Ramie

I love these guys.....but before i watch it...are they having my same problem? I know they just got a couple hundred bettas and are currently keeping them in bottled water....but i also have read bottled drinking water has minerals added for our taste that arent good for fish. You never know what to believe is fine or isnt fine in this hobby. 😥

Very expensive puffer for you all! The whole stability thing is what has got me...im hesitant to try to change my water parameters and risk them becoming unstable...went to petsmart to get driftwood to lower my pH and they told me not to use driftwood etc. or chemicals because it will be at risk to become unstable and 8.4 was fine....but i was also told by a different source that my water is too hard (GH) for a bettas system long term..so thats why i feel like i cant keep betta anymore and looking into other options. I think my KH might be high too though so diftwood etc. might actually not change it much anyway. When you say plants eat minerals...do you mean they lower GH or are we just talking about other minerals?

How long did the bettas that lived in the 8.4 live? The swimbladder may be coincidental as the fish i had in my 8.4 pH water had no swimbladder issues compared to my other past bettas...but he also never really got constipated...maybe slightly with a little bloat but not enough to affect the swimbladder. I also didnt ever feed that one a pea for constipation...only daphnia and his main food was new life spectrum betta pellet..i think that helped a lot for my fish regarding constipation and swimbladder issues that relate to that. Were the swimbladder issues you were seeing related to constipation or something else? Also does the fluval stratum keep it at a stable 7.4 or do you have any instability issues? (Feel free to reply with a picture of your puffer too..just for fun!)

Anyone kept a pea puffer in water with a pH of 8.4 and super hard? I have always keep betta...but im worried my current source water parameters are a bit too far out of a bettas range...not 100% sure...some have told me its totally fine and bettas adapt...but the pH is just so high and its very hard...at least 300ppm according to strip tests...i do have a liquid GH test but havent gotten it out yet....long story short... i still prefer to keep a single fish and my tank size has a 10 gallon limit. Would pea puffers do better in water like that then a betta would? Or would either do equally terrible or either adapt fine? Can pea puffers be mentally ok kept alone if their owner gives them a lot of attention? Any other suggestions of a fish that can be kept alone that would like water like that or adapt easily? Someone also suggested to me a paradise fish i believe...any thoughts? (Im apparently very not normal for prefering only a single fish....but i really do...i just have water that would work better for shoaling live bearers...sigh.)

Has anyone kept bettas in water with a crazy high GH and a ph of 8.4? Or know breeders that sell who breed in harder water? Anyone have any experience in using a mix of distilled with such water to bring the pH and GH down?...if so have you encountered any problems with that method?

Someone else had suggested that to me also but said they apparently arent supposed to be kept alone either....but i know people do. Have you kept a single pea puffer in crazy alkaline/hard water like mine? Or just by itself? How did it do?

I just worry my water is just stretching a bettas tolerance a bit too much. Ill look into paradise fish or maybe ill get a few guppies. Maybe ill just stick with bettas. Im totally unsure of what do to. Maybe ill ask and see how many people have had bettas in water like mine. Maybe im just worrying unnecessarily. Thank you.

See my reply above...not sure if you will see it if i didnt quote you.

Are mollies and platies similar? I was thinking molly because my parameters seem to be within their range..on the high end but at least within it. I was thinking i couldnt have more than one male because of aggression..but if that isnt an issue thats a much better idea. Lol.

So....i have always been a betta keeper...i like my one tank with one fish...im weird apparently....but my current source water is very high in pH (8.4) and hardness (around 300ppm) and my tank size is limited at 10 gallons. I dont want to be chasing parameters and trying to fiddle with my water risking instability unless its a last resort thing. I was wondering if you could keep a molly (or some other fish that might do better in hard water than a betta) by itself. I spend an obscene amoung of time with my tank but i know some fish just mentally have to be around other fish....bettas i think prefer their people. But long story short could a molly be ok without other mollies or fish. I could i keep a few females together if i had to. I DO NOT want to have fry. But i honestly prefer having only one fish personally...its not just a tank size thing. Any suggestions?

