Help!!! Betta behaving strangely

[vmanthaw]

I set up my tank yesterday, and also put in a plant. The temperature was good but over night it cooled down 3-4 degrees.

Today my fish has been moping on the bottom, only coming up for air.

Worried that he might be in trouble, I went to the store and bought a heater (which I had planned to do) and two more plants.

Now I have three plants and the heater. (An experienced betta fish caretaker helped me with everthing).

So now I have him chillin in his lil bowl while the water heats up, he seems to be happier.

AAALSO. I tested the water with a master kit and found it has 1 ppm of Ammonia present. I'm assuming it's part of the natural cycle of this 2 gallon take of mine.

Should I wait a day or two and test the water again for ammonia, to see if things have regulated? That would mean keeping my betta in the bowl he was bought it during that time.

Thanks!

(Here's some pics. Don't mind the messy room it's exam week =P )

[vmanthaw]

His fins are super healthy btw

[vmanthaw]

anyone?

[Kittles]

Are you doing water changes? The ammonia that's present in the tank isn't going to disappear any time soon - for that to happen, you'd need nitrites to form and consume the ammonia (or something to that effect), but this doesn't happen over night, or in a matter of days. You're looking at weeks.

So unless you're intending to cycle his tank - which requires a filter, and possibly a larger tank(?) - you need to be doing more frequent water changes to keep the ammonia down. 1ppm is a harmful amount.

EDIT - Alsooooo, you might need to test your tap water, or from whatever source you're filling the tank, because it might be carrying the ammonia.

[vmanthaw]

Alright, sadly my roommate has the testing kit. I'll check the tap water ASAP thank you for the help!

[Kittles]

Fish looks nice, by the way. What colors is he?

[vmanthaw]

He's blue and purple with licks of red :)