Progress on my 20 Gallon Betta Aquarium

[Sapere_Ceta]

Well my tap water suddenly has 1.0ppm ammonia in it apparently. I did a water test today after I took a shower and my tanks started showing 1.0ppm, which had be pretty startled. I did a water test on the tap and it was the same. I wanted to see if the test is malfunctioning, so I tested it on my main tank, and my main tank didn’t seem to show any sign of ammonia (the yellows are a little difficult for me to differentiate). So I added an ammonia guard on one tank to see if I get any results within 15 that agree (though if I see nothing in 15 minutes, I’m going to water change with water from the main tank). 
 

I don’t understand how everything would be this high after a day of one water change, unless the ammonia was truly that high from the tap (it never has been before). But I’m going to try and confirm soon, if not, water change is going to occur immediately after. 

[OceanTruth]

That is very strange and a little scary to be honest. I'm not sure what I would do if my tap water all of a sudden had ammonia in it.

[Sapere_Ceta]

1 minute ago, OceanTruth said:

That is very strange and a little scary to be honest. I'm not sure what I would do if my tap water all of a sudden had ammonia in it.

I’m doing some research because I’ve never had this happen before. The two small bins have filters that were added two days ago with some biological media from the large filter that’s been cycled on the main tank.

Apparently it could be chloramine from the tap water causing it to read as ammonia (when it’s actually ammonium, which is less toxic). I use Fritz Complete Water Condition which neutralizes them, but that would make sense why it still is reading high (it’s waiting for the bacteria to eat it up while remaining non-toxic or much less toxic). I think to be safe, I’m going to add a small amount of conditioner to the water, and I’ve heard people dose the same way with Prime. So maybe I can dose it until the bacteria starts consuming it more and it stabilizes. 
I did a smell test for my tap water today, and it definitely is getting a more concentrated pool smell. My sense of smell is really bad because I have terrible allergies, so I think it’s maybe getting more concentrated and I couldn’t smell it until now (when it’s super concentrated). 
 

But once I add everything, I will monitor behavior and if that worsens, the main tank water will need to be used to WC for the QT tanks. 

[OceanTruth]

Your explanation and solution to the problem sounds completely reasonable to me. Way to work the problem. Hopefully things sort themselves out without causing any harm. 

Any connection to Gandr's molting issue? Or do you think that was mainly the bad luck of shipping when getting ready to molt.

[Sapere_Ceta]

6 minutes ago, OceanTruth said:

Your explanation and solution to the problem sounds completely reasonable to me. Way to work the problem. Hopefully things sort themselves out without causing any harm. 

Any connection to Gandr's molting issue? Or do you think that was mainly the bad luck of shipping when getting ready to molt.

I’m very thankful for the internet haha. I’m hoping so too. But the fish are acting completely unaffected, as well as Gandr. So I think it’s alright, but I definitely need to keep an eye on it.

I don’t  think so because the water had 0ppm ammonia in it since I had him, and it was three days when he started showing molting issues. Definitely think it was just bad timing with shipping. I test every day on both bins, and today after a water change was the only day it spiked.

[Sapere_Ceta]

The plants arrived in pretty bad condition. For a pretty expensive purchase, for my budget at least, it was pretty disappointing. I also couldn’t help but chuckle because they packaged things so wonky. Two of the plants were refunded without my knowledge and therefore won’t be happening. The anubias nana pinto and red root floaters were wrapped into smashed nearly completely dry paper towel. The anubias nana pinto was bone dry, along with most of the red root floaters. The red root floaters were smashed together so badly that they were basically mush, and the leaves crumbled away or stuck to the paper towel. Both of the plants were covered in duckweed and snails (which isn’t too bothersome, but a bit of a nuisance). The hilarious part is that I finally went to unbox the last plant, which is Tissue Culture. I’m staring at the packaging befuddled because not only is it sealed in a bag, but it’s also completely wrapped in super saturated paper towel.. a plastic sealed container wrapped in wet paper towel! The only paper towel that was appropriately wet too 🙃
So I ended up emailing them with a good amount of pictures as well, but I’m not sure if I will hear anything, because they haven’t really communicated, until I started sending messages every now and then asking about the package. But I thought it would be worth it to inform them, maybe if there’s a resolution or an acknowledgement that the package maybe could have gone better. I’m not sure. I always feel bad for messaging companies if something is wrong, but they might not even know there’s a problem with something occurring until it’s brought up. 

