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Should I be worried?

904 views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  bettacrazygirl86 
#1 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 79 F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqua Culture Betta Food
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets for breakfast and 3 for dinner

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Mondays and Fridays
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100% on Mondays and 50% on Fridays
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? Haven't tested

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Clamped fins, stress stripes, and not quite as colorful
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? She hides in the back top corner of the tank, near the heater and doesn't eat more than one or two pellets a day
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Wednesday, the day after I set up her new KK and her new heater.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not yet, not sure what to do
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No, happy and healthy as could be, until now
How old is your fish (approximately)? Had her for about two months, and she was young when I got her. Not a baby, but still a young female as she was super tiny. Not sure how old

I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid or if I have a reason to worry.

When I first set up Patriot's tank with the same type heater, the warmth was a surprise to him and he stressed himself to where he got a mild case of fin rot. Treated with some AQ salt and it went away super fast. But with him, I didn't gradually increase the temperature. I set it to 80 and acclimated him before putting him in, and he didn't like it.

Tiny Tina seemed okay at first, after I acclimated her and let her out into the tank. I figured she was just stressed from the change and stuff. She had went from being in a 2.65 filtered tank with a crappy heater to a temporary tank in Patriot's old 4 gallon (only filled a little less than halfway though, since it was just temporary), then to her new 3 gallon KK with an adjustable heater.

I just want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to Tiny Tina that happened to Patriot. I can tell she's stressed and unhappy, but I don't know what to do to help her. Would AQ salt help? I turned down the heater just a little, just in case it was too hot for her. I started her out at 75 then slowly rose it up to 79 in hopes of getting to 82 like Patriot, but she isn't doing any better.
 
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#2 ·
79F is fine. I would leave the temp there. (You could lower it to 77 or 78, if you think the issues were caused by the warmer water. Some bettas like cooler temps. Or maybe she's just used to it being a little lower, so the warmer water is causing stress.)

I tried to find the ingredient list for Aqua Culture Betta Food, but didn't see any information online. What are the first few ingredients? Maybe she doesn't like the food, or it's too large for her?

How did you acclimate her to the new tank?

I would not add AQ salt, as there's nothing definitively wrong with her. (Ie: she doesn't have fin rot, or an external infection.) Bettas are sensitive to salt, and it can cause issues with their kidneys if used in too high a dosage or for too long.

Perhaps do a partial water change? If there's something 'off' with the water parameters, that might help....
 
#4 ·
I'm not home right now, so I can't check the ingredients in the food, but when I get home, I'll post them. I tried feeding her the Omega One pellets I got, but I don't think she liked them. She just kept spitting them out. The pellets aren't too big for her, since she's never had this problem before.

I did a partial water change yesterday and today, hoping that she'll get better.

I don't think the temp is a problem and I would not lower it.

However, if you just popped the heater in and turned it on, and did not acclimate him to the warmer water you shocked him. How did you acclimate? Acclimation takes an hour to higher temps.. floating in separate cup in fully heated tank, then adding a few tablespoons of the new water for 30 minutes of it or 30 minutes after floating..

Can you share a list of what is in the tanks? including brand of heater.. sniff the water and make sure it doesn't smell like plastic/rubber
I have two fake plants, gravel, a glass thermometer, little ship wreck decoration, a terracotta pot and the heater is a Top Fin 25 watt. I scrubbed it really well, but the water did smell like rubber. It did when I first put it in Patriot's tank too, but the water changes make it smell less and less like rubber.

When I acclimated her, the temperature in the tank was 76, which is what she's used to. I let her sit for about half an hour and every 10 minutes or so, I'd add a bit of tank water in before I released her. That's how I do it every other time too, and I've never had an issue.
 
#3 ·
I don't think the temp is a problem and I would not lower it.

However, if you just popped the heater in and turned it on, and did not acclimate him to the warmer water you shocked him. How did you acclimate? Acclimation takes an hour to higher temps.. floating in separate cup in fully heated tank, then adding a few tablespoons of the new water for 30 minutes of it or 30 minutes after floating..

Can you share a list of what is in the tanks? including brand of heater.. sniff the water and make sure it doesn't smell like plastic/rubber
 
#5 ·
The rubber is toxins leached.. it's killed many a fish. I would replace the heater and do a full change to remove the toxins. Tofin heaters are notorious for this problem. I'm sorry :(

If you go the fake plants from petco, make sure that the stems don't contain metal and you might check the ornament with a strong magnet to make sure there is no attraction there as well.

