Help please

[Rachel0825]

To summarize- I bought a Fluval Spec 5 gallon tank for a betta and a zebra snail.   I’ve had it since January.  Using the stock filtration.  I have a heater.  It’s in my office.  My parameters, based on the API test strips, have been great.  Everyone has been happy.  I’ve only used the betta water, the tannin water and the Top Fin aquarium water.  I had Fluval gravel and Fluval substrate.   This is a planted tank.  Anubias.   Bits of grass clumps.  And Valinsiera (I think that’s wrong) but just a few plant species nothing wild.  I do have the almond leaves in there as well.  I had the frogbit floaters and my substrate, all my fault, was a mess and breaking apart and the frogbit even cut back was growing so wild and long and then I developed the long hairy fungus or algae.   My tank light is the one with the kit and I have a timer set for 830-630.  The water flow to 1.   I added driftwood in and it wasn’t long til I had the film and the hairy fungus was all over it so I decided to redo and get rid of the frogbit and the gravel and substrate and start over.  I added substrate to the bottom of one side and capped it with my Fluval gravel.   I placed root tabs in.   Just 3.    Took the driftwood out and cleaned the plants and everything seemed good and clear and nice.   I have a Betta conditioner and a bacteria growth liquid as well as a plant fertilizer.  Same things I’ve used weekly since Day 1.   This was 2 weeks ago.   Then last week my water GH skyrocketed to the dark blue 180 mark.   I added more almond leaves.  Added some small driftwood.  I tested daily and it wasn’t coming down.   I did not do a water change.   

I came in Friday am and Sushi, my betta, was passed on.   He was perfectly fine and happy when I left Thursday.  

So.  I’ve watched videos.   I’ve read parts of suggestions.  I talked to a local store and their suggestion was a water change and that our water can fluctuate but I told her he’s never have tap water.   

I come in this am and the snail is fine.  The water is tinted.   My new test strips won’t be here til tomorrow so I can’t test the water today.  But there is stringy hair, long hair, all over the plants.  

Help me.  I want to get this tank and plants right before I lose Snelly or get a new Betta.  

To make matters worse……. I was super excited how it was looking and ordered a Madagascar Lace Plant which is delivering Friday.   

[NikkiRae]

I know that some gravel can break down overtime and increase the GH. I am wondering about the root tabs. Depending on the ingredients, there is potential to increaseGH. It is really rare though and typically only happens if you use way to much. I had a bad experience with API root tabs but it wasn't about the GH. I put in less than the recommended dose and then all of my fish started acting lethargic. 

 

[Tanked]

Sorry to hear about Sushi. there is very little chance that it was your fault; fish do that.

My first thought is that you have crashed your cycle when you changed and cleaned everything.  When you get your test strips, post your parameters here, along with a current photo. 

TTBOMK, Catappa  leaves do not lower GH significantly .  Additional leaves can add nitrates (fertilizer) to the water as they break down. Plant tabs usually last a month or more. Are you adding a plant fertilizer in addition to root tabs?   Combining with 10 hours of light would help explain the algae issue.  The Frogbit was trying to use all of that extra food.  Start doing the water changes. 

I know nothing about bottled aquarium water, so I can't even guess why the GH "skyrocketed"  When you get your test strips, I would also test the bottled Aquarium water that you are using straight from the bottle. If you want to cut the GH you could buy bottled RO filtered water from the grocery.  I use Aquafina.

 

[Rachel0825]

Oh that is a great suggestion.   I will test the bottle water and I never thought of using “human” bottled water.  I hope to get this corrected.  And soon.  Thank you.  

[Lennie]

Sorry for your betta mate

 

I'm confused reading what you exactly need help with. Could you please simplify the question

 

Also Sushi looks like a double tail. and a marble orr? Double tails are more prone to bloating from what I know. A lot of bettas today has weak genetics and are prone to diseases and problems like cancer, tumor, bloating, blindness etc.

If you want betta, I would encourage you to try tankbred wild options. If not, then I would hesitate going for marbles, scaled ones, souble tails, long fins, long ears(dumbo ears), and nemos/candies that constantly color up.

