# Help!Betta breathing hard after water change, what do i do?



## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

On Wednesday my mom cleaned my bettas 5 and a half gallon tank while I was at school. When I got home from school he was breathing really hard and hiding at the bottom of the tank. Yesterday he didnt move from his hiding spot in this tree cave thing and was breathing really hard still. I didnt see him come to the surface. Today his face is red and it looks like he might have a cut but I'm not sure, I included a picture below. I fed him yesterday and the day before but he didnt zoom up to the surface like he usually does to get his food, I'm not sure if he ate any because it all sunk and he didnt pay attention to it He is still panting but not as bad as yesterday, he is barely moving around but not himself. I tested the water a little bit ago and it was mostly normal. I just dont know what to do I feel so bad! I've included a summary down below
-100%water change on Wednesday.
-my mom claimed to not have done anything differently, we've been doing this before and hes been fine
-im wondering if this might be temperature shock because my mom just puts him in this little 3 gallon tank while she is cleaning with 2 inches of water. We made sure the temperature was normal before putting him back in his normal tank, but he might have been cold in the 3 gallon one. Does temperature shock last this long?
-he is in a 5 1/2 gallon tank
-water change about every 2weeks
-nitrate (No3) 0
-nitrite (no2) 0
-pH 7
-KH 80
-GH 120 that's a little high how would I fix it?
-the tester strips I used dont have an ammonia test on them should I get some that have that?
-we boil our tap water and let it cool down and put it in the fish tank until it is a normal temp, is that wrong? We dont add anything to it
-tank has a heater set to 78degrees the temperature is 80 right now
-tank also has a filter, the filter was changed when the tank was cleaned
-He is panting and breathing hard at the bottom of the tank.









He is not usually that pink, but he was a little bit.















I have some of this will it help him? Please help me!I need your advice


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## BettaloverSara (Oct 15, 2020)

What is the source of your water? Do you use any conditioner?


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

BettaloverSara said:


> What is the source of your water? Do you use any conditioner?


It is water from the sink. We don't condition it by adding anything it just gets boiled on the stove and cooled down to the right temp before we put him back.We have cleaned his tank before with water that was only boiled and he was fine, but this time he is different


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

He is not eating, I put the food in but he doesn't see it or go for it he just stays on the bottom


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## BettaloverSara (Oct 15, 2020)

You need conditioner that removes chlorine and chemicals out of the water. Boiling won't do that. I recommend seachem prime but honestly any water conditioner you can get your hands on that will make tap water safe will help. I think he might have chlorine poisoning.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

BettaloverSara said:


> You need conditioner that removes chlorine and chemicals out of the water. Boiling won't do that. I recommend seachem prime but honestly any water conditioner you can get your hands on that will make tap water safe will help. I think he might have chlorine poisoning.


Do you know if it is ok to add the conditioner while the fish is in the tank


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## BettaloverSara (Oct 15, 2020)

Turtlehorse said:


> Do you know if it is ok to add the conditioner while the fish is in the tank


Yes you can, or if you scoop out some of the tank water and put it in and then pour it all back in that works too


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## Anastasia3rd (Nov 27, 2020)

Boiling is actually one way to remove chlorine. I still recommend conditioner though.


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## Anastasia3rd (Nov 27, 2020)

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Fill out this form so we can... 
I know you already gave us much of this info but the form is a useful reference guide. 
as I said boiling water does remove chlorine, and some chloramine. I still recommend conditioner because a lot of them are designed to help with stress and target other chemicals that boiling would miss. 
I would try some Indian almond leaves in his tank to help with stress.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

*Housing:*
How many gallons is your tank?
5.50gallons
Does it have a filter?
Yes
Does it have a heater?
Yes
What temperature is your tank?
80° Fahrenheit
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
No
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind?
No
*Food:*
What food brand do you use?
I am not sure, the label came off when we were opening it. Here is a picture, we had to crush it because it was too big for my siblings fish's mouths












Also every once in a while I will put one of these sinking pellets in his floating flower decoration














Do you feed flakes or pellets?
Pellets
Freeze-dried?
No
How often do you feed your Betta? How much?
Once every night, about 2 little pellets

*Maintenance:
Before* your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change?
About every 2 weeks. I know now that this is wrong, does anyone have a cleaning schedule I could follow?
What percentage of water did you change?
100%
What is the source of your water?
Tap water.
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water?
Vacuumed it and washed it with the sprayer on the sink.
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner?
We didnt add anything, just boiled it. I will start adding conditioner, I have this








*Water Parameters:*
What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water _before_ the regular water change; not after one.
I dont have the numbers from before, I am new to the test strips, I got them when I noticed he was sick and tested after. Mine dont have a measurement for ammonia, should I get one that has that
Ammonia: I dont know the tester doesnt have this
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7
Hardness (GH): 120
Alkalinity (KH): 80

