I will try to make this story as short as I possibly can. We got a Red male betta, we call him Sparky, in February. He was in a tiny tank and so we opted to purchase a 5 gallon for him a month ago to keep him happy. We did not know about the nitrogen cycle at the time. He seemed sick after the 1st week or 2 so I took him out and put him in his tiny tank and cleaned out the 5 gallon tank and put him back in the 5 gallon tank with conditioners, stress coat, stress zyme, aquarium salt, and fed him 2-3 x's a day, blood worms, and flakes.
After another week or 2 he began staying at the bottom and rushing up for air. I bought water testing kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. The ammonia was high, so I used ammolock and the ammonia level tested higher and the nitrite levels were in the .50-1.0 range. I brought Sparky to a local pet shop. The woman could not understand why the ammonia was high and at the time, neither could I, so she told me to completely change all the water again and to treat the water with Prime and Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban. She also said to treat the fish with BettaRemedy Fix, which I did in his small tank for 7 days. He was much much better and was swimming around happy and content. I cleaned out the 5 gallon tank, used the Prime, and Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban and aquarium salt dissolved for 5 gallons. I also put in stress coat and stress zyme and PH 7.0 for ph balance. I changed the old Whisper filter and put on a new AquaClear Power Filter Cycle Guard with BioMax. The filter sat high on the tank because it had only a cut out that would hold the old Whisper filter that came with the tank. So, the way the water poured into the tank, even on the lowest setting, like a waterfall from up high may have stressed out the Betta.
Once again, the ammonia levels started going up .25 to .50, so i started doing 30% water changes in an attempt to not allow the ammonia levels to sky rocket again. They stayed down at .25 to .50 daily. This went on for about 5 days and also during those days the ph kept going up so I kept putting in the PH 7.0 to bring it back down to normal. I have always had the tank heated and have kept the temp. between 76-82. I tested the water 2x's a day PH, Ammonia and Nitrite. Ph and ammonia at this point would go up, but the nitrite stayed down. On about the 4th day of doing these water changes, Sparky got sick again and became listless and would not even acknowledge his food in the water. He began staying at the top of the water, sort of floating listlessly, and seeming not to see anything. When I would approach the tank he used to swim over to me, but now, he didn't budge. I felt awful. I took him out yet again and put him in his tiny tank with dissolved aquarium salt, stress coat, ph 7.0 and started using the Betta Remedy Fix again. I have been using the Betta Remedy Fix now for 5 days and he has not eaten for the past 7 days. He hides now unlike the first time he was sick. He hides wherever he can, at the heater, at the thermometer, under the plant. When floating at the top he seems to lose balance and begins to tilt over. It seems as though there is no hope at this point and we are all so very upset and so heartbroken that we may lose our beautiful fish. We have become so so attached to him in the short time we have had him and would hate to lose him. We recently went out and bought him a 10 gallon tank and were going to purchase a couple of danios to help cycle the new tank and then place him in it with them.
I will put up a picture of him that I just took in the tiny medicated tank in the hopes that you may see something that we don't. If i should send in more pics please let me know.
After another week or 2 he began staying at the bottom and rushing up for air. I bought water testing kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. The ammonia was high, so I used ammolock and the ammonia level tested higher and the nitrite levels were in the .50-1.0 range. I brought Sparky to a local pet shop. The woman could not understand why the ammonia was high and at the time, neither could I, so she told me to completely change all the water again and to treat the water with Prime and Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban. She also said to treat the fish with BettaRemedy Fix, which I did in his small tank for 7 days. He was much much better and was swimming around happy and content. I cleaned out the 5 gallon tank, used the Prime, and Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban and aquarium salt dissolved for 5 gallons. I also put in stress coat and stress zyme and PH 7.0 for ph balance. I changed the old Whisper filter and put on a new AquaClear Power Filter Cycle Guard with BioMax. The filter sat high on the tank because it had only a cut out that would hold the old Whisper filter that came with the tank. So, the way the water poured into the tank, even on the lowest setting, like a waterfall from up high may have stressed out the Betta.
Once again, the ammonia levels started going up .25 to .50, so i started doing 30% water changes in an attempt to not allow the ammonia levels to sky rocket again. They stayed down at .25 to .50 daily. This went on for about 5 days and also during those days the ph kept going up so I kept putting in the PH 7.0 to bring it back down to normal. I have always had the tank heated and have kept the temp. between 76-82. I tested the water 2x's a day PH, Ammonia and Nitrite. Ph and ammonia at this point would go up, but the nitrite stayed down. On about the 4th day of doing these water changes, Sparky got sick again and became listless and would not even acknowledge his food in the water. He began staying at the top of the water, sort of floating listlessly, and seeming not to see anything. When I would approach the tank he used to swim over to me, but now, he didn't budge. I felt awful. I took him out yet again and put him in his tiny tank with dissolved aquarium salt, stress coat, ph 7.0 and started using the Betta Remedy Fix again. I have been using the Betta Remedy Fix now for 5 days and he has not eaten for the past 7 days. He hides now unlike the first time he was sick. He hides wherever he can, at the heater, at the thermometer, under the plant. When floating at the top he seems to lose balance and begins to tilt over. It seems as though there is no hope at this point and we are all so very upset and so heartbroken that we may lose our beautiful fish. We have become so so attached to him in the short time we have had him and would hate to lose him. We recently went out and bought him a 10 gallon tank and were going to purchase a couple of danios to help cycle the new tank and then place him in it with them.
I will put up a picture of him that I just took in the tiny medicated tank in the hopes that you may see something that we don't. If i should send in more pics please let me know.
At least he has a family that loves and cares about him during this hard time.
The same person told me I could safely house 10-15 guppies in my 10g tank! These forums are filled with horror stories about LFS employees. While they may mean well, really you've got to do your own reading & researching and educate yourself on all the factors.
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