Harley

Is Aqua Plus delorinater ok for my betta tank?? It says it helps the fishes slim layer and I'm wondering if it's this that caused the surface layer of water to gel up? I need answers quick because my betta is back living in his cup and I would like to get him back into the larger tank ASAP!!

chickadee

http://www.aquariumguys.com/aquaplusfin1.html

Is this the product you are talking about?

If so then I do not see anything wrong with it as long as you are doing a good job of measuring and not overusing it. If you are using a lot of it then you may be getting a backload of it but it should not hurt the betta, just make the water slimy. I would be cautious of the amount you use and only use what they recommend and a small cheap set of measuring utensils for fish use only would be a fine investment but otherwise I do not see any problem.

This looks like a good product to me. If your tank was clean to begin with and the decor and gravel was clean and the water did not have anything but this in it then I would not worry as long as the betta does not seem to be having any difficulty. Is he acting funny or having problems. Is there obvious scum on the water or is it just a slick? I do not know what the "gel" is like, can you actually get ahold of it or is it maybe that you need to shake the conditioner bottle to get the sediment out of it? Pour a little of the conditioner (Aqua Plus) into a small paper cup if you have one and see if it has any clumps in it like it may be defective or something and if it is then you may want to return it to where you got it but otherwise it sounds like it is good enough to use. Have you tried their contact phone number on the bottle. Surely they have one on the bottle somewhere. Tell the manufacturer what happened and ask if this has happened with any other of their customers. (IF you find any chunks or anything abnormal in the conditioner)

Rose

Harley

The gel was white and you could grab hold of it!! Ill put it in and let the aqua plus circulate a bit before putting the betta in! thnx!

chickadee

You had not added it to the tank yet? The water in the tank needs to be dechlorinated before it goes into the tank. Is the tank cycled?

The tank needs to be cycled before you add the fish to it. If you do not have your tank cycled then you need to be doing daily water changes of at least one third to one half of the water.

Do you know about the Nitrogen Cycle? If not then you need to read the following and find about it>

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

If you already have your fish it is too late to do a fishless cycle and that means daily water changes until the cycle is complete. Sorry but this means for 4 to 6 weeks and you will need to be getting the test kits to do water tests on the water to check the cycles progress (you will need to do this anyway cycle or no cycle). The tests would need to be done weekly even if the cycle is complete so it is not a waste of money. Since buying the kits for the Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate by themselves cost as much as the whole Master Test Kit we generally recommend that the whole kit be purchased. It is generally this one that we recommend the use of:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...54&pcatid=4454

The test STRIPS are not accurate and do not sometimes give the right results. These tests are cheaper in the long run and give accurate results every time. It is also true that when you post results from these tests everyone knows what you are talking about and when you use the other types they may not.

Please let us know of your progress.

Rose

Harley

Don't worry I have everything under controle Rose but thnx for looking out for me!! Everything seems to be going fine the tank has not gelled up yet even with the low flow of water!!

chickadee

Good so glad to hear it.

Rose

Harley

Ill do my best to post everything I can!! This means daily water test rezults, starting friday when I can buy the kit you recomended. The betta will stay in his cup untill you say its safe in the tank for him!!

chickadee

He can go into the tank now but he will need to have daily water changes and the temperature at 78 to 80 degrees. Is the temperature in that range? If so then he can float in the cup for a while and have some of the tank water added slowly to the cup to allow him to slowly acclimate him to the water and then in about an hour or so he can go into the tank. I thought he was going in the tank last night.

I would have told you to put him in last night had I realized he was not.

Rose

Harley

Ok hes in the tank the water temp is stable at 80 and the water is a little cloudy!! I'm assuming it will get better with time!! The carbon should take care of that!! Ill post daily updates on how the little guy is doing and I will post the water test rezults as soon as I can!!

COBettaCouple

If you're using carbon in your filter, be sure to remember to change it once a week.

Harley

ONCE a week?? I change my filters every 2-3 weeks!! Ok time to give out the personality of my fish Pyro!! Very energetic loves to play in filter current!! He's also VERY pertective he flairs up when I do water changes and get my hand too close to his cave!! Loves to hang in his cave and in the top of the red plant!! He's also a very smart one!! I don't have to guess when he wants fed he just looks at me swims to the container of food and flairs up!!

chickadee

Well I hope that you do not feed him every time he decides he wants to be fed. You must remain in control of the food or he will eat himself to death OK? Bettas are notorious pigs and will overeat and get sick enough to die if you let them. He needs to eat no more than a couple pieces of food at a time and no more than 2 times a day. The only exception is when you give him pea treats or some daphia to prevent constipation. That is the only exception. Have you read the Betta Care Guide at the beginning of the Betta section in the stickied posts?

If not here is the link:

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/be...ead-first.html

It has a bunch of important information about how to take care of bettas in it and how to keep them happy and healthy.

Rose

COBettaCouple

Just the carbon, I mean. A lot of carbon tends to give out in a week or so.

Harley

I didn't know that about the carbon, thnx!! And don't worry Pyro gets fed 3 times a day 2 small pellets each time!!

COBettaCouple

Cool, it's good to spread the food out like that. Helps their digestion. If you want to add bloodworms to his diet, the frozen Hikari bloodworms are the ones we like the best.

Harley

K anyother foods you would recomend, That wouuld keep Pyro ?

luna