Lethargic betta not swimming

[KoppeKatxx]

I have a male betta fish in a 5.5 gallon hospital tank . I was doing a fish in cycle and changing the water every 3-4 days or whenever I seen ammonia.

(Pics below) Last night I changed the water and I added some crushed coral to the 5 gallon to help lower his ph (as in the 10 gallon) . I usually dechlorinate the water with seachem prime but decided to dechlorinate it with Fritz complete water conditioner …

His 5.5 gallon has a heater and filter ..

This morning I woke up to him at the front of the tank by the coral with laying on his side and his gills moving rapidly.. he usually comes moves and swims up to the top whenever I open the lid but he did not.

I knew something was wrong with him and did an immediate 50% water change where he moved a little bit more. He did take food after a few minutes and he will go from swimming for a few seconds or minutes with a burst of energy to going back to the bottom of the tank laying on his side..

What could be wrong?

Ammonia -0ppm
Nitrite-0ppm

 

[Lcc86]

I'm not an expert but if he was fine before adding the crushed coral and using the Fritz I would try removing the coral and doing another like 90% change using the seachem again. Hopefully he is okay!

 

[MaloK]

I'm afraid that crushed corals are absolutely not prescribed for bettas without an ultra soft water source.

Go back to the old water formula ASAP. Ammonia and Nitrite are habitually the culminating culprit for heavy gill movement.

Fritz complete water conditioner will inhibit good test results by binding these for a while, but they will come back in an un-cycled tank because there is no bacteria to process them while locked.

It's the aim of the product. prevent nitrogen to be noxious the time it's digested by your filter.

When released, the tank becomes unknowingly lethal in hours.

 

[Essjay]

I added some crushed coral to the 5 gallon to help lower his ph

Coral, like all forms of calcium carbonate, raises pH - and GH and KH. Since bettas prefer soft water, crushed coral is not good for them.

 

[Fishfunn]

I'm not an expert but if he was fine before adding the crushed coral and using the Fritz I would try removing the coral and doing another like 90% change using the seachem again. Hopefully he is okay!

Crushed coral is my suspect as well.