Try plakats with normal size pectoral fins and no such color forms/scales that are known to cause issues. It is very hard to claim a betta is healthy genetically these days, but at least you may avoid some obvious ones to a certain degree. I kept many different color and fin variants and my yellow plakat male is the healthiest betta Ive ever had, hands down.

 

That is hair algae I assume. Hair algae sucks. In my experience, the only thing that really works against this issue in terms of fish is SAEs. But they are not an option for your tank size. You may gradually try to find a balance by changing one thing at a time and observing, like light, lighting period, fertilising, etc. as well as manually removing the algae during maintenance

Potentially an amano may help too, but mine never really do. I personally don't think amanos are really good algae eaters at all, and I won't starve my tank to expect any algae to be eaten so I don't know. 

Edited April 15 by Lennie

[johnnyxxl]

Algae bloom is what you have as far as the hairy stuff.  Test and post your water parameters both the tank, and your bottle water.  I would bet you either have too much light or too much fertilizer in the tank.  

Right now I would do daily 10 or 20 percent water charges.  Personally I would change either the fertilizer regimen or the light for a few weeks see if the algae dies back/doesn't come back.  I know it's easy to panic when something goes bad seemingly over night and try to fix everything at one time, but when you don't know what was really wrong you can't know what you need to change.  So let's try one thing give it a chance then we will try something else if that hasn't fixed all of it.

[Rachel0825]

Thanks Lennie.  Thanks Johnnie.   I will start with the water changes.  So far the snail is fine.   And I currently have just the blue plant light on and I did lower my timer to now 10-4 to see if the less light will help.  
 

Lennie- I am pretty much just looking for all expertise and experience in the GH, this upcoming plant I have, fertilizer suggestions and any suggestions to help with what seems to be a barrage of issues right now.   
 

I will take the type of Betta in mind too.  I purchased him from an online breeder in Indonesia and he said he was 5 months old and a veiltail.   
 

when I get my water tested I will post the results for you to see ❤️

[Lennie]

On 4/15/2024 at 10:55 PM, Rachel0825 said:

I will take the type of Betta in mind too.  I purchased him from an online breeder in Indonesia and he said he was 5 months old and a veiltail.  

doubletail veiltail then. surely not just veiltail. The body shape on doubletails is a bit deformed on bettas, I can see it on the picture to be honest. 

I would not focus on too hard on gh myself. And I don't think gh caused any kills over night, sounds like a very unlike scenario

I would lean towards water quality issues, maybe chemicals used in the same room, problematic heater, anything leeching to the water column, or maybe it is just the time. I don't expect these bettas to live their max lifespan really. It feels like an unreal expectation to me seeing how bad these guys genetically are.

Don't get me wrong. I say these because I did experience problems keeping bettas in the past and witnessed the most I loved developing diseases tumors etc no matter how well taken care of. 

[Tanked]

On 4/15/2024 at 3:55 PM, Rachel0825 said:

I currently have just the blue plant light on

The blue light is very good for growing algae.

[Rachel0825]

Hello.  Ok.   I did get test strips finally.  Everything seems good except the GH.  I have done 3 water changes this week.   A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%.   I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine.  Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly.   
 

I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good.  I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments.   
 

as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit.   Top Fin Aquarijm water.   For some reason I can’t post a picture.   At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

[Rachel0825]

Hello.  Ok.   I did get test strips finally.  Everything seems good except the GH.  I have done 3 water changes this week.   A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%.   I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine.  Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly.   
 

I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good.  I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments.   
 

as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit.   Top Fin Aquarijm water.   For some reason I can’t post a picture.   At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

 

Edited April 19 by Rachel0825
Remove pic

[Lennie]

On 4/19/2024 at 5:19 PM, Rachel0825 said:

Hello.  Ok.   I did get test strips finally.  Everything seems good except the GH.  I have done 3 water changes this week.   A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%.   I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine.  Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly.   
 

I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good.  I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments.   
 

as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit.   Top Fin Aquarijm water.   For some reason I can’t post a picture.   At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

 

I would not worry about the gh reading myself. Keep the parameters you have stable

[Rachel0825]

Thank you Lennie.   I do appreciate it.   I even tested my tap water and it’s hard as well.   I do worry that would harm a betta but I’ll try not to think about it.  Lol.  

