Goldie Blue

My weekly routine has been 20-25% water change with vacuum to the gravel every single week. I have never once skipped a week. I was also taking out all the decorations at least twice a month and scrubbing the excess brown algae off with tank water, and wiped down the glass, which I now know is a no-no! The canister, I have taken apart the tubing and splash bar about 3 times in the course of a year and snaked the hoses and cleaned all that, changed that white pad out twice in a year, and then I have taken all the media out only once and given it a swish in the tank water I pulled. Should I be swishing the media out every month then, if I am understanding the video correctly? Also, in the video he mentioned water changes a lot, I never just change the water or top off, it's always with a gravel vacuum each week as well. Should I not be vacuuming every week? I hate to ask so many questions, but I want to be really sure moving forward I am doing it right. Thank you for the help and patience!

@nabokovfan87 Thank you so much for all the details, I VERY much appreciate it. As for the temp topic, those same white clouds have been in this tank since it was cycled and set up a year ago, could the death happen just randomly from temp? And then the Oto's dying within a few days of the white cloud was weird. Of course, the guy at my LFS told me they were great beginner fish, and knew I already had my betta in there so you'd think he would have known temp was higher than a white cloud would need. Now I am wondering if I should cycle a new tank for my betta and pull him out so I can drop temps in the 55g! I have an axolotl with a chiller in the tank, if he wasn't a death machine I bet my poor minnows would love it in his tank. @Cbass I am right there with you! I thought I was doing what was right for the tank, and the parameters were always where they needed to be. Little did I know I am pretty much doing everything wrong! Not everything, but close to it lol! As for the canisters, luckily I have not messed much with them since setting those up. I threw the carbon out from the start, and have only changed the white pad on top twice since the setup a year ago. Other than that, I have not messed with it at all. Though now I will need to add carbon to pull out the medication that is currently in the tank. On a positive note about the medication, my bettas coloring is coming back very quickly...which I "hope" means he is not under stress and the meds are helping him feel better. This guy has been through some crap in this tank for sure, I feel bad but he is still kicking and he has my heart. @Fish Folk I am including a few pics of both tanks, and a video of each. Keep in mind the water is green from the meds. Thank you to everyone who has chimed in, I just want the best for my guys so please let me hear any suggestions! 55g video: 10g video:

Yes, he stopped eating, lost some color, and just wasted away. Is this something you'd notice in their poop? None of the fish have had white stringy poop, and like I mentioned before outside of the degrading tails on the bettas, there were no visible signs on the outside of their bodies other than this one fish. The three Oto's that died shortly after the white cloud just dropped dead overnight, they were perfectly active and moving around the night before. I keep the tank at 80 Fahrenheit. So right now I have the second dose of Jungle Fungus Clear in the tank. I am scheduled to do the water change on Sunday...should I then treat for parasites in the tank? All this information is super helpful and I will move forward with the cleaning advice from here on out.

Thank you! Just so I understand and don't mess things up even more, my canister has ceramic rings on the bottom, then a blue coarse filter pad (never been replaced), then ceramic balls, then the white pad I mentioned before. So, would I place the 30 ppi foam in the spot the white pad would go?

The white clouds were from my LFS, bettas were from PetCo, and pleco PetSmart. All of them have been in the tank since the start 1 year ago. The bettas get pellets from aquaticfoods_blackworm_co on Ebay ( link ), Fluval bug bites, and once or twice a week frozen brine shrimp. The white clouds get the Fluval bug bites and Aqueon or Omega flakes. The pleco gets wafers from the same store mentioned above. I was totally sure it was at 0, but happy to do another test once I am home and I'll post it. I will cut back on the cleaning of stuff inside the tank, but at what point do you change the white pads in the canister filter I have? Thank you for the help guys!

