jodip Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Has anyone seen this before? The eye seems to be okay behind this bubble and is not protruding. From some angles, the bubble looks clear and others it is slightly cloudy. Mr. Spotty here is also acting normal. Swimming around and eating just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Have you got a side on view of the eye and what are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH KH GH temperature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 This is the best I've been able to get of the side. I'll be testing water this morning. And will update as soon as I get that done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Looks like damage to the eye I would treat with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons for a week then give an update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 (edited) Right now I'm only able to test for pH, ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Ammonia- between 0-0.25ppm (tank is only 3 weeks old, long story) pH- between 8-8.2 Nitrate- 0ppm Nitrite- 0ppm Temp is set for 75, currently at 74 where thermometer is sitting. I don't have the hardness test kit currently, but I am out in the country with well water. Our water is on the hard side and we do use a softener system, but we have dedicated hard water lines for my irrigation system for flower and veggie gardens. Complete newb here and found out the hard way you can't trust a petsmart employee sometimes. Long story short, we set up a tank with fish the same day only to see our betta wasn't doing well the next morning. It's a 10 gallon tank "complete kit." Went back in the next day to see what we could do for Flappy and a different gal was flabbergasted at the info we received the day before. She warned us the betta probably wouldn't make it. Well he did make it a week before he got himself stuck between a decoration and the glass. So I guess he drowned, one could say. Our daughter was pretty devastated so we went back to petsmart and got a new betta and 3 mollies. Then the mollies developed ich and I went to our local aquarium store and learned how to treat that. Which I had done and now it seems it is returning. We took out a fake decorations and added a couple low light plants. I know this novel above makes me seem like a moron, but I'm trying to learn how to not screw this up and have a healthy aquarium given the previous mistakes. Currently, all 3 mollies and the betta have normal behavior and no one seems to be stressed. I'd like to properly set up a maybe a 20 gallon tank properly and once established/seasoned/cycled (not sure the absolute correct term here), move these guys to it. Any advice is obviously needed and much appreciated. Edited March 5 by jodip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) As you have some live plants I would only add 1 table spoon for 5 gallons of aquarium salt and remember to only put back in what you take out so if you do a 5 gallon water change put 1 table spoon of aquarium salt back in if you want to do a fishless cycle I would add quick growing plants such as vallisneri hornwort and some floating plants dwarf water lettuce or amazonian frogbit you can get dr tims ammonium chloride that will help feed your benefial bacterial helping to cycle your tank before adding fish you will first see ammonia then nitrite when they go to zero and you see a small amount of nitrate after 24hr of adding Dr Tim's then your ready to add your first fish only add a couple of fish a week to start feed once every other day gradually add more fish till your fully stock over the course of a month test every other day or daily during first couple of weeks after adding your first fish if you see any ammonia or nitrite do a 50% water change and add a double dose of seachems prime to help detoxify any ammonia or nitrite I would also recommend getting a KH and GH test kit @jodip Edited March 5 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Thank you very much for all the info, it is truly appreciated! I will give the salt a go and report back. I will also keep those plants in mind when we set up another tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 On 3/5/2024 at 10:28 AM, jodip said: I know this novel above makes me seem like a moron, but I'm trying to learn how to not screw this up and have a healthy aquarium You are doing this the exact same way most of us have. By learning the hard way. So no, nobody here looks down on you at all. And you’re here learning, which is actually way ahead of the game. Unfortunately you’re going to learn a lot very quickly. Things like ich. Bloat. Dropsy. Most of these are stress diseases caused from new uncycled tanks with beginner keepers. Please ask questions. All of us are here to help. The ones that aren’t, we get after them. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 That's very reassuring! I will absolutely continue to ask questions here. I know there is a lot to learn and so many have very valuable information to give. Thank you all of you on here who are so willing to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Yeah, as colu says, watch carefully for ammonia and nitrite, if you see any it’s time for a water change. Both are toxic and as your beneficial bacteria have not been well established yet. The only way to remove them is a water change. Then Prime to both dechlorinate your tap water and bind up excess ammonia. When you see zeros on both of those and a positive number on nitrates, your cycle is complete. But can still be ovwhelmed by adding too many fish at once. Add fish gradually and you’re good. Then you just need to watch nitrate levels. The only way to remove those is by water changes or growing plants. Shoot for under 50 nitrates with plants in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Thank you. I am curious though, I use water from the hard water line to fill the tank and we are on a private well so our water is not chlorinated. Will Prime still benefit the water? How much water should I change at a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I treated with salt per Colu's recommendation. Just wanted to confirm here that I should wait one week before a water change after adding the salt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Salt doesn’t evaporate, so topping off should be regular water. Water changes can be done, but salt needs to be added to the correct amounts In only the water you put back in. Adding some more good bacteria as well could help. On 3/5/2024 at 9:11 PM, jodip said: Will Prime still benefit the water? How much water should I change at a time Depends on whether you have any metals in your well. I usually do not use it with my well. If you’re still seeing ammonia or nitrite , I’d do about 50%, then use prime to detoxify the rest of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I do have metals in my well, especially iron. I will test the water again today and see if I need to water change. I have a bit of white cloudy water after my last water change that hasn't settled out yet. I will also go pick up some prime today. How do I add beneficial bacteria? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/6/2024 at 9:26 AM, jodip said: How do I add beneficial bacteria? They sell it by the bottle. Dr Tim’s. Fritzyme7. Seachem stability. Even petsmart/petco have their own brand. The first 3 work best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Thank you so much! I'm going to go to our local store today and see if they have any of the first 3 you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 I did get test strips for GH and KH today. GH read 180ppm and KH 240ppm. Are these numbers okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Seems backwards. Gh is usually higher than kh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/6/2024 at 8:55 PM, jodip said: I did get test strips for GH and KH today. GH read 180ppm and KH 240ppm. Are these numbers okay? Your GH and KH are fine for Mollies On 3/6/2024 at 12:55 PM, jodip said: I treated with salt per Colu's recommendation. Just wanted to confirm here that I should wait one week before a water change after adding the salt? You can water change if you do a 5 gallon water change put 1 table spoon of salt back as salt only removed though water changes if your seeing no improvement after a week or the eye gets worse then I would do a course of kanaplex On 3/6/2024 at 9:21 PM, Tony s said: Seems backwards. Gh is usually higher than kh My GH is high then my KH always been that way I don't think it would be a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Mine hit the highest levels for both. Is this also fine for a beta? He seems to be acting fine. I will keep an eye on the Molly's eye. I'm going to do a water change tonight as my ammonia went up slightly. Thank you to you both for helping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/6/2024 at 9:29 PM, jodip said: Mine hit the highest levels for both. Is this also fine for a beta? He seems to be acting fine. I will keep an eye on the Molly's eye. I'm going to do a water change tonight as my ammonia went up slightly. Thank you to you both for helping! Stable water parameters are more important in long term I wouldn't try and alter your water parameters betta would naturally could from soft acidic water are fine in harder water with higher pH as they have been captive breed for long time with your water parameters most liverbears and lots of African cichlids would thrive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodip Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 That is good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/6/2024 at 4:24 PM, Colu said: My GH is high then my KH always been that way I don't think it would be a problem My thoughts on this is that kh is a function of gh. Gh contains magnesium sulfate and calcium carbonate. Kh is only a measure of calcium carbonate. It is actually possible to be missing the magnesium. But either way it’s not really a problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Hence gh should be the higher one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) On 3/6/2024 at 4:29 PM, jodip said: Mine hit the highest levels for both yeah, mine always do 15 gh and 12 kh. have stopped using strips for that. they seem to be less accurate. have went to kh and gh tests from Sera not a problem for most fish, anyway. jw carlson keeps his discus and rams in his tap water which is harder yet Edited March 7 by Tony s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now