Betta Swimming Erratically

[Sapere_Ceta]

To start off: 

PH: 7.4

Nitrates: 0ppm (the live plants have always kept the amount very low to showing up as nonexistent lately) 

Hardness: Unable to test for 

Nitrite: 0ppm

Ammonia: 0ppm

KH/Buffer: Unable to test for

Water Temperature: 79F 

Here is a photo of my betta that I took yesterday; nothing external seems out of the ordinary. I also ran a flashlight over him today and saw nothing as well. 

Some background information to possibly help: I got Samphan on December 18th from a breeder, that is when he arrived. He was placed in a quarantine tank with botanicals, tannins, and salt. I saw no signs of illness and no strange behavior at any point (I am always home, so I’m always consistently observing him). The only thing I ever found slightly odd was how he turns, but that was never concerning, as nothing else showed up in conjunction.
Two days ago, I upgraded him to a seven gallon holding tank (he’s going to be transferred into a 20 gallon all to himself once it’s complete) that has been fully cycled since December 22nd. The only thing different about this setup would be the type of bin it is, and that it has many live plants and a light. I test this tank every few days, and tested many days in a row prior to adding Samphan to assure all was well with water parameters. He was drip acclimated to this tank, even though the parameters appeared to be the same. 

Yesterday, I saw nothing concerning. Today, I woke up maybe a few hours ago at most, and noticed he will occasionally do fast jerky movements, so much so that he even almost threw himself out of the water. 
He seems to have a voracious appetite today, as he’s been continuously nibbling at plants (though this could be completely normal, especially since this is a new tank for him to experience). There’s NO rubbing/flashing occurring, NO lethargy, nothing externally wrong looking (even with a flashlight). 
 

I have a few theories, but I’m curious on what the consensus of others may be. My theories are: Could it be a reflection the bin is producing (as this is a new bin with a thicker plastic)? Perhaps a very early sign of velvet (maybe the plants were still contaminated after they were cleaned long ago)? Maybe even gill flukes I’m unable to see? 
My last theory is a neurological issue, since he’s always turned a little odd as well. But I don’t think that one would be nearly as probable as the others. What do you all think?

 

Edit: The biological media is in a new filter (it was transferred from the original so the flow was safe for a betta). This filter originally was very loud and sounded broken, even after it was troubleshooted for a few hours. I let it run and it’s improved significantly, making a little noise every now and then. I reached out to the third party seller, but haven’t been responded to. My mom made a comment asking if that could be it, though I’m admittedly not sure. Could this somehow be electrical, perhaps it’s shorting out or malfunctioning and bothering the fish? 

Edited January 6, 2021 by Sapere_Ceta

[Sapere_Ceta]

I just saw him flash for the first time, so it’s definitely something parasitic. I’m going to try and order some CopperSafe to use. I don’t think salt will cut it, and it would be even more damaging to the plants. 
I’d rather get rid of it if it’s in the whole tank anyways. I’m speculating it’s gill flukes perhaps, but I suppose it could be an early stage of velvet or ich maybe as well. 
 

In the meantime, I’ll thinking about potentially reading the water temperature in the meantime. Should be able to get a medication by tomorrow or the next day. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Sapere_Ceta

[Sapere_Ceta]

I’ve spent the night figuring out a plan, calculating the dosage, how long to treat for, how many  water changes and re-additions of Copper Safe to add, etc. I have a feeling the plants will struggle, but they are most likely what was contaminated for a long time in the first place, since he’s only acted this way after adding him to this tank a few days ago. 
 

The plants would have to have carried something for weeks.. which is confusing to me, as I’m not sure what could survive that long without a host. Samphan during his entire quarantine (since December 18th) had never acted this way once until now..

Samphan’s erratic behavior hasn’t been too prominent since the first occurrence. But recently he almost threw himself out of the tank again, and has only twitched once after that. 
He keeps staying at the front of the the tank, nonstop, the entire day, and he hasn’t rested on the bare bottom or a leaf or plant or anything.. which is extremely unlike him. He never used to act this way in his other holding tank, granted, it was half the size of this one, so perhaps this is normal. 
It just seems really strange. I used to catch him sleeping and resting every now and then, especially until 4:30am, which is when he would get up, and when I would go to sleep. But he hasn’t seemed to have rested at all, and I’m watching him very frequently. 

[Mr_Manifesto]

This fish is in a plastic bin?  What kind of bin is this?  Most plastics leech chemicals into the water unless its food grade.  Might be irritating gills/scales? Idk.  it might be a parasite as well, but you just moved this guy, so he might just be freaked out by the whole thing, might be the plastic in the bin?  Maybe just observe for another day or so and do a small water change?  I'm always weary of jumping straight to chemicals after making a huge amount of changes.  Stress kills fish faster than most diseases in my experience.