I tried to save as many of the red root floaters as I could, but they were total mush, and then being stuck together just made it worse. Like 85% were all rootless and just a pile of mushy, deteriorating leaves. The photos really can’t do it justice for how bad it was, especially when they were separated.



The rest of the plants were planted and are settling in. I added the plants in bad condition or completely deteriorated by pieces to Gandr’s tank whenever he’s ready to hopefully eat them in the future. Making he likes expensive dinners and tears from my dismay 🤣

Meanwhile.. Gandr is trying to break the shell it seems. He’s been on his side off and on, stretching his limbs and trying to bend. He’ll take occasional breaks every now and then, standing back up. He’s made himself a little leaf “burrito” to try and molt in. I don’t know how he made the leaf so curled up, but I’m impressed by his creativity. 

The Indian Ricefish have been showing a little bit of spawning behavior, though none of the females have eggs they’re carrying. The males are wiggling and showing off. I’m not sure if it’s to impress the females or to ward off/compete against other males. But it’s been neat to watch when it happens. 

[OceanTruth]

Sorry to hear about the plants! That really sucks. Doesn't sound like they do a good job of shipping. If the company is worth anything they should refund your money. That kind of experience would really make me question ever buying from them again. I mean, dead plants on arrival can happen, but it doesn't sound like they package very well or care very much.

[Sapere_Ceta]

7 hours ago, OceanTruth said:

Sorry to hear about the plants! That really sucks. Doesn't sound like they do a good job of shipping. If the company is worth anything they should refund your money. That kind of experience would really make me question ever buying from them again. I mean, dead plants on arrival can happen, but it doesn't sound like they package very well or care very much.

It’s alright. It was pretty disappointing, and I definitely agree about questioning if I’d ever buy from them again or not (I probably would never). But, hopefully they will respond eventually and maybe reach some good consensus about how to handle or what to change next time for other customers. 

[Sapere_Ceta]

Gandr was on his side most of last night and moving his legs a lot. He was incrementally doing it for hours. This morning, I woke up and he was in the front of the tank. He occasionally will try again, though he hasn’t seemed to make any progress. 
On occasion, he’ll walk around. But, he’s more clumsy and will keep his limbs occasionally outstretched. He’s very determined though at continuing to try and molt, so I admire that. 

I took a quick photo of him this morning, but I am keeping my distance to avoid stressing him, so it’s not the best quality. When I can see him, I want to take occasional pictures day by day to see if there’s any change in his appearance or if I can see something loosening. 

The company I got him from got back to me, and they are at the same conclusion that it sounds like it could be a bad molt potentially. But I’m happy to have reached out to them, just in case they speculated it could be something else. 

[Koi]

I may be too late, If you haven't already thrown the red root floaters away just throw them in a tank and see what happens. You never know, it could still come back. I actually bought some a few days ago and they were all dried out. I just put them in a low flow tank and now I already see new growth.

[Sapere_Ceta]

20 minutes ago, Koi said:

I may be too late, If you haven't already thrown the red root floaters away just throw them in a tank and see what happens. You never know, it could still come back. I actually bought some a few days ago and they were all dried out. I just put them in a low flow tank and now I already see new growth.

Haha, I did exactly that actually. The only ones that looked seriously bad were given to the crayfish. Anything with roots or was mostly intact went into the main tank 😄

That’s awesome you see some new growth already! 

