Fin rot?

[stephaniec12]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? Not yet
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? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Flakes and bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish?once a day

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? About half
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? BettaSafe water conditioner

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

Ammonia: O
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:0
pH:6.7
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Slight loss of color,frayed looking fins
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Lays on bottom of tank,only surfaces for air. Sometimes swims erratically. Still comes up for food
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Last night and today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Moved him from 5 gallon tank to 1 gallon to treat what looks like fin rot.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Bought him late April 2012.

This was him in April


Unfortunately here he is today.


I had no idea how to take care of these fish when I bought them. When one passed away a month ago I began researching how to care for them better and moved them from their 1 gallon homes to 5 gallon tanks with heaters. I haven't been able to buy them filters yet and I'm still trying to figure out which one to buy.
I hope I can help him get better.

[kevinbacon]

You should probably get that pH fixed, bettas like it a bit basic. Pic up some pH buffers at your petstore.

Sounds like he has some fin rot too. Keep his water SUPER clean while he's in the one gallon, and use a water conditioner with stress coat.

Hope he starts feeling better!

[stephaniec12]

Unfortunately he's gotten a bit worse today. He only seems to surface for air and when he does he swims around like he's drunk. Other than that he just kinda of lays on the bottom of the bowl. He was acting fine yesterday. I did some searching and found that it could possibly be swim bladder disease or constipation.
As for the pH levels I've been using Proper pH 7.0. I tested some water right out of the tap and the pH is about 7.6. Should I keep using the Proper ph7.0 or use something else?

[kevinbacon]

Umm, a little basic is typically better than a little acidic. However, if it was a very quick water parameter change, it could have put his little betta body into shock. All I know is that you want as close to seven as you can get. 7.6 is okay, but 6.7 might be a bit low. If you're getting a 6.7 using the proper pH, maybe give him a 50% water change adding only regular conditioner and not adding any of the proper pH, and seeing what that does.

If he's swimming like he's drunk, he probably has swim bladder or constipation, as you said. To see if he's going to the bathroom, remove the substrate from the bowl. If you see nothing, there's a problem, and you want to treat for constipation. If you see stringy white poo, treat for internal parasites. If he's going normally, its probably swim bladder.