Best aquarium water treatment products according to redditors
We found 1,934 Reddit comments discussing the best aquarium water treatment products. We ranked the 240 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 1,934 Reddit comments discussing the best aquarium water treatment products. We ranked the 240 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Heres what you do:
Guide to the ultimate sploof
Get a regular gatorade bottle or similar, paper towels, a stabby tool to make holes in the bottom (I used the proper tool for the job actually, a 1/4" drill bit+drill, but an awl or a hot screwdriver will do fine), and some Activated Carbon (fixed wrong link) (also sold at pet stores/walmart pet section everywhere; that can will make at least 5 of these...)
First, poke holes in the bottom of the bottle, go nuts, more flow the better. I made 6 ~1/4" holes, more smaller ones would work fine, but bigger ones flow better.
Next, stuff a bunch of paper towels filling the bottom to about halfway up, making sure to block all the holes with it so none of the carbon could escape.
Once you have a good layer of paper towel, pour in a 1.5-2 inch thick layer of carbon and shake it lightly so it's even.
Now plug the top of it with more paper towel so none can get out the top, you want to make it so th carbon isn't loose and stays as a packed layer, so that all the smoke must flow through it. Now you're done!
It should flow through easily so you can blow out hits easy, and the activated carbon will absorb the smoke & smell! Eventually, it won't be working as well (like 2-3 or more months), and you will have to replace the carbon in it (I recommend replacing the top paper towels more often, as they get really moist from your breath.) I'd just make a new sploof at this point instead of pulling it apart.
This is a DIY version of the smokebuddy
You have to worry about smoke coming from whatever you're smoking from as well, and a good fan setup helps a lot. Also consider a vape if smell is always a major concern, you'll love being able to relax and vape.
Also, upvote for giraffe pussy
Glad you seem so willing and ready to help your betta! Im gonna try to cover everything that you need to help your betta live a happy healthy life in one comment :)
Requirements -
Petsmart sells 5 gallon kits that come with filters and lids! A 25-50watt heater will work for a 5 gallon, preferably adjustable like the 50watt aqueon is common in pet stores and theres a preset heater that would also work the tetra 40 or something i think its 50watt as well
You will also need to cycle your tank! Ill explain that a bit more below and include links.
Fish-in cycling -
Basically the fish-in cycling process consists of 50% water changes daily using Seachem Prime (preferably). Do this until your tank is cycled, which I’ll explain how to know that below.
While cycling, add the beneficial bacteria directly into the filter daily.
A good filter set up is something with low flow, it can be baffled if needed. For filter media (or the guts of the filter) cermaic bio media, aquarium sponge, and filter floss would be great. Don’t replace any of this unless it starts breaking down, then you’ll need to seed new media, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that for a long time.
You’ll need an API Master Test kit, this is an accurate way to know your parameters (such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate). This is more accurate than strips, with test strips its super easy to get an inaccurate reading. The kit also lasts longer so you’ll get your money’s worth. I’ll include a link below to the kit.
When the tank is cycled, you’ll test and find 0 parts per million (ppm) ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and ‘x’ amount ppm of nitrate. (Dont focus too hard on what parts per million means, its just how this stuff is measured. Nitrates should be kept under 20ppm, they arent as toxic as ammonia or nitrites but can be in large amounts.)
After your tank is cycled, you’ll need to do weekly water changes of 15-25% using a gravel vacuum preferably. Gravel vacuum/siphons allow you to get the dirt out of the gravel easily without needing to take it out. Highly recommend getting one of these! Its a necessity!
• Avoid large water changes, it could offset the balance of your tank. Never rinse the filter media in tap water, that can kill the beneficial bacteria (which I’ll send links to explain that more in a second). To clean the filter inserts aka media, just take them out and swish or squeeze in old tank water till the gunk is out. You’ll probably only need to do this once a month or so.
Links-
Information:
Nitrogen Cycle: https://fishlab.com/nitrogen-cycle/
Fish-In Cycling: https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/fishincycle?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app
My diagram/explanation on the cycle:https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/c8evu4/nitrogen_cycle_art_by_me/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app
Supplies:
API Freshwater Master Test Kit 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water master Test Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cEpvDb8R85Q1K
Seachem Prime Fresh and Saltwater Conditioner - Chemical Remover and Detoxifier 100 ml https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255PFI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_u-kKDbTMV2W8K
Northfin Food Betta Bits 1Mm... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M4Q5DQ4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
This is the best quality pellet I’ve found, here’s why:
• Nutritious, includes whole ingredients
• No fillers, hormones, or artificial pigments
• Packed with proteins, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals
• Floating pellets, roughly 1mm (they float for a bit then drop, my bettas chase them down)
• Easily digestible to promote optimal nutrient absorption
up
(This stuff is advertised by seller, but if you read the labels its all good)
Helpful other supplies:
Seachem Stability Fish Tank Stabilizer - For Freshwater and Marine Aquariums 500 ml https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APIIW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_k.kKDbDZMVD4J
(Bacteria in a bottle, it’ll help speed up the cycling process but it is optional)
Gravel Vacuum/Siphon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q97ZPSF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LblKDbFT79MAB
(Of course you don’t need this specific one, I just chose the best seller off Amazon as an example of what to look for. The local pet store should have these for around $10)
How-To Gravel Vac: https://youtu.be/LYv5n0a85OY
I flipped through the 23 pages of "Pet supplies" and selected every fish-related item I saw. Times are in EDT.
Prime Day Fish Deals:
API Products:
Filters:
Tanks:
Etc.:
Umm.. ok. Unfortunately, if that bowl is Liam’s permanent home, he won’t have the really great life that he deserves. No living fish should be forced to live in such a tiny bowl/tank permanently.
A 5gallon is the recommended minimum tank size to give your new pal the best possible quality of life... You can keep him TEMPORARILY in the bowl but you’ll need to change the water DAILY with fresh dechlorinated water (or pure spring water works too but is a bit more costly) since such a small container is going to foul up fast. Remove any leftover food/waste ASAP as soon as you see it.
A larger tank is going to be more stable and better for the betta in the long run. I really hope you’ll upgrade him sooner rather than later.
Some cheap ones can be had:
https://www.petsmart.com/fish/starter-kits/top-fin-essentials-aquarium-starter-kit-40713.html?cgid=300128 (manually click on and select the 5gal. It’s going for around $31.99 at the time of this comment)
https://www.petsmart.com/fish/starter-kits/top-fin-imagine-aquarium-kit-38988.html?cgid=300128 (be sure to get the 5gal. version currently priced at $25.99 at the time of this comment, DO NOT USE THE DIVIDER, I’m linking you this tank with the intent that you only put one betta in it, 5g for one single betta).
https://www.amazon.com/AquaView-6-5-Gallon-Power-Filter-Lighting/dp/B0182CAHWS
I recommend a sponge filter which isn’t included in those kits but would be gentler/more effective for a betta than those filters included in the tank kits. Also recommended a 25w heater (assuming you go for 5 g tank) with a manual temperature control knob since preset heaters are not accurate.
Once you have the 5g tank, sponge filter, and proper heater, you need to do Fish-in Nitrogen Cycle: https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/fishincycle
Must Have Items for your Nitrogen Cycling process + Additional Info:
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116012300-Stability-500ml/dp/B0002APIIW <-- Beneficial Bacteria blend, add 2x-3x the recommended amount of this directly into the filter, filter media, & tank water, especially after a water change. Add the bene-bacteria on a DAILY basis, for up to a week or longer if you like. Don't worry about "overdosing" on Bene-bacteria, the more the better when trying to kickstart a nitrogen cycle.
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116043304-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ <--Best water conditioner, also temporarily binds ammonia into less harmful form.
https://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATER-800-Test-Freshwater-Aquarium/dp/B000255NCI/ <--- ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE, VERY IMPORTANT, liquid water parameters test kit. Three main things to check daily or every-other-day: Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. Not cycled will read 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate. Cycling in progress will read some ammonia and/or some nitrite, but little or no nitrate. Fully Cycled will read 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, and 5-10 ppm of Nitrate, then when nitrate reaches 15-20 ppm in a cycled tank a water change is necessary to reduce said nitrates.
Other stuff:
Also... try getting NorthFin Betta Bits, they're one of the best pellets with high quality ingredients, little or no fillers, and absolutely no nasty toxic preservatives. My bettas love them so much that they inhale them like it's drugs for a drug addict or something LOL (or exactly like Kirby)! https://www.amazon.com/Northfin-Food-Betta-Pellet-Package/dp/B00M4Q5DQ4/
Beware of overfeeding, which is equally bad for bettas (they are gluttons and would eat till they burst if given the chance) https://i.imgur.com/4RR2LZ9.jpg. (save this pic for reference, feed betta as much as makes his belly match between 1st and 2nd photo, then let him digest back down to a normal belly before feed again.)
Filter - any as long as it have adjustable flow (or else you can make a baffle if the flow is too strong, google about that), or many here recommend a basic Sponge-Filter to have a gentle water output that won't be stressful and push the betta all around the tank (the ones with big fins have a hard time with strong currents in their tank).
Heater - Any heater, following the 5-watt-per-gallon power rating rule, with a manual knob for setting temperature (so for example 5g you want at least 25watt heater), don't go for preset heaters (they're not very accurate). Bettas like 78-80F (25-27C).
Plants - Bettas like to have a lot (like a jungle) of plants to hide in, swim through, explore, play, and rest on. Some beginner live plants that don't require special setups are Marimo Moss balls + Java moss, other live plants may have special requirements in order to thrive. Silk plants (cloth leaves) are fine too if you don't have a green thumb. I do a mixed hybrid tank; silk plants + lots of marimo moss balls + java moss. Make sure if using silk/fake plants that there's no sharp pokey bits, remove and sand them down if there are.
Decor - Bettas appreciate cave-like decor that they can hide in. Make sure there's nothing sharp on the inside of the cave, nor sharp edges or sharp parts outside. Avoid also any smallish openings that a betta can get their head stuck in if they get curious. Another nice decor is the ZooMed Floating Betta Log (for 5g or larger tanks), bettas like hanging out in there.
More info on Betta care & needs: https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/index
If after reading all this info it seems like more than you can handle, you should try to rehome him on r/aquaswap to a local aquarist with a big planted tank to give him the best life. He’s a living creature and you have to consider his needs as you are responsible for his quality of life. If you want to keep him, then you absolutely have to give him the best care and best environment possible so that he can live a long healthy life (bettas can live 3-5 years and sometimes more if you really treat them well). When there’s a will there’s a way! You can and should do it!
Dryer sheets are for kids. Activated carbon is where it's at.
Get some Methylene Blue and use it to make brownies from a generic mix.
It's non-toxic, but it stains your kidneys blue, so you'll start peeing a deep blue color. It eventually starts washing out and your pee goes green before returning to normal. Freaks people out if they don't know why it's happening though.
Just a heads up, when you mix the MB into the brownie mix the batter will turn a greenish color, but after baking they look completely normal. Freshmen year of college I left a plate of these brownies out in the common room of my door the week before finals. Oh man was that good.
Edit: Forgot to add - you'll need almost a half bottle (2-3 oz.) of Methylene Blue in the brownie mix to get a blue color, other than that it will just be a yellowish-green, which isn't nearly as much fun.
It looks like his fins are still infected....
The following works really well:
I repeat the treatment 1-2X a week until I begin to see growth on the fins :)
Since you are trying to learn as much as you can, here are my simple guidelines!
Supplies
-filter
-heater (3-5 Watts per gallon)
-tank 2.5 + ( bigger the better )
Upkeep
-water change 25% small tank& 10% for larger every other week
-plant fertilizer ( liquid and/or tabs )
-quality pellets ( I recommend this )
I was in your shoes not too long ago, it's overwhelming! Here's a list of things that I bought, but I am not an expert so if others have better input go for that:
Equipment
Shop for whatever is cheaper, I have a huge heater because I had an extra one from before. I've read that it's not necessary but also have read that if you want them to breed you need to stimulate warm water. For now, I keep the heater off and leave it at room temperature of 72F. They seem very happy! Most important in my opinion, add plenty of plants and a marimo ball or 2.
Lastly, I'm unsure of the siphon, I think it's good to have a bucket and siphon just in case your water parameters are looking bad so you are prepared to do a water change. From what I read, shrimp have a very low bio load and should be able to sustain themselves. Make sure to do tests regularly.
EDIT I just read that this is your first aquarium, so here is a detailed write up:
Setting up your tank
After your tank has cycled
Please don't skip the important step of acclimating your shrimp! They are very sensitive to water changes and this ensures that they will survive.
Here are my water parameters, people have all kinds of ranges but this is what works for me:
I hope this helps... again, I was in your shoes not too long ago, it was really overwhelming. But after a lot of research I think my tank is in a good place :). Other users, if there's anything in my list that seems incorrect please let me know!
PetSmart has a 5 gallon kit on sale right now. All you would need is a heater.
I also recommend getting the API test kit and Seachem Prime for dechlorinating the water. Some silk or live plants would be good too. Take a look around the subreddit over the next week or so to see what else you should get. But the tank, test kit, and prime are pretty essential imo!
Welcome to the wonderful world of Betta fishkeeping! 🐟
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
HOLY CRAP.
Okay, I'm going to save you from a dead fish here, alright?
Water contains a few chemicals for treatment to make it safe for us to drink, one of them is chlorine, in that same family...there is also chloramine.
These burn the hell out of fish's gills. Its dangerous.
Get yourself a bottle of seachem prime. Its a dechlorinator. This will make it safe your fish to even exist in the water.
Second, read about fishless cycling
Since it sounds like you're getting the betta soon. You can read about fish in cycling
You can use that handy dandy bottle of seachem prime dechlorinator to also detoxify ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate for about 48 hours per dose. ONLY PRIME DOES THIS, not any other dechlorinators.
You see, filters on fishtanks contain a happy little bacteria colony that takes fish waste (Ammonia) turns it into a harmful nitrite, then turns it into relatively harmless nitrate. It keeps your fish stress free and also, if those toxin levels get to high--it kills them/ or makes them susceptible to disease. You can check the levels with this test kit
Bettas enjoy low flow in their fishtanks because they aren't the strongest of swimmers. I recommend a sponge filter. They also like their tank between 78-80 degrees. So a good heater is a MUST.
anybody interested in discretion should buy this instead and put it into your normal sploosh.
http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-PA0373-Activated-40-Ounce-1134-Gram/dp/B0002566WY
If you can get it, seachem prime will help heaps because it will neutralise ammonia for 24 hours and its one of the best water conditioners out there, also a master test kit will help you know how much ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. If you do get the master test kit try and keep ammonia under 0.25ppm (parts per million)
EDIT: WARNING THIS CAN BE DANGEROUSI don't know anything that will turn poop a color. You'd have to use a decent amount of blue. However, slip some of this in someone's drink and they'll be peeing bright blue. Do both and complete the prank. BLUE FOR EVERYONE!
Link from Neebat to the FDA statement.
I got u fam
2.5 gallons is still extremely small. If you are upgrading and have the space for even just a 5 gallon tank it is a much more suitable home. They generally run $15.00 at petco/petsmart.
I understand space constraints, but the larger the tank the easier the body of water is to maintain. A 2.5 gallon means very frequent water changes and prone to instability. It also means such a small tank that filter output flows are going to be really hard to control, and very few items are going to fit in or on it. If 5 gallons or 10 gallons will fit in your living space, their footprint isn't much larger and they are easier to maintain and more versatile!
Also, since you don't have your fish yet and aren't forced to perform a fish-in cycle, save your fish and yourself some stress and take your time and work your way through a fishless cycle: http://www.kevinbush.com/cycling/the-fishless-cycle/
I run 4 aquariums in my house and have grown indoor for a couple of years. My tanks are 80,55,15,10 gallon. I use a lot of water for those and for my plants. I use this and this for dechlor my fish water. I also use the same treated tap water for my plants. I have noticed no difference in my plants.
This betta seems to have some pretty nasty finrot, this is often caused by poor water quality. It seems like he's in a fairly small tank, unfortunately, this is probably not a good environment for him. Bettas are tropical fish that need large enough (preferably 5 gallons or larger) heated and filtered tanks.
So the best way to help him is to get him into a better tank asap. The larger tank can be an aquarium or a plastic bin. The heater should be adjustable, with an internal thermostat. 25W should be fine, unless this betta lives in a particularly cold place.
A sponge filter is a good option for smaller tanks, here's a good sponge filter, it'll need to be powered by a air pump (like this one). Your friend will also need some airline tubing, and something to regulate airflow (this is a 10-pack, but you get the idea).
The water should be treated with water conditioner, like this one. Most people do 25-30% waterchanges, every week.
Cycling is another very important thing. Fish produce ammonia, which is very toxic to them. Luckily, there are bacteria that can convert ammonia into nitrite, and eventually into nitrate (far less toxic). These bacteria can live in the filter, and remove the bad ammonia from the water. A new filter doesn't have enough yet, by cycling we can make sure the filter media is colonized by the bacteria we want. This guide explains the process in more detail, this page here explains how to cycle a tank with fish.
Please also sent your friend a link to our caresheet, it might help them cure this little dude.
