Dying Betta Fish?

[rjramer06]

Originally Posted by JD In Van

The benificial bacteria does not live in the water, it resides largely in the gravel and on the decor of the aquarium. Which is why I told you do to a 50% water change and not to scrub anything but the thermometer.

Pouring clean (aka chlorinated, untreated) water all over everything destroys that.
You still haven't answered weather or not you've tested your water or have any idea what it's chemistry is. If you have ammonia present you have destroyed the benificial bacteria and need to be doing 50-30 percent water changes daily until it's completely gone (which will take several weeks).

The Aquarium Store here in our town will be open tomorrow. If I can, I will buy a testing kit from them.

[JD In Van]

If you are using: http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=79 this it's similar (though I would just buy it as straight up melafix in the future), if you're using anything else. Don't.

And you can take your water sample right down to them they should be able to test it for you.

[rjramer06]

Originally Posted by JD In Van

If you are using: http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=79 this it's similar (though I would just buy it as straight up melafix in the future), if you're using anything else. Don't.

And you can take your water sample right down to them they should be able to test it for you.

That is exactly what I'm using. I didn't realize there was a difference between Bettafix/Melafix, but the aquarium store gave me the Bettafix so that's what I'm using. It says to give so much for a week, they change the water (although it doesn't say how much of the water to change).

I will definitely try taking some of my water to them. Thank you for the tip. I'll probably still have to buy my own kit to test it over the weeks though, I'm assuming?

You know, I bought this fish thinking it would be "easy" to take care of. I heard they're one of the heartiest fish types. But then I keep finding out more and more info about what they need/don't need, and I'm an animal lover so of course I'm trying to do everything right for this little guy. And it's turning out to be one of the harder animals I've had.

[LoverO'Squiggle]

I have had so many bettas in my life. I love taking care of them and watching them. From what I have learned, personally, is they like smaller homes. Its not cruel to put them in a small bowl, and I don't mean shove them in a cup! I mean a half a gallon decorative bowl that you can get from a hobbies store or wal-mart, put rocks in it, maybe a castle (something they can hide in or swim around) and a little plant. You don't need a filter, and some can even hurt the Betta because of the strong current, but you would have to keep him away from windows (gets cold). A good rule of thumb: If your cold, so is he. Keep it room temp. Bettas shouldn't be hard to keep. They should be fun. Another thing, crush up his food. I had a betta that was doing the same thing as yours: not eating and hanging out at the bottom a little too much. I started crushing up his food for him and he ate it a lot better. Try doing that, if the pet store didn't help you. : )