Sick betta, can't figure out what's wrong

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Sajateda

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Dec 8, 2017
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Hello, this is (unfortunately) my first post because I don't know where else to go. My poor betta Charlie got sick a long while ago, I would say about a month ago. At first I thought he was just constipated due to being overfed pellet food. He was still able to swim but was staying on his side. He was in a 29 gallon tank with my tetra school, no fin nibbling or aggression from either party. He was in there for two months I would say before this all started. He became lethargic and like I said, floating on his side but still able to swim about a month ago. What I think caused the onset illness was the tank being too cold because my thermometer was showing me incorrect temperatures. I set up a 10 gallon tank (smallest I had) with the heater set at 77 and got a correctly working thermometer. I have a slow filter going as to not disturb the water too much for him. He seemed to be doing better in the small tank once I transferred him, then all the sudden it looked like he had fin rot. Now his color has completely changed and his beard even looks dilapidated The temp remains at a constant 77 degrees and I do partial water changes every few days. Ph has been a little high, around 7.3. Ammonia seems to be at 0. I tried some medicine (microbe-lift herbal actives artemiss 100%natural expellant for bacterial diseases). I have used it for 10 days and have had no success. His color has gone from his vibrant blue and red with flowing fins (elephant ear betta) to green and having half the fins he used to have. I don't know what I've done so wrong and I feel like a terrible fish mom :( none of my tetra have been sick or showing signs of sickness. I'm sorry for the long post. Thanks for any help.
 

Sajateda

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Dec 8, 2017
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Here is the before and after. The blue is when we first got him and him laying on his side green and sad is right now. This all happened within a month, if that, and I'm very distraught over my poor baby. He doesn't deserve this. Could it be velvet? The fact that he has been hanging on this long makes me think not. He also did always have a gold hue but the first picture was took with my old phone so crappy quality.

17353152_1461693877188134_3925733544866935275_n.jpg

View attachment 20171208_023322.jpg
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Where did you purchase him?

Can't say for sure what's wrong. The fin degradation sounds like a bacterial issue, commonly seen with water condition problems. Ammonia/Nitrites/nitrates will all cause issues, depending on the exposure level.
 
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Sajateda

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Dec 8, 2017
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Where did you purchase him?

Can't say for sure what's wrong. The fin degradation sounds like a bacterial issue, commonly seen with water condition problems. Ammonia/Nitrites/nitrates will all cause issues, depending on the exposure level.
I got him from petco back at the beginning of April. It didn't post as a picture but if you click the link under the pic you can see what Charlie looks like now.
 

Sajateda

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Dec 8, 2017
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Yes, I saw. Did you cycle the tank with him in it?
No, it was a hospital tank I set up while he was still in the other tank. I have been doing partial water changes and cleaning gravel every time I do. I do have to use tap water. I treat it with water conditioner and ammonia treatment since my water can be kinda harsh. Out of the tap my water has a ph of around 8.
 

OrionGirl

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pH on it's own isn't an issue. Sudden swings can cause problems, but nothing like this. I more meant--when you first got him, did he go in to a cycled tank? What happened to in the month or so before this change?
 

Sajateda

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Dec 8, 2017
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pH on it's own isn't an issue. Sudden swings can cause problems, but nothing like this. I more meant--when you first got him, did he go in to a cycled tank? What happened to in the month or so before this change?
Yes, I had the tank set up already. I thought it had even time to cycle through but maybe not. I put him in a different tank at first because I didn't know how my betta and tetra would react to each other. Could a nitrate/nitrite problem cause this sort of sickness? Maybe I'm reading my labels wrong on my testing kit and I'm screwing something up. Or it could've been the stress of the move once I put him in the tank with my tetra. My sister's have cats one of which fell in the tank. I did a water change when I got home but could the cat have introduced something? I know she fell near where Charlie was in the tank (her fat butt made the lid slide off, since the lid is removable). I also was at an out of state wedding the week before he fell sick so I don't know what could've happened to start the initial symptoms. I have an api testing kit, is there a differnt one that I should use that'll be more accurate? Anything differnt I can do to tap water to make it more tolerable to fish? He didn't look like that at first, the symptoms where similar to constipation/swimmers bladder. He still had color and his fins. Now I'm not sure that's it. I hope I'm proving enough info accurately, I'm a beginner still.
 
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