Shark Tale

*Update on eating* My betta has not eating much in the last 2-3 days. Ammonia and Nitrites look ok. Could it be from any of the other water parameters? He won’t eat Aqueon pellets as mentioned above. He ate Tetra freeze dried bloodworms on Saturday, but has denied them Sunday, Monday and today. Below are my parameters.

Should be fine but I wouldn't do it every single day for multiple times a day. In the trout fly fishing community, we take extra precaution when handling fish- some more than others. Precautions are taken during the de-hooking process after a catch, taking a photo with a fish and sometimes when stocking fish into rivers. The protective slime coat is what most people aim to protect, but they also try to avoid touching their gills and over exposing the fish to air if removing from water. One of the best ways to protect fish when handling is to wet your hand first prior to touching or picking it up. Do not touch it with dry hands. Trout are obviously a much different kind of fish than a guppy, however similar care would apply. Also keep in mind this info is coming from a trout fisherman and not from a guppy handling expert haha but I figured I'd let you know how some people handle fish if they choose!

This is great advice! I might try to order some bloodworms and see how that works. Tank is heated at 78 so that’s checked off. As mentioned above, I’m in the process of cycling so I’m hoping he is just still getting acclimated from water changes etc. as he’s only been in the tank 4-5 days.

Thank you very much!! It’s day 4 and my betta has barely eaten. He’s swimming completely fine and seems to have plenty of energy. He’s probably eaten 2 pellets since Sunday! He swims right up to it, smells and checks it out for 10-30 seconds and swims away. I’m feeding Aqueon betta pellets. What’s the longest anyone’s seen their fish not eat yet still look healthy?

Hi all- new to the forum here! This is my first ever betta tank. I have some questions on cycling. Stupidly on my part, I bought everything before researching so now doing a fish in cycle and here we are. (Petsmart wasn't much help and told me to not even use water conditioner and just run the filter for an hour before adding my fish, but thats another story.) Tank- 3.5g Stock- 1 betta Plants- 1 Java Fern, 2 Anubias After one night of research I realized there was a lot I needed to do so next day I went to a local shop. The gentleman told me to dose Prime and Stability the first day, then Stability for the next 7 days. One thing I have trying to find information on is, during this first week, am I supposed to be doing water changes at all? He didn't mention I had to and I couldn't find anything that said I needed to during this first week. Today (day 3) I tested my water. My ammonia test strips might be broken (they arrived damaged) but seemed to give a reading somewhere 1-2ppm, Nitrites actually started to appear and no Nitrates. Also, my tank was a little cloudy and had a slight odor so I panicked and did a 50% water change and dosed Prime and Stability. (was reading it could be bacterial bloom but not positive) Should I have done the water change or should I have just listened to the guy and just have kept dosing Stability? Should I do anymore water changes this week? Sorry if this has been answered before but I did try to use the search function! Thanks!! TDLR: Should I water change during the first week of a fish in Prime & Stability cycle or just keep dosing Stability?