betta with SBD

[johnnymillenium]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
What temperature is your tank? it fluctuates from 70-74
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? topfin betta bits (pellets)
How often do you feed your betta fish? well I used to feed him twice a day two pellets but then realized he was showing signs of SBD so I fasted him completely for four days. now im feeding him two pellets once a day, soaked in tank water first.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? most of the time twice a week 25% or so. But thinking of doing almost 100% changes considering I have him in shallow water right now and i want it to be as clean as possible. I've had problems before where I let the conditions get kinda toxic and I reallllly don't want to let that happen anymore.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? just water conditioner, probably API or topfin brand. I have used aquarium salts before after noticing high levels of nitrates and such.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
tested them yesterday, so I still need to test and change water today.
Ammonia: o.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate:5.0ppm
pH: 7.5
Hardness: n/a
Alkalinity: n/a

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? no, not recently
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? yes his butt has been sinking still after I fasted him for four days, not as badly as it was but still.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 5 days ago?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? just fasted him
Does your fish have any history of being ill? not that i know of
How old is your fish (approximately)?not sure, 6 mo with me. probably pretty young, he's grown since i got him from the fish store.




Okay so better synopsis of the story. I've never really owned a betta before except when i was a kid and didn't really know what goes into taking care of one. my first got eaten by my cat a day after we got him o.o ... it was tragic.. poor gyaradose, r.i.p.
so point is Im pretty new to this. I've been trying my best to give him proper care but I let the water toxicity levels get kinda high before so Im not sure if whats going on with him now is a result of that. He started showing signs of SBD 5 days or so ago, he would swim to me but then start to sink onto the bottom of the tank like a little lead weight. His swimming motions were also off. I looked it up and found that treatment was to fast him because it was probably caused by bloating and constipation. so i did that but he still seems to struggle to keep his rear end from sinking. its not nearly as bad though, although i did recently lower waters drastically and took out most of the decorations and gravel/rocks, so its easier for him to reach the top. he does seem more stable than he was though. anyway I read that if it doesn't stop after fasting him it could be an internal infection and im just wondering if i should just continue doing water changes, maybe with the inclusion of some aquarium salts. or seek out professional help to give him antibiotics cos im worried it may be septicemia. although i have no real way to tell if he does have septicemia, he is a red and white fish...

btw his name is johnny millenium

[johnnymillenium]

okay so i was being silly. he definitely doesn't have an infection or anything I don't think. I came home from running errands and he was just chillin upright resting his tail on the bottom of the tank. not at all like he was the day before yesterday (he kept falling onto his side). I think he'll be fine if i just keep his water clean and keep soaking his food first. I am still wondering if i should be using the aquarium salts or not though. It might help? maybe? could anyone be of any assistance on this one? im not really sure if its the time or place to be using them..

[callistra]

Ammonia and nitrite are not okay and you are not doing enough water changes. In a tank/bowl of this size two water changes a week are needed.. 50% and 100%. He should be scooped in a little plastic solo type cup and not use a net. New water should be the exact same temp as old water - matched using his in tank thermometer. Water and conditioner should also be premixed (you can use fresh water jugs from the grocery store - rinsed well in hot water but not chems).

He is also freezing at that temp, and the swings are hard on him. They can even be lethal. What heater are you using? It's not working properly. You need one that can keep a constant unchanging temp between 78-80F. With a tank this size you can get a 25w adjustable heater. Make sure any heater you get is tested 24hours in similar size container to make sure it will maintain a constant appropriate temp. You must always use an in tank thermometer to monitor the temp. He must be acclimated to the water water either by floating in a cup inside the already fully warmed water for a hour, or by adjusting the heater to increase no more than 1 degree per hour and 5 degrees per day.

He is being malnourished with your feeding schedule. He should be getting two small meals a day, at least a couple at a time and one fast day a week. You cannot soak in tank water or your are leaching all his nutrients. However, your pellet is low quality which can lead to constipation issues. You should look for a pellet whose first two or three ingredients are whole fish and not fish meal or wheat.

Please share photos.

Aquarium salt does nothing for high nitrites.. nothing will remove ammonia and nitrites but water changes.

[johnnymillenium]

yea I'll definitely get a new heater, this one isn't working well anymore. I don't use a net and do water changes like that as it is. 100% every 5 days right now but im trying to get a schedule down where i know how many days it will take for ammonia to show up in the water but my water conditioner doesn't fully take out all of the ammonia. someone suggested i use prime water conditioner. then someone else mentioned that only eliminates the ammonia for 24 hrs. that doesn't really help me if I don't have a cycled aquarium or filter..

I was only soaking them because i was told it helps to prevent them from expanding in his stomach and causing the bloating. i will stop doing that. I will also get some better food for him and a new thermometer, i don't think the one i have is working well anymore. I have pictures in my album i think, they're not very good though.