I don't think acclimation is an issue either.
 
#6 ·
Boo. :( I can't afford to replace the heaters. They work fine, and after running for a few days, it stops with the rubber smell... Do you think it would be okay to keep doing water changes until it stops smelling?

I got the plants from my LFS and they seem to be okay.
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
Oh boo. :( The one in Patriot's tank seems fine. Should I replace that one too?

I found this one.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11368

Is that one okay? It's cheaper and has better reviews than the Marineland one... I'll have to try to get money to get that one, so I can bring the Top Fin one back. I still have my receipt and it's only been a few days since I bought it, so hopefully they'll just give me cash back. If not, I guess the money could go towards my 10 gallon tank.
 
#9 ·
If your fish isn't sick and you aren't smelling the plastic then it's optional.

I personally do not like Hydor heaters. I've had a bad run of luck with them and reviews aren't as good, but some people really like them. It's about a $2.60 difference so imho it's not a big deal. If you get the hydor I'd for sure give it a 24 hours test run with in tank thermometer in similar size container to make sure it will hold one constant appropriate temp. It's a good idea to do anyway, but especially for that one. The Marina btw runs about 2-3 degrees hot on average, so that will give you a starting point on that one.

They'll probably let you return it, especially if you explain the rubber smell and fish suddenly getting sick.
 
#10 ·
Okay. I don't have any other heaters aside from a preset one which didn't work quite as well. What should I do about my fish until I can get the other heater? I would return the new heater today, but then I would have to have the other one shipped and it won't get here as fast as I would need it.
 
#11 ·
You have a good point. Well you have a few options I guess..

You could remove the heater and try to keep her as warm as possible by placing her in the warmest room of the house and wrapping blankets around her. It's not ideal, but it's better than a toxic heater and it's your cheapest option. If you do let her cool off make sure to acclimate very slowly to the new heater's higher temps.

You could buy a digital space heater at Walmart.. you set the temp to about 82 or so and leave her in a small heated room.. unused bathroom, bedroom etc. When the new heater comes you can return the space heater for a full refund.

You got your LFS and get a temporary, although not perfect heater until the adjustable one comes.
 
#12 ·
Our house is like an ice box! Half of it doesn't heat and is freezing, even with a space heater. My LFS only has Tetra heaters, unless I want to spend about $30+ on one. I don't think putting her in a warm room would work, since the house is so cold. My room is the warmest and it's still cold in there. :(

Do you think, maybe, I could keep the heater running and just keep doing water changes until it stops? That's what I did with Patriot's. I could float her in her cup inside the tank so she can stay warm but be out of the nasty water until it stops.
 
#13 ·
The cup floating is a good idea but I actually wouldn't do anything less than 1g.. you could get a 2g critter keeper and fill it half full. In a cup you would ideally do at least 4 100% changes a day because in 24 hours you could get as much a 4ppm ammonia, so even doing this much changes she could still see as much as .5ppm, but hopefully it won't get that high.
 
#15 ·
I wouldn't float in under 1g, because then half full would be half gallon would be okay short time with 100% daily changes.

I would not put her in the tank with that heater, period, but that's your call..
 
#16 ·
I just did a 100% change and scrubbed EVERYTHING in hot and cold water and let everything sit in the hot water for a while. Nothing smells like rubber, and the water in the tank didn't, so I'm hoping it'll be done. She is perking up a little though. She isn't as clamped anymore, but that may just be because I have her floating in her cup now to acclimate to the water. I think I'll give her one more day and see if she improves at all, and if not, I'll take the heater back and order the other one. Patriot's heater is doing fine and stopped smelling after a few days, so hopefully hers will be okay too. I'll keep you updated.
 
#17 ·
UPDATE:

She's no longer clamped and mopey! She doesn't hide in one spot anymore, and I've been seeing her swim around a lot more. The heater no longer smells, either.

However, she hasn't been eating. I don't know if it's just that she doesn't know the food is there, or what. How do I get her to notice the food? I've tried dropping it in front of her, and tapping the top of the water to get her attention, but she doesn't seem to notice. My male, Patriot, eats just fine and all I have to do is tap the surface enough to disturb it and he swims over. I don't know what to do. She hasn't eaten in the last two days.
 
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