My betta fish keeps getting sick?

[Hubert123]

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to seek advice where I can get it because I am out of options for my fish. I got my betta from Petco in September 2020. I have him in a 10-gallon tank with a HOB Fluval 30 filter and a 25W heater. Around December of 2020 he developed horrible fin rot and basically lost all his fins. Petco told me he had dropsy, but I did not agree, so I treated him for fin rot. I put him in a quarantine tank and boiled his entire large tank to make sure anything that was in there was gone. He got better for about a month or so, all his fins regrew, but then around February 2021 the fin rot started again and since then I have been struggling to help him recover. I don't want to boil the tank again because clearly, that did not solve the issue. I tried using Erythromycin and that did not help, so I have been using aquarium salt on and off so I don't have him in it for too long. A different pet store also suggested I place driftwood in the tank because my pH was a little high, so I have that in the tank as well. I have the API master water test kit and I have been testing the water frequently. Every time I do it says my pH is around 7.2, the ammonia is 0 ppm, the nitrite is 0 ppm and the nitrate is 0ppm. The temp is around 80 F. I also use seachem prime conditioner to help all these things out. My betta is still continuing to lose his fins and I have noticed him at the bottom of the tank breathing heavily now. Although he eats completely fine, his appetite has never been affected. I am wondering if anyone has any advice to offer? I've attached a picture of him.

Thanks!
Ps. His name is Hubert lol

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to the forum.
What do you mean by "boil the tank"?
How often do you perform water changes?
How did you cycle the tank?

 

[Hubert123]

Welcome to the forum.
What do you mean by "boil the tank"?
How often do you perform water changes?
How did you cycle the tank?

Hello!

What I mean by boil the tank is I took everything out of it. I literally boiled all the gravel by putting it in a pot of water and letting that boil for about 10ish minutes on the stove. I let all the plants and decorations also soak in boiling water. I also cleaned out the whole filter in boiling water (which now I know was probably not smart because I killed the good bacteria, but since then I have actually changed my filter media).

I am not really sure how the cycling process works, I am still very new to all this. After I boiled everything I honestly just put the tank back together and put Hubert back in the tank. His fins and everything started to grow back immediately and for a month he was looking really good, so maybe I cycled incorrectly, but he got better. I had to transfer the tank back to my college because I was home for a break before and since then he has been declining.

I actually changed the filter media about 3 weeks ago because he was still getting worse and I thought my filter was the issue. I made sure to soak the new media with the old media to transfer the good bacteria.

 

[Hubert123]

Hello!

What I mean by boil the tank is I took everything out of it. I literally boiled all the gravel by putting it in a pot of water and letting that boil for about 10ish minutes on the stove. I let all the plants and decorations also soak in boiling water. I also cleaned out the whole filter in boiling water (which now I know was probably not smart because I killed the good bacteria, but since then I have actually changed my filter media).

I am not really sure how the cycling process works, I am still very new to all this. After I boiled everything I honestly just put the tank back together and put Hubert back in the tank. His fins and everything started to grow back immediately and for a month he was looking really good, so maybe I cycled incorrectly, but he got better. I had to transfer the tank back to my college because I was home for a break before and since then he has been declining.

I actually changed the filter media about 3 weeks ago because he was still getting worse and I thought my filter was the issue. I made sure to soak the new media with the old media to transfer the good bacteria.

I forgot water changes. I do water changes I would say about once a week. I usually do 50%, but this past one I did 80% because my water was very dark from the tannins from the driftwood and when I vacuumed the gravel with my garvelvac the substrate looked to be very dirty. I did not touch the water for about 4 days after the large water change, but yesterday I did 25% because I thought this may be a water quality issue, even though when I test the parameters they are fine.

 

[UnknownFishies]

Poor Hubert?.How long have you had the tank set up?Here is a link for cycling your tank.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I really don't understand how you could have 0 ammonia in this tank, I'm betting it's not cycled

 

[UnknownFishies]

I really don't understand how you could have 0 ammonia in this tank, I'm betting it's not cycled

I agree.

 

[Hubert123]

Poor Hubert?.How long have you had the tank set up?Here is a link for cycling your tank.

The tank was given to me as a gift when I got the fish back in September, so I cleaned it out and put Hubert in. I had no clue of any of this fish stuff, so I'm sure that's why he got sick initially. So I've had the tank set up since then. Then I boiled it and it's been about 3 months since I boiled it.

Thanks for the link! I will check it out, but I hope by now the tank is cycled?

 

[Hubert123]

I agree.

I really don't understand how you could have 0 ammonia in this tank, I'm betting it's not cycled

I honestly do not know. Maybe I am testing the water incorrectly, but every time I do with the API test kit, the tube is yellow indicating 0 ppm.

If that is the case, how do I start a cycling process if the filter has been running for a while?

 

[UnknownFishies]

Unless you’ve been adding fish food or pure ammonia in the tank it’s not cycled. Or you could’ve put like a neon tetra in there and that would’ve cycled it but I doubt it is. Take Hubert back and see if they can hold him for you.

 

[UnknownFishies]

CYCLING PROCESS
———————————
Fishless Cycling
Add ammonia or fish food into the tank to get the biological process started. When you start reading nitrates in the tank your tank should be safe.
Fish-in cycling
Add 1 small hardy fish to produce ammonia and get the process started. Fish choice should be a adaptable fish like neon tetras. Bettas can work in this case. THIS IS STRESSFUL FOR YOUR FISH. Keep that in mind as your fish might die. You need Seachem Prime to dechlorinate the water. Then, you will want to do water changes every few days to keep ammonia from killing your fish. If your detecting low doses of ammonia you will definitely need Seachem Prime to get rid of that. If you want I can give a more detailed description of fish in cycle if that’s what you would like to do.

 

[Hubert123]

CYCLING PROCESS
———————————
Fishless Cycling
Add ammonia or fish food into the tank to get the biological process started. When you start reading nitrates in the tank your tank should be safe.
Fish-in cycling
Add 1 small hardy fish to produce ammonia and get the process started. Fish choice should be a adaptable fish like neon tetras. Hopefully this helps

Should I change the water during this process or no? Also, I have a small 1-gallon quarantine tank I can keep Hubert in that I can change every day. I am not sure Petco will take my sick fish back?

 

[UnknownFishies]

Should I change the water during this process or no? Also, I have a small 1-gallon quarantine tank I can keep Hubert in that I can change every day. I am not sure Petco will take my sick fish back?

Give me a second to type up a detailed description of the fish in cycle that will answer all your questions.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Describe how you perform the ammonia test with the liquid API test kit.
Is the test kit new?

 

[Hubert123]

Describe how you perform the ammonia test with the liquid API test kit.
Is the test kit new?

I follow the directions:
fill the test tube with 5 mL of water
put in I think ammonia is 8 drops of bottle 1, then 8 drops of bottle 2 and then shake the tube for 5 seconds. Then wait 5 minutes