Please help my Betta. 1st timer

[jaywohl]

Hi There, thanks for your response. Yes I have done what should have been done. Water used is the same RO filtered water he has been on since I had him. He was in tank with an albino corycat which is the one that died. I added a new one in case it was depression. I have done water changes, tried Melafix. yes I did remove the carbon filter. Tank is heated to 78 degrees. He is deteriorating rapidly. lethargic loss of color clamped fins some bloating in the stomich. I gave him an epsom salt bath in a seperate container. kept him there for two hours. No improvement, so I put him back in his own tank. Any thoughts? Thanks, Jay

[Oldfishlady]

Jay, I am really sorry your Betta is not well, however, it is really hard for us to help you and your Betta unless you can answer the questions in the earlier post...we would really like to help.....

Can you please answer these questions:

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
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?

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[jaywohl]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 GAL
What temperature is your tank? 78 DEGREES
Does your tank have a filter? YES
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?YES CARBON FILTER
Is your tank heated? YES
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? CORY CAT LIVE PLANTS

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? FROZEN SHRIMP BLOODWORMS HIKARI PELLETS & FLAKE FOOD
How often do you feed your betta fish? TWICE DAILY
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? TWICE A MONTH
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 70
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? NONE, I BUY GLACIER WATER, THE SAME 4 STAGE FILTRATION WATER HE HAS ALWAYS HAD

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? LOSS OF COLOR LAYS ON BOTTOM CLAMPED FINS RAPID BREATHING NOT ATE IN 2 WEEKS
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? ABOVE
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 2 WEEKS AGO
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? REVIVE, MELAFIX, EPSOM SALT BATH
Does your fish have any history of being ill? NO
How old is your fish (approximately)? 8 MONTHS

AS I MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER POST I DISCOVERED THE CORY CAT HAD DIED 7 REMOVED IT FROM THE TANK, BUT I DONT KNOW HOW LONG IT HAD BEEN, BUT THATS WHEN HE STARTED TO DETERIATE, I PURCHASED ANOTHER ON IN CASE IT WAS DEPRESSION, BUT IT HAS NOT HELPED. THANK YOU
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Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
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?

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[small fry]

Cory cats are social fish. They need at least 3 (alot of people will say at least 4 or 5) or they will expirence major health problems.

Unfortunately, the only cory group that will work in a 5g tank (as far as I know) is the pygmy cory. These are very hard to find. The biggest problem is, is that your betta might kill the pygmys because they are so tiny.

It might be the best thing to take the remaining cory back to your lfs.

[Oldfishlady]

I suspect that your Betta is suffering from water quality issues-I would Qt him at this point in a small container that you can float in the heated tank to maintain 76-78F temp-then start him on an Epsom salt 1tsp/gal treatment and 100% daily water changes-if you have tannins you can add all the better-I use naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaves-but IAL or decaf green tea will work too.

I like to pre-mix my treatment water in a 1gal jug-this makes correct dosage and water changes easier and allow the tannins to steep longer and each day the water will be darker from the tannins-Add 1tsp/gal of the Epsom salt, dechlorinator if you normally use it and tannins if you have any-shake well before use and use this treatment water for your 100% daily water changes-you want him to stay in the Epsom salt for at least 10 day

Once a fish dies they decay really fast and release lots of ammonia and this along with too few regular water changes I suspect that your water quality was in bad shape...but an easy fix.....while you have the Betta in QT and treating with Epsom salt I would start a daily 50% water change on your 5gal and doing some deep gravel vacuuming for several days in all areas you can reach without disruption of pant roots and then 50% weekly thereafter to maintain the water quality-give your filter media a good swish/rinse in old tank water with a water change to maintain good water flow
I have never heard of Glacier water-if it is bottled water you may still need to be using a dechlorinator...if it is R/O water you need to add the minerals back for best fish health

How many and what kind of plants do you have

Once you get your water quality fixed and a 10 day Epsom salt treatment he should start to eat...poor water quality can really hit them hard sometimes and they will stop eating, bloat and become lethargic...

As posted-a single cory is not suitable for a 5gal-if you can I would re-home it...5g really isn't big enough to house anymore fish IMO/E...you can add some shrimp and snails

Good luck and keep us posted...