. When he is warmer you need to feed him a bit more to get his strength back so get some bloodworm and feed him a few of those.

 

[aDcOoL]

Today I went to Wal-Mart and bought a few things:

-A 5 gallon tank
-A thermometer
-Stones
-Plants

I actually didn't read your post until I got back, but tomorrow I will DEFINETLY be getting a heater. I did what you suggested (using hot water), and his water is around 81 degrees. I have began feeding him again...unfortunetly pellets are all I currently have..but as soon as I dropped them in his bowl, he immediately swam to the top, ate the first one, and then sank back down, and a few minutes later, he ate the second.

I don't think I should move him to the new tank until he gets better because that would mean making him swim twice the distance to get oxygen.

Anyway, we set the tank up today, but there's a problem: Current.
As you will be able to see in the following two pictures, the water that is coming out of the filter splashes on top of the tank's water and makes huge current all accross the tank. There's a fill line on the tank, so we only filled it up to there, but I remember reading somewhere that bettas don't like current...am I correct?

If Spuddy "leaves us", I'm planning on buying some more fish...maybe different kinds of fish, or maybe just another betta again, or something. I'd call him Spuddy the 2nd.

Anyway, here are the two pictures:
http/a.1asphost.com/aDcOoL/NewTank.png
http/a.1asphost.com/aDcOoL/Filter.png

Thanks for all your help!

 

[black angel]

You should be able to place something tall enough to stop most of the current and make sure the uplift of the filter has a strainer on it.
Its good he ate as well but try giving a bit more or feed twice a day, but dont feed him at night as you dont want the food fermenting in his gut if the temperature gets too low. Its still worrying though that he wont swim around that much.
Over night you will see how low the temperature gets so you need to get a heater quickly so he doesnt suffer too much from fluctuations.
Once you get the new tank to the same temp as the water he is in now then you can transfer him over and then very slowly up the temperature to a steady 80f.

 

[aDcOoL]

We just found something that lets you turn down the amount of water that comes out of the filter at once, and that seems to have helped the "current" issue.

I'll give him a few more pellets in a few minutes.

He definetly seems to be improving from even last night. He's starting to swim around a tiny bit, and doesn't lye on his side, but straight up!

Do you think I should wait until he's recovered before I transfer him to his new tank? He already seems to be struggling a bit to get to the top of his bowl as it is.

Thanks a lot.

 

[BluMermaid]

I just read all 3 pages of whats going on! Wow your Betta is a tough one.
Its good that you got him a bigger tank! I need to do that for my betta, its in a 1 gallon tank.
I just got mine last nite!! Woot!!

If he is having problems reaching the top for air now, yea, id say WAIT till he can move around better.
You dont want to put him under any stress..


Your a great Betta PaReNt.

 

[aDcOoL]

Wow...it's amazing how much better he is now than last night!

When I fed him another pellet, he swam right up, and actually swam around for at least 10 seconds before swimming back down (not falling!)

I really believe that Spuddy is going to be all right!

I think I will be moving him into his nice big, bright tank tomorrow, but I have a problem (as usual):
Up to now, I've been using bottled water, and I decided to use tap water (with the stuff that you pour in) for the tank instead, since I'd rather not go through 10 bottles of water every week. Do you think it would be alright for me to just all the sudden switch him from bottled water to tap water? Isn't it pretty much the same thing? I don't want to "shock" him and make everything worse.

Sorry for asking a lot of questions...I just want to make sure I do everything right.

 

[Kame-San]

First off, I'm glad your betta is doing better. I've been watching this since you first posted it.

I think the switch from bottled to tap water will be just fine on him. Also, in my oppinion, I think he should go into the new tank ASAP. Having him go through the 'effort' of swimming to the top won't hurt him. He IS a fish after all. And swimming is what they do

Good Luck with him

 

[black angel]

Im really pleased he is doing so much better and i agree to make the straight switch but only after you test each tank to see where the ph is. You dont want him to go from a ph of 7 which most bottled water is to anything too high or too low without climating him first. If you dont have a test kit then take a sample of each *clearly labeled* to your pet store and ask them to check the water for you and write it all down.
If the ph is similar or just one or two points out then he will be fine. If its more then you should acclimate him to the difference.

 

[aDcOoL]

Thank you for all the help guys, but I'm still a little worried about the current from the filter.

I've posted a movie of the current:

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXS4ewmwBeM

Do you think the current's too strong for Spuddy, or will it be okay?
I've already decreased it a lot with the knob that lets you control how much water comes out at a time...if I decrease it any more then I don't think the filter will be very effective.

I'll try to buy some nice tall plants, but I don't want to crowd up the tank too much.

My parents should be home within the next hour with the heater. I'm planning on finding out the temperature of the tank, and use the heater to match it with the temperature of the bowl Spuddy's currently in (73 degrees ), and after he's in the tank, I'll raise the heater 1 degree every 20 minutes until I hit 80 degrees.

Sound like a good plan?