Misery sure loves company

[Chell]

Hi there, newbie here

First things first: I just love this forum. It's been very very helpful.
Also I'm sorry in advance for the gigantic text bellow.

Ok, so here's the situation:
I kinda of "rescued" a betta when I was looking for a fish tank.

I wasn't going to buy one at THAT time, I was actually planning to plant the tank a little before adding fish, but oh well.

Tesla came home in a plastic bag filled with very disgusting water, so I rushed to put him in the tank. There I noticed minor fin rot. I had worked on the tank setup until very late, so treating it would have to wait (stores closed).

Today I woke up to see that my Tesla got one of his eyes slightly bloated.

I panicked a little, but I managed to buy the medicine and put him in a small betta bowl (it has only 1 liter...) for him to receive the medicine.

He seems very pissed, but i didn't wanted to put medicine with the plants around. Dunno If I am doing what's right though.

Anyway, while he was "away" I decided do a 50% water change in the tank, fiddle a little with the heater, and check the plants.

The plants had little black spots on them. One of them (forgot the name) was obviously dying so I threw it away. The other ( a Egeria densa) is still alive but I dunno if it'll make it. Cut the parts and leaves that were dead and put it back at the tank.

It's not the very first time I try to plant a tank, but it's certainly the first time It goes THIS wrong.

To summarize things:
Plants are dead/dying.
Betta is sick.
Tank water in apparent major chaos.

What can I do to stop making things get even worse???

The only good thing it's that Tesla still eats and is exploring his "quarantine bowl" like crazy.

PS: I couldn't find ammonia/nitrate tests anywhere. So I don't know how bad it really is. I do know that the water is not smelling awfully bad, the PH is 7,2 and the temperature inside the tank is around 75ºF right now.

[Calmwaters]

Did you add aquarium salt to his bowl? If not add some it will help him heal faster. As far as the plants I am not sure what could be going wrong, I have a planted tank but luckly have not had any problems with it but I had alot of help from a very smart person on the other fish section here. Maybe you could send him a pm. His name is Byron and he is great with plants. Good luck and I hope things turn around for you soon.

[dramaqueen]

I would also recommend pm'ing Byron. He knows just about everything about plants and other stuff, too!

[ChristinaRoss]

sounds like the plant problem could be black algae, but, like the others said, byron is the plant afficionado

[Chell]

Thanks or the help, I'll try to pm him.

Anyway, today is day 2 of Tesla's medication (the bottle says it's 5 days of treatment). His eyes seem slightly bigger. The fin rot is also not healing (though at least it stopped) . I'm worried sick.

What most botters me It's that he is as joyful as ever, eating, swimming and flaring. I dunno, It seems weird given his conditions.

The plants, well, they are in very bad shape as usual. No news here.
I think one of the problems is with the lighting (and the algae who loves it) , since I leave home early (about 8AM-9AM) and get home very late (11PM).

I won't give up on Tesla just yet, I'll keep doing water changes in the tank and the "hospital bowl" and follow the treatment stricly.

[Calmwaters]

Could you get a timer for the lights on the tank? They are not very expensive and are great for the plants.

[Jupiter]

What type of medicine are you giving to him?

[ChristinaRoss]

oh my, thats way too long for the lights to be on. most people who have plants do 12 hors a day thats it or the algae takes over. id suggest a timer. i leave my lights on for 6 hours then off for 2 then back on for 2, and the algae stays at bay

[vaygirl]

Yep, a timer works great. I had mine on a 12 hour when I went on vacation and it's so convenient, I haven't unhooked it. I have a planted 16 gallon.

[Chell]

Yes, I'll look for a timer, but for now it seems that my roomates (who arrives home a couple of hours earlier) will be working as light timers for the moment.


The medicine I'm using it's called Atlantys Bactericide & Fungicide.
It contains Sulfalamide, methylene blue and formaldehyde.

But hey, I've noticed Tesla is getting a bit sad, and I feel kind of bad in leaving him in such a small bowl. As he lives alone (besides the plants), is it bad for me to administer the medicine inside his own tank?