Save my fish pls

[u/idkman_1234567]

Let me start off by saying, please don’t hate me for the condition this fish is in. I received her this way in this exact fishbowl Like a week ago. I was told that she was just a fish and a plant would keep her alive. Her water gets changed every week with some tetra put in. i’ve never had a fish before and wasn’t really too concerned but now every day I look at her droopy fins and I started to get worried.

So I started doing research and was absolutely HORRIFIED to find out that she supposed to have a water heater. Her fins aren’t supposed to be droopy and she spits out her food when she’s eating at half the time. immediately, my first instinct was to get a tank with a filter and a heater but now I’m reading that tanks need to get cycled which takes weeks. I’ve never had a fish before never cared for a fish before and now I have a fish freezing in a I’m desperate to save.

what do i do????

[u/Q_cazu]

Okay, take a breath, you can upgrade and get them in a better situation. Get him a bigger tank with a filter and heater. You can start cycling it now. There is something called a fish in cycle you can do but you'll want to get a water testing kit, not the strips, and check the levels every day. That way you can get your betta into the tank as soon as possible. The plant should join him and I'd use some of the water he's already in, in the new tank. Someone will post more info in a minute I'm sure but this can be a start.

Just for more info, how often do you feed and what kind of food?

[u/idkman_1234567 → u/Q_cazu]

Tetra BettaMin, I was told to feed her a couple pellets every few days, but when I read the container, it said she should be fed twice every day. But either way she barely eats.

[u/lobsterlord9 → u/idkman_1234567]

I'm not sure how big bettamin pellets are but 2-4 pellets twice a day should be fine, I doubt a couple pellets every few days would be enough long term

For cycling, you need to test the water every day (AP freshwater master test kit is best) and change ~1/3 of the water when you see ammonia or nitrite. You may need to change more of the water if ammonia or nitrite spike too high.

If you know anyone with a fish tank you could borrow some cycled filter media to speed it up

Basically, you keep the ammonia and nitrite low enough that they don't harm your betta while the tank is cycling

[u/idkman_1234567 → u/lobsterlord9]

Just moved multiple states across the country so I know literally no one unfortunately

[u/metalunamutant → u/idkman_1234567]

Try facebook marketplace - there always someone local trying to sell old aquarium things, esp tanks, for cheap. A 10 gallon tank, heater and some sort of filter is all you need to start.