[Sapere_Ceta]

Decided to name him after the Greybeard, Wulfgar. The resemblance is uncanny, am I right? 😂

[Koi]

For a floating plant I found mine to be surprisingly resilient. none of my plants could actually when i first got them. And the few plants i had that did have roots attached, the roots were actually the part that was floating keeping the leaves close to the surface but submerged. I thought everything was a gonner but I got lucky, hopefully you get the same luck I got

Even single floating leaves without roots are starting to come back. This one was actually stuck to the skimmer of my filter

[OceanTruth]

Gandr is still a cool looking dude even though he's having a rough go at molting. Hoping he gets through it ok.

And yes the two Greybeards' resemblance IS uncanny. I thought you posted the same pic twice by accident at first. 😛

[Sapere_Ceta]

1 hour ago, Koi said:

For a floating plant I found mine to be surprisingly resilient. none of my plants could actually when i first got them. And the few plants i had that did have roots attached, the roots were actually the part that was floating keeping the leaves close to the surface but submerged. I thought everything was a gonner but I got lucky, hopefully you get the same luck I got

Even single floating leaves without roots are starting to come back. This one was actually stuck to the skimmer of my filter

Nice! I’m glad they are bouncing back for you! I think a few will start looking better for my tank. But a lot of them are sinking down and the leaves are really degrading. Still giving it a go though! It’s nice to know even some rootless leafs are coming back for you.. so cool how plants can be very resilient! 

[Sapere_Ceta]

@Koi So I have some floating. These are the best looking out of the bunch. So I’m hoping they make a comeback. The rest have sunk on their own 😂

 

[Koi]

I still believe! Put that sucker right under the light haha. Do you have ferts in your water column?

[Sapere_Ceta]

2 hours ago, Koi said:

I still believe! Put that sucker right under the light haha. Do you have ferts in your water column?

You got it! Haha. I do, I dose Easy Green and Fluval Gro+ Micronutrients. Occasionally I will even add crushed egg shells leftover from what my mom makes for her breakfast, which slowly disintegrate and add extra calcium. 

[Sapere_Ceta]

Afternoon, everyone. So far, Gandr still cannot molt, and he’s seemed to have stopped trying, though sometimes he will go back to it, but he is too fatigued to continue. He’s been walking around lately more often, but is very clumsy and still under-active. He will occasionally fall, though not very often, luckily. I still can’t get him to eat (I’ve been trying blanched fruits and vegetables, high quality shrimp pellets, decaying plant matter), and it’s been a week. 
I’ve spread out my water changes more, as they are stressful to him, although I try and make them very small, quiet, with no movement, and drawn out in duration. 

I thought maybe using water from my well established main tank would be less stressful, as I’m not having to use dechlorinated tap water (they are the same parameters). But, he handled it the same way, with a lot of stress and the little guy has been huddling under a leaf for a long time.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to have him for long term, and if it gets to the point where he’s struggling too much, I’ll have to euthanize him with clove oil, since I don’t want him to suffer. But, if he manages to molt or somehow make it through (which I’m not entirely sure would be possible), then I will go through with setting up a large habitat for him.

I really wanted to do a large sandy space, with deep substrate he can burrow in, the same leftover rocks as what I used for the twenty gallon, leaf litter, and have an out of water area with some of my house plants that would enjoy that environment. But I’ve since held off on making the final purchases, because I wouldn’t be able to refund the expenses, if he doesn’t make it through. Although I really want to start readying everything, it wouldn’t be the correct approach. So, I’m begrudgingly holding off.

[Sapere_Ceta]

I got him to eat!! I’ve been trying food one by one, and today, Gandr finally ate thawed out krill! I got a very terrible photo of him eating seconds haha. 

Can you guys see it in his tiny little graspers? Too cute! 
 

