Hello all. About 2 weeks ago my betta refused food for a couple days. He was in a newly cycled planted 3 gallon tank and the ammona spiked to 1 ppm (no nitrites and about 5ppm nitrates) for about 3 days in a row. I added prime and did partial water changes on those days. I offered him frozen bloodworms which he ate and I moved him to a well established tank with stable parameters. I noticed after the bloodworms he became a little bloated. In the new aquarium he found a betta leaf near the top of the tank and sat on it for increasing durations until it became all of the time. I mean he laid fins motionless with the leaf fully supporting him. He did eat a few Hikari betta pellets during the 2 days he was in that tank. I moved him to a fully cycled quarintine tank with only about one and a half gallons to keep the water level low to just above the sponge filter. At this point he was bloated and could not swim to the surface without a struggle. He sinks to the bottom of the tank. It looks like his back side is weighing him down when he swims. He can dart when he is startled. He only swims when he needs to get air at the surface, eat, or change position at the bottom of the tank. He often looks out of breath. He still likes to eat. I treated the water with erythromycin it looked like it bothered him so I changed the water after a day and did not dose again. I put a dose of Blackwater to add some tannins. I fasted him for 3 days then fed him part of a pea. I give him epsom salt baths every day 1 tsp per 4 cups for 15 mins. The last epsom salt bath seemed to stress him so I took him out early. I have fed him sparingly every other day and only freeze dried daphnia and frozen brine shrimp. I got Kanaplex and focus and put it I some frozen brine shrimp. Today is his third dose. He still just sits motionless like a little lump at the bottom of the tank. He has been repositioning himself more in the last 2 days. Sorry for the long explanation. I don't know what else I can do? Please let me know if you have any suggestions of anything else that I could try. Thank you.
Water Parameters
pH 7.8
Nitrates about 5ppm
Hardness about 200ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
KH/Buffer about 150ppm
Water Temperature 80 f