Chester

[kfryman]

I was wondering if there may be something wrong with my new fish Chester, he is almost always resting towards the top of the tank ( I will try to post a picture when I get home. I am at school and in class lol. Just wondering any info will be appriciated!

[mjoy79]

I'm sorry to hear about Chester :(
If you could fill out what you can of this information, it would help in figuring out what may be wrong with him:

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

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?

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[kfryman]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5
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? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? hikari betta bio gold
How often do you feed your betta fish? 5 pellets a day (2 feedings) an 1 fasting day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? dechlorinator stuff

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? yes. light color under his head
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? not very active stays at the top. Oh when I came home he was on his side. (pic below)
When did you start noticing the symptoms? last night (light under his head today)
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Just got him on friday
How old is your fish (approximately)? Got him on 25 so 3 days

I will try to get a pic of the light area

[kfryman]

Here is the white area. I didn't see this in the morning. I am just worried about him. There is definitely something wrong he just doesn't want to move

[kfryman]

Does anyone know what could be wrong, I think if I don't take immediate action I think he may not make it. i am just very nervous

[inkrealm]

I think it's an ammonia issue. a 2.5 needs one 50% and one 100%a week. ( a 100 includes complete removal of the fish and thorough rinsing and drying with HOT water. no chemicals though! make sure there's no chlorine water left from washing. )

this is probably what's wrong with the behavior...
as for the coloring, it's not unusual for fish to get silver there... so I wouldn't worry about that alone ^-^;
20% a week for a 2.5 is not enough though ^-^;

the 100 is essential for a 2.5 because ammonia builds up on the sides and decor. in a cycled tank the good bacteria take care of that, but in a 2.5 it won't.
when you make the 100 make sure to clean the gravel really well and get all the debris out.


I hope he'll be alright... ^-^ <3
remember to acclimate him to his water before adding him back in.

[kfryman]

Well i haven't even had him int he tank very long. I got him in there on Saturday so there should be no problem.

[kfryman]

Originally Posted by inkrealm

this is probably what's wrong with the behavior...
as for the coloring, it's not unusual for fish to get silver there... so I wouldn't worry about that alone ^-^;
20% a week for a 2.5 is not enough though ^-^;

The only problem with the silver part is that was never there until today. This was taking Yesterday. And also see his fins arent spreading like usual

[inkrealm]

to fit in one 50 and one 100 into a week, three days sounds about time for a 50... but yeah, I don't know then... it is possible he may have had some issues prior due to bad living conditions in store and they didn't come out till you got him home... happens often....
what I mean is it's common for the silver to show up at random;; my boy and most other cases I saw didn't have it when they got them either, but then they got it, and it was fine, just color change... some color change is to be expected in all bettas.... they very rarely look exactly the same all their life... what conditioner do you use?.... Prime is well-known and lasts forever.... well worth your money and works excellently...
you might also try some of API's Stress Coat+.... my boy has been loving it... does he look bloated at all of have trouble staying under water?.... ie does it look like he's trying to swim down but floating back to the top?.... are any of his plants dying?...

[kfryman]

No he doesn't move he seems dead but will move. I think his body is shutting down or something. One plant has some yellowish leaves but no dead leaves. I am not quite sure on the conditioner, I will try to pick up some of that stress coat stuff. Does it also work as conditioner?