New Betta...Problem!

[sunstar93]

Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 80*F
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Small air stone.
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? API Betta pellets (b/c she is so small)
How often do you feed your betta fish? only fed her once so far, 2 small pellets

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Just did a 2/3 change to take out AQ salt
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 2/3 just now
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API Tap Water Conditioner

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

Ammonia: 0.5 (naturally in water)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.4
Hardness:0 (very soft)
Alkalinity: 300 (high)

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? She has unclamped but still has stress stripes.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? In her cup she is curious & active, in the tank she lays on the bottom and is breathing very hard.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About an hour ago when I got home.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I took her out of the tank, put her in her cup, changed 2/3 of her water to get rid of some of the AQ salt I had put in there (after dissolving it in water first) and am now floating her in her tank.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Not sure...
How old is your fish (approximately)? Young, she is small.



I got a new betta today after Lucky's death this morning...she is a lovely little CT female named Skye. Well, Skye is very small but seems overall healthy. I fed her 2 small pellets (I call them baby pellets) and she ate them. She is swimming around in her cup right now, curious. But earlier, when I first acclimated her and put her in her tank, she just swam to the bottom, resting there and breathing hard. I am worried that once I let her go again she will do the same thing. I am worried because that is what Lucky was doing last night and I found him dead this morning...I don't want to lose another one :(
I didn't have this problem with Leo (my other betta) when I got him 2 months ago. Am I doing something wrong this time? I have added water to her cup over a period of 20-ish minutes and am now just letting her float. I added only dechlorinator this time (it detoxifies chlorine, chloramine & heavy metals) and nothing else.
I'm worried about her :(

[Wendyjo]

Your ammonia reading is too high, especially at that Ph - the higher the Ph the more dangerous the ammonia is. I would suggest using Prime water conditioner as it makes the ammonia less harmful.

[Perseusmom]

Maybe being in the bigger tank stressed her out. I agree getting some Prime water conditioner would be great if you can, it detoxes ammonia, nitrate and nitrite for 48 hours and after 48 hours you can do a small water change and add more Prime. Good luck I hope she will be okay.

[FishyFishy89]

The ammonia is very high

It also bothers me that she is active in her cup but not in her tank. Is your filter baffled? Bettas are bothered by rough currents.

[sunstar93]

I will try to scrape up some money for some Prime...she was extremely discounted and after using my members card she was $1.88.
Both the filter and the air stone are on the lowest possible setting (they are small and are adjustable in their flow strength...I even have the air stone buried under the gravel). Maybe I should just unplug the filter part? (it honestly isn't really doing much for her).
I'm just worried....right now she is laying on the bottom of her tank and has been like that for almost 2 hours...

[FishyFishy89]

Lowest possible setting may not be enough.
What filter are you using?

[JadeSparrow]

Caly did that when I first put her in her new home. So I took out like half the water and have been slowly adding more every day till she gets used to having a lot of space since she is so tiny.

[sunstar93]

I turned it off for now...it's the smallest Tetra Whisper filter (I have the Tetra Halfmoon 3 gallon Tank and it came with it).

[sunstar93]

Should I try only having like half of it filled for now?

[JadeSparrow]

I would, but I'm kinda new at having small females. I went with the thought process of she was used to a small cup and suddenly got a lot of room so she got lost and scared and decided to just hide. When I took out part of Caly's water she got happier and started to explore. I could be totally wrong though.