Tank light

[jillnjasper]

A lot of times when I turn my aquarium light on, my fish will stretch out his fins really wide...I'm guessing that he's just soaking in the light and heat, but I'm not sure.

[jillnjasper]

Also, my betta has blown a huge bubble nest in his one-gallon tank, which I know is a good sign...however, I am noticing in one particular corner of the tank, a translucent film is starting to form on top. What is it? And what can I do to make it go away? I have a filter in my tank. And if I needed to circulate the water a little bit, I have a pump that goes down to the bottom of the tank and blows air, which causes the water to bubble at the top. I was thinking about doing a 25 or 50% water change, while making sure I got the film out of the water I took out of the tank. Would that be an appropriate solution?

[Flashygrrl]

When was your last water change? One would indeed be appropriate.

And your betta's probably just showing off and defending his territory. It's good for him to be active like that as long as he doesn't do it all day.

[3863]

My betta boy also started blowing bubbles, and then a film appeared...
I took a piece of paper, which i "slide" across the top of his water, removing the film... More just appeared.
I was at a loss for what to do.

I then gave him a total water change, and it didn't help. The water got sooooo nasty that I did another total water change 3 days later. I took out my plastic "castle" and put in a coconut cave. That totally cleared up all the film. I had heard the coconut could change the water ph levels, but it cleared up the film for me....
Hope you enjoy your little buddy!

[jillnjasper]

I saw the little coconut cave sort of things, and was tempted to get one for my betta, but I was afraid stuff would start coming off an floating into the water. And which way does the coconut change the pH levels? (up/more basic or down/more acidic?)

[Flashygrrl]

There's probably tannins in there like there is with driftwood, so it would leach out and turn your water a slight golden color (not to worry though, it won't hurt anything) and it can cause the pH to drop a little bit.