[Tanked]

On 4/19/2024 at 10:19 AM, Rachel0825 said:

Hello.  Ok.   I did get test strips finally.  Everything seems good except the GH.  I have done 3 water changes this week.   A 50% just about and then 2 x 20-30%.   I have added my bulb in that came in and it seems to be doing fine.  Plants are doing ok and so is the snail, Snelly.   
 

I did purchase new charcoal and new bio rings for my filter and cleaned the filter out real good.  I have not added any fertilizer or water treatments.   
 

as suggested- I tested the water as well in the jug and that appears to be my culprit.   Top Fin Aquarijm water.   For some reason I can’t post a picture.   At this point, I can do a water change and use tap water or use the RO water as suggested above?

 

I'll repeat what @Lennie said "I  would not worry about the GH reading myself.  Keep the parameters you have stable."  Your GH is not outrageous.  My GH is always much higher.  If the GH is too low Snelly will suffer.

Again, I know nothing about bottled aquarium water, and probably will never use it.  The purpose in suggesting RO water was solely to cut the GH levels, and you can still add some.  RO water contains nothing but water, so If you use nothing but RO water, you would have to add everything that is missing.

You could test your tap water.  If you are using city water, and buying your fish locally, they may already being adapted to that water.  Just be sure to use a conditioner/dechlorinator.  If there is a reason for not using tap water, than bottled water for humans is an option. 

It is more important to maintain stable parameters, and not chase numbers.  I think 20-25% weekly water changes are adequate.  Because of the 50-30-30% water changes and cleaning the filter, you should keep an eye on the NitrAte and NitrIte levels.  NitrAtes of 20-50 ppm are considered safe. Nitrites should be 0 ppm.

[Rachel0825]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:23 PM, Tanked said:

I'll repeat what @Lennie said "I  would not worry about the GH reading myself.  Keep the parameters you have stable."  Your GH is not outrageous.  My GH is always much higher.  If the GH is too low Snelly will suffer.

Again, I know nothing about bottled aquarium water, and probably will never use it.  The purpose in suggesting RO water was solely to cut the GH levels, and you can still add some.  RO water contains nothing but water, so If you use nothing but RO water, you would have to add everything that is missing.

You could test your tap water.  If you are using city water, and buying your fish locally, they may already being adapted to that water.  Just be sure to use a conditioner/dechlorinator.  If there is a reason for not using tap water, than bottled water for humans is an option. 

It is more important to maintain stable parameters, and not chase numbers.  I think 20-25% weekly water changes are adequate.  Because of the 50-30-30% water changes and cleaning the filter, you should keep an eye on the NitrAte and NitrIte levels.  NitrAtes of 20-50 ppm are considered safe. Nitrites should be 0 ppm.

Thanks Tanked.  I will keep an eye out on those values as well.  I’m not planning to add another fish for now so I’ll be able to just maintain it.  I will definitely try the RO water and add that in.   I just thought an aquarium water would already have everything I needed and be safe.  And I wanted to spoil him.  Lol.   Sigh but I did the opposite.   Thank you for your suggestions.   
 

I’ll take all advice you guys will offer 🙏🏻♥️

[jwcarlson]

I doubt the GH is an issue, but not seeing any nitrates seems like your tank might not be cycled.  But it could be that your plants are keeping it all down.  

 

On another note, I have had absolutely terrible luck with bettas.  I've been keeping fish for 25 years and bettas just never seem to last very long for me.  I've only ever had 3 or 4, but they just don't seem to do well for me.  Meanwhile some kindergarten teacher probably has one in a quart of water that's never been changed for the last six years. 😄

[Tanked]

On 4/19/2024 at 3:29 PM, Rachel0825 said:

Thanks Tanked.  I will keep an eye out on those values as well.  I’m not planning to add another fish for now so I’ll be able to just maintain it.  I will definitely try the RO water and add that in.   I just thought an aquarium water would already have everything I needed and be safe.  And I wanted to spoil him.  Lol.   Sigh but I did the opposite.   Thank you for your suggestions.   
 

I’ll take all advice you guys will offer 🙏🏻♥️

Like children, it doesn't hurt to spoil them a little bit.  I've always read/been told that Bettas can be fragile, so you probably did not do anything wrong.  

As your aquarium matures, and your plants continue to grow, watch your parameters and enjoy the journey.👍