BettaBabe94

@DeadStang @nabokovfan87 @Andy's Fish Den @Aiden Carter @KaitieG @Huckleberry I live in upstate NY, near Albany, if anyone is familiar with the water in that area. I do have a master test kit and the aquarium co-op strips. It’s not just iron I’m worried about. We tried a whole home filter system but our water pressure drops drastically. We have to clean the holding tank this spring to see if that helps. In the mean time we have a valve that re-routes the water around the filters. We don’t drink our water, we use it for cooking, showering, laundry, etc. What makes me shake my head is my mother-in-law lives not even a full mile down the road and her water is perfect except for being slightly hard. That is where I get water from. She does have a small water filtration set up, but even before that her water was fine. @Andy's Fish Denmy tub is stained pink because the person who lived here before didn’t use real cleaners and didn’t clean it that often. So even when I clean it there is still a stain.

Does anyone else have terrible well water? my well water definitely has iron in it as my tub is basically pink lol and I honestly have no clue what else is in it that may be harmful for fish. Past aquariums haven’t done so well when using my water, but I'm not sure if it was my lack of knowledge on how to properly care for an aquarium or my water (probably both). Currently I go down the road to a family members house since she has a good filtration system. I’m just getting sick of having to use her water and I’m sure my husband is getting sick of lugging 5 gallon buckets (I don’t have huge tanks so 10 gallons is enough for weekly maintenance). Any good water tests that don’t require me to buy a million and one different kits? Or has anyone with well water dealt with this in the past?

@Pepere I hear you.

So I don’t feel like getting into the nitty gritty of water parameters, because it’s not going to change anything. I’m just blindsided by this. Monday my betta was acting kind of sluggish/mopey. I decided to do a water change just because it was due anyway, tested the water ahead of time with test strips and everything seemed fine. Tuesday and Wednesday he was still kind of lazy, but not alarming, he’s not super active anyway. He ate like normal. Last night (Thursday) I went to feed and he looked like he was sleeping in his log, which I’ve seen him do all the time. I tried to get his attention but I figured he was in a deep sleep. So I poked his tail and he just flopped out of the log….dead. Gills and mouth wide open. I took him out and put him in a cup to get a better look at him. I literally stared at him for 15 minutes trying to find ANY gill movement. I don’t know what the hell happened. I did a lot of research last winter about water parameters, live plants, water changes, etc. I learned so much. I got a bigger tank and was doing everything right (as far as I know). I got him in January (2022)! It’s just really really frustrating and mind blowing that the bettas I had back when I was uneducated and did things that make me cringe now, lived at least 2 years!

@Comradovich I’m thinking about rescaping and adding more plants to maybe help the crayfish get away from the betta, instead of moving him into the community tank.

He’s a CPO - Dwarf Mexican Crayfish

@nabokovfan87I just want to clarify one thing. I have a dwarf crayfish. My Nerite snail is probably bigger than this thing. From what I’ve read the regular ones are super aggressive and get way bigger.

You beat me to it lol I was just going to add that I already have a female betta in my community tank.

So two months ago I got a dwarf crayfish to keep all by himself in a 5 gallon tank. Then a month ago I ended up taking in my mother-in-law’s female betta. The only tank I had that she could go in was the dwarf crayfish tank. I was worried at first, but the crayfish and the female betta seemed to coexist pretty well. This is where my dilemma starts. This female betta no longer wants to play nice (or so it seems). In the past he would raise his pinchers at her and she’d back off, but recently he is the one who ends up backing away and she’s always pestering him. I’m worried she’s going to hurt or even kill him. My only other option is: I have a 20 gallon community tank, but it has panda corys. I’ve heard it’s not a good idea to have dwarf crayfish with corys. The fact that he submits to the betta makes me think maybe he’s mellow enough to put in my community tank, but I don’t know. I know the win win situation would be to give both of them their own tank, but I’m not able to do that at this moment so I’m wondering if anyone has any other suggestions. Forgot to write before: I have a different female betta in my community tank, that’s why I was wondering about moving the crayfish and not the betta with him

@Adam Swarbrick thank you for the info. I just wasn’t sure if the difference in water would shock the Corys. Like going from medicated water to completely unmedicated water. I’m waiting anyway, but still nice to know.

Ummm so is that a yes or a no? Lol

I’ve had my Cory catfish in a hospital tank for a week now. They went through a maracyn treatment and seem to be doing better. Does all of the medicine have to be out of the hospital tank water before I can reintroduce them to my main tank? I did a 30% water change earlier today

I have them separated and I added the general tonic amount. Now that I can actually take a breath, one had a cloudy eye then progressively got slightly lethargic and has clamped fins. So seeing all that I ordered the meds but he/she didn’t seem too critical. Well today I discovered another one who was breathing heavy, and seemed to have a sore on its nose, but then I noticed a little later that it couldn’t swim that well, unless it felt it had too then it would spaz swim somewhere else. Right when I made this post I noticed that both of them seem to have swelling in their face.

I know part of the diseases tab is posting water parameters. But I’m at the point where I need to set up an emergency hospital tank and all I need to know is how much salt can I use with corydoras. I ordered the med trio and was hoping to wait until it came but I feel like 2 of my corydoras can’t wait and all the stores are closed at this time. I watched steenfott aquatics video on how corys are more sensitive to salt because they have scutes, so I’m a little nervous. I just wanted to know how much salt I can use to hopefully help these guys out. My other dilemma is they’re already really stressed, I’m afraid if I catch them and take them out it might push them over the edge but I don’t know what else to do

I don’t know how old she is, but I haven’t even had her for 6 months yet. There is a decent LFS that’s by my work, but closer to home there is a small chain pet store (like 6 stores around my state) that actually takes good care of their bettas. That’s where I got her. I know right! I was like “good morning little girl, now that your ok, im going to kill you for giving me a heart attack!” 😂

Last night I had the scare of my life. My female betta who is a piggy did not come to dinner. I couldn’t find her, I looked EVERYWHERE. I was starting to think she jumped out somehow, which would have been unrealistic, but I couldn’t find the damn fish lol Then I found her jammed up in my rock cave hard scape creation, in a way that made me go how in the world did you manage that! Upside down, pale, gills barely moving. I finally get her out and she spazzed out for a second then was lying on the bottom of the tank. So I put her in the breeder box I have and she’s still lying on her side at the bottom of that, barely moving. I remember reading (for dropsy and swim bladder stuff) that you should bring them close to the surface so they can breath. So I caught her in my tiny net and propped it up in a way that it was deep enough for her to be submerged but all she had to do was move a little bit to get air from the surface. Before I went to bed her color had come back but I figured I’d wake up to a dead fish (in my freaked out mind I was convinced it was dropsy). I get up this morning and she’s perky again. I let her go into the breeder box and she was swimming like normal and she ate. Fingers crossed. I left her in the breeder box for today and I might leave her in there for another day or two. She scared me so bad that part of me wants to give her, her own 5 gallon tank so I can keep a better eye on her (she’s in a 20 gallon community now). WHAT A NIGHT 🤦🏻‍♀️

@AnimalNerd98 this is a post I made in February.

Any suggestions on an air pump that is good for a small bedroom tank? Can’t beat the aquarium co-ops functionality, but that thing is WAY too loud for a bedroom. In regard to the nano one, yes it’s quiet, but it only works 25% of the time.

I wasn’t looking for info on there, I was trying to find them for sale somewhere, but yes the sites you suggested sound better lol

This site seemed to be like a Craigslist for fish, don’t think it’s very factual lol

So I’m thinking about getting a crayfish. It would be a crayfish only tank. I’m looking for tips/advice from people who have or had crayfish. Adult size/tank size/ etc. I’m looking at the dwarf blue crayfish or the electric blue crayfish. One thing I read was that the dwarf blue crayfish change color depending on PH?

1.) Favourite fish? Obviously betta, considering my username lol but besides that I recently fell in love with hillstream loaches 2.) Least favourite fish? Flower horns. Not a fan of that huge hump lol 3.) Favourite fish YouTuber? It changes, but right now Ohio Fish Rescue 4.) Favourite non-fish YouTuber? Neebs Gaming 5.) Favourite food? It’s a tie between Spaghetti and Steak lol 6.) What fish would you like to be the most? Butterfly Koi 7.) What was your scariest moment? When my house burned down when I was a kid. 8.) What country do you want to visit the most? I’m not a big fan of traveling. So I’d like to explore more of my own country (USA) lol 9.) Cats or dogs? That is a really tough one, but I’d have to say cats. 10) Describe yourself in 3 words. Blunt, inquisitive, quiet 11) Pancakes or Waffles? Both are good, but I’m going to have to say pancakes lol 12) What is your favorite song? Therefore I am by Billie Eilish 13) What do you dislike most about the aquarium hobby, and why? Everything is so expensive lol 14) What is your favorite TV show? Scrubs 15) What is your greatest fear? Drowning lol 16) What is or was your favorite subject in school, and why? History, it’s like a never ending story lol 17) Do you keep live aquarium plants? If so, what types? Yes, just getting into it but between my 2 tanks I have salvinia, crypts, pogo, tiger lotus, Val, and 2 others I can’t remember their names 18) Do you love or hate pest snails? Hate pest snails, but love Nerite snails 19) Do you enjoy gardening? Not really. I like my flowers and my ornamental trees, but that’s it 20) What do you love most about the aquarium hobby? There is never a shortage of beauty. 21) What was the biggest mistake you've made so far in the hobby, and what has it taught you? Basically everything I did in the very beginning was a mistake and that’s why I got out of the hobby for a while because I was so upset with how many fish were dying on me. Around the new year I started doing my research and I learned a lot. After researching and trying again I haven’t lost a single fish. 22) Burgers or Pizza? Pizza 100% 23) What is your favorite aquatic animal? Orca 24) What is your dream tank or something you want to accomplish in this hobby? I just never want to stop learning new things. My specialty seems to be small tanks, so I’d like to be able to master the management of a tank over 30 gallons. 25) Favorite candy? Peanut butter M&Ms 26) What is your favorite book? Hunger games series 27) What other things do you do for fun outside of the hobby? Video games, coloring, hike with my dog, horseback ride.

Probably been said, but I would love it this was on an app

If your still doing it, I haven’t

I was worried about digestive issues since she gets more food in the community tank then I would feed her if she were by herself