does my fish have ammonia poisoning?

Question

I changed close to 80% of the water last night, I know, I know, I'm stupid... my betta is now at the bottom of his tank not moving , he comes up just to breathe. Is this ammonia poisoning? and if it is how can I help him before it's too late?

Answer 1

Probably not ammonia poisoning. You would have seriously diluted any ammonia in the tank with the major water change. Possibly it's still reacting to a significant temperature change in which case it will get better given time. It's also quite possible there was a significant change in pH, especially if it had been a while since you last changed any water. This could cause these symptoms. What to do about it would depend on your current pH, but assuming it's in a safe range of 6.0 - 8.2 then the best couse of action is to simply allow the fish to adjust to the new pH.

I would suggest you make sure the water is warm enough for him (74F - 85F or so) and other than that simply let him adjust. Don't change anything other than temperature and that only if it's way too high or way too low and even then change it no more than about 1-2 degrees per hour.

Watch him for any other changes that might indicate another problem such as a disease, but odds are very good it's water related. By my experience though he should be fine given a day or two.

MM

Answer 2

OR you could alleviate the ammonia poisoning by performing a partial water change. If he is suffering from ammonia poisoning then you need to fix it and find him a new home. With a goldfish in a small tank, you should be doing 50% partials everyday. Ammonia is toxic and causes gill damage and tissue burns.

Answer 3

do NOT put bottled water in the tank!
test his water for ammonia level, pH, nitrite and nitrate... if all levels are normal, take some of the water out of his tank so it's shallow... if he is sick, swimming all the way up and down will exhaust him...
check his body for any signs of disease... fuzzy white or yellow stuff could be fungus (that's what my Betta had when she started acting like that...
or maybe there are white spots... that could be ick...
anything that doesn't look normal...

if you find anything, go and get medication for your fish... if not, he might just be under shock because of the big water change (even though lots of people do 100% water changes once or twice a week with their Betta's, due to small tanks)...

if you can't find any signs for a disease, you can still get some bettafix or melafix... that's gonna keep him from getting sick... cause the shock makes him weak)...

good luck..
hope your Betta will be better soon... :)

Answer 4

No I wouldn't think so. I change 100% of my bettas water every 5 days. My guess is water temperature was cooler or the ph was different when you changed water.

Answer 5

More likely chlorine or PH than ammonia.

Answer 6

Just change out all the water after making sure that the chlorine is gone but let it sit out first to let it reach room temp. Hope your betta gets better. He should be fine.

Answer 7

Did you remove the chlorine? I keep my beta in tap water (with chlorine remover) and a little salt. My friend uses distilled water but I find that the tank gets cloudy very fast.

Answer 8

probably I dont really think you could save it now but hey a mistake isnt a mistake unless you learn from it so no youre more experienced yay!......(boohoo for betta)

Answer 9

its ok, its just his time. some fish just done last forever. good luck, and god bless you.

Answer 10

buy bottle water and replace all of the water witht he bottled water, like right now !