HELP! Betta with sick symptoms but no diagnosis!

[tiffanini]

Housing
What size is your tank? 20 gallons high
What temperature is your tank? 76 to 78 degrees fahrenheit
Does your tank have a filter? Aquaclear 20
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes, 100 watt heater.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 2 other female bettas because the other two died recently and it kinda feels wrong for me to add new fish.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Flakes- Ocean Nutrition Brine Shrimp, TetraMin tropical, and rarely Hikari Biogold Pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day. Skip a day every week.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 15-20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Excel flourish and Prime.

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

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm, (I know it's going to sound bad) the only time i get 0 ammonia is immediately after a water change or before I cycled my aquarium.
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
pH: will test tomorrow
Hardness:will test tomorrow
Alkalinity: will test tomorrow

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Fins clamped together, stress stripes,
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Does not crowd to front of tank to get food like the other bettas and is always at top left far corner.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This Morning.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? At least 6 months but I've only had her for 3.

Please help! I notice she has long stringy poo also. How should I treat her?

[Tikibirds]

long stringy white poo is usually a sign of internal parasites.
medication for INTERNAL parasites and epsom salt should work if she does have them.

2 other female bettas because the other two died recently and it kinda feels wrong for me to add new fish.

did she start acting this way after the other fish died? she might be stressed out and hiding because the others are bullying her. The more there are - the more the agression is spread out. However, if yu added another female or two there is no guarantee they would get along.

[Aus]

^+1 for internal parasites. Looking at her belly, and the info on the poo, that would be my first assumption too.

[Basement Bettas]

metronidazole fed internal. I use frozen blood worms and sprinkle a little of the metro on top. I have stainless condiment cups from walmart. 4 for $1 for stuff like this. Let it thaw, stir and feed with tweezers. Do for 3-4 days, 2x a day if you can. With the few fish you have feed what they will eat and cover the rest with plastic and keep in fridge. Can last a few days like that.

[tiffanini]

Would aquarium salt working place of Epsom salt? And what are the best internal parasites medicines? Where do I find metro?

[marshamore]

no, aquarium salt would not work in place. it's for external use, not internal.

[tiffanini]

I'm confused. So I should separate her, put 1-2 tspn of epsom salt per day w/ an anti-parasite medicine. And I should also feed her only frozen blood worms with metronidazole? Or would the latter be overkill?

[Basement Bettas]

Originally Posted by tiffanini

I'm confused. So I should separate her, put 1-2 tspn of epsom salt per day w/ an anti-parasite medicine. And I should also feed her only frozen blood worms with metronidazole? Or would the latter be overkill?

Need to get meds to kill the internal parasites, that is the metro. I'm not a big fan of salt and don't see what good it will do here. She is not bloating where you need to draw fluids out and salt messes up osmoregulation. Can dehydrate the fish and cause more stress. Only add salt for a specific purpose and it is external parasites or to build a little slime coat. Not the case here.

Metronidazole is what you need. Local fish shops should have it. Do not get the medicated food.. too big and no fish has ever eaten it here. Get it and some frozen food. Sprink the mero over some frozen food to get them to readily take it. If you get it in her quick can probably leave her. Or if you have a place remove here to it and treat for several days.