Lethargic, White fuzz, Wont eat. NEW TO FISH

[MeaghanElizabeth]

Hello everyone! I am brand new to the site here, and brand new to owning a fish.

I bought a Beautiful, lively red/white betta fish yesterday from Petland.

It is now gravely ill i fear.

I transfered it from its baggie into its new home (a fairly large fish bowl, with new rocks / a plant / a rock peice - all rinsed with hot water) and put room temperature ish , leaning towards a bit colder, into the tank. I than transfered our new betta (named Marsden) into the bowl.

He loved it and was very lively, explored it all, seemed to be having the time of his life! I fed him 3 pellets yesterday spread out through the day.

I woke up this morning to him being extremely lethargic, no appetite or lively hood, staying directly at the top (hes tried swimming downwards twice now and his rear seems to float him back to the top?) wont use his side fins, but his tail to move around. I have also noticed some white cloud/fuzz around his chest area? that i did not notice yesterday. His gills also dont seem to be moving rapidly, and he only moves every.... 15 minutes? to lift his little head less than a cm to the surface and makes one large bubble that instantly disappears.

The change in his behaviour is so drastic i just know something is wrong. At first i thought maybe he was in shock and to leave him be, but i noticed the white fuzz about 2 hours ago and knew i had to search online to find out what was wrong.

I am a new fish owner and eager to learn how to care for my betta, and hopefully save it cause i fear the worst. I know some of you reading this thread will probably laugh at my descriptions, as ive tried to decipher some of the other threads to figure out whats wrong, and its like trying to understand another language!

Please help me and my new family member!

[MeaghanElizabeth]

I suppose i should mention that mid day today, i thought maybe the water was to cold and he was freezing, and didnt want to move, so i did moved him into a bowl and put brand new water in, room temperature but a bit warmer. I realize after reading these threads that i should buy a thermometer to be accurate in changing everything. I plan on getting one tomorrow, and whatever else i need to make Marsden better. What else do i need ? ?

[KevinPham123]

Get a heater asap and try to keep the temperature at 82 degrees more or less.

[MeaghanElizabeth]

what do you think is wrong with him? Any ideas? I will grab a heater tomorrow as well. What temperature should it be at?

[MeaghanElizabeth]

Just felt the temperature of the water. It is much colder than what i had it at earlier.. i can see now why a heater would be necessary!

[aokashi]

I'm pretty sure petland keeps their bettas in AC rooms... so it mught or mught not be the problem. You will need a heater sooner or later, so it would be good to get one.

Lenme grab the sticky for you to fill out

please copy and paste ten answer as many of the questions from here as you can
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[MeaghanElizabeth]

What size is your tank? Not sure... its a large fish bowl.
What temperature is your tank? Below room temperature (getting a heater tomorrow!)
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? No
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? No one else

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 times a day, 1 pellet at a time

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a day
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Betta plus nutrafin

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? No

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? White fuzz, beautiful red fins are slack
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Not moving, no appetite, stays at very top of tank against the side
When did you start noticing the symptoms? This morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not sure how :(
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not that im aware of
How old is your fish (approximately)? Not sure

I bought this fish yesterday. Help!

[aokashi]

is betta plus nutrafin the one that says it has indian almond leaf extract? if so, it is two capfuls to a gallon.

if you used less there is a small chance he is slightly poisoned by chlorine.

can you figure out a way to measure how much water your bowl holds? then I can recommend you a heater and a water change schedule.

for now, place his tank in the warmest part of your house and do a partial water change, changing in some slighty (only ever so slightly!) warmer water.

Where do you live btw?

[MeaghanElizabeth]

The guy @ Petland said 2 capfuls, so i did that much. & it say *Tropical* almond leaf extract. How much should i take out to put warm in to replace?

I live in Kamloops British Columbia Canada

[aokashi]

Take out about half, so you wont have to take him out. and when you pour the new water in, do it gently so that he wont be disturbed too much.

I would say add two capfuls to what you are changing in just in case. it's extremely difficult to OD on water conditioner :)

Oh I just thought of something, did you acclimatize him properly when you introduced him to his tank?
is there a warmer part of the house you can move him to?
I didnt know there was a petland in Canada XD