[Sapere_Ceta]

3 hours ago, Mr_Manifesto said:

This fish is in a plastic bin?  What kind of bin is this?  Most plastics leech chemicals into the water unless its food grade.  Might be irritating gills/scales? Idk.  it might be a parasite as well, but you just moved this guy, so he might just be freaked out by the whole thing, might be the plastic in the bin?  Maybe just observe for another day or so and do a small water change?  I'm always weary of jumping straight to chemicals after making a huge amount of changes.  Stress kills fish faster than most diseases in my experience.

Yeah, it’s a food grade bin. I made sure to check prior to using it (I’ve always used bins in the past as holding/temporary “tanks” and occasionally for breeding or holding fry). He was in a bin previously as well when I was QTing him, but it was smaller sized (food grade bin as well). 

This morning, he’s continued to swim erratically and keeps staying directly where the filter flow is running (the flow itself has never been an issue, though I keep a sponge to the out-take and the flow backing against the wall anyways just to be safe). 
He will seem fine for a while and suddenly start his behavior. 

I thought about using salt treatment, but he had a salt treatment until he was out of QT, and I don’t want it to not be as effective if it is parasites and I use it again. If it also came from this new tank, whatever it is was able to be alive for many weeks without a host somehow, which concerns me that it could potentially be tougher to get rid of and capable of living a longer time than typical parasites. 
I guess it could have also been on him all of this time, but this behavior was never displayed once. I guess they would have been able to live through the salt treatments as well, since that was occurring consecutively during QT. 

[Sapere_Ceta]

He’s been wedging himself really roughly into plants and has been knocking into the bottom of the tank after his twitching episodes. It seems like today is worse potentially.. 

 

[Mr_Manifesto]

If it is parasites, it does sound like it would be gill flukes or something similar.  I'd probably medicate just to be safe.  I don't know much about Coppersafe, never used it, but there are things like Paracleanse that would work well for stuff like that too.

 

[Sapere_Ceta]

10 minutes ago, Mr_Manifesto said:

If it is parasites, it does sound like it would be gill flukes or something similar.  I'd probably medicate just to be safe.  I don't know much about Coppersafe, never used it, but there are things like Paracleanse that would work well for stuff like that too.

 

I think that would be the safest approach too maybe. I was hoping to get Paracleanse but it’s not available anywhere near me. I also cannot drive, so I am limited on what I can order if I don’t want to wait a week or more for the medication to ship. 
Copper Safe was one of the options that checked all of the boxes, and I made sure to take a lot of notes and write up a plan, calculate all of the dosing, and so on. 
 

As long as you don’t have fish sensitive to copper or inverts, it most likely won’t cause any noticeably negative side effects, as long as you aren’t overdosing. As long as you maintain the therapeutic level of total or chelated copper, it should be effective without harming the fish you’re using it on. 
With plants, it can definitely make them feel a little unhappy. Though there seem to be no consensus of how damaging to them it could be. Something that seems like it would help is to not fertilize anymore during medication, to avoid excess copper. I also plan on doing some small water changes throughout the week, replacing the dose equal to the replaced amount of water periodically. I’ve only seen a slightly better response to any treatments in general, whether it be natural or not, with small water changes during them. 

I also have purchased a copper test kit to make sure the level of copper is only in the therapeutic level. I tend to be a little obsessive about checking parameters, and this is definitely something I’d check daily on. That way everything is monitored enough so the fish is safe from anything that could be linked to the ppm of copper. 

[Dancing Matt]

Not necessarily causation but for comfort... You mentioned a light in the new tank, have you tried turning it down a little too see if it helps him maybe stress less?  Sorry to hear he is not doing well. I have been following your 20 build and am rooting for recovery.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Dancing Matt

[Sapere_Ceta]

15 minutes ago, Dancing Matt said:

Not necessarily causation but for comfort... You mentioned a light in the new tank, have you tried turning it down a little too see if it helps him maybe stress less?  Sorry to hear he is not doing well. I have been following your 20 build and am rooting for recovery.

I do have the light dim since adding him. I also have tannins in the tank in conjunction. I appreciate that. Thank you.

[Sapere_Ceta]

The Copper Safe seems to be doing the trick! I haven’t seen flashing or twitching through my observation today, though it always could start back up. I noticed it was far more prominent around this time though. Lethargy continues, though its occasional, and he’s been a little more exploratory like his typical self. A small amount of bloating presented yesterday, so I’m fasting him until it goes down, which it seems to have reduced a bit. It definitely worried me at first, as I always feed light and make sure I feed a high quality variety (plus I soak what I’ll feed prior to adding it). But I think today is looking promising! 
 

The plants seem to be okay so far. I can’t say I’ve seen a difference, but the dose has been administered for three days, so that could definitely change. I do think I caught whatever it is a bit on the earlier side, which might be helping me out.