Rachel0825

Omg. And I’ve been blaming it on Snelly snacking on it and it might be me 😂😂😂🤦🏻‍♀️ lord. Ok. I’ll flip it and cross my fingers Hahaha. Ok. Thank you 🙏🏻

👀 ok. Do you think I have it upside down? Oh no. I hope not. Lol. Jeez. Haha. I placed the flat side in the substrate and the pointy end up. It has spiky things like maybe leaves were trying to come out but as long as it’s been there it’s done nothing ☹️

@DBrown918 haha. We call my zebra snail King Snelly all alone in his tank. Lol. He’s been by himself for a while now and will probably not want a tank mate. Aw. The platinums are beautiful. @Tony s I’m so sorry. What is lfs? I bought Sushi in Jan from a breeder in Indonesia. He said he was 6 months old. All was fine and then one am it wasn’t. ☹️ now I have found an online in CA that has a Candy Koi Plakat I think might be my new guy. @Whitecloud09 I’m SE as well. I’ve tested my tap and was using the top fin bottled water til I saw it was even hard. My home tap is a tad softer so I’ve been using it. It’s been running for over 4 months. Sushi was in there for 3 months about and Snelly for 4 months. I’ve been adding the bacteria with a water change. I’ve had algae so I hope it’s cycled enough for one. thank y’all so much. Im leery but I want a Betta again. Soon. Lol so I thought I’d ask you guys - the experts. 👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 @Whitecloud09 when you say a plant light do you mean to replace my light for the tank or to add on the side? This Fluval does have the red and blue lights you just can’t dim or change the intensity but you can make it a blue light only. I have plant lights for my regular potted plants and they love them!!!

Ok. So if I decided to add a bottle of Aquafina (haha) to every water change I would need to be consistent and always do that. I keep seeing hard water doesn’t hurt but I just don’t wanna lose another little guy. I might try a mix this weekend and test to see. Thanks.

Oh thank you. @CoryWithAKatana I just feel horrible about my other little guy and I want to make sure everything is as good as it can be. Ok. So no on the shrimp then. Lol. With the zebra snail he does great cleaning the glass but I do brush my plants to keep some algae off. I have my lights on for 7 hours a day and it’s the kit light so it’s not adjustable. I did add the API root tabs but I did buy some of Corey’s when I placed my order. Going with the best. I feel better now. Thank you 🙏🏻 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻☺️

Hello there. I will try to keep it short. Lol. Fluval 5 gal Spec. Heater. Etc from kit. Planted tank. Anubias, vallisneria (sp), tried a Madagascar bulb and it’s not done a thing except become a snack for my zebra snail. I had a betta, he passed. So it’s only been Snelly and I’ve been watching water and water changes, parameters, etc. I think I’m ready to add a betta again but is the tank ready? Lol. I bought some of the plant fertilizer to use rather than the Aqueon so it’s shipped. Do I need the carbon or iron? I don’t think so, right? How can I tell? my Madagascar bulb is not soft. It’s hard and there have been spikes out of it but it’s been there for over a month and hasn’t done anything. How can I get it to grow or is it too late? for my hard water- I think all parameters look good except the hardness but I know you guys told me weeks ago to not worry about it but I want to be so careful….. would adding Aquafina or distilled water hurt or help? I read that distilled lacks minerals and can hurt the tank? and I am still not happy with the setup. Just trying to get some plants and growth going and keeping a simple clean look allowing for room if the Madagascar decided to grow. finally- lol. Sorry. But I have so many questions. I did have frogbit. Loved it. Hated the roots growing so fast and getting algae and looking dirty. Any way to prevent that? I’m looking to add some Amano shrimp as soon as I can find some. I think they’ll help. suggestions. Help? 🙏🏻☺️

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.