Can I please get some advice?

[Amberry]

Hi guys,

Sorry but I think that it's time to ask the experts for help please?
My Betta, Murphy has been with me for about 3 weeks now and when I got him (pet store) I noticed that the tips of his fins seemed 'stuck together'. I had hoped that with good quality water, food and some TLC that he would blossom nicely. Unfortunately not. I had noticed 'clear' tips on his fins as they started to open up and read that meant healing/re growth so I thought it was good. But 3 days ago he was fine in the morning and a couple of hours later his tail fin looked tattered and shorter in parts. Freaking out (and home with the flu) I read up and thought some aquarium salt could help. It is now quite evenly shorter and now has the clear tips all over...
He is very active, playful and has a super appetite.
I'm really hoping someone can help shed some light on what is going on?
The ammonia is a problem. Our tap water is 0.50 ppm!? Tap PH is the same as the tank.
I use prime, not sure how to deal with this going forward.
Sorry for the bombardment! I just wanted to be as thorough as possible :)
Thanks guys!


Housing
What size is your tank? 9L
What temperature is your tank? 27/28 degrees Celcius
Does your tank have a filter? Yes, hang on
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? Nil

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Hikari Betta Gold
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day 6 days a week with one fasting day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Every second day.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25% or 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: Between 0.25 and 0.50 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.4
Hardness: Not tested
Alkalinity: Not tested

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Lost 'shards' his tail fins, now evenly shorter.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? No.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3 days ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Aquarium salt and daily water changes.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I've had him for 3 weeks, when he came home I noticed that the tips of fins seemed 'stuck' together. They had recently started to 'open up'.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I've had him for 3 weeks... Not sure of his age.

I feel so bad :( I'm trying to do everything right and I've been researching Betta care non stop! (Driving my partner crazy lol) I thought he was looking really healthy and truly beginning to blossom so I'm confused by this tail issue now.

This photo was taken today -

[jadaBlu]

Tap water has minerals your fish needs but I am wondering if you use 50% tap and 50% spring water if that might help reduce ammonia for you. Spring water still has some minerals in it. However, to make sure there's enough minerals you could get some of these:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts....ndershell.html

Some others I am sure will weigh in on this but that seems like it could be a way to dilute your water so it would be better. You could get a container the size of your tank and experiment (test) until you get the right dilution.

[callistra]

I highly suggest not using the wondershell. I'm not sure if it's snakeoil or just plain dangerous but I've seen them kill many a fish. From what I can see they add minerals, messing with gh, kh and possibly even ph water parameters. it's very important to keep those STABLE and the constant changes from the wonder shells add to fish stress and potential death. If you need to adjust these things it's best to TEST to see where you're at and then use a consistent method of change, like adding carefully measured levels of Equilibrium and Alkaline buffer. If you're using tap I highly doubt you need to do this as most tap water in the US is hard.

Prime is good for dealing with tap ammonia, and the fact you have a filter means eventually your tank will cycle out and the ammonia won't be a problem at all. I would do a double dose every other day along with the small water changes.

Make sure the Aquarium Salt is at 1 tsp per gallon, which for your tank is 5 tsp. You add back as much salt as water you change, otherwise you don't have to readd. Hopefully 10 days on the salt along with the prime will help his fins.

Stress coat at 1 ml per 1 gal might help as well as fresh water vitachem at 1 drop per gallon.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Ever think about adding some live plants? They would utilize the ammonia.

If you don't want to go that route, you could still add some semi-aquatic plants like pothos. The roots grow in water, and the leaves remain above the water. Pothos is very easy to grow.

[callistra]

There are two kinds of plants. One are stem plants and the other roots plants. Root plants primarily utilize nitrates, while stem plants (floating plants like elodea) primarily utilize ammonia.

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Callistra - thanks! I didn't know that.

[Amberry]

Thanks for the advice guys.
I will stick with the aquarium salt and more frequent water changes and hopefully it clears up the issue. He is already showing a lot more 'clear' tips which is encouraging.
As for the ammonia, I might try the half spring water thing.
We are moving in 4 weeks further away from the city so I'm hoping the water there will test better.
Thanks again :)