help ajust my fishy's water? ^-^ ( esp. no PH )

[inkrealm]

the hardness is between 25-75, ( it's the color of 25 with the edges of 75 )
alk 40-80 ( same situation as above )
NO PH. at all DX I have no idea why. I heard some things from the beach and such will add PH, should I get something from the beach or something to add it to raise it? it's been really low and now it's 0.
will this hurt him having none? D:

it's treated tap, three live plants, blue aquarium gravel. why is there no PH and will it hurt him? :/ I also wanted to make sure hardness and alk were okay, thankyou :D



othe rstats:
no nitrite, VERY LITTLE nitrate, ideal ( 0 to <0.2 ) ammonia
i am in process of cycling it with my fish in, by the way >.<

[inkrealm]

edit: whoops, obviously not zero PH XD;
faulty test >< it is still low though, adding the new result in a minute XD;



it's around 5.5,
that's still kindof low though ><;
anyone have a good idea on how to fix this?

[DarkMoon17]

What kind of tests are you using? Are they liquid tests or strips?

I would repeat all the tests again just in case... What is your water source?

[inkrealm]

I used strips, I'm getting the master test kit tonight but right now all I have are strips. it says 5.5, but it's the lowest reading on the strip so it may be less than that.
I'm really worried about him he's acting weird....
I'm doing a 50 water change....
maybe his alk and hardness are off too?
if I remove the hood he stops diving and just gets kindof floaty and mopey, he seems frustrated or something/.... his body's a little skinnier than his head, do you think they actually UNDER fed him in the store by any chance?
he's not thrashing and diving as long as I leave the hood off DX and the pellets started sinking lately instead of floating.... does this give any ideas? :/
when I first brought him home and he was acting great I was using a mix of treated spring treated tap bettawater and a TINY bit of distilled in case I'd used too much treatment even though I used as followed on the back.
now it's only treated tap though, could this be the issue?

he's still acting a little weird, but he really chills out if I take the hood off...... .-." it has a light but he's always loved it, and even when I turn it off he goes back to acting up again, so i don't think that could be it >< ahhhh why can't they talk D:

[DarkMoon17]

Well, test strips are not very reliable so I wouldn't go by that. Have you tested your tap water before adding it to the tank? For long term health it is best to just use dechlorinated tap water.

Did the behavior change coincide with changing his water?

I wouldn't be surprised if the petstore underfed him... what do his feces look like? Are they white and stringy or brown?

[inkrealm]

no, I didn't test it, but I do treat it with BettaSafe. I'm also getting some Prime, I'll have to check how to use it >< I think it just goes direct into the tank though?
it is treated tap water I'm using, I don't know that it's an issue with the water but that's all I could see it being, the water is kept clean so I have a hard time imagining it could be parasites :/
it did, from what I can see.
I had had the mix, and then I'd done at least one 50 but maybe the mix was still there.... then I was told to remove the AQ salt, because if it wasn't needed it could cause other issues, so i did a good change to get it out and used nothing but treated tap water.
so I think it must either be the lack of AQ salt or the tap water, :/ maybe the Prime will help out though,
should I feed him a little extra for a bit? I'm scared to give him swim bladder but I guess they could have underfed him too,
his feces are brown, so should be no worms. they were connected by something clear and took a little time to detach from him, but I think that's normal?

some of the feces were kindof long too but someone said that was probably the shell of the freeze dried blood worm and nothing to worry about.


here's more info if you want it but it is long so:

link

[DarkMoon17]

Test both your untreated tap water and your tank water once you get the master kit... Bettas do like water slightly acidic 6-7 so don't worry too much. The strip test was probably off a bit anyway.... It is possible that he is not handling the cycling process well.

Ya, you shouldn't add salt long term since your betta will build a resistance to it and then it won't be effective when you need it to be.

It doesn't sound like internal parasites. How much are you currently feeding him?

How exactly is he acting weird? Is he darting around a lot or something like that?

[inkrealm]

I'll test them tonight and post the results,

I give him two pellets in the morning at ten or sometimes a little earlier and two at night at five.
I was giving him a blood worm in addition almost daily somewhere in the middle of the two but I decided not to any more because I was nervous of giving him swim bladder or dropsy. I also didn't feed him yesterday so that he could have a day of digestion. if the pet store didn't feed him enough maybe I should be feeding him a tad more though till he seems the proper weight... how is a betta meant to lack at a proper weight any way? I know with frogs but I wasn't sure with bettas >< he may be under,

he's darting a ton, which is normal I think, but in addition to that he's darting DOWN, like he;ll push ( swim wriggle really strong and fast, sortof determined ) towards the bottom, and push himself into the gravel sometimes or drag himself along it or shove himself into his plants head first,
he floats in the plant at odd times, and basically STOPPED darting unless it's downwards, he was really active and friendly and curious and enjoying his space, but now he just kinda floats, or scoots on the bottom ( not sideways )
and he gets these weird almost dazed things where he gets in an odd position and just stares till you distract him >< the darting is obsessive sometimes though, and those two combined makes me nervous, he never just floats or sits like he's doing when he's not darting D:

thanks so much for the help, I have to leave tomorrow morning early and I'm so scared to come back and fine him miserable D: we both appreciate it a ton