Rachel0825

Hi all. I am in Savannah, GA. I saw a lot of talk about the Aquarium Co-op so when I had some Betta issues, I joined the forum so I could get some help. And that I did. Thank you to the wonderful people and suggestions. So now I am not in a er situation so I’ll start looking around. I currently have a Zebra snail. Snelly, living all by himself in a 5 gal Fluval Spec that is live planted til I feel my tank is ready and I find the perfect Betta friend. Snelly is in there somewhere 🙂 the cage is covering a Madagascar Lace bulb that Snelly decided was an awesome snack. So I am hoping he hasn’t damaged it beyond life. Thanks all!!

Thanks Tanked. I will keep an eye out on those values as well. I’m not planning to add another fish for now so I’ll be able to just maintain it. I will definitely try the RO water and add that in. I just thought an aquarium water would already have everything I needed and be safe. And I wanted to spoil him. Lol. Sigh but I did the opposite. Thank you for your suggestions. I’ll take all advice you guys will offer 🙏🏻♥️

Thank you Lennie. I do appreciate it. I even tested my tap water and it’s hard as well. I do worry that would harm a betta but I’ll try not to think about it. Lol.

Hello. Ok. I did get test strips finally. Everything seems good except the GH. I have done 3 water changes this week. A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%. I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine. Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly. I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good. I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments. as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit. Top Fin Aquarijm water. For some reason I can’t post a picture. At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

Hello. Ok. I did get test strips finally. Everything seems good except the GH. I have done 3 water changes this week. A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%. I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine. Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly. I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good. I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments. as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit. Top Fin Aquarijm water. For some reason I can’t post a picture. At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

Thanks Lennie. Thanks Johnnie. I will start with the water changes. So far the snail is fine. And I currently have just the blue plant light on and I did lower my timer to now 10-4 to see if the less light will help. Lennie- I am pretty much just looking for all expertise and experience in the GH, this upcoming plant I have, fertilizer suggestions and any suggestions to help with what seems to be a barrage of issues right now. I will take the type of Betta in mind too. I purchased him from an online breeder in Indonesia and he said he was 5 months old and a veiltail. when I get my water tested I will post the results for you to see ❤️

Oh that is a great suggestion. I will test the bottle water and I never thought of using “human” bottled water. I hope to get this corrected. And soon. Thank you.

To summarize- I bought a Fluval Spec 5 gallon tank for a betta and a zebra snail. I’ve had it since January. Using the stock filtration. I have a heater. It’s in my office. My parameters, based on the API test strips, have been great. Everyone has been happy. I’ve only used the betta water, the tannin water and the Top Fin aquarium water. I had Fluval gravel and Fluval substrate. This is a planted tank. Anubias. Bits of grass clumps. And Valinsiera (I think that’s wrong) but just a few plant species nothing wild. I do have the almond leaves in there as well. I had the frogbit floaters and my substrate, all my fault, was a mess and breaking apart and the frogbit even cut back was growing so wild and long and then I developed the long hairy fungus or algae. My tank light is the one with the kit and I have a timer set for 830-630. The water flow to 1. I added driftwood in and it wasn’t long til I had the film and the hairy fungus was all over it so I decided to redo and get rid of the frogbit and the gravel and substrate and start over. I added substrate to the bottom of one side and capped it with my Fluval gravel. I placed root tabs in. Just 3. Took the driftwood out and cleaned the plants and everything seemed good and clear and nice. I have a Betta conditioner and a bacteria growth liquid as well as a plant fertilizer. Same things I’ve used weekly since Day 1. This was 2 weeks ago. Then last week my water GH skyrocketed to the dark blue 180 mark. I added more almond leaves. Added some small driftwood. I tested daily and it wasn’t coming down. I did not do a water change. I came in Friday am and Sushi, my betta, was passed on. He was perfectly fine and happy when I left Thursday. So. I’ve watched videos. I’ve read parts of suggestions. I talked to a local store and their suggestion was a water change and that our water can fluctuate but I told her he’s never have tap water. I come in this am and the snail is fine. The water is tinted. My new test strips won’t be here til tomorrow so I can’t test the water today. But there is stringy hair, long hair, all over the plants. Help me. I want to get this tank and plants right before I lose Snelly or get a new Betta. To make matters worse……. I was super excited how it was looking and ordered a Madagascar Lace Plant which is delivering Friday.