Help! Our beta was thriving and then one night we overfed her (about 3 months ago). Ever since, she’s been really struggling, laying on her side at the bottom of the tank.
Shes in a 10g tank. I condition it with Topfin betta conditioner when I clean the tank. I used to replace the filters but once she got sick I researched and found that wasn’t good – so I took the charcoal out of our current ones and rinse them with tank water.
I’ve been trying to fix her water – it looks like she might have a tad bit of nitrite in there but it’s very hard to tell. To fix that I’ve been using the prime concentrated conditioner and the top fin radiator t nitrifying bacteria starter to try and fix the water.
She’s not able to eat – she tries but her aim is very far off. Once I moved her to a cup to try and make it easier for her and it was so was she still couldn’t eat. We give her the topfin beta bits.
Can I heal her???? I feel awful!!! She came such a long way – when we first got her at the store she was basically pale white with little color and I was so proud of how far we came.
https://i.redd.it/5yhzjljbkmfg1.jpeg
Posted by Eucalyptus0660
5 Comments
-Tank size – 10g -Heater and filter – yes and yes -Tank temperature – about 78 degrees -Parameters – nitrate 20; nitrite 0.5; ph 8.5; carbonate hardness 120; general hardness 180 Have had fish and tank about 1 year -Water changes are once a month and I take out half the water. I will rinse all the tank items in my water to clean them, scrub the sides of the tank and siphon out the poop and food. I used to also replace the filters but now I don’t do that (as of 4 months ago) -No tank mates -I feed top fin betta bits – 3 pellets twice a day but honestly haven’t really done that in 2 months because she’s not eating – I actually can’t remember the last time she’s eaten but I will occasionally try a few pellets 🙁
* decorations ceramic castle, a plastic grass, a silicon spiky thing (very soft) and a little beta leaf floating at the top. Also have sand
https://preview.redd.it/96bj9vbfmmfg1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25e34af544f3660aad7d737a2a914f86b66aabb5
Sorry to hear about your guy… I’m no expert and am pretty new here, but no one else has commented so I thought I’d put my 2 cents in, at the very least to boost your post. The nitrites are a concern and the pH might be a bit high. It sounds like maybe over cleaning could be disrupting the beneficial bacteria from taking things out and scrubbing, but it’s good that you stopped replacing the filter. Those aquarium decorations are known to leak chemicals and the fake plants don’t benefit him much either.
I can’t diagnose or anything but those are just the things I noticed— you could maybe try some aquarium salt, which seems to be a “fix all” for a lot of issues, but please research it first because I don’t have experience with it and am no expert by any means. Popping an Indian Almond Leaf in there could help as well, they have healing properties and will add tannins to the water naturally, which bettas love. Wishing you the best of luck and hopes for good health for your guy 🖤
Almost 99% swim bladder, put it in shallow water, raise the temperature to 29°C and do salt baths
The fish is succumbing to being exposed to toxic ammonia and nitrite over a long time. With the changing of filter the nitrogen cycle would have constantly been disrupted, but you know that.
Ammonia poisoning burns their skin, eyes and gills causing extreme stress. Nitrite poisoning stops the blood carrying oxygen causing suffocation and hemorrhaging.
Can you perform more water changes than once a month? The only way to correct this is to reduce the levels of toxin in the water. Ammonia and nitrite locking products don’t remove the toxins, but make them less toxic for a short time. Water changes would still be necessary, even 20% once a day if you want her to have the best chance of survival. Adding medicines and more bottled stuff isn’t fixing the issue and will stress her tiny organs more. Clean water and fixing the issue of no nitrogen cycle is the only solution, and with a fish in cycle water changes are the way forward.
What everyone else has said! Some more-
– check ammonia level. This is most critical right now
– only ever do frequent, small water changes (remove max 20% tank water, replace with conditioned tap water)
– add fast growing aquatic plants that don’t need to be planted in soil. These will help remove nasties from the water
– each time you have cleaned your tank, you would have disrupted the cycle hugely. Don’t scrub the surfaces, just remove water and replace. I would consider longer term creating a fully natural and planted habitat (no fake gravel, ornaments or plants). A natural habitat will be more stable as it’ll all work together (less work for you, and much happier fishes). You wouldn’t need to siphon the gravel, as the fish waste feeds the plants as fertilizer. If you get algae, you can get a snail to eat it. Much easier!