The Quick Question Thread

[Amberedsox]

I have a new half moon tail male, named Mugs, because he has such a mean little face, and he his tail seems to be 'crimped' at the edges and a dark brown color. I received him as a gift, as my bf knows how much i love bettas, and he seems to be so shy as well. I put some salt in his tank and used a fin treatment with tea tree oil as well in his tank... anyone know any thing about this??

[Amberedsox]

]I have a new half moon tail male, named Mugs, because he has such a mean little face, and he his tail seems to be 'crimped' at the edges and a dark brown color. I received him as a gift, as my bf knows how much i love bettas, and he seems to be so shy as well. I put some salt in his tank and used a fin treatment with tea tree oil as well in his tank... anyone know any thing about this??[

[aokashi]

take out the tea tree oil treatment. I'm guessing you are usin melafix or bettafix. tea tree oil can be damaging to betta fish's labyrinth organs. a crimp in the fins may or may not be permanant. give it a good warm clean environment and if it can heal, it will.

[Hallyx]

Salt is not recommended unless you're treating him for a fin condition or an injury.

There are experienced keepers here who would not recommend salt in any case.

[Hallyx]

Originally Posted by Rocky12

Will my boy burn himself on the heater? I keep it at 79-80 degrees.

The water absorbs the heat so fast the heater is barely warm to the touch. Try it. You'll see.

Originally Posted by Rocky12

More plants the merrier?

Yup. And live ones are even better..although, depending on the plant, more work than silk.

Originally Posted by Rocky12

Should I dip and rinse or vacuum his gravel?

Either. But vacuuming is more thorough and probably less stressful.

Originally Posted by Rocky12

What's best for a tank light? LEDs or?

LEDs work fine but are very expensive. For your first planted tank, you might want to try a small compact fluorescent bulb (~5W) with a color temperature of 6500 Kelvin. Those are readily available (I think).

You didn't ask, but.....Anubias Java fern, Java moss, mossball are all low-light easy-care beginner plants.

[aokashi]

I'd say go for a 13w...

[Hallyx]

Aokashi's right, if for no other reason than they're easier to find. You can even get one that screws into your desk lamp.

[Nothingness]

How long should I acclimatize a new beta in the tank before setting him free to enjoy his new space? I have the water temp set at a steady 80 degrees and the tank has been cycled. Should i put some of the tanks water into the cup to mix with the store water prior to release?

Also when doing water changes and the new water is not as warm as the tank water should I remove the betta from the tank until the water heats up or just leave him in?

[Hallyx]

A half-hour is usually long enough for the cupwater temperature to match the tank temp.

Remove and discard some cupwater and replace it with tankwater---about six times during the half-hour should do it. The idea is to dilute the cup with tankwater until there's no difference.

When it's time, I just fill up the cup until it sinks. The fish will swim away in his own time.

Some keepers would recommend that you net the fish and release him when the waters match, so as to not allow any petstore water into the tank. I don't like netting Betta, so I just get rid of as much petstore water as I can.

During water changes, I prefer to match the water temperature before refilling the tank. (That's what hot-and-cold taps are for.) I'd rather not remove my fish from the tank.

[BabyBetta0108]

I'm planning to move my fish tank into another room in my house, would it be okay to unplug my filter for about 1 hr or so to move the tank? I'm in the middle of cycling right now, and i don't want to mess up the process