Unsure if my fishy is sick...

Flashygrrl

Bah, mineral water wouldn't be good. As for the tank itself, do a series of 25% changes, one probably every other day (I know, that's gonna disrupt the cycle a bit but you gotta get the ph stuff outta there) and then you might choose to keep him in the bowl (if you can manage to get it heated enough) until the tank cycles itself and you can get the stuff out. That will allow the levels to go higher than they could safely with him in there. Put a few flakes or food or a few pellets in there every couple days to keep the cycle fed and monitor everything.

Silentkai08

I've done the 25% water changes twice since your recommendation. Right now, Jim has been at the bottom of his jar and won't really eat. I'm guessing it's because of the water pH, temperature, and stress. He's a bit more lively than when he was in the tank that's for sure. I've done a 100% change of the jar tonight because it's been a few days and food managed to get down to the bottom.

I'll be doing the liquid tests tomorrow to see how the tank is doing. I'm still kinda in the dark though :/

Thanks for your help!

okiemavis

Just remember not to drastically change the ph with a chemical or anything. Bettas need stable ph, so change it slowly over time.

girlofgod

since your tank is small, and it won't be costly for you, i recommend using bottled spring/distilled water from walmart for your tank. i have a 47 gallon angelfish tank, and due to my high ph in the tap water here, i have to use bottled water. i would never use those ph up/down products, as they will cause ph swings resulting in dead fish. because you put your fish into a jar with basically the same water as your tank (full of chemicals), you may as well have left him IN the tank. all the moving him around just creates more stress. i suggest you get the water jugs, and do a water change everyday to bring the ph down/ammonia/nitrites down.

you mentioned that the tank had a heater/thermometer, but what about a filter? is there ANY filtration at all?

good luck!

Silentkai08

The jar no longer has the pH down on it... My tank has no filter. It's my first time handling a betta fish and I was aiming to building a bio filter over time in the 2.5 gallon tank. Eventually I would want to add Mopani Driftwood to steady the pH.

My tank is still in the middle of a cycle so I'm doing 25% water changes every other day while gradually taking out the icky stuff from the pH down. Thanks for the help though. I'll post more later, my laptop is out of battery!

:)