My Betta Is Dying, Ammonia At 1.0, Please Help!

[Akeath]

I have an established 10 gallon tank for him, with a Whisper filter and a heater that keeps it around 78 degrees. I am cycling another tank using pure ammonia, and I don't know how, but somehow there must have been cross-contamination, and now my Betta Tebo's tank has 1.0 ppm ammonia in it! I came down to see him today to find that he was on the floor, thrashing around in circles, nose pointed down, gills working frantically. I immediately tested the water. Test results: 1.0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 nitrates. Last water change was 5 days ago, a 25% change. I change his water, approximately 25%, once a week. I change his filter medium once a month, last change was 5/28/09 (today is 6/6/09).

When I discovered him, and tested the water, I did a full water change (being careful not to forget to add Aquasafe in my panic), and added the appropriate amount of Ammolock, which is one of the chemicals I have in my fish cabinet "just in case". I also added aquarium salt, which I tend to keep in the aquarium. 4 teaspoons for the 10 gallons. Last water change I'd only added 3, thinking that I would lower it as I didn't see it as a necessary component anymore, but since just after that I had this ammonia problem, I put it back just in case. I now see this as a stupid move, because I have some Zeolite that will get rid of ammonia to put in the filter, but it will release when in contact with salt...I don't think it would be wise to do another full water change, but if you guys think I should and this time add no salt so I can put the Zeolite as well as the Ammo lock in, I will.

Is there anything else I can do for my little Betta fish? If so, please help me! I really love Tebo, and I will do everything in my power to keep him from dying!

 

[WILDER]

You only squeeze your sponges in old tank water. No need to change them every month.

Water changes.
Add salt.
Increase aeration.

How is he acting now.

 

[Akeath]

He was swimming a bit more when I put him back in the tank (I'd floated him for twenty minutes to make sure he was used to the water), then lay still. Just now he's starting to move around again a bit. I just increased the aeration, so we'll see how that effects him. I also just tested the ammonia again to see if the ammolock and water change was working, and the ammonia is now between 0 and 0.25 ppm.
Also, thanks for the tip about the sponges, that makes sense.

 

[LauraFrog]

That's probably the reason the ammonia is up - the bacteria that operate the nitrogen cycle live in the sponges, so when you change them you're essentially throwing out the cycle. It's best not to change them until they start to fall apart.
Ammolock is ideal for a situation like this and it does seem to work I have to say - I keep bettas in unfiltered tanks (due to shonky wiring on the house) and I use ammo-lock and big water changes to prevent ammonia from harming them. Never had problems. Ammolock (the API one which is what I assume you're using) will still give a positive reading on most ammonia tests, but the ammonia is in a form that doesn't hurt the fish.
If you can, make sure there is someplace for him to rest close to the surface, so he doesn't have to swim as far to get his gulp of air (which he will need to do more often if his gills are sore because of the ammonia.)

Personally I would ditch the zeolite also. If your tank is cycled, it sits there doing nothing. It also has a habit of discharging ammonia at very inconvenient moments.

Good luck with him, I hope he makes it!