Urgent help please for my daughters much loved poorly Betta

[BellaBoo15]

Hi

I am hoping someone can help please with our Betta

Tank size: 34L
tank age: 1 Year
pH: 7.6
ammonia:
nitrite: 10
nitrate: 0
kH: 20
gH: 14
tank temp: 74


Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Very lethargic - staying at the top of the tank or hiding at the the bottom. Noticed approx 5 days ago what looked liked white fluff on side of face which is now, as of this morning, also on his tail. I have taken a water sample to the local fish shop recently who advise water quality is good and they advised to treat water with Tonic salt 3g per litre and Aquacare anti internal bacteria every other day for 4 doses

This was on Friday

He isn't eating and really does not seem happy - now with the addition of the area on his tail - he seems to be getting worse

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Bi weekly approx 8litres

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Recently the addition of the tonic salt and anti internal bacteria

Tank inhabitants:

Just Rosey (the Betta) and 6 neon's who are in good health

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

None

Exposure to chemicals:

Only recently the addition of the tonic salt and anti internal bacteria

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Barry Tetra]

Look like Nitrite poisoning, do 75% daily water change asap, make sure the water have Oxygen and free of chroamine before added to the tank.

You can use Rock salt, aquarium salt or pool salt to treat Nitrite poisoning (1 table spoon per 20 litres)


Also you need to cycle your tank to get rid of Ammonia and Nitrite (Forever - pretty long time!)


There is a way to get rid of Ammonia (NH3) and Nitrite (NO2-) completely by cycle a tank, cycle a tank is when you put Ammonia and Nitrite down to 0 by using Nitrosomonas bacteria to "eat" Ammonia and turn them to Nitrite then another bacteria name Nitrobacter and Nitrospira will "eat" Nitrite and turn them to Nitrate (NO3-) you can speed up the process by buying those “bacteria in a bottle”.

 

[Colin_T]

Is the nitrite actually 10ppm?
if so this is very high and will be affecting all the fish.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the ammonia and nitrite levels are on 0ppm, and the nitrate is less than 20ppm.

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The white fluffy stuff could be Saprolegnia fungus but its hard to tell from the pictures. Either way, salt and daily water changes for a week should fix it. See directions below for salt.

Don't add chemicals and anti-biotics unless you know what is wrong with the fish.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

I think the tank is too cold for a Betta. They would do better between 78 - 80 degrees. Can you confirm nitrites are at 10 and not nitrates? As others have mentioned, nitrites should be 0.

 

[mark4785]

The betta seems to have a cloudy eye which suggests a dirty environment, i cannot see the other symptoms you mention that well. Given that you have water testing strips I would not trust that they are giving you correct readings; strip tests are notorious for being inaccurate.

If you can get an API master test kit for freshwater and perform an ammonia and nitrite test and post the results here. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0ppm at all times.

I would highly recommend a filter clean and 75% - 100% water change and treat as per Colin’s advice.