New home for Biff...

[Cltmarie]

So I've been reading the posts on here for a few weeks now and really think I need some advice.

Biff is our betta (named by my son) and we've had him since October 2009. He's been in a 1/2 gallon betta tank with some rocks and decorations that came in a kit. Up until recently he had looked pretty happy, making bubbles and whatnot.

A few weeks ago my kiddo decided to feed Biff by himself and really fouled the water; as a result Biff started looking not so well and I ended up on here... :)

I tried just changing his water but he was completely torqued off at that point. So I went and bought him a condo. A new 3 gallon tank with a bubble maker, some marbles for the bottom, and of course... a heater.

For a few days he looked really pleased and I thought I had become the goddess of betta mommies! But for the past few days he's been laying on the bottom of his tank unless I'm feeding him or tapping on the sides. He doesn't seem to care for the bubbler, so I've removed it from the tank...

I don't know what else to do for him. Any help you can offer would be nice.

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry you are having problems.....a few questions...

How much and how often are the water changes and when was the last one, water temp, any additives used, if so, what kind, what for and how much?

[Cltmarie]

I've only had the new tank a week so hadn't done a water change yet, was planning on doing that this weekend.

In the old tank (1/2 gallon) I changed his water whenever it started to get cloudy and used a betta water conditioner.

I used a water conditioner by Tetra (I don't have the instructions in front of me but I think it was around a teaspoon for that size that we have) that came with the tank and made sure the heater had cycled on and off 4 or 5 times before I moved Biff over.

I have been feeding him a Betta food that has meal worms and flakes in it, but got some tropical flakes with the new tank. I tried those a couple of times, but he doesn't seem to care for them. So I switched back to the Betta food.

[Oldfishlady]

IMO/E-In a 3g tank with or without a filter needs 50% twice weekly water changes and any uneaten food needs to be removed after feeding to keep the water fish safe.
Ammonia can be deadly to fish and it will start to build up in 3 days provided that the fish is not overfed and uneaten food is removed after feedings otherwise the ammonia will build up faster than 3 days

Since you removed the filter you will not get a true cycle per se' and that is okay, I don't use filters on my smaller tanks and because of the needed water changes it is a non-issue IMO.

On one of the water changes a week you need to stir up the gravel a bit and get the mulm or fish dirt up in the water column and dip or siphon it off, it will settle in about an hour or just make a 100% water change once a week and a 50% once a week since you don't have to worry about killing the cycle. Make sure the water temp between the old and new water are close so not to temp shock the fish and always use the dechlorinator with any new water added to the fish.

Check the water temp at least daily and keep that in the 78-80F range, the Betta splendens is a tropical fish and do best in warmer waters.

Anytime you see behavior changes in your fish make a 50% water change even if you just made one, often it is water quality issues.....

Good luck and would love to see some pics of your Betta "Biff" and your new tank set-up.....

[Cltmarie]

Thanks for help. I will change his water tonight and see if that makes him any happier.

And I will try to get a nice picture of Biff up here for you to see.

[dramaqueen]

I would change the water in a gallon 100% once a week.

[Cltmarie]

I have a 3 gallon tank for him now... do you think I need to do 100% changes every week?

[dramaqueen]

Yes, I would change it once a week every week.

[Cltmarie]

Ok.... I'm off to the store for some food pellets, a skimmer to remove uneaten food, and some freeze dried worms for a treat. (How often can they have a treat anyway?)

And I'll do a water change when I get home.

How soon do you think he will begin to perk up? I'm worried about the little guy. He never used to lay on the bottom like that before.

[xxabc]

I feed mine treats only one a week, sometimes two if I'm really bad with telling time, haha.

Let's see how the water change goes first. I don't know how good the Tetra conditioner is, but if you're not planning to cycle your tank, I would recommend buying some Seachem Prime. It's a conditioner that removes chlorine, and changes ammonia to a less toxic form (ammonium). It could probably help you inbetween the water changes.

Remember, for a water change, make sure the water is +/- 2 degrees from the original tank water to not cause too much temperature change.