MUST READ! General Betta Care and FAQ (V. 3.0)

[sunlight]

not sure what happened but if you give us more details we might figure it out? What are the symptoms? Are you sure it not gill flukes? Were they in the same tank?

[titolatino1970]

i was stupid in my rage i did not test the water she has 1 gill popped out and everyone died except for my giant hmpkpk female she been doin well in her 2.5 gallon quarantine

[sunlight]

But if you doing right water changes it should not happen though. May be in general you need to increase water changes for the tanks. I am kind of confused because if it water issue i think they will not die fast unless you forget water conditioner. And it weird to me that all of them died because it not contagious and i would think every fish will recover differently. So make sure it nothing else though. Not sure how many fish died.
I am glad that your girl doing good. I like super clean water i think it a secret why my betta live long and don't have any problem.
Give us update on your girl, good luck,

[stetez]

Thanks for tips and advice

[rangerserena]

Any suggestions for a 50 gallon filter that these guys will tollerate?

[hperriperri]

Hello Friends
Some things made more easy for you with a personal experience on how you take better care of your betta fighter fish and how you can increase it life span too. Just check out here:
http:/www.altafkhatri.com/FunLearnings/How-to-take-care-of-betta-fighter-fish/betta-fish-increase-life-span/betta-care

[hperriperri]

Originally Posted by rangerserena

Any suggestions for a 50 gallon filter that these guys will tollerate?

Yes you can easily get the knowledge here:
http://www.altafkhatri.com/FunLearni...pan/betta-care

[ANHEL123]

Originally Posted by rangerserena

Any suggestions for a 50 gallon filter that these guys will tollerate?

Check out those two links. It from Oldfishlady. You can put your thread right there for 50 gall and she or other people will help you. It very important to rinse the filter media in the old water WITH a water change regularly. You also need regular weekly water changes with gravel vacuum . I think you can find a lot of helpful in formations there.


http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=115758







Good luck.

[katmandew]

I just joined so I apologize if I'm posting in the wrong place but here goes. My son bought me a 5.5 starter tank from Petsmart for Christmas which comes with a Top Fin 10 Filter, hood with a light and a temperature strip. He also purchased a 25 watt heater. I wanted to be sure I had everything ready before going to get a Betta. I ordered 3 silk plants, bio-gold pellets and a small log on Amazon and bought a GFCI outlet adapter to plug a surge protector in and hung that on the wall to be sure I had drip lines.

Sunday I went to Petsmart and got the gravel, a vacuum gravel, another cave, Top Fin water conditioner and my fish. I was told to clean and rinse all decorations and gravel, fill the tank (with warm water) and add the water conditioner and get things running. I put the temperature strip on the outside of the tank and waited for the temperature to hit 78. I asked about accumulating the fish to the new water and was told I could just put the fish in.

The first couple hours Mr. P hid in the plants and then seemed to come around and started exploring the plants and his cave but didn't want to eat. Monday the water looked hazy to me so I read some things on line and did a 50% water change (added conditioner in the water I replaced). My fish wasn't doing much swimming around, just hanging in the plants.

Tuesday the water looked a little better, the temperature was good but he still didn't want to eat so I removed the one pellet I had put in. The flow of the filter seemed a little strong so I placed one of the plants in front of it to slow it down some and turned it off when I put the pellet in...no go. I did a 20% water change and I also noticed he was swimming to the top taking a breath of air and then sinking.

Today (Wednesday) I noticed he was not active at all just laying in a plant towards the top of the tank every once in awhile taking a breath. I did another 20% change. The water actually doesn't look too bad, much better than it was but unfortunately I got home from work tonight and he was dead :(

This really upset me thinking that I let him suffer. I don't know what I did wrong or what I can do before I get another one. I see that it would be wise to get a test kit but I'm not sure how to fix nitrate or ammonia problems even if the kit showed I had a problem. Could someone please tell me exactly what to do to get this tank ready for another fish. This is my first tank and I'm heart broken and ready to give up already. I take directions well so I need EXACT instructions. What was suppose to be something relaxing and enjoyable, has turned into a nightmare. I realize this must sound silly to long time tank owners but I really want this to work.

[twolovers101]

First, don't be too upset, things like this happen to even the best of us.
Second, most people are going to tell you to not take the advice of pet store employees as many of them dont really know that much about fish.

I have the same tank you do, and I have opted to not use the filter as my tank is planted, for you, you can use the filter, but it is strong for bettas, so my advice is to baffle it at both the intake with a filter sponge, and the outflow with either a sponge or a plastic baffle made from a water bottle, you can google search instructions on how to make one fairly easily.

You have two options from there when it comes to cycling.
Cycling is important as it establishies beneficial bacteria (BB) in the filter and sponge that will eat bad things like ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I'm not an expert on cycling, but here is a good link you can learn a lot from http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838 Also, you're going to need a test kit, API makes a great liquid test that most of us here swear by.

Next, I would suggest getting a high quality food such as omega one betta buffet pellets or new life spectrum pellets, both have a high protein content which is necessary to keep these fish healthy. I would also invest in Prime water conditioner as it is very effective and a little bit goes a long way.

It sounds like you have everything else down pretty good, the heater, your supplies etc. Temp strips aren't really all that accurate, so I would just spring for a glass thermometer that hangs on the inside of your tank, they're about $3 at petsmart

Acclimating your fish: What you need to do when you get a new betta is to let his cup or back sit in the tank water for about 30 minutes, then slowly add water from your tank into his bowl/bag at 10-15 minute intervals for an hour or so (that's what I do with new fish anyway, it may be a bit over kill, but I'm super paranoid about shocking a fish)

I'm sure I left something off, but there are many more knowledgeable people around here than I that I'm sure will be happy to help you. Don't give up! These guys are very sweet rewarding little buggars once you get the hang of it. We all experience a learning curve at some point, so don't get too worked up about it :)