Betta fish not doing well - please help

[Tammy Betancourt]

We have had licorice for about a year now and had originally bought a 2 gallon tank (on Petsmart's advice) - he did really well, until just recently. He was accidentally knocked over by our daughter and ended up on the floor, but was rescued quickly and relocated to another location as to avoid this from happening again. That was about 2 months ago - and he did well, except he never seemed quite himself again (looked kinda depressed - if that is possible for a fish). So we went back to Petsmart and got a 10 gallon tank and set it up with heater and filter and all. Conditioned the water and waited about two days and then situated Licorice in his new home. He seemed to like it and then we added a sucker fish, a couple guppies and 2 mollies (making sure on Petsmarts advice that we only added fish that would not be a threat to Licorice). That was about 5 days ago and at first he seemed to be a little irritated at them, puffing up but not hurting them and staying to himself in the tank, but the last two days he has mingled and all seemed to be well - he was moving more, and he seemed to notice the filter area of the tank and kind of flow with the water up top off and on. Thought nothing of it, but today noticed that his top fins (He is a crown tail Betta) was a little scuffed up and was keeping an eye, just to make sure the other fish aren' messing with him and then this afternoon noticed that he didn't look so well at the bottom corner of the tank. He moved when I prodded him too. What can I do to help him?

[okiemavis]

Do you know what your water parameters are? Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? My guess is you added a bunch of fish quickly without cycling the tank, and he's suffering because of poor water quality.

Mollies can be nippy sometimes, it's possible he's being bothered by them. Also, what kind of "sucker fish" is it? Any chance it's a Chinese algae eater? If so, that may be the problem. They're commonly sold as peaceful algae eaters, but they actually get quite aggressive as they grow up.

[Tammy Betancourt]

I don't know what the water parameters are - first time fish owner and going by Petsmart - I know I should've done some research. How do I help him - I actually moved him again to his 2 gallon tank.

The sucker fish is a type that gets only 5 inches (a bristlenose something is really close to) - i cannot remember the name of it but it wasn't anything exotic.

[Tammy Betancourt]

Oh - I forgot to say thank you for replying so quickly.

[iamntbatman]

Originally Posted by Tammy Betancourt

The sucker fish is a type that gets only 5 inches (a bristlenose something is really close to) - i cannot remember the name of it but it wasn't anything exotic.

That's what we're afraid of! I've seen wayyyy more Chinese algae eaters for sale than bristlenose plecos. A 10g is pretty small for a bristlenose, but as long as you have good filtration and keep up with the water changes, you should be ok. As okiemavis pointed out, a Chinese algae eater (which are very common and very inexpensive) start out as small, cute little algae eaters but usually turn into jerks later in life. They also have a habit of quickly learning that fish food tastes way better than algae, so they actually make poor algae eaters. So, let's hope you've got a bristlenose instead of the Chinese algae eater!

I strongly recommend you get yourself a liquid test kit like API's Freshwater Master Test Kit. It will allow you to stay on top of all of the most important water parameters: pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Since you just set up the tank 5 days ago and added all of those fish, you're likely dealing with high ammonia. Without a test kit and knowing your water parameters, there's really no way to be sure. I'd get one of those kits as soon as you can. Keep in mind that the API kit goes for about $30 in most stores, but online pet supply stores (like Drs. Foster and Smith) sell it for about half that. It's really an invaluable tool that will help you keep your fish alive during the aquarium cycle and keep their environment healthy.

In the meantime, even without knowing your water parameters I recommend you do a water change of 25-50%. Once you get the test kit you'll be able to know just when your ammonia or nitrite spike and thus when to do water changes to keep your fish from dying of ammonia poisoning.

[Tammy Betancourt]

Thank you so much. I will go to Petsmart first thing in the morning and get the test kit.[/u]