# Is My Fish Slowly Dying??



## BeesMommy23 (Mar 31, 2008)

about a week ago my boyfriend was cleaning out the fish bowl but he was just flushing the bowl with the water from the bathroom tap and then my poor fish flew outa the bowl into the sink and was flopping around, well i scooped him up and put him back in the water and lately he hasnt been himself, he usually swims around the top and is there when i feed him, now he just lays on the rocks in the bottom, ive never owned a betta fish before so im not sure what to expect or whats going on...is he slowly dying??? or just still in shock?? if anyone knows please let me know thanks ....


----------



## Meatpuppet (Mar 1, 2008)

was the fish in your bowl while it was being flushed?
I think its both shock and the chlorinated water you put in its tank.
did you dechlorinate the tap water before throwing him in? if you didnt it is a great possible he is dying. 
you can not put the fish in that water without decchlorinating it and letting it sit for at least and hour. if not, then i would get him out asap and into some good water (i would somtimes use bottled spring water from the store) then dechlorinate the tank water with conditioner from the fish store.

other than that, what are the water parameters? (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite)(tested with a liquid test kit) 
how big is the tank?
temperature? does it have a heater? (needed for bettas bcuz they need water around 78 degrees)


----------



## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Most municipalities don't use chlorine any more. You can call your local utility and find out for sure. Most use fluorine, much cheaper and less dangerous.


----------



## BeesMommy23 (Mar 31, 2008)

hes in a fish bowl, when i clean the bowl i put fresh water in it and put Aqua Plus tap water conditioner in it and he has been fine, but lately hes just not himself... he doesnt have any heat lamps but the water tempature is like room tempature water maybe a lil cooler...soo im not sure whats going on with him now...


----------



## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

I'm sure the colder water isn't helping any, he needs to be in water that's around 78 degrees so you need a heater. And you need to test your water, odds are the ammonia is pretty high with no filtering options.


----------



## BeesMommy23 (Mar 31, 2008)

a heater? ohh but where i got my fish they said i dont need a heater or anything like that and ive had him for about 5 months now and he has been fine....hmmm if i do put a heater n stuff in there will he survive or is he just going to die?


----------



## Meatpuppet (Mar 1, 2008)

BeesMommy23 said:


> but lately hes just not himself... he doesnt have any heat lamps but the water tempature is like room tempature water maybe a lil cooler...soo im not sure whats going on with him now...


oh well its good your using conditioner :thumbsup: 
but with my experience, my fish was doing the same thing the first couple weeks i had him. he was active and healthy looking, then almost without reason he would just lay at the bottom of the tank and only come up for food and air- until i got him a heater. he now is as active and healthy looking as ever. so even though your fish could be shocked i highly recomend the heater . they are used to warm water so they wont be as active in room temperature water. 

and heaters usally come submerible. havent really seen lamps.

but do you have a liquid test kit to test the parameters? What is your tank size?


----------



## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Yeaaaahhh, first rule of thumb is that sometimes the LFS people have no idea what they're talking about. Our task is to find the ones who actually can do their job


----------



## BeesMommy23 (Mar 31, 2008)

oh i c
well hes just in a round fish bowl im not sure of the size its just a round bowl for fish lol um ive never owned a betta fish before so this is all new to me and no i dont have a testing kit so im not too sure....well i guess i can get him a heater n see how it goes from there..
thanks to everyone who replied to my post...

take care!![/size]


----------



## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

You should aim for having at least a 2.5 gallon with a mini heater and filter. You should also read the Betta Care sticky provided, it's got a lot of great info.


----------



## SST (Nov 17, 2007)

Keep us posted on how it goes with the heater.

Good luck!


----------

