After Water Change Both Boys Lethargic

[acloudconnected]

Hi,

Last year I rescued two boys from Walmart and together with lots of help from this forum, we nursed them back to health. They've been just fabulous since then and we're just one big happy family.

Stumpy, the one who was(is) in the worst condition after their experience has had a little lump on his side for quite some time, but it has never seemed to bother him, and he is the greediest of the two and most active.

Today I noticed that their tank divider was looking particularly green/brown so I decided to do a water change and clean things up a little. I did everything just as I normally do, but since returning them to the tank they have both been super lethargic. Stumpy less so than Red who is lying gasping at the bottom of the tank. Stumpy is moving around a bit, but keeps stopping and floating, and also seems to be gasping from time to time. Both fish have clamped fins. They are not at ALL themselves!




Housing
What size is your tank? 10 gal
What temperature is your tank? 81F
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? two males (with divider) only

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once daily, 3 pellets each.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

About 25% a week with a 80% every third or fourth week, and a 100% change every 6-8 weeks. ALternate between Jungle Start Right, and API Stress Coat.

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

Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.6
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

What can I do? Should i remove them from the tank?

[vilmarisv]

Some fish will react like that just by handling them from container to container but...
Did you remember to aclimate them to the temperature and water quality of the cleaned tank?

[acloudconnected]

Hi,

Yep. I did everything as normal. Acclimated them by floating their cups adding the tank water slowly, and then releasing them. Actually, they were pretty lethargic even before I added tank water.

The one from the corner is now straightened up and is moving around slowly, stopping every now and then and then moving a bit more. I feel like he is on the mend. Stumpy is still floating at the top and not moving much. Oh I hope they get better... :(

[cjayBetta]

Did u maybe have something on your hands... Cream, disinfectant, Soap? Maybe it got in the water?

[acloudconnected]

I am usually very careful about my hands because I do use a lot of lotion, so I try and rinse before working with their tanks, so I don't think that's it but my husband suggested that maybe when I did a big kitchen clean yesterday I might have some residual cleaning spray land on their holding cups... I rinsed them out after the last use before storing, but it's possible that this is the problem because I didn't rinse them before this use. I feel awful!!

Red is looking almost back to normal, but Stumpy is still floating very still near the surface looking very listless.