I have a 55g, and a 10g with freshwater fish in it. 55g has been set up since May 2021, and 10g since Jan of 2022. I am having issues in these tanks despite the fact I do water changes every week, and the water parameters are reading fine on a consistent basis with API tube tests. I will list what I have in each tank below, but I just don't know what I might be doing wrong. 10g - 1 Betta and 1 Nerite snail. ZooMed Nano canister filter. Has an airstone, and the Betta I had placed in there has slowly but surely had its tail degrade. When I first got him, it had white edges, and I thought "oh wow that is pretty", but now I am wondering if he had fin rot to start. 55g - Eheim 350 classic canister, large air stone bar. Stocked with 5 (was 6, 1 died) white cloud minnows, 1 clown pleco, 1 (was 4, 3 died) Oto's, my baby boy Goldie Blue who is a halfmoon betta. A handful of assassin snails. In the last 3 weeks I had a white cloud just wither away, no obvious signs of illness, ich, or injuries. I chalked it up to maybe he was old, but then 3 of my Oto's died within the last two weeks. Again, no signs of obvious illness. No red marks, or white dots, or fuzz. I have not added anything at all to the tank in the last two months. I am religious about my weekly water changes and cleanings. My issue is I have suspected both my bettas have had fin rot for a while now. Some of you may remember my posts about Goldie Blue being a marble betta, but now I am not so sure he wasn't just hella stressed out. His fins look like crap, and he went almost totally gold and didn't return his colors. Both of their tails look ragged and awful, and I just was not sure if I needed to medicate 😞 So after losing those fish, and seeing both bettas fins looking terrible, I have added Jungle Fungus Clear. I am on my second dose (package says to add tabs, then wait 4 days, do 25% water change then add dose again). So tonight is my second dose for both tanks. Parameters are below, and have been consistent for weeks, if not last 2-3 months: pH: 8 (always this high) Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: between 5-20 (pic included) Hardness about a 10 The ONLY think I can think of, at least for the 55g is that I had not changed out the white filter pad on top of my Eheim classis 350 in 2 months. When I did maintenance on it this past week that white filter pad was icky. I usually swish out all the ceramic media, and the blue pad once every 2 months in water from the tank. Also, I take everything that isn't live plants out of my tanks EVERY week, and scrub them down. I wipe down the walls every week. I am really thorough, is it too much? My parameters are always good, I just don't understand what is going on and thought I'd ask the brilliant minds here. Please ask me for any further information or pics, happy to provide them so I can get some help. Thank you in advance!

Yeah for real, this thing broke my plecos record. There is hardly a time I walk by where one, if not all of the Otos have poop hanging out. As long as they are happy, I am happy! I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong, because it was quite the feat.

Maybe she was getting ready for a fancy night out on the town and wanted to try her new curling iron out. 🤣

Yeah this guy was chilling in that spot for quite some time. I have never seen anything like it before, a wonder to behold lol. One of these lads almost died when I added them to the tank a week and a half ago, didn't see he was still stuck in the net and had it on the floor for about 35 minutes. Maybe it's him, and it's stress poops! I definitely notice extra poop in the tank from them but my plants and glass have never looked better, these guys put in some serious work. Your pics make me feel better about the situation lol, thank you as always @xXInkedPhoenixX

I have some new Oto's that poop non stop, but this turd is next level. Is this size of a poop normal? The photo isn't clear but the length was easily 4-5x's the length of the body. I have read these guys go a lot, but...is there something wrong here? They have only been in the tank about a week and a half. Thanks for any and all input.

YES, this exactly lol! I checked in there to make sure all 4 were alive at least a dozen times today! It was super stressful.

OH MY GOSH! That is insane. Glad you discovered them though! Yeah I am glad I needed my net as well. He has been super active and seemingly fine.