*Symptoms and Treatment:*
When did you first notice the symptoms?
Wednesday night/afternoon
How has your Betta’s appearance changed?
He has become more red on the face








How has your Betta’s behavior changed?
Not coming up to the surface to eat, not moving much, not as energetic as he was, and he is breathing hard.
Is your Betta still eating?
He doesnt come up to the surface, so I put one of those sink pellets in there and I think he may have eaten some of that.
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how?
Not yet but I have this will it help? I am going to do a 80% water change today and add in conditioner















Does your Betta have any history of being ill?
How long have you owned your Betta?
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased?
No, he was fine, this is the first day I had him in july 2020 vs. Now


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## darkredtiger (Feb 13, 2021)

Looks like he has ammonia burns on his face and may be suffering from ammonia poisoning. I would add Prime to the tank. 

Do you rinse the whole tank when you do a full water change? If you are it may be causing the tank to cycle or go through a mini cycle. A cycled tank should have some nitrates showing. 

Try doing 25-50% water changes and just vacuum the gravel to remove waste and debris. When adding water back dose with Prime. 


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

darkredtiger said:


> Looks like he has ammonia burns on his face and may be suffering from ammonia poisoning. I would add Prime to the tank.
> 
> Do you rinse the whole tank when you do a full water change? If you are it may be causing the tank to cycle or go through a mini cycle. A cycled tank should have some nitrates showing.
> 
> ...


Ok, thanks. What is Prime, is it any of these?







What if I took him out with 20% of his old water and put him in a little tank, making sure the temp stays the same, and add water conditioner and Prime to the 80% new water. I would also vacuum the gravel. I dont understand cycling can you explain it to me?


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## darkredtiger (Feb 13, 2021)

CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial 
This should explain what cycling a tank means. 

None of those are Prime. Prime helps detoxify ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It also a water conditioner. 









I never remove my bettas from the tank when I’m doing a water change. I vac the gravel to remove waste and debris. I do 25% on a 20 gallon and a 50% on a 10 gallon. I then add fresh clean water after treating it back to the tanks. Rinsing the gravel removes are the beneficial bacteria you need to break down toxins and convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. 


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

darkredtiger said:


> CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial
> This should explain what cycling a tank means.
> 
> None of those are Prime. Prime helps detoxify ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It also a water conditioner.
> ...


 Ok thanks is Ammo lock the same I didnt see Prime at the store


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## darkredtiger (Feb 13, 2021)

PetSmart or amazon has Prime. Ammo lock only deals with ammonia. 


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

darkredtiger said:


> PetSmart or amazon has Prime. Ammo lock only deals with ammonia.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ok thanks


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## darkredtiger (Feb 13, 2021)

You’re welcome. 


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## Anastasia3rd (Nov 27, 2020)

That quick start bottle should help with the cycle, and I recommend getting your water tested at a pet store to find out what ammonia is at.


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## AlphaBettas (May 12, 2020)

Oh also, don't do 100% water changes. It kills the beneficial bacteria in fish tanks and really stresses out the fish. Idk if someone already mentioned it lol.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

AlphaBettas said:


> Oh also, don't do 100% water changes. It kills the beneficial bacteria in fish tanks and really stresses out the fish. Idk if someone already mentioned it lol.


Yeah I know that know🙁


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Did the red come on suddenly or over time? Has it been spreading or mostly the same? I don't really see Ammonia stress. I am more concerned that he has septicemia. I've sent a link to someone with more knowledge than I and may know of other treatments. There are also SeaChem products that are recommended. From our sticky on diseases:

*Septicemia(Red Streaks)*
•Symptoms: Bloody red streaks across the body and/or fins, lethargic, loss of appetite, clamped, gasping for air, bloated, ulcers.
•Treatment: Septicemia is caused by an internal bacterial infection. From what I’ve read, it can be due to compromised digestion as a result of rapid drops in temperature. Since Nitrite poisoning can also cause red streaks, check for that first. I do not know if it can be treated conservatively as I have never tried. Though it is not contagious, isolate sick fish. Treat with API Tetracycline, API Erythromycin, Mardel’s Maracyn II OR Jungle’s Fungus Clear/Eliminator. If you are treating with something that does not contain Metronidoxole then combine the treatment with Jungle’s Anti-Parasite pellets. During treatment, use 1tsp/gal Aq.Salt and Stress Coat (as directed on bottle) to help prevent secondary infections. 
*****
Should this be Ammonia-related and not septicemia, do several 50% water changes at least a couple of hours apart. Place the plastic end deep into the substrate if it's gravel. Vacuum one spot until the water runs clean before going to another. It may take several water changes to clean all of the substrate this way. There's really nothing else you can do.

