help!

Question
QUESTION: I bought a Double Tail Male Betta on Saturday 2/10. I also bought a 2.5 gallon tank with a filter and a heater. I rinsed off the new tank, the gravel, and the plants. I let the tank cyvle over night and I gradually introduced him to his new home Sunday morning. He was so happy. He was swimming around and playing in the plants and everything. I woke up this morning to a cloudy tank (it was very clear the day before) and a half dead betta. I quickly took him out of the tank and put him back in his little betta container that he came in. I thought he would certainly die but he has not. He will sometime go belly up or sideways, but he will keep breating. Sometimes he pop back up and swim for a couple of seconds. What can I do to help/save him? I won`t give up as long as he won`t.
PS. I did add some BettaSafe and Ammonia safe into the tank that Saturday night. The heater was also keeping the temp. at a steady 78 degrees. PLease tell me what to do if there is still hope for this poor guy.
Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Rachele,

I want to answer this quick to help save him.

Get some filtered bottled water, immediately, warm it in the microwave to about 75 degrees and leave it in a coffee cup on the counter for a few minutes to be sure it only gets that warm and doesn't keep heating.

Put the fish in that water please, immediately.

This is a water condition.

Did you use a dechlorinator when you did his tank up?

Was he fed?  Cloudiness is a sign of over-feeding.

Get the tank cleaned up, use filtered water to re-start it and don't feed him anymore today or tomorrow.  

You can put him back into the tank tonight, but you have to keep his heat at 78 degrees...monitor his temperature.  It could have been too hot or too cold, in addition to cloudy water.

Cloudy water comes from a multitude of things, but in your case, it's probably from over-feeding.

Feed him floating food.  Not sinking food...Betta pellets (or so they are called) often come in a sinking variety. Don't feed him those.  They're worthless.  Although nutritious, they don't eat off the bottom by nature.  They eat better off the top.

If any food hits the bottom of the tank, it's too much food.

I am SO sorry to hear about him.  I hope this reaches you in time.

Please feel free to post a followup.

Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Renee, thank you.
I am warming up a bottle water as we speak. My problem is that I am in a college dorm and I am limited to what water I have. I do not have a huge supply of bottled water; I have enough to do what you told me. I only have the tap water in the dorm. The water in the tank(which is tap water) has been filtering all day and its at 78 degrees. And yes, the BettaSafe claims to neutralize chlorine. I believe that it does have something to do with the water quality. I only feed floating food and I there has not been food in the new tank yet so it wasnt anover feeding issue. I really appreciate the quick responses! He is still alive so please keep helping!

ANSWER: Hello,

Read the bottle of chlorine neutralizer and make sure it also neutralizes chloramine.  Chloramine is a toxic water additive in most systems in the USA and it will not evaporate like Chlorine.  It could be why he's bent.

The puff of white is a fungus.  It is common to bettas.

Please find some Rock Salt.  Take it and add a half-teaspoon of it to his water, dissolved, in his cup.  Keep him warm.  80 degrees.  He can't get cold.  If he does, he will probably perish.

Meantime, get his tank back to clean.

I do recommend a bottled water immediately.  Not tank water.  That tank water is toxic to him.  Tap water will also be if it is not neutralized.  Please neutralize it if you choose to use it.

He should soak in the salted water all night.

Poor little guy!  It sounds like the pet store owes you a new fish.  I would return him in the morning, if he does perish, and get another one.

If you purchase another, and this poor little thing doesn't make it, then next time choose a very healthy looking specimen.  Go to your local water fill station (I go to Food Max or Raley's store.  They have a station for drinking water. You can fill a gallon for a quarter.  That water is highly filtered), and use that water.  No need to add any chemicals. :)  It will be GOOD water.

I certainly hope this gets to you in time.  I hope this helps.

Followup if you need to.  I will check til midnight.

Renee

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again.
I left him in the clean water all night. Like I said, I do not have any good water at this time. He still flips on his side but he has shown a little more activity. Yes, the BettaSafe says that it does have neutralizers for chloramines as well. I think you are right about the water-it is toxic. When you poor it in a glass, it is very cloudy and thick until it settles.
Sadly, I cannot help him until this weekend (I don`t have a car). What can I do to keep him going at this point? He has been such a fighter through all of this. He was one of the more feisty fish at the pet shop.
Right now I have him in his orginal betta cup with the clean water which is floating in the tank with the water that is 78 degrees in order to keep him warm. I will look for rock salt around campus until then. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do for him. I appreciate your help so very much.

Answer
It sounds as if you are pretty limited with resources.  If your campus water has to "settle" to be drank, that's disgusting and you need to consider getting outside water and drinking that.

Perhaps you can put an ad up in the front of the dorm asking for a bottle of bottled water.  They are only a dollar...

I hope this helps and I am SO glad he's still clicking along.  Bent can also be from TB, and if so, the salt will help him through that as well, but it's got to go in as soon as possible.

You cannot use table salt.

Stay in contact if you need to and good luck with him.  Poor little guy might make it yet.

Renee