I had a terrifying moment tonight! After losing almost half my tank in Nov, I decided to take the plunge and add a couple fish to the 55g today. I brought 4 Oto's home, and thought that I had them all out of the net. I set the net from the Oto transfer on a towel on the floor. I have 3 tanks, and while the 55g was filling up, I spent upwards of 35 minutes doing the cleaning out of my axolotl tank. There was something weird I could not vacuum up in the axolotl tank, so I grabbed the net...and holy macaroni one of those little Oto's was in there and still alive!!!!! I was shocked and didn't even know how to react, quickly had my husband lift the lid to place him in the 55g. He seems perfectly fine. I have NO idea how I missed getting him out of there and I swear I saw all 4 go into the tank. My heart is heavy and I have been worrying about him all night. He honestly seems unfazed by it. Had I not needed that net for the other tank, I would have just tossed it in a bucket at the end and the poor guy would have perished. 😩 What are the odds this fish will live?

Perfect! Thank you, this is why I love this community!

Okay, thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately it doesn't, would it hurt the air pump if I tried to clamp on the tubing at all?

This might be a really dumb question, but I have had a small sponge filter running in my 55 gallon for about 2 months to prepare for a quarantine tank in the near future. I am not ready to set it up just yet, but the bubbles it puts out are super strong so I am wondering if I can just turn the filter off and leave it sitting in the tank until I am ready to move it to the other tank? Or do I need to keep it running while it's in there? Thanks in advance for any help!

I actually do have the leaves, but hadn't decided if I wanted to put them in the tank or not. I think this might be the deciding factor. I'd like to know if anyone else has experience with it as well.

Unfortunately I don't have a QT. I do have a 55g but it also has a male betta in there, so in this case should I leave the little guy in the 10g while I treat it? I have wiped this stuff off the sponge filter in the tank too, so does that mean it's compromised too? I just don't know how it happened, I faithfully do my water changes every week and the parameters have been good. Maybe not enough aeration? Ugh. Thank you so much for your help.

I definitely have diatom in there, I need to get a better picture of the leaves, they have that as well as this weird black stuff on them. It coats the leaves and comes right off in one big piece if I wipe it. Just read the article, it certainly has a gross pungent smell and when I wipe the leaves off its like a booger slime lol. I'll treat the tank with some Maracyn and see where we go from there. Will this bacteria hurt my betta?

I have had this 10 gallon set up since the beginning of December. I've got Amazon swords in there (now realize they will get way too big for a 10 gallon) planted in Seachem Flourite. I use this LVYTECH light I got off Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0987TNSCC ). I only have 1 betta in the tank and that is all that has ever been in there. The plants took off at first and were doing fantastic. 1 pump of Easy Green per week when I water change. The last 3 weeks I have noticed weird dark slimy stuff that covers the leaves, I can wipe it off the leaves easily, and it smells really awful. Now it is starting to lay on the substrate and a little on the glass. If anyone knows what this is or how to get rid of it I'd love any tips. I have been wiping off the leaves twice a week and have cleaned the whole tank twice this week already and it comes back super fast. Water parameters: Ammonia: 0 pH: 8.2 (it's always this high) Nitrite: 0 Nitrates 5.0 Thank you so much for any help!

I really appreciate the replies. I think I'll go with a bare bottom to start, I just wasn't sure how to go about adding the sand once she is bigger but you guys explained it perfectly. Also, what filter do you guys recommend? It is the last thing I have to buy to start cycling, and I can't make up my mind.

I am reading conflicting information online, can smaller axolotls have sand in their tanks? We are getting an axolotl once we set up and cycle a tank, but she is only 2 inches long right now. So, do I leave the sand out and keep the tank floor bare? How would you go about adding sand once she is over 6 inches? Any help is appreciated, I just want to make sure I am doing what is right for her!

Here he is today, turning more and more vibrant blue again. Most of the white/gold spots on his head and body are now black again. I really don't know what is going on, but he's kept his appetite and energy this whole time. Maybe he is a marble? Maybe he was sick? I have no idea at this point, but it's been nuts to watch. I love his grumpy face, that's all I know.

Soooo, it's been a few days since I took a photo of Goldie Blue because me and the whole fam have covid, but after turning almost totally gold/white...he is now starting to get his color back???!! What is even happening lol?!!

Here he is today...I don't even have words for this! I am going to take another photo tomorrow, then put a day by day collage together. He is almost totally white from the front now. Look at that lil face!