I’m not sure if he’ll continue to keep improving, but this gives me hope! I’m not sure why his molting behavior is slowly dissipating.. everyone I’ve talked to and shown the behavior agreed it was a bad molt, along with the people I got him from. Nothing has changed in my water. Yet, he’s being more active, not curling his tail as much, going on his side, wiggling his legs, or going onto his back. I’m honestly a little baffled as to what’s occurring and if he’s okay or not. I reached out to a lot of people on forums that are more crayfish oriented, and we were all still stumped as to what could be the cause. There’s times he’ll start the behaviors again, but it’s not nearly as frequent. I haven’t seen it all today so far, for instance. Someone messaged me saying their crayfish would just do that for seemingly no reason and that it was normal for that particular crayfish. I’m not sure if Gandr is a similar circumstance, or if he’s going to keep improving, or what the cause was.
But I’m grateful my little dude finally ate, and we’ll take the rest on day by day. 

[Sapere_Ceta]

After doing a water change yesterday and cleaning off the glass and plants, I let the twenty gallon settle. I did video some of the copepods and worms in the tank that were swimming around and on the glass before I water changed and cleaned it. It was pretty cool! There were so many, and I still see a good amount. Here’s a photo of a few of them, the rounder white ones being the copepods, and the longer thin white ones being the tiny worms.

I left the back panel and a little bit of the side panels untouched, until I replace the equipment. It’ll be easier to get in between everything after that. 

Today, I added some root tabs to the tank, because I’m starting to see some deficiency and needed to dose them for the root feeding plants especially. I started dosing my fertilizers again lately as well, as I was waiting until the plants adjusted to the big transfer they had. 
Combined, it should take care of my potassium deficiency, which seems to be the only deficiency occurring. I had the same thing occur in the plant holding bin, though the same additions seemed to solve it. 

The water cleared up, and the biofilm isn’t as prominent tonight. It’s nice seeing the tank at night before the light goes off. I’ve been laying down watching it for a little while. It’s pretty calming, especially when I’m not feeling well.

Gandr also let me take some photos of him, a little closer this time! I made it pretty quick to not frighten him though. Little guy seems in better spirits, and I couldn’t be more relieved that he finally ate.

[OceanTruth]

I'm glad Gandr finally ate! He must have wanted something meaty. Lol. Hopefully he gets his strength back up and he can molt properly.

[Sapere_Ceta]

Morning, everyone! I just finished up some tank maintenance. I trimmed a lot of the unhealthy looking leaves away and brushed away detritus, leftover sand, and a little bit of diatom algae off from the leaves. 
I also fixed the substrate up a bit, replanted some of the plants that came loose, and pulled off a little more of the biofilm that was starting to encase the plants. 

 

The filter and heater will eventually be swapped as well, and be placed on the other side, rather than staying on the right. 

I actually really enjoy doing maintenance on this tank. I have barely been getting three hours of sleep this whole week because of the amount of pain I’m in. So having something to keep me a little busy without being too harsh on my body is nice. It’s tranquil too. 

[OceanTruth]

I really like the look of this tank. All the dark areas make for such a cool look and feel.

[Sapere_Ceta]

Hello, everyone! Today I added the Indian Ricefish and Wulfgar the betta. I’ve toned down the light a bit, so that’s why it’s a little more dark, as I’ve gotten a little bit of algae, and I don’t want it to increase after doing some more maintenance on everything today.

I had to do some extra maintenance today because I accidentally spilled the old filter into the tank when I was trying to take it out, so everything yucky spilled out and back onto everything. I replaced it with the new filter, using the same media of course. I also added the small heater in, swapping the bigger heater to Gandr’s setup. But I also touched everything up as well, which is why the water isn’t too clean currently. 

 

I’m also going to dose the main tank with parasite medication, as it is much easier to dose in the main tank, rather than risking an overdose on the small tank, since the packet is per 10 gallons. 

Edited February 1, 2021 by Sapere_Ceta