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Not gonna screw up this time. Need advice.

616 views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  4lpha 
#1 ·
Okay, I got another betta. Not sure what to call him, though. I got him out of Wal-Mart, and he is the most energetic one I saw there (he was even more energetic once in the tank). I now have him in a salted tank that had been heavily Primed (seeing as my water is 1 ppm of ammonia right out of the tap). I made sure there was little if any ammonia (last reading was .25 and I hit again with Prime). The tank is 5 gallons and is the recuperation tank (isolation tank sounds kinda gloomy). Right now, the 10 gallon has not been touched since Alpha's death. It still has the snails crawling around in it (if not more than last time). I tested the water and it reads .5 ppm ammonia. I am going to get test strips soon for nitrite and nitrate (as well as medicine). I got a bottle of Tetra StartRight that's been barely used. The plants in the tank seem to be doing well so it means there is at least some Nitrate in the water (or I am terribly msitaken). I am going to give the new guy a medication bath each month to help with any parasites or fungi that may start to hurt him. My question is if this is okay and what are just some light medications I can give him (something I can find at Petco or Petsmart). Also, Alpha died of dropsy, a disease caused by bacteria common in the water. Should I go ahead and change all the water? Should I go ahead and finish cycling the tank like it is? He didn't die in the tank, by the by... the by.
 
#2 ·
Okay, I got another betta. Not sure what to call him, though. I got him out of Wal-Mart, and he is the most energetic one I saw there (he was even more energetic once in the tank).

That's good, I swear those walmart bettas are some of the *most* tough little dudes! LOL! :)

I now have him in a salted tank that had been heavily Primed (seeing as my water is 1 ppm of ammonia right out of the tap). I made sure there was little if any ammonia (last reading was .25 and I hit again with Prime).

Okay, first off, don't use salt. No salt, at all. Only use salt when you're treating a disease. Salt is not for all the time. :) Totally change out his water to take out the salt.
Now, what Prime does is it neutralizes ammonia into ammonium. This will still show up on your test strips as an ammonia reading, but it's actually ammonium, which will NOT hurt your fish. Once you've put in the Prime, he's safe for 24 - 48 hours, no matter what your test strips read (because they're reading the safe ammonium as toxic ammonia, they can't tell the difference). Also, you can use a standard dose for your tank size, 1ppm ammonia is high, but not crazy high. If you're worried, you can double the dose, but don't really do any more than that.
Keep in mind though, that after those 48 hours has gone by, you'll need to dose with Prime again, because the ammonium will have converted *back* to ammonia and will once again be toxic. :)

The tank is 5 gallons and is the recuperation tank (isolation tank sounds kinda gloomy). Right now, the 10 gallon has not been touched since Alpha's death. It still has the snails crawling around in it (if not more than last time).

First off, clean the tank. Just take everything out, run all of it under hot water, and then let everything dry out completely, including all the gravel. Same with your filter and filter media. The gravel is the hardest to really get clean, so I usually just throw it out and replace, but if you want to keep it, spread it out on a cookie sheet and let it dry out in the sun for a couple of days. Same with everything else, dry it well in the sun. This will kill all but the MOST stubborn bacteria, and unless your fish had TB, this will take care of it.

Oh, and with your live plants, just put them into a tank of plain tap water for a few days. The chlorine in your tap water will take care of anything still living on them as well, and won't hurt the plants.

I tested the water and it reads .5 ppm ammonia. I am going to get test strips soon for nitrite and nitrate (as well as medicine).

No, no, wait, NO TEST STRIPS. They are *ridiculously* inaccurate, don't waste your money. For the 10$ you'll spend on those strips, you can get a Master Liquid Test Kit for $20...and it will be *accurate*. (I did this too, I though, oh, the strips can't be that bad...and I wasted ten bucks. I promise you really do need the liquid kit. This is the one time I'll ever tell you that you really *have* to do something. ;)) The test strips can be anywhere from 0.25 to 0.5 off...which can seriously harm your betta if they're reading low when they should be reading high during cycling.
Not to mention they'll throw your cycle off if the readings are inaccurate.
Also, the liquid kits last just about forever, so it's a small investment for the length of time you'll have it and be able to use it. :)

I got a bottle of Tetra StartRight that's been barely used.

Once the bottles are opened, the BB's usually die within 48 hours. :( I'm sorry! The bottles are misleading because they say that you should dose again after water changes and such, but I opened one, used part of it, then went back to use it again in another tank...and it never cycled. The BB's were dead. If you want to use a Starter like that, you'll need to get a fresh bottle every time. I'm sorry! :( I know that's a bummer to hear.

The plants in the tank seem to be doing well so it means there is at least some Nitrate in the water (or I am terribly msitaken).

Plants absorb the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. So, the plants will help to buffer the ammonia that comes out of your tap and from your fish, but they don't put anything back *out*. Here's how the cycle works in a nutshell:

Fish produce ammonia, ammonia is then broken down by Bacteria A into nitrite, then Bacteria B comes in and breaks down the nitrite into nitrate, when you have enough of both of these bacterial types (BB's or Beneficial Bacteria) to break down all the ammonia and nitrite into nitrate at a good clip, then you're cycled. :)

So, the plants just absorb ammonia, they use it up, so there's no nitrate being produced to be tested. Does that make sense? :)

I am going to give the new guy a medication bath each month to help with any parasites or fungi that may start to hurt him. My question is if this is okay and what are just some light medications I can give him (something I can find at Petco or Petsmart).

Medications are often as hard on them as the diseases. You know the old saying "the cure is worse than the disease"? It's very true with fish. If he's not acting sickly or not showing any signs of disease, just let him be. The medications will only stress him and make him more likely to actually come down with something. :) A bettas best defense is their own immune system. The ways to strengthen that immune system are: good food (I prefer NLS because of the garlic, which is a natural anti-parasitic), clean water with the right chemistry, being properly heated, and reducing stress. :) If he's going along well with these, then he's already almost won the battle against diseases. :)

Also, Alpha died of dropsy, a disease caused by bacteria common in the water. Should I go ahead and change all the water? Should I go ahead and finish cycling the tank like it is? He didn't die in the tank, by the by... the by.

Since you need to clean the tank out completely anyway, just dump out the water and start again. Your cycle has most likely already crashed because there's no ammonia for it to be processing, and if you turned off your filter, it will have died from the lack of air anyway. :)

If it was me, I'd just do either a fish-in cycle with him, or if you want, use a *Fresh* new/sealed bottle of tetra safestart to kick off the cycle for you immediately. With your high ammonia tap water, this is probably what I'd try first off. Just make sure to do your tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for about a month after adding the safestart to make sure that your cycle is holding. Sometimes the instant cycler products can cause cycle blips in the beginning.

I hope this helps, and best of luck to you with your new guy! :)
 
#3 ·
Thank you SO MUCH, Blue Fish. This actually helps out a lot (and explains why those blasted StartRights weren't working when Alpha was alive). I'll just put my money towards buying a liquid kit then instead of medicine. Also the saltwater the betta is in is jsut for medicinal purposes (he had a bit of a torn fin, so I wanted to help him with that a litte, along with anything that may have been with him in the cup he was in). Also, will the plants take the place of the bacteria, and will they or the bacteria eat ammonium?
 
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