Sick fish - pics attached.

[Mermy]

Please help - I am having serious fish problems.
I got this guy (Called him Dionysius - Dio for short ;)) from the local pet store - which was discusting. The Bettas were in mason jars with barely enough water to cover their bodies. Some of the bettas were even dead - still laying in the poopy water.

I put Dio in a 2.5 gal bowl (heater, covered, fern). He did some swimming and hiding yesterday but today he's not looking so good.
He may have velvet (clamped fins, lethargic, not eating) and perhaps swim bladder (floating at the top on his side).

I've attached pics so maybe you can tell by looking at him.
I tested the amonia - it's good (0) but the water he was in at the pet store was off the charts for amonia - I did the liquid test where the highest on the chart is dark teal - and the water in the test turned black! So I am sure that has affected him.

I am at work so I can't access the pages on fish illnesses (for some reason my work is blocking it).
Can someone look at the pics and tell me what to do?
THANK YOU!!!

[Sorineh]

I'm not much of a disease expert, but it could be Ammonia poisoning. I'm sure someone else can help you better than me.

[veganchick]

looks as if he is bloated, his gills have ammonia poisoning, and the beggining stages of fin rot are appearing. Do daily 100% water changes and add a pinch of aquarium salt to his tank for every gallon. Adding the reccomended amount of betta fix that it has on the bottle in't a bad idea either. Continue doing that for a week, and see how he looks.

[veganchick]

oh, and no food till his stomche is back to normal size.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to FishForum. He looks bloated to me. He probably does have swimbladder disorder if he's floating on his side. I recommend fasting for 2-3 days and then feeding him some daphnia, either freeze dried or frozen.

[Kim]

I see inflamed gills, ammonia burns on the ends of his fins, and bloating.

I'd do water changes every day to every other day (and test to make sure ammonia NEVER builds up) and keep a half dose of aquarium salt in the water as a preventative measure. Everyone else pretty much covered what I'd say about the bloating.

Good luck and I hope he feels better soon! It was great of you to take him home :)