Please help, new guy in tank! Pics!

[GreenTea]

Hey guys. Yesterday I purchased a rosetail delta from petco. He was lying sideways, but when I picked him up he swam quickly around in his cup. He has the coolest eyes; black with a silver stripe through them. His unique tail, cool eyes, and sad state brought him home with me.

He is now in a heated, treated 2.5 gallon tank. I acclimated him to his water temp and washed off all his gravel, decorations, and his heater. Since putting him in his tank, he has righted himself, only occasionally tipping, but he is extremely lethargic. Yesterday he sat at the bottom. Today, he's moving more, but he hardly swims, sometimes his gills are not moving at all. He also hasn't eaten. Did I just get him too late? :/

He seems to be struggling to make it to the top for air, should I lower the water level to half and treat him like he's in quarantine? I added aquarium salt and two drops of betta revive to his tank before I initially put him in, as he was in not so hot shape yesterday. That was my preemptive strike.

I see no signs of ich, velvet, fin rot, or anything else visibly identifiable. I'm hoping he's just slowly recovering/in shock. I hope he makes it. Usually I don't like marbles (no offense to anyone who does) but I really like this guy and I hope he makes it. I have two other bettas, a giant and a veiltail, that I use the same water/conditioner/heaters with in my house (all in my room, actually) and they are great, if that helps at all. Here are some pictures of him, just cause.


Also, why are their these little air bubbles all over the rocks and plants?

[GreenTea]

Also the only name idea I have for him is Oreo (boo) and that sucks so I refuse. He looks too cool to be named after a cookie, so any name suggestions are greatly appreciated too! Thanks in advance.

[LolaQuigs]

He's awesome! He could be just adjusting to his new environment. But if he seems to be having bouyancy issues, he might have SBD. If he's still tipping to one side, I'd fast him for two or three days and do an epsom salt treatment: 1 tsp per gallon for two days, then 2 tsp per gallon for eight days, doing daily 100% water changes for the duration of treatment. Lowering his water level would be a good idea as well. I'd avoid medicines and just try the epsom salt for now. Good luck! I hope he makes a speedy recovery!

[GreenTea]

Sorry, but what's SBD? And thanks =] I adore him already. It was him or a tiny yellow girl who was also adorable, it was a tough choice.

He is able to swim to the top, but yes, sometimes just floats down a bit and then swims again. There's no twitching. He willl also just stay in one place for a very long time. Sometimes it seems as if he has issues moving his fins properly, but is trying, if that makes any sense? Like they're not moving the way they're supposed to? It's just sort of confusing. I'll lower the water level and go get him some epsom salts. Thanks for your input, I hope we get more!

[GreenTea]

Ah! I just noticed black specks floating on the top of the water, I'm assuming just some dust from his black gravel (which I rinsed a lot.) I'm going to remove him, super super super rinse the gravel and everything in his tank, lower the water level, and go find some epsom salts.

[YoshesMom]

SBD is swim bladder disorder ( correct me if im wrong ) and I have NO idea how to treat it on bettas I know with goldfish you just give them peas but peas are not good for betta just look up swim bladder disorder

[BlackberryBetta]

Yes, swim bladder dissorder is correct. And the methods descirbed above are correct. You you try them if you are concerned about him.

[Oldfishlady]

When you first acclimated him did you acclimate to both temp and chemistry of your tank water by adding small amounts of the tank water to his cup or bag or just floated to equalize temp.......

Make sure and pop all the bubbles on the tank walls and decorations with either a clean hand or net before you add him to the tank.....

[GreenTea]

Update:
For one, I cleaned/reorganized/redecorated all 3 of my tanks, just for fun and I'll probably post a bunch of pictures of them in the photo section later if anyone's interested. I'm officially obsessed.

On the new guy: I rinsed his gravel by hand for about 20 minutes, removed his large decoration, so now he only has the silk "resting" leaves and some sea glass/gravel in there. I added a 1/2 tablespoon of aquarium salt to his tank (probably just under 2 gallons with the lowered level.) I could only lower the water level by about an inch because it still has to cover his heater. I'm on my way to buy epsom salt and a better heater right now. Since being put in his new re-cleaned tank, he is swimming around and exploring some, seems more alert and relaxed, which is always a good sign. Still a little tippy and lethargic though.

Also - Aquarium salt + epsom salt = too much salt? Or ok? I may just continue to use the aquarium salt if he keeps improving, but I'll get some epsom salt and start it tonight or tomorrow with new water if he doesn't look better by tonight.

OFL - I don't know what all the bubbles were about, I think I just didn't clean the gravel well enough or something? And I know I acclimated him to temp, I *think* I acclimated him to chemistry. I'm not totally positive :/ oops.

[GreenTea]

Bump for responses and an update: I have him in 1 conditioned gallon today with epsom salt. He seems much more active and alert.