My Girl's breathing is weird

[JackieD]

funny thing... when i clean my fishes tank (once a week) and i place them in jars while i clean, i feed them a cut up cooked pea each and they love it

However, this last cleaning (last night, after i fed them peas) I realized my extremely energetic and curious girl is suddenly trapped at the top of the water.... not as if she is floating there, but it looks like she is staying there by choice.

Her gills are slightly expanded (when they used to be slim against her) She doesnt respond to me. (usually she freaks out with excitement every time i stand up) and this morning she didnt even want to eat breakfast (when she normally jumps up and down trying to eat the food before they hit the water)

All she does is sit at the surface and take HUGE gulps of air every few seconds.
So i added another plant to the surface for her to rest on.

So now she is resting a little but still is breathing air consistently. Shes never acted like this before, in fact she only went to the surface sparaticlaly or when she got really excited. But now she is breathing air so frequently i have to question it.

whats going on? is my girl choking? if so, what should i do?

 

[Kissyboots]

With that information, I'd say either old age, sudden change in water quality, or change in temperature.

Could you give more info? Like the tank size and other inhabitants? How long you've had her, etc.?

 

[brooklynfish]

Did you dechlorenate the water?

 

[JackieD]

Brooklyn: i dont know what "dechlorenate" the water means :O is there a product that does that? (but seeing as you live in nyc - as do i - i guess i should start doing that)

Kissy: My girl is 1 years old in a 1 gal tank and lives alone, my boy is 2 years old, he is in the same conditions but they sit happily together on my desk . He is fine, she isnt. But i just did a water change all i watch her carefully.

 

[Kissyboots]

Ok. You definitely need to dechlorinate your TAP water. If you're using SPRING water, then you should be ok. I use a combination of TAP with dechlorinater and REVERSE OSMOSIS water.
As for the fish, could you give a detailed list of tanks, like the one in my sig? That would help.

 

[JackieD]

thanks,ok

2 TANKS:
1g
1 betta: Raspberry Pink (f) 1 yr old
no plants, plastic stones and a ceramic hoop
1g
1 betta: Sunset Yellow Head (m) 2 yrs old
no plants, glass stones and plastic palm tree

both fish have a whole gallon to themselves, they live alone but the tanks sit side by side

and what is dechlorinater and reverse osmosis water? do i buy this stuff at petco? this has never happened before, she seemed alright till just last water change :/

 

[JackieD]

ok.. emergency

so my girl has been breathing air regularly. I put a plant near the surface of the water for her to rest on but she continues to use all her strength every few seconds to just to stick her head out of the water to breath.

It literally lifts its self out of the water every few seconds. And i think she is exhausted and is dying. She has been having breathing problems for about 48 hours now and she is has now stopped swimming and is just floating on her side. She tries to eat but has trouble swallowing. She is very pale and i know in my heart she is going to die....

I cant understand it. She was so healthy just the other day. She has never had water issues before, and my boy is just fine (they get water from the same tap) im thinking maybe soap got into her tank? I dont use soap when i clean but maybe there was left over soap on my faucet and it dripped into the tank? that is my conclusion...

Its sad and i think she will die from exhaustion soon. She was my first female betta and she was very smart and energetic. I think she made my boy live longer too. They were very cute together. I feel bad seeing her in such pain. is there ANYTHING i can do to lessen her pain or make it end faster...???

 

[JackieD]

i just came home last night about 4 in the morning, checked on her and the swelling in her gills have gone down, her white body is now red again and she is swimming and eatting.... i dont get it

can anyone explain what just happened... she was floating belly side up just before i left the house last night and i come back and shes fine??? how???

 

[TabMorte]

The chlorine in the water gased out perhaps? It's been about 24 hours since your water change.

You should be using a water conditioner with every water change like Prime, Amquel, Aquaplus, Betta Basics... there's tons of them.

Also you should test your water for ammonia. If you're scrubbing out the 1 Gallons every week you're actually possibly taking away all the good bacteria as well as the bad which means these tiny tanks will never be fully cycled.

 

[Kissyboots]

Jakie, you have a weird fish.
I'm not an expert on RO water, but I believe it's just like spring water. No chlorine and human consumable. What you don't want in your tank is chlorine. It kills things.
I wouldn't scrub the whole tank because that means you're scrubbing of bacteria that is keeping the tank cycled. Also, using non-dechlorinated tap water can kill the bacteria too.
Also, get a testing kit if you don't have one already. Very useful. I have the API Master Test Kit. You can get it from aquariumguys.com pretty cheap.
Hope that helps.