Treatment for

Question
Last day or two, betta has been hanging out on the bottom, then shooting up to the top for air. I thought he just decided he was a pleco.

However today, i noticed his swimming very eratic. Kind of jerky movements, almost like he does not have control. Then every time his body touched a plant or the side of the tank, went shooting away as though it was painful.

Water Perameters all good, though the KH is a bit low
Amonia 0
NItrite 0
NitrAte: 5
PH 7.8
KH 4.0
GH 9.0

Have been using R/O water lately, treating with Kent Marine's R/O right at doseage per bottle, i beleive it's 10ML per 5G.

Being concerned about the KH being so low, I added a gallon of tap water, dechlorinated with Prime.

The only thing i can think of is there is an imbalance between the nutrients in the water and the betta's physiology....

He also has a slight white coating on his body, not so much like ich spots or velvet, but like mineral deposit / deficiency? (or perhaps this is my imagination).

I put him in his little bowl with dechlorinated tap water in hopes of pulling him out of it.

Someone told me sounds like Ciliated protozoan. Treat with .15 ppm malachite green and .50 ppm formalin. Dosage is given three times, two days apart

I HAVE A NEW DWARF PLECO IN THE TANK WILL THIS TREATMENT HARM HIM?

Answer
Michael,

 I would only put your Betta in dechlorinated tap water. Unless you know exactly what it is that is wrong with your fish it is not a good idea to treat him with anything. I have a Betta that was doing the same thing. I just put him in the hospital tank and left him be for a few days and now he is doing just fine. May I suggest looking for a product called Black Water Extract. It is an awesome product and all my Betta's love it. That is what I put in my Betta's tank and now he is doing just fine. I am thinking maybe his water is too cold since you didn't mention his heater. They are tropical fish and need the heater set at 82 degrees. If after you have given him the heater and put him only in conditioned tap water, he is not any better or he gets worse let me know.