Thats refreshing and important.

There needs to be a react that is for horror.

Awww! Thank you! 🐟💖

Im actually saving betta memes and when i get my next fish im gonna post like 20 of them and people will have to scroll through to see a pic of my new fish at the end...after i figure out how to get my source water right for a betta...but heres one.

Joined this forum! Yeah!

That i could get the fish at a discount when i bought its 12 ounce bowl home! 12 OUNCES. I trusted them. 🤦‍♀️

I understand..like i said still thinking of that one fish. Lol. And i feel silly but if i can just use distilled to dilute it down. Distilled is at a pH of 5.6 ish i believe..my tap is at 8.4ish but pretty darn stable. Would that also possibly balance out pH also? Id so much prefer that. I was thinking either neutral regulator or using distilled and adding minerals back in...I bought some seachem replenish but then checked the pH on distilled and was like ok then id i have to buy a buffer etc. My tap also comes out at .25ppm ammonia (its a well) and i saw fritz made a conditioner that claims to remove it..not detox it...so i was like that would be great cause im not a huge fan of water changes adding ammomia in if i had a problem..but it just seems every time i think something will fix it i have to add more and that keeps me from using other stuff. Im wanting to keep moss balls and pothos and use catappa leaves and i hear they lower ph...but if im using buffers etc idk how that works together..its just a lot. So less is more...if i can just mix distilled with my tap in the right amount and it covers kh gh and pH and would stay relatively stable with "muh plants and muh leaves" and i could still use fritz or whatever else i might need id be super happy. What do you think? Maybe you can solve it if you have a min?..maybe you already did?

I know right! I seem to be the only one without multiple tank syndrome. I think its a combination of only having room/resources for one tank.....but more so i spend a lot of time with my fish and still feel very new to a lot and want to make sure i dont have to divide my time between more than one fish/tank. Bettas will bond with you...a lot of them anyway and i just would feel like i wasnt giving enough attention to my fish if i had more than one. I have always before just gone in a shop and ill feel connected to one fish and it will be like i cant leave him....Though...i did once see a orange galaxy koi that seemed like a veiltail in a shop i felt that way about but didnt get because i still had Beta (i normally do not look at bettas unless im buying which also helps lol)..but i still think of that fish....and i want a plakat and found an orange galaxy koi plakat that i like on a website that once i get my water situation settled (my source water has a high pH and its very hard...i dont have the exact kh and gh readings yet but i will and then ill post about my ideas about that and hopefully someone will have answers) if that fish hasnt been sold im buying him. Never bought online before but...we will see. Thank you for asking. I really enjoy talking about fish. I hope you and your family and aquatic family are well.

Ah! Now im in the loop...And im not 100% sure how to answer the question now...i dont have a bunch of tanks...i keep male bettas..but im a strictly one fish at a time person.....but its my main thing in life. I have been without a fish since march and im dying....but dont think i dont have all new equipment and a fancy tank just waiting...cause i do. Maybe it was that time i dedicated a PowerPoint in college to my fish....or the time my now ex husband wouldnt give me money (i wasnt working) for a tank (i had just realized bettas arent bowl fish) so i did that walmart thing where you scan your receipt and they give you a few cents back if anothers store sale price was lower than what they charged you....i saved it up and ordered a tank...didnt tell anyone....when it showed up i said you cant argue with a free tank! And its just gotten worse from there. One of my bettas actually changed the course of my life. I love the bettas.

Hi! Im so glad to be here! I watch Aquarium Co Op videos all the time! The closest LFS is 2 hours away (unless you count petsmart) and i know no fellow fish people in real life. Im in between fish/tanks right now...i lost my last guy in march. Im strictly a keeper of male bettas..one fish at a time...and i need some serious water chemistry help!..but ill post about that later. Super excited for a forum. Stuff does get so lost on fb. This is a picture of my last guy...Beta...like the greek letter...not betta. Lol

I dont know what a nerm is yet....i heard it in a video the other night and now here....help me...what is a nerm?