[FishyFishy89]

Today I went and bought 2 fairly large ghost shrimp (both about the size of the betta). Before I floated their bag to introduce them, I noticed Red had some white on his left side and a bit on that fin (as if he was facing me). For a while he seemed to not be able to use that fin.
So I tested his water, Ammonia is a bit through the roof. and the Nit is a bit high (which is why I got the shrimpies, to clean up the leftover food). I went to my local fish shop to get some Prime. I added a treatment already. Red seems to already be swimming a bit more, but that could be because of the addition of his new tank mates.
Any ideas?
Here's a photo, maybe a bit hard to see. The white spot is RIGHT where his fin is. I had to use a flash light to achv a better photo. Right now it does not look fuzzy. Just a bit sticky looking.

 

[FishyFishy89]

here are more pics

 

[Pataflafla]

how often are you changing the water? Ammonia should never be high.

also, how big is the tank?

 

[FishyFishy89]

how often are you changing the water? Ammonia should never be high.

also, how big is the tank?

I've been doing 20-50% water changes every week. The tank is 5 gallons.
Something had been telling me to separate the shrimpies and do a full water change for Red. So I did so and as of right now, Red is swimming more and seems to actually be looking for food. The shrimpies seem a bit confused. What food can I give the shrimp? I plan to keep them separate from Red for a while as I JUST found out they are preggers.

 

[FishyFishy89]

Red kicked the bucket tonight.
I'm a bit bummed, he was acting better and I had high hopes for him :'(

 

[Geomancer]

I'm sorry to hear that

How long has the tank been set up, and did you have a filter?

Any ammonia reading over 0 ppm is bad, same goes for Nitrite. Fish produce ammonia as waste, bacteria converts that to NitrIte, and a different bacteria converts that to NitrAte. One has an I the other an A. Nothing but water changes or plants can get ride of Nitrate, but it is also the least toxic of the three. up to 20 ppm is okay with that, possibly up to 40 ppm but less is of course better.

Getting the bacteria is called a 'cycle' and it takes between 2 and 8 weeks, 4 on average, to complete.

Without live plants, 50% of the water should be changed weekly.

I'm afraid shrimp will do absolutely nothing in terms of this problem, shrimp produce waste too. They will eat left over food particles, which decay into ammonia, but they do not purify water.

Here is an article about the cycle that you may find interesting.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/

 

[FishyFishy89]

I'm not expecting the shrimp to help with the water.
What live plants do you recommend for a betta?

 

[Pataflafla]

It all depends on the amount of light and the quality of light you're able to provide.

Anacharis is a good, low-light/low-maintenance plant.

There's a nice thread somewhere on here that describes quite a few good plants and their basic care.

 

[FishyFishy89]

It all depends on the amount of light and the quality of light you're able to provide.

Anacharis is a good, low-light/low-maintenance plant.

There's a nice thread somewhere on here that describes quite a few good plants and their basic care.

I won't be able to provide too much light. The LED that came with the tank needs replacing, only the blue light works completely and the white 1 only has 2 working ones.