I konw this is a ton of information, but please ask your friend to give it a shot. This little dude can definitely recover :)
Too small for a bristlenose, and you want 6 neons (this tank is too small for them as well). I don't know much about kuhli loaches, but this is probably a tight fit for them too.
This is also a very, very heavy stocking for a 13.7 gallon aquarium. As this is your first tank, I highly suggest going for a small stock and getting a feel for it - solving problems with a low bioload is much easier, and will give you much needed practice for when things occur down the road.
I would recommend that you get solely a male betta for now. Your decor choice is good, and I applaud you for going with sand over gravel. It's much better, objectively.
If you can find them at your local fish store (LFS), pick up some Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS). They'll aerate the substrate and cycle waste into the sand, as well as eat uneaten food and decaying plant matter.
In terms of filtration, you could probably get away with an air pump and a sponge. If you have a fair chunk of money to dedicate to this aquarium, my filter of choice for tanks under 15 gallons is the ZooMed 501. If that is outside of your budget, an AquaClear 20 would be great. I would have the outflow disperse over your driftwood to avoid churning up your sand. If you need creative ideas, feel free to post here again and we can help you figure something out. The primary advantage of the canister is that it is dead silent, and comes with a spray bar which greatly helps to disperse the flow (bettas do not appreciate lots of flow in their environment).
I would do your damnedest to keep the tank out of sunlight, as this will contribute to rampant algae problems. It should have a dedicated light. You can purchase a clamp light and 6500K CFL bulb from home depot for about $15 total. Very wise investment, and this allows you to grow plants!
You need to keep the tank (for a Betta) at 78-80F. If your ambient temperature is not this, you will require a heater. My personal favourite heater for small aquariums are manufactured by Hydor. Aim for 50W for the set up. Here is a link to one.
There is a very good link regarding cycling in the sidebar. It can be found here.
While I do not know your water's composition, I would still recommend treating it with SeaChem Prime. This helps out with some heavy metals as well. While I am not sure if it will benefit you, it is fairly cheap and you'll get a ton of uses out of it for the cost. Hopefully someone with a similar water source to yours will chime in, as I myself am on municipal supply and must dechlorinate my water.
Earlier when I mentioned lighting, I mentioned plants. These are a great addition to your aquarium and your fish will appreciate them. For beginner plants, I would recommend looking into Anubias and Java Fern. They do not grow in substrate, but rather on decor and can be fastened to your driftwood with zip ties or string. They absorb nutrients from the water column, helping to clean your tank while providing refuge for your fish. I would also recommend a floating plant, as it will dim the lights and provide your betta with cover. Frogbit is great, and very cheap in my experience. It grows very well. None of these plants require you to do ANYTHING extra aside from get that light I mentioned. There are fancier alternatives, but they are not necessary for this set up with the above plants. I highly recommend setting your lights up on a timer and keeping them on for 8 hours a day. If you notice algae, reduce light.
I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions feel free to let me know. Really great of you to come and ask for advice BEFORE purchasing an animal, kudos to you.
Be sure to check out /r/bettafish and /r/plantedtank. Within you'll find lots of guides and extremely knowledgeable people. I would highly recommend reading the majority of links from the side bar in those two subreddits, as well as this one. There's a trove of information at your disposal. Here's a link to /r/Aquariums' wiki.
Finally, here's a care sheet specifically about Bettas!
Hopefully that wasn't too long winded for you. Best of luck in the hobby.
A 40 gallon will be much better than a 5 gallon. Be sure to put a good filter on it. (I would choose an Aquaclear 70 if your mom isn't bringing you a filter). It will give you a lot more wiggle room since they won't get to be 12 inches overnight! People do budget stands made from cinderblocks all the time, if you're not getting a stand. I'd stick to bare bottom if you are on the budget. It's cheaper, safer, and easier to clean than any substrate would be. You can buy some cheap peel-off paint and paint the outside of the tank black and do something like this and it will look pretty luxe for not a whole lot of cash. (I would skip the live plants and do driftwood myself, since my goldfish seriously chow down on any plant life in the tank.).
For now, I would do daily 50% water changes. Drain half the water with a gravel vac like this. Add your dechlorinator (again, SeaChem Prime is the best choice, especially in a too-small tank). Add in water that is the same temperature. If you absolutely can't do a thermometer, feel the water and make sure you cannot feel ANY difference. Not perfect, but it shouldn't kill your fish. I would still strongly encourage you to buy a water test kit, since you will be doing something called fish-in cycling. The toxic ammonia and nitrite are not immediately visible, but can cause serious damage to your fish. You want your parameters to be 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, less than 20ppm nitrate. Yours are not going to be that, and testing your water is the only reliable way to know when to do a water change, and how serious things are. The best of the reasonably priced is API Freshwater Master, which is usually around $20 on Amazon.
Unfortunately, I wish that the practice of giving away goldfish (or any live animals) as prizes was illegal, since I agree that it is absolutely not fair to you to ask you to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a hobby that you didn't intentionally choose and didn't know anything about until someone gave you a life to care for, and it's certainly not fair to the fish to send them home with people who are not prepared for them! I'm glad you are working on providing a better home for your fish.
P.S. I'm always happy to talk about goldfish, so you are welcome to PM me in the future if you have more questions!
You’re gonna want to get a filter ASAP because his troubles are highly likely due to water quality - impossible to know without parameters. Yeah petsmart will totally test your water for you ! It’s a great deal since I know test kits are pricey !! :)
I’d recommend a sponge filter like this one .
I’d recommend feeding him some daphnia if he still seems to have an appetite and that should hopefully help him poo. The bloat might be a combination with his weak immune system from the rot and velvet, so hopefully getting him warmer and cleaner water will help.
He still looks to have some good weight on him and I’ve seen way sicker fish come back from way worse, so your guy should bounce back.
If you don’t use seachem Prime already I highly highly recommend getting some ! It’ll help neutralize the ammonia left after a water change.
I hope he gets better soon !!! Don’t hesitate if you have any more questions everyone on her is a wonderful help :)
FILTER
Nothing fancy. A basic "hang-over-back" filter is all you need. Make sure to get one rated for your size tank! If you get one that's too big, you'll create way too much flow in the tank and it will tire out the fishies. This one on Amazon is rated for a 10-gallon tank.
HEATER
Again, nothing fancy. You just need a basic heater for your size tank. Don't get an "adjustable" heater because those take time to calibrate. Just get a "pre-set" heater. Pre-set heaters always keep the tank at about 78-degrees, which is perfect for guppies. Again, don't get one that's too big or too small. Too big will heat the tank too quickly and too small means the heater will get over-worked and eventually wear out. This one on amazon is good for a 10-gal tank as well.
WATER CONDITIONER
Tap water often contains chlorine to keep bacteria from growing in the pipes and making people sick. Its a safe level for humans, but it kills anything that lives in water (e.g., fish and plants). Water conditioner contains chemicals that neutralize the chlorine in tap water, making it safe for fishies again. Just follow the instructions on the bottle. Its OK to add the conditioner straight to the tank itself. As long as you have a filter circulating the water, it'll quickly make the water safe for fish and plants again. This is the water conditioner I use in my tanks.
OTHER COMMENTS
Employees at these stores often give some really stupid advice for more complicated issues, like the best way to make your plants grow or how to breed fancy fish, but they usually do an OK job with recommending the most basic stuff like a heaters, filter, and water conditioner. Its really hard to fuck this up because all of these products say what size tank they're rated for right on the box. Just double-check to make sure you're buying a product made for your size tank.
Once you have these three things, just follow the instructions that came with each product. Its super straight-forward. When you finally have all of this set up, come back here and we can give you some more advice for the long-term care of your guppies.
EDIT: Just to add a few things. The most likely culprit at the moment is either the chlorine in the tap water or the water temperature. If you used tap water and you didn't treat it, the chlorine that's often in the water is probably burning the guppies gills and making it harder and harder for them to breathe.
If you did treat the water or if you're using filtered/well water, then the next most harmful condition is the cold temperature. Guppies are tropical fish and will die if left in cold water for too long. They can survive for a little while in cold water, but they'll eventually die if you don't get the water into the high-70s.
Finally, the least likely problem right now is the lack of a filter. Fish excrete their waste directly into the water and over the course of a few days the tank will gradually buildup a concentration of ammonia. This ammonia will poison the fishies when the concentration get's too high. Conveniently, there are bacteria all over the place that love to eat ammonia and turn it into a less toxic chemical called nitrate, which is very safe for fish even at high concentrations. The filter provides a medium for these bacteria to grow and constantly circulates the water through the bacteria colony so the bacteria can constantly turn ammonia into nitrate. Once the bacteria colony is established, they convert the ammonia into nitrate faster than the fish can excrete more ammonia, effectively keeping the concentration of ammonia at a constant zero. All you need to do to culture a colony of ammonia-eating bacteria is to set the filter up using the instructions that came with the filter. Nature will do the rest: The bacteria are everywhere, so once the filter is going those bacteria will move in to the filter and start growing all on their own. Another benefit of the filter is that it oxygenates the water column. This is important for tanks with lots of fish, but because you only have two guppies, lack of oxygen probably isn't an issue.
Sounds like the tank is not cycled. Do you have an established tank that you can take water from? If not, I'm not sure what you can do. I hear seachem prime is a great detoxifier.
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Prime-Fresh-Saltwater-Conditioner/dp/B00025694O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=53516084582&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwm4rqBRBUEiwAwaWjjGpoavEwM2peBhcJiFLbaU0nttxL6AbgCLjx12LaSQtHoEu_QEB7NBoCcjsQAvD_BwE&amp;hvadid=274839984684&amp;hvdev=m&amp;hvlocphy=9012056&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvpos=1t1&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=15375568893439015765&amp;hvtargid=kwd-301601457983&amp;hydadcr=12192_10197807&amp;keywords=seachem+prime&amp;qid=1564654655&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1-spons&amp;psc=1&amp;spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNk5ZWk1HTVc0Q1BBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDUxMjIxVFJWUFBLUjNDMzUmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDI0ODQwMzkxVzI3TjZBVlJaNSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
Yes! Prime. It is the hobby standard and is liked because it removes chlorine, chloramines, and detoxify's ammonia. It is the only water conditioner you should be using.
Also I saw that you weren’t sure what cycling is. A lot of people don’t realize what it is until after they get their fish, but cycling is important.
Basically the nitrogen cycle starts when there is waste. This can be in eaten food, waste given off plants, or fish poop. This very quickly turns into ammonia, which is toxic for fish.
Good bacteria then eat that ammonia, turning it into nitrite.
Nitrite is less toxic, but still very harmful.
Then another good/beneficial bacteria comes in and eats the nitrite, turning it into nitrate, which is not toxic in small amounts.
The nitrate comes out of the tank through water changes.
But in a newly established tank like yours, there is no beneficial bacteria yet, which is why it’s dangerous for the fish, because there is nothing breaking that ammonia down into less toxic chemicals. Many fish can get illnesses like fin rot, which is where the fins rot away from being in an uncycled tank. New tank syndrome is common, it’s when a fish dies from being in a new/uncycled tank.
Fortunately, you can cycle your tank, which is where you build up that beneficial bacteria. You will need a water test kit to test your water, and Seachem Prime water conditioner which conditions and detoxifies the water. You will also need to do some more research, here’s an article about how to fish-in cycle . Best of luck! I hope this made sense and helps. :)
The rust from the clip could definitely be a factor, but I would bet that ammonia toxicity is the likely culprit.
Please take a moment to read these 2 links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/comments/3ow6vz/info_betta_care_sheet/
http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm
The main takeaway from this is cycling your tank. Your betta "exhales" ammonia through its gills and its decomposing waste gives off ammonia. Ammonia is EXTREMELY toxic to fish and can easily kill them. Some of the first symptoms are fin rot and lack of appetite. When a tank is cycled you have a colony of good bacteria growing in your filter. Your filter pumps water through these bacteria and they convert the ammonia to nitrite(less toxic, but still toxic), then they convert the nitrite to nitrate. Nitrate is pretty "non-toxic" compared to ammonia and nitrite, but if it builds up too much it can hurt your fish. Most people do a 25%-50% water change every week to keep the nitrate from building up too much.
A second take away is your tank needs to be heated, a betta needs to be in the range of 75-80F, with 78F being the agreed upon optimal temp. I don't think your tank includes a heater is why I mention this. I not sure the best way to get a heater into it, looks like that may be difficult. EDIT: Looks like this user was able to had a heater. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R25RHCBC3WB1Z2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&amp;ASIN=B00CN52TRM)
Regardless of whats going on, you will need a product like get a product like (https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116043304-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1468413904&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=prime+water+conditioner). It will detoxify ammonia for 24 hours after dosing, please will make "new" water safe for your first. It also removes harmful chlorine and chloramines found in tap water, and can also detoxify metals.
So now, what to do with this knowledge? You will need to do several water changes to correct the rusty water and potential ammonia toxicity. First thing is to verify that your water is high in ammonia. You can either by a test kit like (https://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater-Master-Test-Kit/dp/B000255NCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1468413667&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=api+master+test+kit), or take a sample of your water to a local pet store and they will test it for free. You want to test this water before you do any water changes. The reason for this is sometime if the water is REALLY BAD and the ammonia is high and the PH is low, the ammonia can be less toxic. Then you do a 50% water change, half the ammonia is still there but BOOM the PH is back up in the normal range and this make the ammonia SUPER toxic again and could shock and kill your fish very quickly.
If you verify the ammonia is high, Do you could:
If your ammonia is NOT high, you can simply:
And as a final though, if the fin rot isn't associated with ammonia or the rust, one of the best treatments for it is super pristine water. So doing a 25-50% water change (with dechlorinated water) daily until it resolves would be a good course of action.
EDIT: I seem to have overlooked something. If your ammonia is high, that means your tank isn't cycled yet and that you don't have a good strong colony of beneficial bacteria. So after getting the ammonia and nitrite level down, you will need to test for ammonia and nitrite DAILY and be sure you are doing daily water changes of a size large enough to keep the ammonia/nitrite very near zero (less than 0.25PPM) and that the water is always treated with prime. Once the bacteria take over you will see the ammonia and nitrite will stay at dead zero and nitrates will rise. At that point you will only need to do water changes large enough to keep nitrates below 10PPM. This is usually 25%-50% weekly as stated above.
I know you are worried about your betta, but with a few steps, I think he may be able to recover. Best of luck!
He might stand a chance if he gets into a larger body of clean, conditioned water and you step up water changes.
If the fish is in a small vase, ammonia levels will build up very fast, which means he would need his water changed daily. I can see where you’re coming from but the acute stress of a new tank would be less damaging than the ongoing stress of living in dirty water. It has been slowly killing him and making him more weak. Imagine how you’d feel entering a warm, clean room after being in a freezing cold one with smoggy air. You’d instantly feel better even if it was unfamiliar.
They can survive in small water quantities but that doesn’t mean they will do well or live their proper life span. They are only meant to survive in puddles to get to bigger puddles, and make it to the next rain which brings fresh water.
I would say get him into a new, minimal 5 gallon container ASAP! Get a 5 gallon tote from a store if you can’t get a tank right away. It’s better than what he’s in. You can probably find a kit that comes with tank, and filter together.
Change out 20-50% of that water daily. Use a gravel vaccum to suck up the waste. Make sure you add enough conditioner for the whole tank, not just what you’re adding.
After that, read up on the nitrogen cycle, which should be enough to convince you to get a filter. A ~$5 sponge filter is fine and has a low current. You’d need an air pump and tubing for that. Or just get a canister filter. Like i said you can probably find a kit at a pet store that has light, filter etc for a good deal.
If you plan to fish-in cycle definitely make sure you have Prime, Stability and a liquid API test kit
Amazon has them, pet shops too.
Also a heater is important. High 70s-82 is the best for their little cold-blooded bodies.
Most importantly yes, your instinct is correct, get him into a bigger tank. Good luck!
I’ll edit and link some of the stuff I mentioned.
If you're looking for a more natural look with real plants I would highly recommend checking out Aquarium coop. Ive ordered plants from them 3 times and they always turn up bright and healthy. Plus they have a bunch of easy to take care of plants (I like my banana plant most) and they usually have a care guide for each plant. Or if you have a lfs check to see what they have. Plants like anubias, java fern, and the banana plant thus far have been super easy to take care of.
As far as decorations I currently just have a few large pieces of drift wood. I got them on Amazon, which could be a hit or miss but so far Ive gotten some good pieces. I have a 5 1/2 gallon for my betta and the two pieces I bought fit perfectly!
I also bought some catappa leaves (the mini version) just because I like the look of leaf litter in my tank, plus they add extra tannins which are good for your fishy! But they will turn your water a little brown (drift wood will too).
Thanks! I'll probably grab that substrate then, and look at some of the guides for filter recs.
For cycling with the fish living in the tank: is the idea just to keep doing daily water changes and testing the ammonium levels until they level off and stay near zero? This post recommends using bacteria like this to jump-start the cycling. Is this really as simple as just adding the bacteria and testing & changing the water every day until the tests are all returning zero?
>Is there a reason you're using spring water?
My mom bought the spring water but not conditioner so I had to open the spring water anyway to do the first water change, and fill the fish bowl. Figured I might as well use the rest before I start using up the conditioner I bought.
I really appreciate your help!
Unfortuantely you also got some very sensitive fish. Not that I agree with this method but if you were to get fish to try to cycle the tank and get the proper bacteria Danio's are much hardier. Tetra's are not hardy at all, they are extremely sensitive to water. The good news is mfskarphedin is wrong, you don't have to throw this tank away. But it's going to take some time to recover from.
Buy some of this stuff http://www.amazon.com/Tetra-77962-SafeStart-Gallons-8-45-Ounc/dp/B002DZNP3E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1377534545&amp;sr=8-4&amp;keywords=aquarium+cycle.
Run a filter on the tank and let it go for about a month. After a month do a 50% water change on the aquarium. Give it a week to see if the tank stabilizes still. If it does, grab a few hardy fish going to have to do research for this one. I know that Danio's are like tanks, esp the zebra danios. My favorite of the Danio's is the gold zebra danio's a little harder to find but still cheap and very hardy. Overall if you do that and the fish live you can start adding other fish. Btw Danio's are schooling fish so they are better off in a school of at least 6. You can always take them back after you know the fish are doing well. My store takes them back at full price.
First, welcome, I hope you enjoy this subreddit we have. The first thing to know is the nitrogen cycle. You MUST understand this like the back of your hand before getting a fish, otherwise the fish wont be happy, or it might die. Figure out what your tap water is, in terms of pH, and other things in the water. To test this water you will need a test kit. A really high quality and highly recommended one is this. You can also use test strips but I dont know any good ones. Secondly, the smaller aquarium you have, the harder it is to maintain stable parameters. Stable parameters means happy fish. A good small starter aquarium is a 10 gallon for $10 at petco. With a filter, light, HEATER <---(All of these are needed), it should be around $30-$40. Remember, this is a pet, take care of it. Yes, you can buy fish online, I would do some research and see if there are of good quality. Another thing to be aware of is maintenance. Maintenance includes water changes and overall health of the aquarium. Do some research to make sure you have a cycled aquarium (cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle, that needs to be monitored). Aquarium fish cannot live from just straight tap water, which means you need a water dechlorinator such as this. In summary, to keep a fish alive and healthy/happy you need: heater, proper size aquarium, filter, light,water dechlorinator, and basic knowledge of the nitrogen cycle.
You should not start out using any PH regulating chemicals. Especially so in such a small water volume. What's your PH from the tap? PH crashes will reset your cycling. I don't know exactly how neutral regulator works but it could be stalling your cycle. Have you tested your tap water before using a conditioner? Check it for ammonia, you might have chlorimines to deal with. This will make cycling take longer.
Too much ammonia can stunt the growth of your bacteria. do a 50% water change and get it down to 2ppm. Then get this: https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-Chloride-Solution/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3BZ1CMMNFZIB7&amp;keywords=ammonium+chloride&amp;qid=1572890565&amp;sprefix=ammonium%2Caps%2C146&amp;sr=8-9
Dose your tank back up to 2ppm ammonia once it's consumed, Once you start seeing Nitrite then you know your cycle is going
Are you testing with strips or a drop kit?
Get that pothos plant out of there, it's not aquatic and it's polluting your water. Most people stick them in the HOB filter so only the roots are immersed.
I am using Dr Tim’s ammonia chloride here. It has dosing instructions to reach a specific concentration of ammonia. That being said, I am still working on processing nitrite and the tank has been cycling for about a month so be patient with it. Hope this helps!
You may be over-feeding. I got nematode worms from over-feeding my red cherry shrimp. I had TONS of them. Cutting back on feedings, vacuuming gravel (I had sand so this wasn't an option), and using Fenbendazole will get rid of them. They're unsightly, but they don't actually hurt anything. If you have small enough fish they will sometimes eat the worms but I went with the de-worming powder to get rid of them.
edit: Here are the worms I had in all their close-up disgusting glory.
Urine aside.... what was ammonia at initially after adding the.... urine...? Was it higher than 3 ppm? 11 days isn't overly long. I used powdered ammonium to start a cycle recently and ended up with 8 ppm! Took almost 4 weeks drop to 0 ppm, and about 2 weeks before seeing any movement. What did add for beneficial bacteria? Something like this?
Louisiana here, so I feel you. When you are trickling sweat just from walking from the car into the office, deodorant just doesn't cut it.
I've converted my sister, parents, several friends. I won't say you smell like a spring shower after working out, but it's not that sharp BO smell that stays in your clothes even after washing.
link to the stuff I use
I kept a diary of my cycling:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14MOaPOKd0Re-0IKQK_B4ziSMoSQQy4s96ZFCGejzyBo/edit?usp=sharing
19-20 days total.
I did a fishless method and manually dosed ammonia. I saw nitrites after about 5-6 days. I didn't see nitrites go down until around day 15. I used Tetra Safe Start, but I'm not sure if it was helpful or not. Perhaps it was? I didn't use it until my ammonia went down to 1-2, as I read that high ammonia could kill the bacteria? I would have added it earlier but I had already dosed too much ammonia. And 2-4 for ammonia on the API Master Test kit are kind of close and I certainly wanted to make sure that I didn't waste the money I spent on the safe start.
I used this ammonia calculator to know how much to dose:
http://spec-tanks.com/ammonia-calculator-aquariums/
I used this ammonia:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TSJPAJA/
I had plants in the aquarium and I think it was nice to get those started and settled before I added my fishies and would probably explain the severe reduction in nitrates before the cycle started. I didn't do any water changes on the cycle. I did a very large water change right before I added fish to get the nitrates down.
If you don't have fish yet, pure ammonia is best. If you already have fish, feed daily and do 50% (or even 75% water change till ammonia and nitrites are 0 PPM and you see nitrates (unless you have a planted tank, where you might not see any nitrates at all).
https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-bottle/dp/B006MP4QG6\
or
https://www.amazon.com/Fritz-Aquatics-Ammonium-Chloride-Treats/dp/B00OTH5TAQ
You have to cycle the tank first. To start the cycle you need to add ammonia. Typically take around 6weeks for a full cycle.
Read this to learn how and why to cycle.
Here is ammonia drops
Here is API Master Test Kit which you will need to monitor water while cycling and afterwards.
Hey OP so I hate to be a bit of a buzzkill here, but you might want to check out aqadvisor, I looked at your stock list and for a tank that size it would be severely overstocked and you would be dealing with a lot of aggression from your fish.
I don't know much about angelfish, but I think they're supposed to be pretty aggressive, making it difficult to keep with other fish. Some gouramis might be great, but they can get pretty aggressive too. I have one right now and he doesn't play too nicely with my black phantom tetras sometimes.
Oh, are you doing a fishless cycle? Remember that Eco complete has no nutrients in it so it won't leach ammonia. This means that you will have to dose the ammonia yourself, I know Amazon sells Dr Tims ammonia chloride that is suitable for aquarium use. If you do use something else, make sure that it doesn't have surfactants in it, meaning that it doesn't make lots of bubbles when you shake it, surfactants are harmful to your aquarium!
Since your substrate won't leach ammonia, you will need to make sure that you dose your substrate too or your water column. I didn't know this going into my tank and I am having all sorts of algae problems now myself, I think that I've run out of nutrients in the substrate.
You also might want to take your driftwood out of your tank and scrub and boil it for a few hours to make it completely safe for your aquarium. This will also solve your floating problem!
Anyways, that was a lot and I hope you were able to bear with me! I think that you have a good start and it's looking pretty promising. I think that you've arranged the driftwood quite nicely and I hope you'll post pics when it grows it. Looking good, I hope this helps!
You should look into getting it filtered and cycled.
Get something like this and put in some of this in the tank. You can hook the filter up to something like this. There should be more info in the side bar and check out r/bettafish
Those are definitely Camallanus worms OO. If you have a quarantine tank, I suggest you get one and put the guppy in it. Then try this medication: http://www.amazon.com/Bendazole-250mg-Fenbendazole-Powder-packets/dp/B009TAQ4OI?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00.
The worms and the eggs can easily infect water, so also do water changes in the main tank.
Here's a good article: http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/freshwater-fish-disease/41023-how-get-rid-camallanus-nematode-worms.html
Lots of live plants are easy to do; my amazon swords, moss ball, and cryptocorynes are doing really well, and I suck at keeping anything alive.
Seachem Prime is the most comprehensive and money efficient water treatment I've found so far; you only need a few drops per gallon. I usually add 4 or 5 drops; easy to poke holes in the plastic lid for drops to come out in a controlled way instead of using an eye dropper.
Looks like a physical injury. Maybe on a rock, or if you ha e fake plants.
You want to increase your water changes, maybe every other day. You want very clean water. You want to add a water conditioner that enhances slime coat available at most lfs. I'm not sure if you have a hospital tank, but since you have other fish I don't recommend medicating that tank, but melafix would aid in healing and avoiding infection. Have patience, it might take a while for the wound to heal, but in the mean time constantly watch it for an infection.
Thank you very much! I picked up these from the Petsmart near me. I live in a smallish city, so I only have petsmart, petco, and the internet to choose from.
I know these have copper in them and that's not good for shrimp, but I already had the tabs in the tank when I got the shrimp. I'm wondering if the copper content is so low that it isn't too detrimental to them, because they don't see to be bothered by it so far. Fingers crossed.
Ok, so, don't panic. Here's what you need to get:
So what you need to do:
-You can transport the fish just in a little container, it might be easiest to just use the bowl he's currently in. Just try not to slosh the water around too much.
-You can use some filter media from your pleco tank to "seed" the cycle in the betta's new tank so you wont really have to worry about fish-in cycling.
-Read the wiki in the meantime, it can probably answer most of the questions you might have.
I think that covers a lot, if you have any more specific questions feel free to ask!
Edit: Formatting
Finally at work so I can give some links, lol
Here's a cheap sponge filter, I love these for bettas because they have a gentle flow and no mechanical intake for the betta to get sucked into. The bacteria will live in the sponges so make sure to never clean them with tap water or else you'll kill them! You'll also need an air pump and some airline tubing to get the filter going. I've used all of these and it's a pretty simple and cheap setup.
To actually measure the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, you'll need a test kit. I know some people and stores use strips, but they are hilariously inaccurate. You can have levels of 70+ ppm of nitrate (which is usually deadly) and the strips will tell you that you have 0 ppm. The liquid kit also lasts a lot longer! Your tank is cycled when ammonia is at 0 ppm, nitrites are at 0 pmm, and nitrates are at 0-20 ppm.
To make it easier to clean his tank, you can use a siphon. It sucks up the water for you, all you need is a bucket/tub to catch it in. Makes cleaning a lot less hectic!
Just a side note, Betta are actually tropical (and cold-blooded fish), so they need a heater. This is good for a 10 gal, it's what I use :) You can also get a glass or electronic thermometer to make sure the water is staying at the recommended 78-80 F. If you already have a water conditioner this is optional but Seachem Prime is what I use as it binds and neutralizes low levels of ammonia.
Here's the sub caresheet/wiki, and here's a guide to fish-in cycling (which basically just means cycling the tank with a fish already inside). I know this is a lot of info/expenses all at once but if you ever have any questions you're always free to PM me! I'm happy to help to the best of my ability. I'd recommend getting him a 5 gal or bigger ASAP, and with clean warm water his fins will be healing in no time :)
Cloudiness (especially with a smell) typically means the tank is undergoing a cycle of bacteria. This means that the bioload the tank was presented with (whether the goldfish or mollies) was too high and the tank mini-cycled. You should see a spike in nitrites, followed by nitrates after this occurrence.
Try to buy a liquid test kit such as the master freshwater API test kit as they are way more accurate than strips.
Also, do not follow recommendations on that pamphlet. Nitrates should always be <20 ppm, ideally 0-10. You can accomplish this through periodic water changes with a water conditioner.
Nitritres and ammonia should always be 0 when tested, given the tank is properly cycled for its given bioload.
At this point you'll want to do daily water changes at the proper temperature and with water conditioner to keep nitrites and ammonia as close to 0 as possible for fish health. Cloudiness should dissipate typically in a week or less depending on the extent of the mini-cycle. DO NOT disturb filter media at this time, you'll only make the cycle take longer.
nah man youve got the wrong stuff trust me
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-67104330-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O
this is the only conditioner youll ever need
I never imagined that I would be a fish owner, but I have found myself with one, and I have a huge soft spot for all animals, so I can't stand to see them neglected so I want to provide the best home the little guy I can! Here is the list of what I've gotten so far. Let me know what you think and if I have made any mistakes!
Aquarium Rocks
He already has ~5lbs so I figure 10 lbs should cover a 5 gallon tank pretty well.
Betta Balls
Gravel Vacuum
Seachem Prime
Thermometer
Heater for 5 gallon tank
5 Gallon Tank
API Freshwater Test Kit
He already has a betta log, betta hammock, a small decorative plant, Tetra betta pellets, and some bloodworms for treats. Hopefully this covers all bases for little Zazoo! (Yes, my gf named him after the bird from the Lion King. Lol) If you have any other tips for a complete beginner, I'd love to hear them! Thank you for your suggestions!
There's also this tank from Petsmart, which is a pretty darn good deal for 5 gallons plus tank plus corner filter (I got the Top Fin 5.5 gallon, and it comes with a sucky hang on back filter that was WAY too strong for my betta Drax) or if you wanted something a bit smaller, there's this option. BUT, that tank doesn't have a light, heater, or filter. I recommend the Hydor Theo heater for the 5 gallon tank, and the Hydor mini for the 2.5.
As for water parameters, are you conditioning your water at all when you do water changes? If not, the chlorine/chloramines in the water might be getting to him. I totally recommend Prime by Seachem - gets rid of chlorine/chloramines/temporarily detoxifies ammonia.
Otherwise, having live plants can do a world of difference for a betta; they tend to like more of a jungle environment; as long as the plants are "low tech/low light" and get some light throughout the day, they should survive in a tank with regular water changes. And the best part about all natural plants? They don't tear betta fins! :) I'd recommend ordering some from www.liveaquaria.com or www.plantedaquariumscentral.com - both are highly regarded among the planted tank community, and their rates are super reasonable.
EDIT: The reason I recommend these guys as opposed to getting plants from Petco or Petsmart is because both of those corporations tend to sell mis-labeled and non-aquatic plants as true aquatic plants - I fell for this and ended up having to get rid of at least three of my aquarium plants because of my mistake. >.<
Also, if you get the 2.5 gallon and think you can afford it, I totally recommend the sponge filter + air pump combo for filtration; excellent biological and mechanical filtration once the tank is cycled, and it's pretty cheap to boot. Well, cheaper than other options. (I think I paid...$20 for all of my sponge filters - 4 of them - then $10 for 8 feet of silicone air tubing + a set of 5 check valves to prevent back siphoning. The main cost was the air pumps themselves at $9/apiece for three of them. So...$57 grand total for four filter setups? I keep shrimp as well, and they need sponge filtration, so I jumped in feet first, I guess. :P) Otherwise, Marina's I25 filter would work well also, provided your betta can stand a little more current/won't get his fins caught in the intake.
In the meantime, if he's fighting his reflection, it can sometimes help to put some light-colored paper on the outside walls of the tank; it can reduce the reflections he sees.
Golly, sorry for the novel of a post!
Okay I see what your seeing now.
Okay so edit up in this bitch! OP, I read your strip wrong. Badly wrong.. You have no nitrite and no nitrate present in the tank based on this strip. Which means, you have noooo cycle at all started. You have "new tank syndrome" also known as your tank ain't cycled. (How long have you had this tank? Have you ever cycled a tank before?)You have no beneficial bacteria eating the poo and pee as it breaks down! And no ammonia test on this strip so we can't even tell for sure how bad the fish are. You need to get a master fresh water testing kit from either a pet store or from Amazon.. These come with little bottles of chemical plus little test tubes. Super easy. And 100% more reliable. Get yourself some seachem stability and if you don't already have a water conditioner/dechlorinater, get some seachem prime while your out shopping..all this should cost you about...50$ or less? I provided a link to the api master test kit. Apis a very reliable brand. I have their set as well. I posted links at the bottom of this comment for Amazon.
Follow what I said above about cycling. This is technically going to be fish present cycling, since at this point I'm sure you have a lot of fish and no other place to keep them so let's do this ;
Daily; Test water with master kit. You only have to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. (Uonless you are using RO water, your pH should be fine for the fish you have. The pH on the strip is about average. The strips really only seem to be good for pH to be honest.), if you have any ammonia or nitrite values, replace the water with fresh dechlorinated water, add beneficial bacteria and then test again the next day until ammonia &nitrite are 0 and nitrate finally shows up. Once that shows, you're cycled and can proceed to just test weelyl or bi weekly and do 50-75% water changes biweekly or monthly depending on how high their nitrate levels are. Try to stick to less than 40ppm and change it if that goes higher.
But since you have no nitrate value at all, you have no cycle. Which means the fish are probably in an early stage of chemical burns due to high ammonia levels. Theyee gills are burning and are having trouble breathing. But since the test strips do not have ammonia on them as a testing option, we don't know how bad it is. We can only assume based on how they are acting.. OP please do a 75% water change of your tank today and continue with 50% changes daily until your cycle is built up to keep your fish from dying.
Master test kit
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000255NCI/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549134324&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=master+freshwater+test+kit&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51FQhbpfB0L&amp;ref=plSrch
Seachem stability ( beneficial bacteria)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002APIIW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549134417&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=seachem+stability
Seachem prime ( water conditioner/dechlorinator)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00025694O/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549134471&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=seachem+prime&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=41Q0rRc8NML&amp;ref=plSrch
( You can get the smaller bottles of seachem but it's better to get the 500ml price wise due to the fact you'll always need them. Total cost of all this, on Amazon at least will be about 49$ + tax)
Fluval Spec V + ViaAqua heater + gravel + driftwood + Amazon Swords + Java Fern + apple snail + fish = one of these gorgeous tanks, if I do say so myself
The tank on the right, with Captain America and his snail buddy Coulson, has been set up for four months. The tank on the left (EDI and Joker) has only been set up for a month. (I had Cardinal Ferns in there and loved them, but my asshole snail ate them.) I don't do anything special with the plants - stuck 'em in the gravel, lights on, lights off, dose with Flourish Excel once a week with the water change.
Super simple. After all, I manged to do it and not kill anyone off yet.
^...the ^cardinal ^ferns ^don't ^count
The main problem is likely ammonia poisoning. Even though you have a filter, you don't yet have a "cycle". The others are correct that your current tank is too small, but the fish will die long before it grows and needs more space if you aren't able to keep the ammonia down.
The best product to get is Seachem Prime, and use it at each water change.
For now, yes change 100% of the water - daily - until you know that you have a cycle in place by testing your water with the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.
If this all seems too much to manage for a fish you weren't looking to own in the first place, you could always rehome it via Craigslist or surrender to a pet store. If you decide to keep it, you're in for a fun, rewarding hobby! :D
it looks like nitrate poisoning. are you sure you've been shaking your nitrate test enough? the instructions say 30 sec on the second bottle and 60 sec on the mixed solutions IIRC, and they really mean it. you can get much lower readings if this isn't done properly.
that said, i also do not think the answer in this case is to change so much water at once, because it will shock the little guy even more. you are going to want to change a lot of your water, but gradually over the course of the day.
i would also suggest adding a little airstone or two to help him breathe a little bit easier while you try to deal with this.
it also bears asking: are you using any sort of water conditioner? chlorine in tap water can kill the good bacteria that lives in your filter. tho that wouldn't lead to excessive nitrates, it can lead to big big problems fairly quickly, so if you're not already doing it (and sorry for the lecture if you are!), i would suggest picking up a bottle of Seachem Prime asap. use it every time you change any water!
the other option is this stuff I’ve never used it, but I have used a similar product for red cyno in a reef tank.
The last I had BG cyno was when I was at the end of cycling my planted community 30g. I definitely had nitrates(I’m not saying low nitrates don’t cause it, but they were for me higher then 20ppm), but I had no fish yet and went with Erythromycin. It didn’t kill the cycle and it killed the cyno. It hasn’t comeback, but I’ve definitely had “normal” algae since then.
Part of me thinks it can just be a phase a cycling tank goes though like diatoms. You’ve definitely done your research., and you know your tank better then an internet stranger. If it starts effecting the plants, I personally would want to kill it with either option and then with nutrients make sure it doesn’t return.
If it traps bubbles it's cyanobacteria. In freshwater tanks it's more commonly known as blue green aglae.
This product will get rid of it fast:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Green-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B000QSK31M
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000QSK31M?psc=1&amp;ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image
When you expand, this might be a handy tool for you: AquaAdvisor
Right now, if I were you, I would purchase:
HOB Nano filter
Siphon Water changer/gravel vacuum - Carry your aquarium over to a drain. Keep an empty two liter handy to pour freshwater back in.
You cycled your tank, right? If not, you may want to pour some of this in there to help.
Water Test Kit Keep track 2x a week. Small tanks are more difficult since water conditions can go bad quite quickly. Keeping an aquarium is not about fish, it's about chemistry.
Spiral CFL bulb to replace the incandescent you probably have. Incandescents suck and heat your aquarium way too much.
Thermometer Glass, with suction cup.
Light timer Trust me, keeping that light on all day is only going to cause algae, and won't make your plants grow quicker. 6 hours in the beginning, 8 hours max.
Heater 25 watt, keep at 80 degrees. The gradient lines will NOT be accurate.
------
Low-tech tank care Study this, and pay attention to the dry fertilization part.
Thank you all so much for your patience! thoothsk is right, i should have given more information. I hate when people call me for tech support and say "my computer isnt working, can you come fix it" when they just need to load paper into their printer or some other equally as frustrating lack of detail. So here goes:
Pic Of Tank
1.10G Heater so the temp is about 78
So, i think that is all the answers, and again. Thank you for your patience. I should have given more details.
My main question is should i throw these 6 java fern plants out, or are they salvageable in the condition they are in, if i give them time? I believe i will not order from this vendor again.
EDIT: i have no fish in the tank. :) I have a 55G tank that i used to put lots of fake plants in because i love the look of plants, so this 5 gallon is my attempt at starting plants first. Fish when allll is well.
EDIT 2:
You might want to look into buying less dilute conditioner – Aquasafe uses 50ml to treat 100l, API uses 5ml to treat 114l.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/API-Tap-Water-Conditioner-473ml/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1463399045&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=api+tap+water+conditioner
Craigslist probably has a good amount of tank options especially in the bay area. San Francisco water should be fairly clean, test it to find out what it is out of tap most people will just use a de-chlorinator water conditioner
or you can get a reverse osmosis machine (RO/DO)
I have found that petco and petsmart actually have decent tank stands and some tanks but just google search aquarium stores in your area here is one but its concord I do not know where in the bay area you are so that may be a long drive.
You may find bowfronts are what you would like if you want depth, otherwise I would just call up places in the area for square acrylic tanks.
First-timer in over his head here. Could use an assist with setup. The ultimate goal is setting up something my (soon-to-be) 2 year old daughter will enjoy watching.
Planning on purchasing:
Tank & Stand: Aqueon 45G tank ensemble - $250
Light: LED - Included with tank
Filter: MarineLand Penguin 200 Power Wheel - $21
Heater: Orlushy Submersible Aquarium Heater 150W - $18
Python: Python No Spill Clean and Fill Aquarium Maintenance System - $40, 24 inch adapter - $10, [hook] (https://smile.amazon.com/Python-Spill-Aquarium-Gravel-24-Inch/dp/B004PBHX4G/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2/146-3053739-1242457?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=B004PBHX4G&amp;pd_rd_r=42a7c2bc-877d-414d-b0c9-2960fa629e40&amp;pd_rd_w=q7tkK&amp;pd_rd_wg=fjx36&amp;pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&amp;pf_rd_r=ZE4SB0SAMR7BKXT7Z4QW&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=ZE4SB0SAMR7BKXT7Z4QW) - $20, and this adapter for my non-threaded faucet - $12
Conditioner: [API Water Conditioner] (https://smile.amazon.com/API-CONDITIONER-Aquarium-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2SD31AR7OVW3V&amp;keywords=water+conditioner+aquarium&amp;qid=1567987105&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=water+condition%2Caps%2C159&amp;sr=8-3) - $7
Bacteria: [API Quick Start] (https://smile.amazon.com/API-CONDITIONER-Aquarium-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2SD31AR7OVW3V&amp;keywords=water+conditioner+aquarium&amp;qid=1567987105&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=water+condition%2Caps%2C159&amp;sr=8-3) - $4
Test Kits: [API 5-in-1 Test Strips] (https://smile.amazon.com/5-IN-1-AQ-Test-Strips-100CT/dp/B077YS7Y4Y/ref=sr_1_3?crid=VPPBFJ1NJSMG&amp;keywords=api%2Btest%2Bkit&amp;qid=1567987538&amp;s=gateway&amp;sprefix=api%2Btest%2Caps%2C210&amp;sr=8-3&amp;th=1) - $26
That takes me up to $408. That leaves me about $100-150 in the budget my wife gave me to get decorations and the fish themselves. (It was supposed to be $500, but we always go slightly over budget)
Any recommendations on large and colorful fish that could attract and keep a toddler's attention? Preferably peaceful.
Any other recommended tweaks to the build? I haven't purchased anything yet, so I'm willing to completely scrap this and start over if somebody has a better idea of how to use the money.
Get a [check valve](Marina Plastic Check Valve https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQIAO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.jceAbW5X9VMS) for the sponge filter/air pump tubing so the water doesn’t go back into the pump.
You need an [API freshwater master test kit](API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5kceAb9WH26C1) to keep track of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate as you cycle your tank and throughout the life of your tank.
[Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride](DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium chloride - 2 oz bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9lceAbCE3EDN2) is optional because you can buy pure ammonia for cheaper at the grocery store, but I used it. It’s an easy way to start and maintain your fishless cycle. Just add 4 drops per gallon of water to bring the ammonia up to 2ppm.
I would actually establish his 5-gallon tank with a fishless cycle, and set him up a small temporary "hospital tank" to treat the fin rot in the meantime.
I always prefer to move my fish to a small, bare tank for medication that doesn't have an established filter, because medication can crash your cycle. So for his permanent home, I would start on a fishless cycle by setting everything up with the gravel, filter, etc and add some ammonia like this to get the fishless cycle going. You can follow the directions on the bottle and use your water test kit to test for ammonia in the water to determine when the cycle has established, and ammonia levels are safe again.
While the tank is cycling, set up a medicated hospital tank (in fact you can do this now before you set up his man tank so that you can start treating his fin rot before it gets too severe.) Set up a small bare tank with a heater set to about 80 degrees fahrenheit/about 26 celcius. Add a little freshwater aquarium salt, and dose an antibacterial medication like Melafix for the fin rot.
Hospital tanks shouldn't have carbon filters, since carbon will just remove medications. You simply need to do daily water changes with clean, treated water (I recommend Seachem Prime for dechlorination and removing heavy metals. Even better if the water is also carbon filtered.) Remember when you change water you have to add medication and salt back in. You can add a small sponge filter to a hospital tank if you want just to keep water flowing and to filter out debris, I use this little filter for my hospital tank.
Lastly, but still very important: When you move him, you'll have to acclimate him slowly. Bag him up in a Ziplock bag with the water from his vase. Float the bag in the hospital tank (preferable already at 80 degrees) so that he can slowly acclimate to the temperature, and add a little bit of the hospital tank water to his bag every 5 to 10 minutes. I would take about 30 minutes to let him acclimate before releasing him in the tank. Acclimation is important because temperature and parameter change can cause shock.
What a tough little guy. I'm impressed he's been able to pull through in these terrible conditions. That water must be absolutely toxic. Best of luck to you in helping him pull through!
https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-bottle/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dr+tims+ammonia&amp;qid=1551172849&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-1
I have been using this with no issues
http://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-Aquarium/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1418867330&amp;sr=8-5&amp;keywords=ammonia&amp;pebp=1418867343024
I've heard good things about this stuff but be aware that if you test your water using the API freshwater kit it won't be able to detect the low ammonium levels (NH4) only ammonia (NH3) so I would just follow the directions on the bottle and only test for nitrites.
it's my pleasure. you can find plain ammonia at wal-mart. just make absolutely certain-- CERTAIN-- you only use ammonia that is free from dyes, fragrances, and surfactants (soap). you can also buy this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MP4QG6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1 it's unspoiled ammonia in a dropper bottle. also make sure you have this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255NCI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1 don't use strips for testing as they're unreliable.
Then it was likely just widely different water parameters. Anyways if you want to seed ammonia I recommend this 6$ thing off amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MP4QG6/ . Yeah it's a smallish container compared to what you can buy in stores, but finding straight ammonia is pretty hard. (Alot of them have soap and crap in them). This stuff works pretty good for seeding it. Im currently cycling two 10g with it right now.
Also throwing fish in to seed ammonia is being impatient lol. You're risking fish for the benefit of not having to wait 3-6 weeks.
Thank you!
Mr. Aqua 12g Long Tank (standard glass)
Keynice Digital Thermometer
NICREW ClassicLED Plus
Hygger Submersible Heater
Fluval C2 Power Filter
Dr. Tims Ammonia Chloride (for cycling)
Vintage Dark Brown Console Table (for stand)
(Seachem Flourite, Standard Aquarium Gravel, Polished River Rocks, Black Glass Rock, Blue Glass Rock)
(Monte Carlo, Dwarf Hair Grass, Red Pearl Amazon Sword)
I just treated one of my tanks for this -- I used fenbendazole powder for aquariums, bought off amazon. Its the active ingredient in many dog and cat dewormers.
I used 1/2 packet to dose 10 gallons, so split each packet accordingly - it doesnt have to be exact as its pretty harmless to fish and shrimp. Just get a little tank water in a small container like a clean pill bottle, sprinkle in the powder, and shake so it all dissolved, then pour it back into the tank. Repeat 48 hours later.
They will burrow into the substrate to try to avoid the medication, so the trick I used was to feed right before dosing the dewormer to coax them out of the substrate.
I didnt do a water change between, but you may want to in such a small tank since dead/dying planaria could cause an ammonia spike. It worked perfectly -- I havent seen a single worm since and didnt lose any shrimp, fish, or snails.
Honestly, one of the easier problems to tackle. :)
As far as equipment goes, get an AquaClear 20 (or 30) filter, an Aqueon (or other reliable brand, I've used Hydor with good luck) ADJUSTABLE heater. A thermometer. The lights you get depends on what you plan on doing with your tank. You're also going to need a water testing kit, a dechlorinator (most people will recommend Seachem Prime).
Is this going to be your first aquarium?
Okay, that helps!
He likely has something seriously wrong with his water quality given the size of the tank and lack of a filter. There's a decent chance what you're seeing is pop-eye which is caused by poor water quality.
The easiest fix would be to get him a larger tank (5gal minimum) and do a fish-in cycle. Pet Supplies Plus is doing a dollar per gallon sale. I've successfully gotten Petsmart and Petco to price match a dollar per gallon tank before so that may be worth a shot if you don't have a PSP near you. If you go the really cheap route on supplies, you could get him an adequate set up with a decent heater and filter for no more than $40. The key thing is you also want to invest a bit extra in a good water conditioner such as Seachem Prime and an API Liquid Master Test Kit.
I won't swamp you with all of the information on this process in one comment. The wiki and betta care sheet are both great guides to get you started. I also have an amazon list somewhere if you'd like my suggested list of products to buy. Small note that I don't know if the guide covers, you do want plants (either live or silk) and gravel as those help with tank health. Avoid plastic plants as they can damage fins. Silk is fine (most of my tanks are silk plants) but you'll just have to stay on top of your water changes.
Yes, they are. Read the label here: Seachem prime
Prime detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for 48 hours. A little more info can be found here : http://www.seachem.com/prime.php
I'm positive prime is detoxifying the nitrites, I just don't know if I'm doing the growth of my biological filter a disservice by doing major water changes daily.
If you go to a local pet store they might be able to give you some cycled water or some filter media that you can put in. Don't put a goldfish in there, it will just stress out your remaining fish even more. If you can, get some Prime and some Stress Coat and add them to your tank. You will also need to get a test kit so that you can check the water parameters in your tank. Once you know what the parameters are, get back to us and I can give you some more specific information on how to level it out. (If you can't find a water test kit like the one shown, test strips are better than nothing but I would order a kit ASAP.)
My tank has been really needing this but I'm about to start a new job and haven't been able to afford it just yet.
This is my first jarrarium, so I followed what best practices I could find through Reddit as well as the recommended Walstad PDF. Since this is my first time, I figured it was best to not analyze every single detail and just get a jar going. Best to learn from experience!
The night before I soaked the potting mix in water and attempted to clear as many of the twigs and sticks as possible. It was a bit difficult since I didn't have a hose, but it still worked. I let that mixture sit overnight. To start the jarrarium, I placed roughly 1 1/2 inches of soil lightly patted at the bottom of the jar with 2 root tabs to hopefully give the plants a good start to the tank. I'm unsure whether or not the root tabs were absolutely necessary, so I'd like to hear any thoughts on this and if others have done it or not. Hopefully this soil was close enough to the recommended Walstad soil;however, I was unable to find any locally. Once the dirt was placed, I set the zebra rock in the tank and then began the planting process.
In regards to the plants, I wasn't complete sure what selection of plants I wanted so I went with a mix of background, mid-ground, and foreground plants. I knew I really wanted to go with Dwarf Hair grass, so the others were just plants I had seen before. I started the planting process by placing the Vals in the back of the jar, Anubias on the right, Dwarf lily on the middle-left, and Dwarf Hair grass on the front-left of the jar. Placement seems off right now and the jar seems a bit bare. I'll let the tank cycle before considering whether a rearrangement is in order or if other plants need to be added. I'm definitely interested in adding a floating plant, but I'll need to do research before moving forward. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Once the plants were in the dirt, I poured roughly 1 inch of gravel in the back, and 1 inch of sand in the front. Water was treated with SafeStart and Aquasafe before pouring it into the jar. The pictures in this post were taken roughly an hour after I poured the water, which allowed the sediment to settle. There is still dirt floating on top of the water so I'll have to do a few small (10%?) water changes in the next coming days.
Plants:
All plants were ordered through Planted Aquariums Central
Nymphaea stellata (Dwarf Lily Plant)
Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hair Grass)
Vallisneris spiralis
Anubias coffeefolia
Rock:
Zebra Rock from Petco
Hardware:
2 gallon Anchor Hocking Jar
https://www.amazon.com/Anchor-Hocking-2-Gallon-Heritage-Hill/dp/B000KKI7GY
Natures care organic potting mix
https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-71678127-currently-Northeastern-Midwestern/dp/B00FVBQET4
Lamp
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-LA24118V-Get-it-Together-Adjustable-Task-Lamp-Rich-Black/16533259
Bulb (9W 5000K 800 Lumens LED Bulb)
https://www.amazon.com/GE-Equivalent-Daylight-Definition-Dimmable/dp/B01MAXUKMF
Petco Aquarium Sand and Gravel
Seachem Flourish Root Tabs
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG
Definitely! I don't do co2. I'm pretty low tech. Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count
These babies are what you want. They have done wonders for two of my sand/gravel substrate tanks. All stem plants are bright red or deep green and growing surprisingly quickly. I also dose flourish excel every other day.
Sand should be fine - you'd just need to get root tabs to place directly below the plants, since most of them are root feeders. You can either buy commercial root tabs like the ones linked, or make DIY Clay Root Tabs
Either way, you'll need to add some sort of root tab to your substrate for the plants. Lots of "low-tech" planted tanks use normal sand, so you'll be okay with that substrate.
A little more descriptive...
Smell may be a big issue for me so I'm trying to find the best way to fix it on the cheap while keeping the height minimal.
I think that intake fans are not needed if sufficient air is being pulled out the exhaust. The filter will be stacked as such:
-6" hole in bucket cover
-carbon mesh screen lays over hole
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000U204W2?cache=c1ac574aea532f7a19e56c585f982ea0&amp;pi=SX200_QL40&amp;qid=1414910301&amp;sr=8-2#ref=mp_s_a_1_2
-6" duct vent collar screwed through mesh into bucket
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Master-Flow-6-in-Air-Tite-Take-Off-ATTO6/100143514/
-activated carbon granules dumped into vent collar so they sit on top of the carbon mesh screen
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002566WY?cache=c1ac574aea532f7a19e56c585f982ea0&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;qid=1414918249&amp;sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
-A second carbon mesh screen is stuffed snuggly on top of the carbon granules
A. If I have an exhaust fan pulling out up to 240 CFM through this, will this be sufficient for air circulation for the plant?
B. Is the negative pressure effecting the plant in anyway?
C. Am I correct in assuming the negative pressure should greatly cut down on possible odors?
D. Other thoughts about this methods effectiveness?
Thanks for your time!
I think it depends on how large you want his permanant home to be. If it's 5 gal or over, then I would worry about cycling it before adding the fish. I've heard that cycling anything smaller can be difficult to maintain, and I've never bothered to do so with my 2.5g tanks. Only my 6.6g tank is cycled. I do 2x weekly water changes with the 2.5g
If you want a large tank, I'd say get a medium size Kritter Keeper and set that up as his temporary home as your bigger tank cycles. Kritter Keepers are pretty cheap- around $10 and the medium size is around 2.5g.
Here are some of my faves:
http://www.amazon.com/Petco-Bookshelf-Freshwater-Fish-Aquarium/dp/B004FJ9SDC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862792&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=petco+bookshelf+tank
I get these cheaper at my local Petsmart ($14.99)
http://www.amazon.com/All-Glass-Aquarium-AAG10002-2-5-Gallon/dp/B0002AS1PE/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862806&amp;sr=1-5&amp;keywords=2.5+gallon+aquarium
Great for small tanks
http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Submersible-Preset-Heater-25-Watt/dp/B00106X8QG/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862842&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=elite+25+watt
This is what I heat my 6.6g with
http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Submersible-Preset-Heater-25-Watt/dp/B00106X8QG/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862842&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=elite+25+watt
Prime water conditioner
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-436-Prime-250ml/dp/B0002568S6/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862888&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=prime
These are awesome silk plants
http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Marina-Naturals-Pickerel-Plant/dp/B005JW5VGW/ref=sr_1_8?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1371862917&amp;sr=1-8&amp;keywords=marina+natural
Hmm odd that the water fizzed up. Did you rinse out the tank and rinse off the carbon and decorations before putting them in? The fact that you can smell chlorine is probably a good indicator you are best of to switch to a different water conditioner. (I like Seachem Prime.) Betta's like a low flow filter so just keep an eye on the filter or even switch to a sponge filter, or filter with a sponge over the intake, etc. Remeber to test your tap water too! I will link some products I have used or similar to those I have used in the past and had success with. (It may be a good idea to compare prices at your LFS store to Amazon, as I know my local Petsmart/Petco charges a fortune for a lot of aquarium items without much selection.)
API Freshwater Test Kit (Amazon wow $19.99 right now!) or at your LFS -Don't buy the test strips.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000255NCI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;psc=1
SeaChem Prime ($4-$13 depending on size from Amazon or at your LFS. I swear by Prime.)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002568S6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;psc=1
A thermometer is a good idea to make sure your heater does not create a major issue. I do not use this exact one but figured I would add it to the list with a link ($2)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002AQITK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;psc=1
Here I will just attach a link for a sponge filter I use in a 10 gallon (~$12). You will need some airline hosing and an air pump (tetra air pump works) if you get it, though I think it may be a little big for a 4 gallon. Also, an aquaclear is by far my favorite HOB filter if you go that route. Hopefully, your filter will workout!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXRDZPO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A316L92SV4DH0Y&amp;psc=1
Tetra Air pump (~$7)
https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-77851-Whisper-Pump-10-Gallon/dp/B0009YJ4N6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1506349229&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=tetra%2Bair%2Bpump&amp;th=1
Aquaclear 20 (110V ~$25): This may be a little big for your 4 gallon, not sure as I have the Aquaclear 50 on my 30 gallon but I will add it along just in case.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000260FVG/ref=twister_B00MO35VD2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1
Airline Tubing (a few dollars, great to have)
Household Ammonia without surfactant (to do your fishless cycle) see link http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm
If you decide to go with silk aquarium plants, they have few fun options online. I would also suggest really plants as they will help reduce nitrates in the future. Some good low-tech plants would be anubias, or java fern (and some others). These can be tied to a rock or driftwood as don't need to be placed in the gravel/sand/soil itself. (A small clip-on LED for an aquarium should work
if you go this route.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/plantsetc
I would provide food options, but r/bettafish has done a great job!
https://www.reddit.com/r/bettafish/wiki/food
Here are a few they have mentioned:
Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Food (~12)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/huc/view.html?ie=UTF8&amp;newItems=C38WET63RPACA8%2C1
New Life Spectrum Betta Formula (~$10)
https://www.amazon.com/New-Life-Spectrum-Formula-Semi-Float/dp/B0038JTL1Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1506350883&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=New+Life+Spectrum+Betta+Pellets
Hikari Betta Bio-Gold (~$13)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013EXTU7S/ref=twister_B00ZJZMXIS?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1
You should be able to find frozen daphnia, and frozen brine shrimp at Petco/Petsmart, and live brine shrimp at your LFS.
Will add on later! Happy cycling and keep us posted!
He doesn't look too big, but some can grow really fast. This tank size may last you a couple months while you look for another. Supplies that you need ASAP are the UV light/Heater lamp and more water with filtration. When adding tap water remember to treat it with a dechlorinator that also gets rid of heavy minerals. If you're looking to save money on a tank, wait for a pet store nearby to have a dollar a gallon sale, or look locally for deals on used tanks w/ accessories on craigslist.
I recommended a thermometer for your water and basking area because particular species of turtles do better at different temperatures. I'm not sure what size that tank is but I'm guessing around 10-20g and would do well with a smaller heater. Your filtration should be rated 2-4 times the amount of water in your tank, and have 3 stages of filtration because they can be super messy.
P.S. If you know what size tank you have, and what you're planning to upgrade to I could recommend you some tank media that would work for you
I have 1 adult RES in a 55 gallon tank with about 40 gallons of water.
Zacro Aquarium Fish Tank Cleaner for Changing Water
This is what I've been using for years. Cheap and works. I use a 5 gallon bucket for emptying and refilling in increments. I pour the waste water down the toilet, and fill in the tub. I use ReptiSafe to condition the water before adding it back (inactivates chlorine).
No lugging the tank anywhere. No substrate to trap waste.
I recently invested in a Cascade 1000 canister filter and that has really helped keep the water clear for much longer intervals. It was about $100 but now I only have to do partial water changes once every two weeks, and I try to clean the filter every month and change the media on schedule. Much less work and totally worth the investment.
When doing a water change you have to add something that will remove that chlorine from the water, otherwise it will kill your beneficial bacteria. I personally recommend Stress Coat, but there are other good products out there.
I don't know if I gave you this link before, but you can do sand and use a gravel vac if you use this narrower one. I have 4 or 5 of them since all mine have sand in them. If you buy the 20 lb bag it's cheaper than getting the smaller bags (of sand).
I'd go for the Stress Coat vs just that water conditioner. To save $, just use a razor blade lol. If it rusts, toss it. Much cheaper. There used to be one for 4.20 but I can't find it anymore. This seems to be the cheapest I could find. Did I say if you sign up for Subscribe and Save for the API Test Kit, it's cheapest, and then after you get it you can cancel it.
Prime "Prime® is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia."
CrystalClear Vanish Dechlorinator "CrystalClear Vanish Dechlorinator, when used as directed, will safely & effectively remove chlorine, choramine, ammonia, heavy metals & add a stress coat protectant for fish. Has a three year shelf life."
API Stress Coat Plus "Also works instantly to remove chlorine, chloramines and ammonia from tap water."
As well as the no-name LFS brand I use which says "Removes Chlorine, Chloramine and Ammonia from town tap water". A 2 minute look at Google gave me that information.
Is your water softener something that removes the chlorine in the water? I've heard some people say they believe that if you leave water out for twenty-four hours, the chlorine will go away, but I don't really think that's true. To be safe, you should use a water conditioner like Stress Coat: http://www.amazon.com/Stress-Coat-Water-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B000255MZG/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1375233936&amp;sr=1-1-catcorr&amp;keywords=stress+coat
Also, neons and tetras are schooling fish, and won't feel safe in pairs. You need 5-6 neons together for them to thrive, and your tank is too small to accommodate them. Really about all you can have in your 2.5 gallon is a betta (and some folks say 5 gallons is the minimum for bettas) or some shrimp (ghost shrimp and red cherry shrimp are really cool!). I recommend http://www.aqadvisor.com/ to help figure out how many critters a tank can hold.
EDIT: Just saw your post below. I have been using Stress Coat, it's great!
Basically fertilizer tablets that you bury beneath the substrate to provide nutrients for plants when you have an inert substrate like sand or gravel.
There are several commercially available types, (I personally prefer seachem flourish tabs ) or many people make their own by filling gel caps with osmocote +
Well, they’re root feeder plants, so you will either need a plant specific substrate, or root tabs Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dQ-ZAbXG42HWD
I personally have one with just sand substrate with root tabs and it’s doing amazing https://imgur.com/gallery/49pX9
I just have an led light that came with a shitty like starter pack aquarium thing and all my plants are doing great. Here are some plants I recommend;
Amazon sword
Anubias
Java fern
Java moss
Hornwort
These are all low light plants and only the amazon sword feeds from the roots, so all the others you could either plant them in regular substrate (gravel or sand) or attach them to something or let them float. Btw tho anubias is a great plant but it has like a kind of bar/divider thing in between the roots and the stems that’s called a rhyzome. If you plant anubias, you have to keep the rhyzome above the substrate.
Unfortunately a huge part of success in this hobby is patience, so there's going to be a bit of waiting before you can get fish in there. But it's definitely worth it!
Before you do anything, you'll need to test your tank for leaks, as someone has already mentioned. Then you'll need to decide where the tank is going in your home. Is it close enough to a faucet for water changes? Does it receive any direct sunlight from nearby windows? (This could cause algae issues later on.) You'll need a stand made specifically for an aquarium (craigslist is good for this, occasionally pet stores will have decent online sales as well). A gallon of water weighs ~8 lbs, so once your tank is full it will weigh about 500 lbs with substrate, most furniture can't handle that much weight unless it's solid wood.
It's been mentioned a few times on here, but make sure you have a great understanding of the nitrogen cycle before bringing any fish home. I've heard some pet store employees refer to "cycling" as "letting the dust settle from the gravel and the filter/heater run for a few days" but that is NOT cycling and will end up killing your fish from ammonia poisoning. As far as fish go, my only other advice would be never bring anything home without researching thoroughly (temperature, tank size requirements, full adult size, etc) Seriously Fish is a great resource for reading up on different species, it's usually my go-to.
For plants you can go as cheap/simple as pool filter sand with some root tabs or as fancy as plant-specific substrate (ada aquasoil, flourite, eco complete) with pressurized CO2. It really boils down to personal preference and how much money you want to spend. Plant species I've found especially difficult/impossible to kill are Amazon Swords, Anubias, and various Crypts. There are many more "beginner" plants, but those have all worked/looked best for me personally. Petsmart will occasionally have some really good markdowns on their tissue cultured plants (the ones in the packaging on the shelf) and I've had a lot of success with those, even when they're half-dead.
Sorry for the wall of text, I hope it was of at least a little help! This subreddit has also helped me tremendously, especially the links in the sidebar like this one. Good luck, and make sure to show us a picture once you get it up and running!
Root tabs are root fertilizing tabs/pills that are recommended when using inert substrates like sand and gravel, since those don’t have the nutrients other products, like soil or Aquasoil, have.
Plant fertilizer in tablet/tab form. Pop them near the root base into the gravel. It feeds the plant. Lasts 3-4 months before you need to pop a new one in.
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flourish-Tabs-10-Count/dp/B000255QLG/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480301975&amp;sr=sr-1&amp;keywords=flourish+tabs
Certainly. Petco and Petsmart carry them too but I’m not sure about prices. It will be fine for a couple weeks probably, but eventually it will want some food. I think maybe flourish tabs would be a good option.
Seachem Flourish Tabs Growth Supplement - Aquatic Plant Stimulant 10 ct https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255QLG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CJRKDb6JV9A1E
Root tabs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000255QLG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1383061838&amp;sr=8-1&amp;pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
Ferts that I use.
http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/pps-pro-fertilizer-package.html
Look into purchasing a carbon filter for your bong. Buy your carbon here or somewhere other than a smoke-shop to save a lot of money on replacing it.
You'll notice a much cleaner smoke in general You clean your bong less because no ash can get into your water, and even resin builds a lot slower- really slow if you do a quick dump+scoop of some new carbon after each smoke. I would say it brings out the flavor more.
Also it's a dry time of season and I need a humidifier on at all times lightly to avoid the coughs. Throat orientated teas mostly with licorice root that I like to drink while smoking.
I hope this helps.
Maybe try picking him up and putting him through the opening when you notice that he needs to go.
If all else fails, I'd suggest buying some activated carbon and mixing it in with the litter. It really helps in sucking up the smells. When I brought my kitten home I used both a covered and uncovered litter box. They both smell. The cover doesn't do much to contain a stinky poop, but using activated carbon really helped in reducing the smells.
https://www.amazon.com/Marineland-PA0373-Activated-40-Ounce-1134-Gram/dp/B0002566WY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1493223272&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=activated+carbon
I use this. It's pretty cheap. A little goes a long way. If you're worried about you cat getting dirty from it, I have a white kitten and he's perfectly white still.
Just buy a bunch of activated carbon/charcoal http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-PA0373-Activated-40-Ounce-1134-Gram/dp/B0002566WY/
It is MUCH cheaper than a crappy Brita filter.
There's a 40 oz. one here on Amazon for under $20. I went to a pet store too and i got one about half that size for $20+tax haha
Edit: Forgot link
I don’t unfortunately, but it’s really simple: fill up little pencil cup with this type of activated carbon, partially fill a larger cup so that the top of the smaller cup is flush with the top of the larger cup when you set it inside and fill the gaps.
FYI, much cheaper on Amazon.
I used to use 2 throw away Tupperware containers. the shape and size is up to you. i think I used the "Snack" containers. Just make sure your biggest crab can fully submerge in the bowl.
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1 of them you want to fill every 3 days or so with de-chlorinated fresh water. Many of us use "Prime" for this as it gets rid of the things we need to get rid of while also not adding slime coat which is more for fish and can be harmful to the hermits. Product: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002568S6/ref=twister_B00ZK06JG4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 (this will probably last you a few years - you only need a drop of it)
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The other pool you want to use Instant Ocean and Prime with tap water. Since you are probably only needing a small amount, what many of us have done is create 1 gallon at a time and store it in a milk jug. It's like 1/2 cup of Instant Ocean in a gallon of water to get the right mix. https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean-Aquarium-Sea-Salt/dp/B00NQH210G/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1536593406&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=Instant+ocean&psc=1&smid=A2IH97EK742889
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Here is a picture of my old tank. maybe it'll give you an idea for pool setup and size. https://imgur.com/5ksXE0w | https://imgur.com/lpq8git | https://imgur.com/KlRTTP1
guessing you meant 24 hour? I can tell you right now that that wont be long enough sadly, I can also tell you that 90% of the time any chain pet store like petco or petsmart will have no idea about proper fish care. There is no offical time you need to wait but you need to wait untill your amonia and nitrite spike and then come back down after some water changes to have completed a fishless cycle. This is a good link here
Since you did not have a proper fishless cycle (dont worry I did the same thing when I started out) your going to need to do daily water changes of about 25% i would say, and get a water conditioner. I like Prime alot. and lastly and honestly, dont get to attached to these guys, they might not make it. But I wish you the best of luck, if you have more questions just ask:)
To clarify, is it 2 ppm before or after you treat it to get rid of chlorine and chloramine? Conditioners will cause a reading for ammonium because the reaction involves generation of ammonium hydroxide. This is unavoidable. Unfortunately 2 ppm is pretty high out of the tap, but if that is a reading after conditioner, it might be a quite a bit lower. Now, I will not be your best resource for solutions since I am spoiled with my immaculate tap, but here are some potential options:
Hopefully one or some of those are manageable!
Hey! Hope I can help a little.
1.) Figure how much water you wanna change. Most people do a 25% water change weekly. For a 5 gallon tank, that's roughly 2 gallons of water.
2.) Fill up two gallon jugs with tap water (or however much water you plan to change). Use a cheap aquarium thermometer to make sure the faucet water temperature is the same as the temperature in your tank.
3.) Add some conditioner to the water, following the bottle instructions. (Most people rave over Seachem Prime, because it conditions water and detoxifies ammonia/harmful fish waste.) The water is now ready to add to your tank!
4.) Most important: Keep up with these weekly-daily water changes. If your tank is less than 4 months old, you should do water changes more often (every other day), because your nitrogen cycle will not be complete yet. Understanding the nitrogen cycle and doing regular water changes is the MOST IMPORTANT part of successful fishkeeping. Many inexperienced fishkeepers don't change the water enough, so fish waste (ammonia) builds up = sick fish.
Bonus: buying a test kit will show how much ammonia is in your water, which lets you know exactly when a water change is due.
Best of luck! We all start somewhere. I doubt there's a single person here who hasn't accidentally killed a fish before.
Should you get into the hobby? Of course!
Should you buy the cheap bare tank instead of a normally priced starter kit? Probably.
You'll need an appropriately sized glass lid which is $29 at that link for a 40 breeder. You'll also need a heater ($15ish), most of that same basic design are equally (un)reliable so you could get two smaller ones to improve reliability compared to one large one, but don't worry about brand name.
Then a light, which ranges from $42 suitable for viewing and low-light plants up to a lot more money for high-light suitable LED fixtures.
Then water conditioner such as Prime ($13)
And food for $3-$20, too many choices for me to even suggest one.
Overall this gives a better experience than a starter kit due to higher quality and more versatile... everything. The consumables are also larger than the sample sizes included in kits, though those are big enough to last quite a while anyways. And the equivalent cost starter kit is probably a 30 gallon and this is larger. But the overall cost is $130ish which illustrates that those starter kits are actually a decent value, as well as being convenient.
Okay, if I'm guessing correctly, I'd say your tank isn't cycled. With a fish-in cycle, you're going to to need to either have the right products to help you along, or you're going to have to do daily/every other day water changes, to protect your fish.
What test kit are you using? Keep in mind that test strips are highly inaccurate and shouldn't be counted on. Anyone in the fish hobby will tell you that the API Freshwater Master Test Kit is a MUST HAVE, especially for fish-in cycling. You'll need to test daily to make sure the ammonia levels don't become toxic to your betta.
Here are my list of recommendations:
Until you get all of the necessary products to properly and safely cycle your tank, you'll need to do daily water changes of 20-30%. Otherwise the ammonia could build up in your tank and kill your fish. Even levels of 0.25 ppm is dangerous.
I know this is overwhelming, but if you have ANY questions at all you can free feel to either post here or PM me.
Also, Fishlore.com is an EXCELLENT source of information on all things fish. They're an extremely active forum that has helped complete newbs like myself out when I needed help most. I'd highly recommend doing more research on the nitrogen cycle and asking for help there.
EDIT: I'm sorry, I didn't even see your last question. Oops. I got my plants from Petco/Petsmart, but Aquariumplants.com has great plants that arrive in excellent condition, from what I've heard and read.
Going by the fact you tagged yourself as a noob I'll put in a bit more detail!
So fishless cycle wise (as opposed to fish-in cycling), you're going to want to get a source of ammonia to kickstart the bacteria reproduction off. Like you mentioned you can use fish food, but I tend to find this unreliable and people regularly ask questions related to the use of this because it's much less efficient than simply adding pure ammonia in. Pure ammonia is the best option because you can dose the exact amount each time, it's available instantly rather than having to wait for degradation of organic matter to occur etc., if you do the route of pure ammonia dosing then get household ammonia which has no other ingredients other than ammonia and water. There's a simple 'shake' test which is as it sounds, if you shake the bottle and there are no bubbles after a second or so then it's likely it doesn't contain any detergent chemicals.
You'll also need to invest in a freshwater test kit, https://www.amazon.co.uk/API-Aquarium-Freshwater-Master-800-Piece/dp/B000255NCI, API is very well received here for their 'Master' liquid test kit. Test strips simply aren't accurate enough to rely on. Also a dechlorinator such as seachem prime, this is so your tap water isn't going to contain any additives that will kill off bacteria/harm your fish, seachem prime is a good choice because it's very cost efficient and also claims to detoxify the ammonia/nitrites, not sure if this claim is 100% proven but the cost effectiveness is why I use it.
For the cycle you need to have your filter set up properly, you say yours has a sponge and carbon, but really you want as much surface area for the bacteria to live on, so if there's space it would be worthwhile adding in some bio media such as ceramic bio rings into the filter after the sponge. A thing to note here is from now on don't wash your sponge in tap water, when cleaning your filter just keep some of the water you drained out of your tank in a bowl and rinse the sponge in the bowl by squeezing it to get the muck off, bacteria will be killed off by using untreated tap water. Also to note, the carbon isn't too useful for anything other than removing medication from the water so it won't add too much benefit during this process.
Now onto the cycle itself, you want to start off by dosing your water to about 2.0ppm ammonia, this is the optimal level for bacteria growth, and now wait! It'll take some time before this level starts to go down, so I'd recommend not testing for at least 2-3 days because otherwise you'll just get your hopes up as nothing will change. After about 2 weeks the ammonia level should go down, and you'll begin seeing nitrites, then another 2 weeks and you'll see the nitrites go down, voila your cycle is finished. During the second stage of the cycle where nitrites are being processed you'll want to keep dosing your tank to 2.0ppm ammonia to keep the bacteria fed. At the end of the cycle do a large water change and you're ready to go.
As a note, I did try and use some of the bottled bacteria like Tetra SafeStart, API Quick Start, but had no luck with any of them, I would avoid them and just do the normal process to avoid any unnecessary purchases.
Hope some of that information helps :) having been through this process I think I covered all the issues I faced.
120 gh = 7° gh which is perfect. That tetra aquasafe is water conditioner and you're better off buying this or prime. Prime is better, but api works well. The difference between the 2 i recommend and the one you have is that tetra aquasafe is marketed towards bettas specifically and i assume you pay more for a smaller bottle.
6 gal Fluval Edge I set up in March 2016. When it was just plants and substrate, I would use tap water I let sit for 24 - 48 hrs to do partial water changes. Since we got a few critters on Mother's Day (2 nerite snails, 3 amano shrimp) I've been treating the tap water with Seachem Prime and preheating the water for the water change in a 5 gal bucket prior to use. I also add a half cap full of API leaf growth to the bucket for the plants. I've used the water conditioner twice for the last two partial water changes and the water looks cloudy/foggy/smokey (now and after the last water change when I used conditioner the first time.) After yesterday's water change, it's only gotten worse. I should mention I also tossed in some root tabs yesterday because the plants are showing signs of deficiency. I can get param's after I get back from taking my son to school and I just ordered some carbon satchels that should be here today...just in case.
You need a car :-D. But back to the topic at hand: Depending on the type of hair algae and the severity, there are several things you can do. The general consensus is that regular overdosing with a product such as SeaChem Flourish Excel, reduction in length of your photo period, and ensuring that you are feeding the proper amount for your live stock will help to combat most algae outbreaks. What are you doing for lighting?
Hi! I noticed a lot of people don't seem to be acknowledging you have a very high powered plant light and no co2. This helps form any type of algae in general when you're pushing that much var. Flourish Excel is an organic carbon that you can pour in that should help get rid of the algae and make your plants look a lot better! http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116045308-Flourish-Excel-500ml/dp/B000256962/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419364071&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=flourish+excel
You could also just go the full co2 setup route.
I work at a fish store and we recommend you feed your fish every other day. This could help with the overfeeding you think you have going on. My neon tetras are huge feeding like this as well.
It's definitely a pain! The algae on the carpet is diatoms, which will pass eventually on its own but I'm trying to keep things under control in the meantime. If you manage to find a quick fix, let me know (!), but here's what I've been doing in the meantime with some success:
Still haven't gotten rid of it but things seem to be headed the right direction.
Okay...so there is a lot wrong here. I'll try to make it simple as to not overload you with information, and if you have further questions, please let me know and I'll expand.
I've never kept an oscar before, but i believe ~7.2-7.6 ph is optimal. For all fish, 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, and probably 0-30ppm nitrates are good numbers. Eventually these will be stable and you will only need to do probably one 25% change weekly. This takes about 10-30 minutes depending on your tools and proximity to a water source.
I would say this is a 75g, but honestly, i suck at guessing. Dimensions would clear it right up. The two plecos will eventually outgrow it, and may have already. They will need most likely a 120g+ tank. The oscar should be happy here. Absolutely do not pay someone to clean and maintain the tank. It is a lot of work up front, but it will be so much cheaper and easier for you. I have 3 tanks (2.5g, 20g, and 75g) and i spend maybe 40 minutes a week total. I spend 20 minutes a week on my 75 and it is mostly water changes.
Edit:
In addition, the plecos probably need driftwood or something equivalent to suck on to. Currently the atat is the only thing they have in the tank and that is not making them happy.
Things you must buy bare minimum to ensure livable water quality:
Make sure you're dosing CO2 and nutrients (Flourish contains copper, if you have crustaceans then try this one ).
You can also use a CO2 gas diffuser rather than a carbon-containing liquid. Those setups are more expensive; I don't use one so maybe someone who does could explain how they work, but I hear they're very effective for larger tanks. My tanks are 5.5 G and 20 G and the liquid works fine for me.
You could also try adding inverts that eat decaying plant matter, such as snails and shrimp, if they're compatible with your setup. Also check your water parameters and make sure nothing crazy is going on, though since I assume your fish are fine then that would be my last guess.
> I thought weekly changes were best?
If it's absolutely mandatory: ex- the bio-load too much for the tank and/or filter is large or there is an issue within the tank. Once a tank is established (parameters testing solid over a period of time) you can play with it to see what works best.
Personally I've got a two established 10 gal Betta community tanks that get a good 30% water change monthly and a 40b tank that I do a 10% on every other week due to a very messy baby Oscar currently inhabiting that tank otherwise I'd go for monthly on that tank as well because the parameters test nicely.
> Fluval aqua plus conditioner.
I just googled it and read the bottle. I'm not seeing where it does anything for ammonia at all. So that may be where the ammonia is staying, you're adding in new water but the conditioner isn't neutralizing any ammonia. You most likely need to make a run to the store to find a water conditioner that does work against ammonia. I know many use Seachem Prime as it's a wonderful and fast acting water conditioner. You would only need a few drops for a 29g but it would neutralize any ammonia in the tank.
> So loaches and corys do well together?
I've kept both. Never together though. My concern would be the loaches get huge and they will, once large enough, bully and eat fish smaller than them meaning once the loaches have a group and established territories within the tank they will start to pick on the corys and once large enough could eat them.
Lominie LED Aquarium Light,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07236CXBQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Glosso Factory All in one Planted Aquarium Fertilizer, 16oz, with Balanced Micros and Macros, Easy to use, Treats 4,730 gallons https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759VRZ6Q/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apap_far7hCLRvszUJ
Seachem Flourish Excel Bioavailable Carbon - Organic Carbon Source for Aquatic Plants 500 ml https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000256962/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_cyP2DbCH8S7VF
I use the Flourish every day (1ml) and glosso Factory twice a week (1 pump).
Relax, I think you're ok. The "chemical" look on the water surface is probably just bio-film. See this thread for suggestions: https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/film-on-water-surface-help.156602/
Have you tested your water's pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates? If not, get a test kit like this: https://www.amazon.com/API-FRESHWATER-800-Test-Freshwater-Aquarium/dp/B000255NCI. Post your results here for advice. But I'm guessing that two 50% water changes every week is more than you need. You can probably cut that back to once a week or once every two weeks. That's assuming your levels are ok and your filter is working as it should.
Based on your photos, I'm guessing your tank is pretty new? The spots of algae on the rocks look like the beginning algae I've seen in newer aquariums. Same for the brown spots on the anubias. Treating your tank with Flourish Excel might help with the algae: https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-67104530-Flourish-Excel-500ml/dp/B000256962/. Or, if your water chemistry tests come back ok, you can get a small shrimp or two to help clean up the algae. You want to make sure your water chemistry is ok for shrimp. Do a little research before you buy any. You don't say how big your tank is, but it can probably take a small shrimp or two.
-Neon Tetras
-Cloud Minnows
-Cardinal Tetras
-Harlequin Rasboras
-Guppies
-Endlers
-Neon Rainbowfish
-Cory's (look further into which species would be best for your sized tank
-Platy
As i said before, definitely look into the subreddit info, and check out the wiki. it has a lot of helpful information that will help a lot! PM me if you have any other questions.
Seachem Prime is great for this too, instantly neutralizes ammonia and chlorine and gives you time to mix up salt water.
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116043304-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1504047391&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=prime+chlorine+remover
It sounds like your on the right path. I would dose prime on days your not water changing tho just to detoxify the ammonia. Would also pick up some kind of bacteria in a bottle I’ve had great success with tetra safe start plus another option is seachem stability
Good luck
Order this:
Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_cRFOCbQW0ZVM2
Then manually remove as much of the cyanobacteria as you can, follow the directions on the package, and remove any dead colonies when doing the water changes as prescribed in the directions. Repeat dosage may be required, but it works VERY well.
Word of advice, make sure that you have your air stone turned up in the tank, the product uses a lot of dissolved oxygen as it does it's job.
I would honestly recommend anything that would kill the existing algae in the tank and replace/add more plants that are not doing too hot.
The cyanobacteria will probably go away once the nitrogen is raised, but I would give it a kick and also use Ultralife blue green slime stain remover.
Looks to be it. I used this stuff earlier this year and it did a great job getting rid of it. My cyanobacteria bloom was very large, covering most of my substrate and driftwood with a thick green slime. If you use that stuff, you'll want to keep the lights out for about a week and do 30% to 50% water changes every couple of days so the dead cyanobacteria don't make your ammonia spike.
EDIT:
For anyone that is interested, it was decided that it was a mixture of a hell of a lot of diatoms and some cyanobacteria. The initial solution suggested was using Erythromycin but it isn't available to purchase in the UK without a prescription.
Instead I found this on amazon which had amazing reviews so I decided to give it ago. I used one treatment and within 48 hours the cyano bacteria was starting to die off, and within a week it had completely gone.
For the diatoms I purchased a group of 6 Oto's who proceeded to demolish it and are now stripping clean the substrate and any flat surface every single night.
Hope this helps anyone else having the same problem
So the tank is around 6-8 weeks old and is almost done cycling. Ammonia- 0ppm Nitrites- 0ppm Nitrates 40-80ppm. It is a high tech set up with a 7 hour photoperiod. I mimic the fertiliser dosage of the 2HR Aquarist as I was worried about overdoing it.
When the tank was around 3 weeks old I started to get hair algae in the tank, but at 5 weeks old the hair algae was overtaken by what I assumed were diatoms. I kept up weekly 50% water changes to try and help but its getting worse and worse, to the point where I've lost 4 different plants because their leaves were getting so covered by it that they died. I was originally cleaning it off of the leaves daily but it makes no difference, it is back by the following day.
In an attempt to bring my nitrates down I've added fluval clearmax to the canister, but I'm really not sure else to do.
More Photos:
https://imgur.com/qewTfJN
https://imgur.com/mjYrIP3
This is an expensive method but really works. However like others said, unless you fix the nitrate issue, BGA will keep coming back.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000QSK31M/
Try the advice that bquad gave and see if it helps. I've had battles with BGA as well and I am always on the losing side for some reason. My recent battle had me go and purchase this stuff from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QSK31M/
I followed the directions on the product and made no special changes to my tank and within a week the BGA was gone. From the comments this stuff doesn't contain Erythromycin.
Reviewmeta.com can check whether or not there are suspicious reviews
https://reviewmeta.com/amazon/B000QSK31M
The adjusted rating is the same as the original rating which is somewhat promising but there are some suspicious reviews.
I've had him for over a year now but I had an ammonia spike that resulted in an unstable biofilter for an embarrassingly amount of time towards the end of 2018. (I was going on vacation for 4 days and didn't know that he could, in theory, be fine for up to a week w/out food so I used one those dumb slow release food things for bettas. Never again.) I really didn't want to just start from scratch and have to do an in-fish cycle but I just couldn't get the biofilter stabilized so I started from scratch and seized the opportunity to move him from a 5.5G to a 10G, use better gravel, and get some live plants in there too. I used Dr.Tim's One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria, Seachem's Stability (to help boost the filter), and did daily water changes. I was also dosing Seachem's StressGuard daily during and after the biofilter was established for ~1.5 months and have been dosing it 1-2 times weekly since.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001LULBXI?cache=5957abd7accd950435548c9a4859211b&amp;pi=SY200_QL40&amp;qid=1407114428&amp;sr=8-2#ref=mp_s_a_1_2
First off buy some of that, you can't overdose it, and it may not do it all, but it will help.
Secondly get some purigen. It removes ammonia and nitrites from the water.
Also duckweed is an amazing ammonia remover, but depending on how you feel about it can become a "pest" after. Personally I love duckweed, even though I hate scooping it out so often.
I would get the largest you can afford. More filtration is never a bad thing. Another poster said that 3x your tank size is a good rule. The 1200 is capable up to 150 gal tank so it would work but you might be doing more water changes. I bought the 1200 Elite version which comes with extra media and hoses but it sounds like you dont really need those. If you dont need hoses, the base model cascade 1500 is still $140 as well. That will handle up to 200 gal so it's a safe bet. I think that one would be better since your tank is larger.
Some quick links for you.
Penn Plax Cascade 1500 - 350GPH Canister Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DJ9PW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_VaFWAbD43X3EJ
Tetra WaterClarifier Treatment, 3.38-Ounce, 100-ml https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DZNP3E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_7fFWAbTT7MVBP
Tetra makes a "safe start" product that can be used to jumpstart your cycle.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DZNP3E/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_tFA-ub194MYR9
Im sure there are better brands out there too. I know i have seen bags of bacteria (for breaking down ammonia and nitrite) at petsmart before
Hi /u/smishgibson,
Leo's already regrowing! I shit you not, the ashy grey scurf has gone and something transparent (which I believe is a regrowing fin) has appeared, look!
1
2
3
And that's just after the first 3/4 water change!
Maybe I'm way too optimistic, but his today mood definitely lifted me up. I disabled a pump as usual when I feed him and he rapidly swam to the feeding hole. He didn't even refuse a single pellete! Also, I bought him the Cocos Cava. Thought about it like an anti-stress, and I bet he fell in love with it!
Back yesterday I also got the tests, a conditioner, a thermometer and a siphon. For a conditioner, I settled on the API Tap Water Conditioner, very similar to the products that we discussed, many say it does its job well. A freshly set thermometer shows 27 °C (80 °F) (it's been 30 °C (86 °F) outside in the afternoon).
First thing I did yesterday is a test of water in the tank. Needless to say, it smelt like a swamp. And these tests more or less have proven that something wasn't right (though I'm not sure their precision could be anywhere close to Swiss watch level, but AFAIK it doesn't matter since my target is the lowest nitrate/nitrite/ammonia values possible), pictured the results:
Nitrates
Nitrites
Ammonia
Instructions are very unclear and they didn't provide units, so I guessed these values stand for ppm.
Having the unsatisfactory test results, today morning I siphoned 75% of the water and some gravel (partly, to prevent bacteria genocide), then refilled the tank with conditioned water. Now I plan to test current water state and determine if the 2nd 75% change is a must.
What do you think?
Yes your LFS will test the water for you. You might want to take some tap water to get tested as well. That way you know what you are working with. In most cases just some dechlorinator is sufficient. I use this: api tap water conditioner. 1ml per 20 gallons. So you'll only need a couple of drops with every water change.
Also keep in mind that test strips are not very accurate so you can use them to make sure your water params are stable but not as a way to know the exact values.
They will need a 60-75 gallon tank asap i will include a link below on how to cycle a aquarium. All water for fish must be treated to remove chlorine you can get a bottle of liquid to do this online or at a local pet store.
https://www.amazon.com/API-CONDITIONER-Aquarium-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B004LO9KSY web link for stuff to remove chlorine
https://fishlab.com/how-to-cycle-aquarium/ how to cycle a aquarium
Additives need to go in BEFORE. If you read about cycling you know these beneficial bacteria everywhere in the gravel. The chlorine in tap will kill the bacteria and you will have to restart the cycle. I usually test water before I would do a water change to make sure it's needed and im on track.
You need to replace the water because if you cycled correctly there will be nitrate in the water. Nitrate although less harmful than ammonia and nitrite is still bad for your fish. Nitrate is the final step and need to be taken out. That way when you take 25% of the water out, you take 25% of the toxins out. It is absolutely necessary to dechlorinate and do water changes. Heres one of the best dechlorinator on the market http://www.amazon.com/API-Tap-Water-Conditioner-16-Ounce/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458091429&amp;sr=8-2-fkmr0&amp;keywords=aqueon+dechlorinator
ONCE AGAIN Dechlorinator and water changes every weeks are absolutely necessary...
Test Kit That's the API one, I have yet to see a petstore that doesn't sell that one. Get a liquid kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Don't get the strips, they aren't accurate and tend to go bad.
Water Conditioner they may not have that exact one, just look for a product that says "Removes chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals" I think someone else listed a few.
Yes the filter bag, if you can only run it a week can you cut down part of the one from your 10 gallon and put it in the 3 gallon? The filter bag is where most of the good bacteria live that eat the ammonia and nitrite. A week is really kind of pushing it as you would only get enough bacteria to jumpstart a fish in cycle which isn't good for the fish. You can also help this process but keeping the gravel from the old tank wet for the trip as the bacteria live there too.
Unless your room is kept at 80 degrees it's going to be too cold. He's already going to be stressed from the travels and heat will help. It's like $10 and you will have a much happier fish.
Like a grocery bag, just something to block the light. Just stick the zip lock inside that.
Much as he will eat in 3 minutes once a day. Honestly it's probably more likely a water quality issue then anything else. The rules of trouble shooting anything wrong are usually water quality first.
I use this stuff. Super cheap and causes no ill effects on my plants. I just follow dosing on bottle.
API Tap Water Conditioner Aquarium Water Conditioner 16 oz Bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_W2c2DbDBP306P
this just to make sure nothing is there that shouldn’t be.
This is what I've used
DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium chloride - 2 oz bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_S-5kxbAFHCDW9
http://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-Aquarium/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1405305547&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=ammonia+aquarium
Using an all-in-one like thrive makes the likelihood of nutrients skewing upwards more likely, but with only plantstock I don't think there's any ethical concerns with that. If that happens you'll have to do water changes to rectify it.
If the volume is large you might as well dose macroferts individually (usually as dry ferts) then you don't have to worry about a run-up, you instead can just stop dosing the relevant nutrient. Also, since you have no livestock, you can dose ammonia (which plants love, in reasonable concentrations) instead of nitrates.
If you are unsure about your ammonia levels, I would not add fish. Retest, and make sure you follow the instructions on the test kit to the letter. If you are still unsure, but suspect it is zero, you can force an ammonia spike with this stuff, then retest and track your levels with an easier to read ammonia color. Good luck, and I hope your tank is cycled and ready!
Forget the fish food, it's too hard to dose properly. Get this or any kind of 100% household ammonia with no additives and use it instead.
It’s possible! I’ve had similar stuff happen. But the only way to know for sure is to put actual ammonia in there and test it. Most people say 1ppm/day ammonia removal (with no nitrate spike) means it’s cycled.
Or test your tap water, and if you find it has ammonia (lots of public suppliers use chloramine to keep water clean, which shows up on our tests and is available to the bacteria as ammonia), do a big water change. Check it 24 hrs later; if 0ppm, it’s cycled
You can get ammonia on amazon or at a hardware or grocery store (with the cleaners). Make sure it’s only got ammonia in it.
I am nearing the end of my 10g planted cycle, I used dr Tim's ordered on amazon. Easy to use, 10 drops per 10g = 2 ppm.
http://www.amazon.ca/DrTims-Aquatics-830-Ammonium-chloride/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1421115957&amp;sr=1-1
Seachem will not help cycle your tank without an ammonia source to feed the bacteria. Letting a tank run for a month will not cycle either. The bacteria you are trying to cultivate need ammonia and then nitrite to feed off of and grow. I would buy DrTim's Aquatics - Ammonium Chloride Solution for Fishless Cycling - 2 oz Bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WVdUCbT3KS740 and dose the tank to about 2ppm ammonia continue to keep 1-2ppm present until nitrites return to zero and nitrates are all that show up. Then do a big water change. Do not clean the filter with this change as it will get rid of a good portion of your good bacteria. When you do clean the filter in the future make sure it isn't the same day as a water change. Hope this helps your future skrimps
Something like Dr Tims?
I looked at it this morning, but figured if I could expect to wait another day or two for the cycle to start it may not be worth it, but I’m guessing I should pick it up then?
I've used this product, and it worked great.
Here’s an inexpensive filter I use and a heater . You’re gonna need a API master test kit. It’s recommended that you cycle your tank. You can do a fishless cycle in which you’ll need ammonia to start the cycle. Or you can do fish-in cycling and add him after you put the water in.
Bettas love plants! Silk or real plants are the way to go, you should avoid plastic because it will rip their fins. if you get real plans i suggest java fern because it’s super hardy
I've heard this stuff works well although I have no experience with it. I use this on my tanks with API quickstart. I let it sit until all the ammonia is consumed. As long as there is some nitrites still showing up then I drop a few fish pellets in to keep the nitrifying bacteria fed. Once the nitrites drop back to zero I do a 50% WC. After that a weekly 20% PWC. Slowly introducing livestock. Hope that helps
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006MP4QG6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1478123759&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=tim+ammonia
+1 on the parisite. Buy fenbendazole: here
This works well, you have to mix it with their food and feed it to the fish. It should kill any internal worms in them. Good luck!
Use Fenb, snail removal not necessary.
&#x200B;
https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Laboratories-Bendazole-Fenbendazole-packets/dp/B009TAQ4OI/ref=pd_bxgy_199_3/139-5593703-8917208?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B009TAQ4OI&pd_rd_r=febf4bda-3dad-48ec-924f-a69a38d737f8&pd_rd_w=WqxRt&pd_rd_wg=fbs6L&pf_rd_p=479b6a22-70ae-47a0-9700-731033f96ce8&pf_rd_r=B16P14YB4K0B100N2HZ4&psc=1&refRID=B16P14YB4K0B100N2HZ4
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009TAQ4OI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
What i used, worked quick and easy.
Here's my suggested shopping list:
The API Water Testing Kit - about $22 at Amazon, might be more expensive at a pet shop
Indian Almond Leaves - ($7) I put in a fresh 1/4 a leaf each week
VitaChem - ($11) vitamin drops to help with color and fins - a drop a day and he'll swim around and hunt for the vitamin specs
Polisher Filter - ($3) Use scissors and cut a couple of chunks for the back compartment in the Marineland tank. It helps slow the flow down a little and kept the water super clean.
Amazon! I ordered these ones: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HG1TMIW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1510297047&amp;sr=8-6&amp;keywords=almond+leaves&amp;dpPl=1&amp;dpID=51rKoAFt3GL&amp;ref=plSrch
I'm not sure about the phosphate, but you definitely need ammonia. Buy pure ammonia. This is the one I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OTH5TAQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Make sure the ammonia is above 1ppm but below 5ppm. The cycle should take care of itself. Nitrite should spike like you said then drop. You've only been cycling for 2 weeks. You're on the right track. Mine fully cycled in 28 days. Here's a guide I used for reference.
https://fishlab.com/how-to-cycle-aquarium/
>The one thing to remember with Java ferns, is that they require a regular fertilizer. Because they have no “true” roots, they get most of their fertilizer from the water column. If you want your Java fern to truly thrive, you should add a liquid fertilizer after every weekly water change. Tab fertilizers are useless with Java ferns, since they don’t have a proper root system to utilize them.
from here
>Java Fern should be placed on driftwood, rocks or directly onto the gravel (but make sure not to bury it in the substrate) that's why they don't need any fertilizer or root tabs
Any fertilizer design for aquarium won't hurt any live things however longest you using correct dose and maintain your regular water change..
source
Someone in that thread recommended Thrive. It seems normal, liquid aquarium fertilizer works, if necessary.
/r/aquariums would probably be more helpful with this specific plant. Hope this helps!
Also, nice plant. Didn't know these were a thing and they are super neat. Thanks!
My town has a city well with impossibly hard water. The running joke in my house is, if you need concrete fill a bucket and wait a minute. I haven’t tested it myself but on the cities last test it was 670 mg/l. As a result my tap water has a pH north of 8.2.
I bought these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G78H5XS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Z00gAbQJN6ZCP but they’re not making a dent. Should I add more? Get more serious? Ignore it and hope he adapts?
Edit: I should probably have mentioned that I’m doing a fish-in cycle. My betta wasn’t a complete impulse, but it was enough of one that I didn’t know about cycling. I’m on the downward side of the nitrite spike right now. I didn’t want to share a picture of him earlier because ... shameful pet caretaker.
At the least, adding some bottled bacteria like Seachem Stability (https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116012300-Stability-500ml/dp/B0002APIIW) will help the growth of benefical bacteria to create a healthier environment for your fish
Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_H5yIybZWP7ZHC
I recently brought BGA (cyanobacteria) into my tank with some new plants. Didn't take long for it to spread. Friend suggested I try this stuff: Ultralife Blue Green Slime Remover
Still haven't used it, but reviews seem positive and my friend swears by it.
Definitely cyanobacteria. I've heard this stuff works well http://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Green-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B000QSK31M?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_1&amp;smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
But you should definitely keep the water extra clean. Maybe add some more low light plants to help soak up the nitrates.
I noticed that cleaning my filter, coupled with this product did the trick:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Green-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1498613632&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=blue+green+algae
Get this stuff works amazing! Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YVL4Bb80BM0SH
This was recommended to me:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_RNZ6Cb5GA4C8H
I just started using today so we'll see if it works in a week.
Edit: Loooove the moss by the way. Really pretty tank!
I've had extensive experience dealing with cyano in my 20 long. The most effective solution for me was to use spot treat with Hydrogen Peroxide. Here's the rough process I used:
In my case, reducing ferts and light for a while helped outbreaks. Another option is to use commercially available product like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Green-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B000QSK31M
but I do not have personal experience with that particular product.
Here is the desktop version of your link
https://youtu.be/4c4MoOD-zpI
All hail cory from aquarium co-op...
And this stuff works great
Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It looks like blue green slime algea to me. Almost no fish eat it as it's not actually an algae but a diatom. The only fish I heard eats it is the neon blue goby (stiphodon atropurpureus) but I can't confirm this. I do know ultralife blue green slime remover works extremely well. Take the recommendation of uv light and extra air stone seriously. The first time I used it I got a green water algea blue a week after it killed all the slime. I have never had a problem with slime again. Highly recommend the product.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QSK31M/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_iYPSCbJ1P5S77
I got a water pump like you suggested, I set it pretty low so it wouldn’t bother my betta too much but it looks like it’s doing the job! I think most of the Cyanobacteria is gone, I just have to syphon off the excess dead stuff and maybe dose the tank again to be safe. I used this stuff since it wouldn’t kill off my nitrifying bacteria.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QSK31M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
This. Worked great for me. Didn't harm plants.
this product worked like magic on my tank
My tank was absolutely covered in BGA and someone recommended this product and it got rid of it all in three days
I would mix all the water at once, and make more then you plan to use. Use conditioner and a starter bacteria culture. Let it come to room temperature (78F / 25C). Use some to rinse (soak) the plants and moss balls. Use a slow drip acclimation over an hour or so to ready your shrimp. While waiting fill each jar and allow any debris to settle and remove any floating. Then add shrimp.
I had good luck with DrTim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Cycling Aquaria, Freshwater.
I'll be fishless cycling starting (hopefully) this weekend and will keep good records of levels and report back here.
This is what I got for ammonia:
DrTim's Aquatics Ammonium chloride for Aquarium (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MP4QG6/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1)
And I'll be using this and hoping it speeds up cycling:
DrTim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Cycling Aquaria (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LULBXI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1)
System build details here: http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&amp;t=21463&amp;sid=6b2674bbb0c276d950ffce817c475209
I used Dr Tim's one and only nitrifying bacteria https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LULBXI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1 and my 4.6 gallon ( newly set up ) tank literally cycled in a week. I did a fish-in cycle with one Betta. https://s11.postimg.org/d88m954nn/20170623_231719.jpg
My source of ammonia was from fish waste and tap water. Since Amazon light leeches a small amount of ammonia to the water column, it'd be a good idea for you to use a bacteria supplement to assist in cycling your tank.
Purchasing the product from Amazon will be a hit or miss. Amazon does not properly store these bottles, so you may get a bottle that has a lot of live bacteria, and some that may have very little to none.
You could add something call Safestart. It may or may not help, but it would be worth a try. It is supposed to add enough of the beneficial bacteria that grows when the tank cycles, but a lot of people see mixed results with it. I even tried it with one of my 55 gallon tanks, but it didn't help at all.
You will have the same water quality issues if you move him to a smaller container. Cycling is something that happens naturally when there is a source of ammonia and it will happen in any body of water. Adding another source of ammonia will most likely kill your fish so just leave him where he is and do the water changes every other day. Once the tank has completed its cycle you can do water changes once a week instead of every other day.
Always add water conditioner. It removes harmful chlorine and chloramines from the water that will hurt your fish and kill the beneficial bacteria that will grow when the tank is cycling. This is a really good water conditioner and it will last you a long time.
That would make a lot of sense. UV filter prolly not in my budget lol :[
Any idea how long? Like weeks-months range?
Is it still worth seeding the tank? Is this the correct product? I'm guessing I shouldn't have replaced the entire rack.
Get an API master test kit ($25 on Amazon) and start tracking your ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Test daily till you have 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. Nitrate should be at or below 10ppm, 20ppm if the tank is heavily planted. To help your fish survive, get a bottle of bacteria cultures specific for aiding in tank cycling.
Can you provide pictures so we can verify your fish species?
Angelfish like lots of hiding places and can be aggressive. Keep an eye on your mollies. If your angels are leaving them alone, then get at least 2 more females, preferably another 6 (should be 2 females to every male). You will have more fry than you know what to do with but your angels will most likely eat them.
Water changes are usually done weekly at 20% or monthly at 40-50% depending on the type of setup you have. Low-tech planted tanks can go many months without water changes. After your tank has cycled it's best to do routine water changes to keep your nitrates down.
I also recommend feeding them only once a day. Fish will always act like they're completely starved and the more you feed, the more waste they produce meaning more ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
It's great you're asking for help and giving your fish better care! Keep us updated with the progress!
Sorry yes, it's Tetra Safe Start Plus, a bottled bacteria. The Plus version is more concentrated and intended for instant cycling. Bottles are around $11 on Amazon with the largest bottle being cheapest (weird) but you can't use too much. Just shake really hard, use the whole bottle to ensure you get the proper mix of bacterias, and dump it right in the filter. Some bottles appear to be duds but many folks have rapid success with the product.
Not really, thats a water conditioner, like seachem prime, it removes metal other stuff from tap water. If your going to buy a water conditioner, most reccomend seachem prime as do I, but other brands like api and tetra work fine too.
What you maybe thinking about is concentrate bacteria, like this popular tetra safe start plus while cycling water may take long and is great for the bacteria to grow, with this you can put the right amount in the tank, wait few hours and throw fishes in, but keep in check for water changes and keep a close eye on ammonia, ph, nitrite, nitrate and the other good stuff
don't reccomend guppies in a 10g, tetras can go with shrimp(tetras might eat them) and rams should be fine. I dont think you space to put both species
Update: I really need some advice. The fin rot seems to be slowly getting worse/not really getting better, and my 5.5 gallon tank is still nowhere near cycled (the ammonia just spiked, and I purchased a master test kit so I can test for other levels.)
I've been doing water changes of about 50% every other day now. Is this enough or too much? There are some short clear bits that appear to be fin regrowth at the end of her fins and tail, but above the regrowth there are still portions that look like they're receding. I've been adding in Prime whenever I do a water change.
How much salt can/should I be dosing the tank with weekly?
I was reading online that some people do fish-in cycles with TSS and treat the water with prime to stop the fish from feeling the effects. It sounds like a bad idea since Beatrice has fin rot, but I'm getting really concerned and I really want her fin rot to start healing, especially by now. All of your help is greatly appreciated!
You can try to get some filter media from your local fish store. It will have beneficial bacteria in it that can help start your cycle. You can also try adding a bottled bacteria like this. People have mixed results with it. You should test your water before you add fish to make sure the bottled bacteria is actually working. I recommend using API Freshwater Master Test Kit to test your water, the strips are not accurate.
On my ten gallon I have a HOB Aqueon, and it has the built in bio media piece. I thought a canister filter would be overkill for a 10 gallon.
I do use a water conditioner.
I'll definitely consider rinsing it this time, and I've already planned to not add livestock until I read near zeros on everything except nitrates.
Unfortunately I don't have media from a cycled tank, I moved from LA to where I am currently, so all my media is gone :/
Tbh when my plants go transparent like that they are usually dead, but I’m not familiar with that species so idk for sure! If your water is hard as you say- have you thought about using some fertilizer and especially water conditioner water conditioner? Can go a long way in keeping plants happy. Good luck!
Set up for single Axolotls
Realistic initial start up cost $135
Excluding cost of axolotl
$5-$40 20g tank MINIMUM preferably 30g (offer up, let go, Facebook groups and pet stores)
$1-$70Hides - decor or caves or even home made must be water safe even pvc piping works minimum of 2 (decor can become expensive fast if you want to make your tank look very “pretty”)
$20-$30Filter - something with low current flow sponge filter or a canister filter with something to break up a strong flow if you have a sponge filter you need air line tubing and a air pump
Bacto-Surge High Density Foam Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GOFPX9I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_oov7AbY5ESARC
Penn Plax Airline Tubing for Aquariums –Clear and Flexible Resists Kinking, 25 Feet Standard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002563MW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kpv7AbQ20H9V7
Tetra Whisper Easy to Use Air Pump for Aquariums (Non-UL) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009YF4FI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Hpv7AbC3Y8R2Z
$10-$15 Water additives
Water dechlorinator follow instructions on bottle if the tank isn’t fully cycled use prime plus follow instructions on bottle
API TAP WATER CONDITIONER Aquarium Water Conditioner 16-Ounce Bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LO9KSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1qv7AbHFPEHT5
Tetra 77960 SafeStart, 15-Gallon, 50-ml, 1.69-Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E2RI74/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1tv7AbDHHEMEY
$20-$35 API water test kit to make sure the water is in good parameters
http://www.axolotl.org/requirements.htm
API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT 800-Test Freshwater Aquarium Water Master Test Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NCI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_zvv7AbK35G0WW
$2-$10 Aquarium thermometer that reads down to 60 degrees F
CNZ Digital LCD Thermometer for Aquarium Fish Tank Vivarium Reptile Terrarium https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPXVI94/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_yxv7Ab1NSQ5H6
$5-$20 Aquarium syphon
Aqueon Medium Siphon Vacuum Aquarium Gravel Cleaner, 9-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RK1WBK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2aw7Ab3Z5KS9B
Feeding
$2.50-$3 Fishing earth worms (Walmart sporting goods section)
$10-$15 blister pack of 30 blood worm cubes (I can sell them to you while supplies last for $15 or you can buy them at any pet shop that sells fish)
Earth worms when they get bigger try to feed them nibbles of a worm like the size of their head and move up as they get bigger and frozen blood worms for first month to month and a half try to feed the earth worms to the axolotls ever couple days by hand until they start accepting them they might start accepting earth worms as soon as a week after receiving them from me (feed frozen blood worms every other day until they are regularly eating pieces of worm )
Maintenance
You can use a turkey baster and clean up their poops as you see them you’ll still have to do water changes but much less water 25%-35% or use a syphon once a week and do a 30%-50% water change along with the water dechlorinator and some of the safe start plus make sure to test the water regular with the api test kit
Keeping the water to the correct temperature
60-64F is the perfect water temp for them but it can be hard to achieve during summer but doing more regular water changes can help with that and putting a fan over the aquarium blowing on it will help by up to 4-5 degrees
NO SAND OR GRAVEL ESPECIALLY NO GRAVEL EVER sand maybe fine once they are 6-7inches but they will swallow it and they can become impacted and possibly lead to death
Are you adverse to buying online? https://www.amazon.ca/DrTims-Aquatics-830-Ammonium-chloride/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1464224598&amp;sr=8-7&amp;keywords=ammonia
There probably are cheaper/better options online but just a quick option for you that I came across.
Is this it? if so then I’ll definitely pick some up!
Thanks. I found this stuff on amazon which I think I might use but not sure how much I’ll actually need.
Dr Toms
I think I’ll just play it safe and start my own. What is this seed you’re referring to? I can’t find it listed anywhere. Is it safe to add live plants during this or should I add them at end when I’m adding the fish? I thought of starting the tank with live plants right off the bat during the cycle process.
I was able to cycle my tank in a week using Seachem Stability and this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-bottle/dp/B006MP4QG6
You can get Dr. Tim's ammonia on Amazon.
I'm looking for some ammonia to help along my fishless cycle, would this household ammonia from amazon work? https://www.amazon.com/Ammonia-6312679-00051-Clear-64oz/dp/B002M8NEDS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492647944&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=ammonia
It says it's ammonium hydroxide. Would this be okay?
There are options for fish cycling specifically like this one https://www.amazon.com/DrTims-Aquatics-Ammonium-chloride-bottle/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1492648088&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=ammonia+for+fish+cycling , but it's more expensive and has less. Would this be a better option?
I've read that Walmart's Great Value brand ammonia has extra stuff in it that you don't want to use. Ace Hardware brand ammonia is supposed to be safe though. Or if you wanna be super sure, there's Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride.
This white bottle I see for sale: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MP4QG6/ref=asc_df_B006MP4QG651221/
DRTim's Aquatics Ammonium Chloride Solution. I found it on amazon
Oh and related items!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006MP4QG6/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000255NCI/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
I think it's easier to add Dr. Tim's ammonia for a fishless cycle.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MP4QG6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1
On mine it gives instructions right on the bottle for how much to add. Much easier than fish food.
The local pet store told me to get a fish use it to cycle than bring it back to trade in for my shrimp. It doesnt look like any hardware by me has ammonia I found this though. I can get it in two days. This is what I want right? pure ammonia
Ive had more success with salt and heat method, you could alway get a bucket and transfer the fish in it if you are really worried about the plants(mine didn't seem to have any issue, but i would definitely quarantine the hatchet in some container or bucket ive tried lots of products like ich ex and had no results (with german rams, they get a super resistant kind of ich).
Another thing I've used this one in the past and it really helped doesn't harm anything but would still use with heat treatment(it accelerates the cycle of ich): Fish Bendazole 250mg Fenbendazole Powder (3 packets) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009TAQ4OI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pMblxbVTD7WG1
http://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Bio-Pure-Freeze-Dried-0-42-Ounce/dp/B00025K1GQ
yeah this guy.
and the medicine I bought is this one
http://www.amazon.com/Bendazole-250mg-Fenbendazole-Powder-packets/dp/B009TAQ4OI
while I wait for
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e0794a-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&amp;sfb=1&amp;itemguid=01d28703-f468-4936-b5b3-835643a1be34&amp;utm_content=16572&amp;ccd=IFF003&amp;mr:trackingCode=4605A364-3C81-E211-BA78-001B21631C34&amp;mr:referralID=NA&amp;mr:device=c&amp;mr:adType=plaonline&amp;mr:ad=41691845323&amp;mr:keyword=&amp;mr:match=&amp;mr:tid=pla-86672856283&amp;mr:ploc=9031328&amp;mr:iloc=&amp;mr:store=&amp;mr:filter=86672856283&amp;gclid=COLLt-Cq5MsCFQqIfgodeagKIw
:) some details!
Might be too late but this works well for internal parasites in conjunction with seachem entice and focus: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009TAQ4OI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1406074019&amp;sr=8-1
You can get it on Amazon. Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009TAQ4OI?pc_redir=1409142079&amp;amp;robot_redir=1
There are mineralization products you can buy on Amazon as well to help with GH. I didn't buy it though. I have a friend with hard water, I just got water from her.
www.planetinverts.com is a great source of info and they have a dosing schedule for the fenbendazole.
I don't mind questions. :-)
Yes, I purchased them from Amazon
Which brand did you get on Amazon? I purchased these but haven't used them yet. I got a bit apprehensive from some of the scary reviews.
Sure! I got mine from amazon, the brand is SunGrow. . I always rinse them and then soak them before adding them to the tank.
This is what I used personally. If you choose another brand just make sure it's 100% pure ammonia, not any household cleaners (they often add scents or other ingredients)
Fritz PRO - Ammonium Chloride - 500gm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OTH5TAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UDlvDbSG2QHRS
https://www.amazon.com/Fritz-PRO-Ammonium-chloride-500gm/dp/B00OTH5TAQ
Will this stuff work?
https://www.amazon.com/Fritz-Aquatics-Ammonium-Chloride-Treats/dp/B00OTH5TAQ/
I saw that you can get cheap liquid ammonia at Ace but the nearest one is about 15 miles away so I think i'll just pay the extra $8 if that stuff works (sounds like it does according to the reviews)
The instructions say 1 tsp per 100 gallons of water is 4ppm so for my 5.6 is a bit more than 1/20th of a teaspoon I think? I have a measuring spoon that does 1/16 so could I just not fill that up all the way?
I do, a whole container of ammonia in pure salt form. It’s fantastic, in my 20 long, an 1/8 teaspoon will easily spike 0ppm to 4ppm.
Here it is in case you want to stock some for future uses, best ammonia out there, no need to buy store bought solutions and worry about unwanted ingredients.
fritz pro ammonia
Do you add beneficial bacteria to your water/filter. It's likely a lack of proper bacteria in the filtration system causing the cloudy water.
There are different options but here is one example from Amazon. Anytime you do a full water change or replace the media in the filter, it's a good idea to add more bacteria into the water.
Thanks! And yes, definitely some range in the terms.
The light is a Finnex Stingray, and I dose this excellent all-in-one fertilizer (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XK816RT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1) about once per week. I use R/O, so the combination of macros and micros in a little pump bottle is awesome. Aside from weekly ferts and a few ~10% water changes per month, the plants, shrimp, and HOB filter take care of just about everything. It's not too bad for a hobby that can easily soak up a lot of time and money!
Is this it?
I have sand substrate and use this fert. https://www.amazon.com/NilocG-Aquatics-Aquarium-Fertilizer-Specific/dp/B06XK816RT/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;ref=yo_pop_d_yo_pop_d_pd_t2
Thanks for all your input. I just wanna make sure I’m getting the best plants for my current setup. Recently bought some staurogyne repens and it didn’t work out, so I’m a little more selective now, haha.
U ever try this stuff? Says is completely shrimp safe...
NilocG Aquatics Aquarium Fertilizer Shrimp Specific | ThriveS All In One Liquid Fertilizer (500ml) https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06XK816RT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Q77XCbF3E9GGY
Oh surely its deficiency. I just wasnt sure how much of anything I should be adding before its over dose or how frequently I should be adding for it to work. under dose....over Dose...
my worry with Thrive is that it will increase levels and end up killing shrimp and possibly even fish.
This is the "shrimp safe" one which as i understand is just less SLAM DUNK nitrates. Even then I worry.
Do you use Thrive? Anyone you know use it with Shrimp? Fish fry and shrimplettes?
I wouldn’t risk it.
I use ThriveS, specifically made for shrimp
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XK816RT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hLQNDbMRTZAM7
I have grown dwarf baby tears in a spec v and similar light. Dosing excel each day helped a ton. this all in one fertilizer
Helped a ton
These mini Catappa leaves are the ones that caused the growth
I ordered them twice and got the same result.
Edit: this is the stuff I bought that grew some weird stuff, so I reccomend that it's bound before added.
Yeah I just got the programmable heater, currently calibrating it because it’s off by 5 degrees, but I am now realizing how severely inadequate the preset one I was using before was. My tank was at around 74-75 im slowly raising it to 80 and my fish is actually loving it (he loves the heater right now that it’s heating lol).
Also, I ordered these, [ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G78H5XS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-cvKDb5XTDTQA ]or should I have gotten other types of leaves?
I was thinking about the RO water but I am not sure what to remineralize it with?
Also any recommendations for almond leaves or would this do. I would break them up because those are huge.
Actually this might be better.
I haven’t bought them yet and was actually just researching so I can’t speak from personal experience but I’m looking at these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G78H5XS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ebKxCb3C1ACF1
API test kit - to test your parameters and see how much you have in ammonia and nitrites and nitrates
Stability - this is beneficial bacteria that will help cycle your tank. This doesn’t replace working on your cycle by doing water changes
betta safe - this is your conditioner that detoxis or removes and impurities of your water. I would suggest getting this in the future instead. Helps better with ammonia too prime
These are the hearty plants I like and are easy to upkeep depending on your light anubias
Hope this helps... most of all look into water changes and cycling...
So, the tetra betta safe conditioner isn't exactly the best conditioner (even though I briefly used it as well, so don't feel bad). The suggested brand would be Seachem Prime, which can also be found at your local Petsmart.
Could we see a picture of his tank? And how big is it?
Fin damage can be caused by sharp edges on decorations, or on the filter intake area. It can also be caused by nibbling, and given that he's a long-finned boy, it could really be either tearing or nipping.
At this point, I'd suggest two things: use pantyhose to test your plants and decorations (if the pantyhose snags, it's likely to tear your boy's fins and you can sand it down if it's a decoration), and use a piece of pantyhose to cover the intake part of the filter (the place where it sucks up water; you can use fishing line to secure the pantyhose).
If we could have a picture of his whole tank, I can help you further with fin damage/nipping.
I don't think the crystals will be sufficient. Why not order online?
https://www.amazon.com/Seachem-116043304-Prime-500ml/dp/B00025694O/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549231962&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=seachem+prime
Here are some things that may or may not help you grow Wysteria:
Other than that, I don't do anything particularly special. I don't aerate or CO^2 inject. I used Excel once for algae, and it totally melted most of my plants, so I don't recommend it to anyone.
I should note that my tank is a 29 gal.