Dr. Fish

Ok, thanks!

I added the easy root tabs to my aquarium for the first time yesterday. I tried to get them to the bottom of the substrate as directed. However, this morning I see what I believe to be the partially-dissolve capsules coming out of the substrate in a few places (see the white blobs in the pic). Is this normal? Do I need to remove these? Should I be worried? Thanks!

No idea why my pics are upside down, but he's a beauty right side up or upside down.

Here is my boy, Archimedes, a plakat betta.

Thank you so much!

Thank you for responding. Here is the information you asked for: Video of betta swimming: 1) This is a 9 gallon Fluval Flex 2) The take has 1 betta, 4 lamp chop rasboras, and 2 otos. And some ramshorn snails that snuck in on some plants. There are live plants: vallisneria, anubius nano petite, a few crypts, red root floaters and some java fern. 3) Temp: 78.6 deg. F. 4) I've had the tank 7 weeks. I did a 1 month fish-less cycle (with the plants). Put the fish in just under 3 weeks ago. Did my first water change (about 25%) on Saturday. 5) Filtration. I use the built in filter that came with the flex. It has a sponge, carbon, and biological as part of the filter. I also have an air stone in it. 6) I used an API 5 in 1 test strip ph: 6.5; ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all appear to be 0.0, though I'll be honest I'm very new to testing water parameters. But, I believe I"m reading that correctly. 7) I feed the fish a few crushed spirulina fish flakes OR Hikari freeze-dried blood worms each morning. I also put in a broken up algae waffle every few days for the otos and snails. 8) The fish were the last thing I added. This was about 3 weeks ago. 9) I did not quarantine as it was a new tank and all the plants and fish were purchased from the same place.

I noticed this strange coloration on my betta this morning. Any idea what it might be? I posted this about another fish in the tank on Saturday. The oto in question died today. Everyone else in the tank seems fine (except the new color/mark on the betta). The betta is acting normal, just has a new mark. Should I be worried? TIA for any ideas.

Thank you those who responded. He is gone. 😞 I bought some meds to treat parasites incase that is what the cause was. I don't want it to spread to my other fish.

Also, I'm new to the forum. I hope this is the correct forum, I apologize if it should be in another one.

I have had my fish for about 2.5 weeks. I have a betta, some lamb chop rasboras, and three otos. Everything has been fine except that the last few days I noticed that one of my otos rarely moves and just lays around on the bottom of the tank. It is alive as I see its gills move and I have seen it move position in the tank recently. However, I don't think it is eating. The other two have large, round bellies and are constantly eating. This one has a sunken in belly (see oto on top right in the pic). I have algae growing on the plants in the tank and I put in algae pellets for the otos every few days. Any idea why it won't eat and what I could do to get it to eat? TIA! I just did a water change (it was time), but when I checked my water parameters yesterday things looked fine.

I recently got a 9 gallon tank for my office. It is so peaceful to have it there during the work day. The issues is, I have a west facing window on the top floor so my office bakes in the sun all afternoon/evening. During weekdays, the AC is on and I have a fan going with the office door open. However, on weekends, the AC is turned off (not my choice) and the door has to stay shut. So, the office is like an oven. After an unseasonable warm weekend a few weeks ago, I came in to find my water temp at 84+ degrees. I'm very worried about how hot the water will get on summer weekends even if I do come in for a few hours on Saturday afternoons to do water changes and can open the door and let the office cool down a bit. Any ideas of how to keep the water cool? I have have a betta and a few other fish so ideally the temp is somewhere between 74 and 80 degrees. Thanks!

Hello, I been watching the Aquarium Co Op YouTube videos and have wanted to get a tank for a while after years of not keeping fish. This spring I got a 9 gallon tank and now have a betta, a few ottos, and a few pork chop rasboras, and a few snails that were stow aways on my plants. Looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing with their fish and learning form you. This is Archimedes.