Betas last days? HELP!

Question
Yesterday I changed the water like I normally do in our betas luxious 5 gallon tank that he has to himself.  Since we've been having a problem with rapidly buiding algae...I added "advanced algae destroyer" by Aquarium Pharm. as per the instructions.  I added "scooby 3" (yes..there were two prior over the years)and things seemed normal..until hours later..he was camped out on the bottem.  I got him to move but it honestly looked like a huge struggle. Fearing that the algae destroyer was too toxic for him..I quickly mixed up a new batch of water with declorinator...pulled him from the tank and placed him in the fresher water... 14 hours later he's still living..but laying on his side on the  bottem breathing.  He did shoot up for a piece of food...then swam right down...should I somehow heat the water to around 80? Will that help?

Answer
Hi Lorie;

Put him in as warm a place as possible. Usually it is temperature shock and it has damaged the swim bladder. As long as the new water was the same temperature as the old it should have been fine. Just keep his tank temperature as close to 85 as possible to help him heal himself. There really isn't anything you can do other than wait.

It is possible it was the algae destroyer. I really don't like algae controlling chemicals. It is basically a controlled amount of poison added to your tank water and there are safer ways to manage algae. I quit using it years ago because of that. It isn't your fault. You were just using a product that is recommended as being safe. Just not enough people know about how dangerous it can be.

I know from personal experience that algae products with the active ingredient "simazine" will cause metabolic problems, inability to breed, and slow growth. Terrible stuff. Here is an article about it;

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/simazine.html
(Scroll down to "Toxicity to Fish")

I hope he feels better soon.......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins