Bethany92

I haven’t ghost fed the tank, just added the bottled bacteria yesterday, and I am already getting a color change in the strip for nitrates. The pH and KH are both still low but the pH seems to be improving. I want to get it to stabilize around 7 or higher, and there’s a lot of advice on how to do it. I don’t want it perfectly at 7, just don’t want it to be 6.4 either. So I’ll just hold off on getting snails until it’s stabilized in a more neutral range, and most likely forego chemical buffers and just give the crushed coral time in the tank since that seems to be a slow and steady choice and will keep it maintained without excessive testing and buffering to chase a pH level. I don’t want to put snails in a tank that’ll weaken their shells. I’m using aquarium co-op multi-test strips, and I tried testing an unopened bottle of purified water thinking the pH would be 7. And was about to change 1.5gal of the tank water to get the pH up, but the bottled water was somehow lower than my tank’s current pH. I have a more specific pH test kit coming, but I was hoping to just start using purified water for water changes to help maintain the neutral pH instead of constantly adding my tap water and creating pH crashes. Would the brand of water make a difference or could it just be the test strips giving inaccurate pH readings therefore I don’t really have a pH issue?

Here’s the tap water test. Forgot to add

I set up a new planted tank today, currently no fish are in it. I’ve watched YouTube videos and read as many blogs as I could find. But still trying to figure out what to do now that it’s set up and I’ve tested the water. I have a 5.5 gallon tank. I chose to go with fluval stratum planted substrate for the back of the tank where the plants are located and then put smooth river stones up front with 0.5lb of crushed coral mixed into them. I planted 2 Amazon swords, 1 red melon sword, and I have 1 Anubia on a small lava rock along with a marimo moss ball. I also have the aquarium co-op nano sponge filter and their recommended stingray plant light. I have the sponge filter set high to increase surface water agitation for gas exchange as I dosed the water with Seachem prime, roughly 2mL. I used our tap water as it’s not overly chlorinated but lacks a lot of minerals. I also put in two root tabs when I planted the Amazon swords and quickly gave up as those popped out so much, I’m sure lots of the fertilizer made it into the water column. I dosed the water with a pump of easy green liquid fertilizer not thinking about the root tabs I fought with earlier and just now realizing I probably could’ve kept the liquid fertilizer out. Water parameters were tested around 2 hours after everything was set up. The water is still cloudy from the substrate. I’m looking at getting another betta with a snail or two. The first betta died last weekend and I had more lessons with that regarding water testing and when water changes are not necessary than I ever expected. So now, I’m looking to make sure I have the pH neutral (the last tank it was way too acidic), nitrates established (my last tank never got to cycle because I changed too much water too often), and getting KH and GH stable before adding any fish to ensure the plants stay healthy and the fish are being added to a healthy tank. 1.) What is an expected timeframe for a new tank to stabilize based on today’s additions? I don’t want to decide to add something or change water when it hasn’t been long enough for everything to kind of work together (like the crushed coral and the plants getting established). 2.) Based on current water test, would you recommend adding anything to help the pH? 3.) I have bottled API nitrifying bacteria starter but did not add it to the tank. Should I leave it out or is it necessary to add it for beneficial bacteria growth for the fish? 4.) I set a timer for 1 minute and this picture is what showed. For the KH having some green, how would you interpret that?

He ended up dying last night. I did take him out of the medicated water and put him in clean water from his regular tank I had waiting for him once he was better, thinking maybe that would be more comfortable for him at least. Thank you all for your advice, it was all very helpful and gave me a much better understanding of taking care of bettas in the future.

So he’s gotten worse over the last 24h. He’s no longer swimming or eating. Just laying on the bottom of the tank. His gills are still moving, but rapidly. Is there a humane way to help him instead of leaving him to just suffer until he dies? The water parameters haven’t changed, I tried a water change hoping it would help but he’s still the same tonight. Not moving at the bottom of the tank, except for his gills. The heater got the water to 82 and there’s been no difference.

I will definitely look into getting your suggested heater set up whenever these heaters no longer work. That sounds incredibly helpful compared to the preset ones. I’m hoping the adjustable one isn’t too much of a headache, but we’ll see. The flat heater is in the tank now, thankfully we’re coming out of winter here. During the daytime the tank does get to 78. Overnight is when the tank colder, maybe drops to 75-76. I may adjust our house heat tonight and see if it helps in addition to the new heater. He seems a little better with the tank at 78, so hopefully it can get up to 83-85 with the flat heater.

Thank you for the advice! Both tank heaters that I have now are preset ones and only get the tank to 75-78 F (both the 1.5 gal and the 5 gal tanks). So I’m getting a Fluval 50w adjustable heater for the bigger tank and a 5W flat heater for the hospital tank, the reviews say it keeps the water 78-82, so I’m hoping that’s true. I do have a thermometer in the 1.5gal now that I periodically check throughout the day. I use tap water for his tanks and always use a water conditioner and wait for the filter to cycle it through the entire tank for 30min before I ever put him back in. I tested the tap water and it’s not at all different from the posted parameters, which is interesting because I expected there to be more chlorine, but there’s actually a minimal amount. I got the aquarium salt, the seachem prime, ammonia test kit, and ordered cattapa leaves from aquarium co-op. I did about 1/3 water change and used the seachem prime and aquarium salt in the new water I added last night. The ammonia levels were at 0ppm. He ate this morning and still tried to perk up when he saw me, so I have some hope for him. He’s still acting the same, just kind of laying limp - either floating at the top of the tank or in an odd U shaped curve at the bottom of the tank. I’m continuing the Maracyn as I will have to wait for the Kanaplex to ship. Today is day 3 of the Maracyn, so I’ll finish that out to day 5 and continue with the water changes and trying to maintain a warmer temp for the tank.

We purchased a betta in July/August, it’s my 3yo’s first fish and he named him Silly. I am brand new to keeping fish, tried researching as much as I could but unfortunately my lack of knowledge may be causing his early death. I noticed his fins were torn up, so I completely re-did his tank - got different substrate and new silk plants and removed any sharp edges on them. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand cycling a tank and just used TopFin water conditioner and TopFin bacteria starter thinking it would be fine and did complete water changes every month and washed everything in his 5gal tank off in hot water. The tank was also an issue as it had a back panel to hide the filter which was too much for him, even on the lowest setting that the company said was safe for bettas. Since discovering Aquarium Co-op, I’ve removed that back panel, got a sponge filter and am currently trying to cycle that tank for when (or if) he recovers. I also have plans for getting live plants instead of the fake ones I have now. I still need ammonia and ammonia test strips. Now, he’s in a 1.5 gal “hospital” tank as of yesterday. I had done a week of BettaFix while he was in his normal tank not realizing it was a waste of money, I ended that on Wednesday of this week. I started him on Maracyn yesterday when I moved him to the small tank. I used the same water and put rocks in the tank with him. I’ve also been adding the bacteria starter about 12 hours after the maracyn. He perked up yesterday but today he’s floating at the top of the tank like he’s dead but he’s not dead. He also ate this morning. I added a few pictures including the most recent test strip of the water he’s currently in, as well as the hospital tank set up. I also believe he is losing his slime coat as there’s white stuff peeling off of him like we peel after a sunburn. And his tank temp is at 77 F Any suggestions or tips? I feel like he’s going to die regardless of what I try to do so I’m hoping there’s something different I can do for him instead of just letting him go. I think the tank needs nitrates based on the test strip but I don’t know how to get those in there.