Losing color daily, I don't know what's going on.

[AlohaNP]

Housing
What size is your tank? 10g
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
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? No

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Flakes and freeze dried bloodworms
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice everyday

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50% weekly
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner

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? Lost color
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Getting weaker
When did you start noticing the symptoms? When it moved from 2.5g to10g tank
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Saltwater bath
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Less than a year

Then
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...a88cb2bf8c.jpg

Now
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/s...ea917fbf68.jpg

[Tikibirds]

When you say saltwater bath - what are you doing, exactly?
how is he weaker? Is he spending alot of time not moving?

Some bettas do change color over time, not sure if that is what is going on or not. Also, it looks like he may either have fin rot or he is bitting his tail. In the pics, his tail fin looks like it has gotten shorter

[jessp118]

If you are doing a "saltwater bath" make sure you are using aquarium salt. By your description, it seems like he might have and internal parasite. Have you seen the color of his poop recently? If the poop is white and stringy, then he has an internal parasite. If the poop is brown, then its normal.

[callistra]

All good info above.

Also how long has this tank been set up? Are your weekly water changes including a siphon to clean gravel? You need to get your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates a test with a drops kit.

[AlohaNP]

I'm following the saltwater bath procedure that's in this forum. When he swims it looks like he's struggling. As for the poop, I will need to look at it. He's been in his new tank only for 4 days, when I do water change I cycle the water.

[callistra]

"when I do water change I cycle the water." This doesn't make any sense, sorry. Cycling is something that occurs naturally in a large enough tank with a filter, over the course of 2 months. You can't cycle water when doing a change, so I have no idea what you mean. Here is a thread on fish-in cycling: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838 You need a drops kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You should test daily and do a 50% change any time you see as little as .25ppm of either ammonia or nitrite. In addition to this a weekly change of 50% with gravel siphon is needed. You'll see an ammonia spike first, then nitrite. Ammonia will eventually go to 0, then nitrite. Finally you'll be left with only nitrates and that can be controlled with the once weekly change + siphon. Again this will take up to 2 months.

I also don't know what salt water bath you're talking about in this forum. There is no bath procedure that I know of.. only adding predissolved salt at a rate of 1/2-1tsp per gallon into the tank..

Since he's having problems swimming maybe the filter is too strong for him. What filter are you using? Have you baffled it?

When you do a water change how do you do this? How do you acclimate to the new water? To do a change without shocking you should run your tap with a thermometer in it and get it to be the same 78 as the tank. Then fill up your bucket/jug, add conditioner then immediately add it to the tank before it has a chance to cool off. Some people will leave the fish in. I always cup (like plastic solo cup) and float in the tank for an hour after the water change. I also add 1-2 tablespoons of new tank water to the cup every 10minutes during this time.

[AlohaNP]

Sorry cycle was bad choice of word. When I change water I siphon more then half the water, then in another container I make new water with the conditioner and I pour it back in the tank with the betta still inside. As for testing I didn't think I needed a kit because I change my water every week.

This is the saltwater bath thing I saw
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=25297

I put my filter on the low setting, it might still be strong for him, so I'll try baffling it today.

[callistra]

Unless you're doing a 100% weekly water change you do need a kit to monitor the cycling. More water changes will be needed while the tank is cycling.

Well.. that's over 2 years old and by a random member who hasn't been been active in nearly as long..watch your source. You can add aquarium salt directly the tank at a rate of 1/2-1tsp per gallon for up to 10 days but these baths will be pointless and potentially stressful.

It would be safe to turn your filter off for an hour or two and see if he perks up. If he starts swimming normally again as well.. you'll know it's the filter.

[AlohaNP]

Alright, I'll try it out.
Hopefully everything will be okay.