New betta not settling in?

[LizzyP]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 80F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One Betta Buffet Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets 2 times per day. He only ate 3 pellets once yesterday

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? He's a new fish, but I did a complete water change yesterday. Water looked cloudy? But I will do 1 50% and 1 100%
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? See above ^
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Jungle Water conditioner but when I first brought Casper home I used Top Fin water conditioner

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Brand new water, and my testing kit isn't here.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Clamped. He's cellophane, so I can't really tell about color change, except he had a green mint tint to his tail, now it's kinda pinkish.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He just sits on a plant, on his log, on the thermometer, on the bottom not moving. I hardly notice his gills moving. He does come up for air though.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Yesterday
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Just warm water, no lights
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that I know of
How old is your fish (approximately)? No idea

I am not at my regular home. I'm housesitting for my parents while they are away on vacation. I do have a water testing kit at my normal house, but was not prepared to bring home another betta fish.

I got Casper Thursday night. He seemed fine in his cup, not clamped or anything. I put him in the tank and he was fine for a little while. Friday morning I got up and he looked not so hot. Sitting at the bottom not moving, his gills hardly move. At first I thought he was dead so I was going to scoop him up and take him back to Petsmart but then he moved. I thought it was stress at first so I just kinda left him alone in dimly light area. Then I peeked into his tank and the water looked cloudy? So I thought maybe the water conditioner was faulty. It's TopFin but in a very small bottle and it told me 48 drops (maybe 46 I can't remember) for 1 gallon so maybe I miscounted or something. Did a 100% Change and rinsed everything with hot water and started fresh. Fast forward to this morning, he's kinda suspended in the middle of the tank. Then I looked at him and he's back in his silk plant. So he can swim, he is alive. I don't really know what to do...He just sits there, very unlike my other betta. I have a video of what he does, but I'm not sure if it's helpful or not. Just let me know if you'd like to see it.

Lizzy

[Aus]

48 drops (maybe 46 I can't remember) for 1 gallon

o.o

Are you sure it's 48? And not like, 4-8? I have never seen a water conditioner that needs 48 drops per gallon!!

But maybe that's just because I'm new-ish to fishkeeping and only use Prime. :)

Some fish take a long time to settle in and get used to new water, especially if the water is very different in source or chemistry to what they're used to. Give him a few more days of dark and quiet, maybe a little Stress Guard or something. He just might have been a tad shocked with the new conditions.

[LizzyP]

Yep, just double checked to be sure. It's TopFin Betta Water Conditioner. Like I said, I wasn't prepared and I do have all these things at home and I didn't want to spend a super fortune on something I already had. Plus, TopFin seems like a pretty reliable brand.

EDIT: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=3295900

[LittleWatty]

Two out of my four betta's have done the same thing, where as the other two seem perfectly fine. I'm curious to see what happens here, hoping I can apply it to my own fish that seem to not be adapting well.

[LizzyP]

It's really worrying me. I'm not worried about him eating, he'll eat eventually. I'm just worried about the lack of movement/activity. What also concerns me is the move back home from here, hopefully he gets better....Maybe I'll ask what OFL thinks.

[Oldfishlady]

How did you first acclimate him to the new tank.....

I wouldn't make any 100% water changes at this point.....too stressful.....every other day partials for now and turn the light off for the next 24h...If he is struggling to swim- lower the water level if you haven't already....

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by Aus

o.o

Are you sure it's 48? And not like, 4-8? I have never seen a water conditioner that needs 48 drops per gallon!!

But maybe that's just because I'm new-ish to fishkeeping and only use Prime. :)

Some fish take a long time to settle in and get used to new water, especially if the water is very different in source or chemistry to what they're used to. Give him a few more days of dark and quiet, maybe a little Stress Guard or something. He just might have been a tad shocked with the new conditions.

Yeah, sounds like misread on the water conditioner...mine is 7 drops per gallon.

[LizzyP]

How did you first acclimate him to the new tank.....

I floated him in his cup and slowly added little bits of water to his cup every 5-10 minutes over 1 hour.

And, it isn't a misreading. I have a picture of the bottle right here.

[Oldfishlady]

Is that for both chlorine and chloramine....some products recommend double dose when you have both in the source water......

It sounds like you properly acclimated him...so that rules out osmotic shock...

He may have been sick to start with.....decrease stress level and if you have any tannins...either IAL or dried Oak leaf...add that to the tank....

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by LizzyP

I floated him in his cup and slowly added little bits of water to his cup every 5-10 minutes over 1 hour.

And, it isn't a misreading. I have a picture of the bottle right here.

Wow, that IS a lot of drops lol...sorry, just sounded strange. I hope he is doing better soon!