# Found Belly Up but He's Still Alive!



## kelseyandsushi (Nov 23, 2011)

I just purchased a new tank for my betta(an upgrade to 2 gallons from .9 gallons) I washed the tank out with hot water as well as the plants and gravel and put water treatment in the tank and let it sit for a day before making the switch to this tank. Today I walked in on my betta seemingly stuck between the bottom plate and the corner of the tank, belly up. He is still alive, but I have no idea how long he'd been down there(could be up to 3 hours). I had to reach down and pull him up carefully and now he's swimming pretty slow and he keeps puking out food. I'm concerned that something is wrong with him because he was found belly up there, not a usual position for fish. I tested my water and the only thing slightly funny was the nitrite levels, and that wasn't very far off from where they should be(it was inbetween safe and caution and no where near danger). Could this be whats harming the fish? Will Sushi pull through this? How do I fix the issue?
I use aquasafe plus to treat the water each time I do changes, does that work with nitrite or? All of my other levels are fine and the tank is at a more consistant heat and the same heat as the previous tank. I have little testing stips and all other areas are fine and I used the same tap water as I had used with the previous tank with the same treatment method. So ammonia levels are fine, chlorine levels are great, ect.


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## kelseyandsushi (Nov 23, 2011)

Could it just be shock of the new tank? I put him in the tank for the first time last night and Sushi seemed fine. I woke up, fed him, and everything was fine. Got home from school, everything was fine. Got home from swimming, and there he was.
I turned off the bubble filter thing to make it easier for him to swim and he's currently swimming around, but I'm afraid of waking up to a dead fish tomorrow.
The tank:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hawkeye-A...l-with-LED-Light-6-switchable-colors/14660257


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

Just a personal experience, but that tank (I had the 3g option) reeked of plastic and my Ben got sick when he was in it. Keep an eye (or nose) out for smells ok?

My Freddy got stuck under his potting plant in his tank once, little bugger nearly drowned. He was quite "dizzy" afterwards for a day but he perked up. Hold out for someone with more experience though, don't go by my story lol Glad you were able to find him before something worst happened! And congrats on the upgrade!


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## inkrealm (May 15, 2011)

just to get this streight you say he was trapped? 
I agree it was probably shock and near drowning... good thing you found the little guy ^-^ I'd just keep the water clean and let him be and see if he chills out... I'd be puking up my food too if I'd just been trapped and nearly drowned, especially if I was upsidedown >.< 
that being said if he struggled a lot he could have hurt himself internally... but I doubt it and if he did there's probably not much you can do but keep his water clean and leave him be.... just keep a close eye on him and see how he does... keep in mind that that was quite an ordeal for him ^-^; try to be quiet around him and in the room he's in to reduce stress... also don't try to feed him, let him settle down for a bit... 
congrats on the tank upgrade too, I bet that'll be nice for him. 


if it gives you any peace of mind--- I've never had this issue with a bettafish, but once when I was sitting on some rocks by a river I noticed a fish that had been caught on the rocks in a shallow area with high current.... I thought he was dead at first but then I noticed his gills just BARELY moving... this guy was TOTALLY out of the water, therefore no oxygen what so ever... but he was still okay ^-^ I trickled some water over his gills and longstory short eventually managed to get him breathing and flipping and gently back into the water. point being for maybe the first twenty minutes I thought he was going to die... he kept swimming funny and barely floating on the surface and mess, looked like he had no control of his body.... after awhile though he recovered and swam right back off into the stream ^-^ the poor boy's probably just really dazed,  for all their ridiculousness with health they actually are pretty tough guys. ^-^


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

I'll keep my fingers crossed that your little guy is OK. Really hard to type with crossed fingers lol.


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## kelseyandsushi (Nov 23, 2011)

Thank you all so much! I turned off the bubble tower thing for the night so he would have an easier time moving about and he is zooming around his tank and keeping his food down He seems much better today, I also added some extra of the water saftey stuff just incase it was something with the chemicals that my testing strips didn't pick up! Thank you all so much again


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