After the tank is clean, one 25% weekly water change and vacuum will maintain a 5.5. Once you get your Ammonia test check 2 x per week. If Ammonia reaches .25 ppm do a 25% water change even if it's only been a few days since the last. If your Mom will get you the API Master Test Kit (liquid) it will save a lot of $$. For around the same price the kit will give you 800 tests as opposed to 40.


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

I think we would need more information and pictures as symptoms of ammonia/nitrite poisoning and septicemia can have similar symptoms. Do you think you could possibly get something to test ammonia? I really like the API Freshwater Master Kit-it is a little pricy but will last you years with a single fish and is the most reliable that is commercially sold. If that is too expensive see if you can find a fish store that does free water testing with the Master Kit-most local fish stores will. Did the symptoms come before or after the large water change?


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

KekeTheBettaDoc said:


> I think we would need more information and pictures as symptoms of ammonia/nitrite poisoning and septicemia can have similar symptoms. Do you think you could possibly get something to test ammonia? I really like the API Freshwater Master Kit-it is a little pricy but will last you years with a single fish and is the most reliable that is commercially sold. If that is too expensive see if you can find a fish store that does free water testing with the Master Kit-most local fish stores will. Did the symptoms come before or after the large water change?


Ok I will look into the ammonia tester. The symptoms came after the change, he started panting after


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Did the red come on suddenly or over time? Has it been spreading or mostly the same? I don't really see Ammonia stress. I am more concerned that he has septicemia. I've sent a link to someone with more knowledge than I and may know of other treatments. There are also SeaChem products that are recommended. From our sticky on diseases:
> 
> *Septicemia(Red Streaks)*
> •Symptoms: Bloody red streaks across the body and/or fins, lethargic, loss of appetite, clamped, gasping for air, bloated, ulcers.
> ...


Just something to note from Fish Aeromonas & Vibrio Disease | Septicemia, Pop Eye, Treatment which I have found very useful. "When Septicemia is present, Tetracycline products including Minocycline (Maracyn 2) should NOT be used as these can exasperate the problem by lowering red blood cell count." It goes more into detail here: Aquarium Medications Part 2 | Antibiotic & Antimicrobial Treatments


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Did the red come on suddenly or over time? Has it been spreading or mostly the same? I don't really see Ammonia stress. I am more concerned that he has septicemia. I've sent a link to someone with more knowledge than I and may know of other treatments. There are also SeaChem products that are recommended. From our sticky on diseases:
> 
> *Septicemia(Red Streaks)*
> •Symptoms: Bloody red streaks across the body and/or fins, lethargic, loss of appetite, clamped, gasping for air, bloated, ulcers.
> ...


The red came over time, I noticed more in the past couple days


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

I would assume it is more ammonia/nitrite related and a bit of shock. Best thing to do is keep the water clean and test the water-here are a few useful guides 








CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial


Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm, or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of information packed into those...




www.bettafish.com












Oldfishlady water change recommendations


Lots of different ways to successfully keep this species- Based on the experiments I have conducted over the years-I have found that water quality can be maintained by these water change schedules. This is based on feeding quality foods and not overfeeding-since most water quality...




www.bettafish.com





A small 10% water change with Prime daily followed by daily parameter checks are your best bet. For severe ammonia poisoning, you can do a methylene blue bath. MB raises the oxygen consumption of cells and helps in the healing of tissue. I like using Seachem Paraguard for this. You can also try adding IAL or Roobios Tea blend to the tank to help with stress and to avoid it turning into something like septicemia because it has antibacterial properties.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

Frost (my betta's name, I guess I haven't used his name before) seems to be a little more active, I've seen him swim around more he still seems pretty tired but he seems a little more active. He actually came to the front of the tank to see me. I turned off his light earlier than I normally would last night to give him some rest and I'm going to leave it off today too, just to help with stress. I'm also going to put in more quick start, just to get the cycle going. He is still not breathing normally tho. Also something caught my attention, on the left side of his face there is a little flap hanging off, I think it might be scales, do you think he cut him self of burned it somehow or is this a side effect of being sick. It's really hard to get pictures but it is probably a 3mm piece hanging there.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

I also got an ammonia testing kit so I will test the water when I get home, because I'm out right now


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

I really can't see much from the pics, has this always been there?


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

KekeTheBettaDoc said:


> I really can't see much from the pics, has this always been there?


Yeah, sorry he kept moving and it was hard to get a good angle. It hasn't always been there


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

Hmm. The methylene blue bath will probably help with that as well as it has antibacterial properties and will help with healing.


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## Turtlehorse (Feb 13, 2021)

He is not breathing hard anymore! He is eating, and he comes up to see me when I go to the tank, I think he is feeling a lot better, thanks for all your help! It is probably going to take a while to get him back to 100% but he is doing way better! I will definitely always add water conditioner now and keep the temperature steady during water changes. I'm going to not do full water changes either, I've learned that's bad now.


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## KekeTheBettaDoc (Dec 3, 2020)

No problem!


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