uprightandlocked

Hello All,

Well...I think I may have made a rookie mistake. When I bought Eos, I set his tank up with filter media from Aadyn James' tank so that Eos would not have to endure the harshness of a cycle after being placed in there. It was time to replace the filter cartridge in Aadyn James' tank (per the manufacturer) so I placed it along the side of Eos tank.

I think this may have thrown Aadyn James' tank into a cycle! His tank has been running for three months now and I naively thought that their would be enough beneficial bacteria elsewhere in his tank (ie: gravel) to prevent this - but I came home from my last flying adventure to find his tail in tatters! Would this be a result of a cycle? I will reply with my water parameters in just a moment (have to put the laundry in!)

What kind of treatments do I do to help him through this trying time if it really is a cycle (caused by me, no less!)

Thanks!

Martinismommy

Can you post a photo of him?

uprightandlocked

Hello! I will attempt to post a photo later this evening, my camera battery is in the midst of being recharged (can you tell I am a procrastinator? lol)

I did test my water and all parameters remain unchanged and healthy except for the pH. For some reason, it has spiked since my last water change - I guess my tap water pH has changed somehow? It is now at 8.6. Is this too high for him? Could this be causing the tail issues?

Thanks!

Shawnie

ph wont tatter his tail nor will a cycle tatter it that fast..im going to guess either the filter intake got him, something sharp in the tank got him, or hes a tail biter ..is the new boy beside him? either way, keep an eye on aadyns tank because MOST of the bacteria is in the filter media and it could go in a mini cycle anyhow....you dont need to replace the media until its in shreds even tho the manuf says so....they just want your m oney

uprightandlocked

Thanks for the advice, I will refrain from changing filter media until its falling to pieces!

Aadyn James' tank is diagonally across the room from Eos' tank - I'm sure they can see each other but they are probably 8 feet apart. Could this be a problem? Aadyn does like to sleep in one particular plant that is probably the roughest of all of them on his tail...I think I will take it out today and see if that helps. I'll replace it with one with softer and broader leaves.

Thanks! I'll also be adding some extra StressCoat+ to his tank - is this beneficial or am I wasting my time?

Shawnie

i dont think 8 feet away is irritating him to bite...so thats fine....run a nylon over the plant in question...if the nylon catches, its too sharp for their sensitive tails....also, putting a nylon over the intate wont hurt either....yes add stress coat+ every day with small partial changes in the water....if you can find some fish protector and vita chem, those are the magical 3 for healing up betta fins....but at least the stress coat for now..if its bad, it will take a couple weeks to heal up....so dont think its not working if you dont see a change over night...goodluck! and wheres the pics of the new boy?

agabr123

the next time you need to change your filter media (which won't be for quite a while), put new filter media somewhere in the tank for at least two to three weeks in order to seed it and make sure that there is enough beneficial bacteria to keep your cycle from crashing.

8.6 is a bit high, but i'm wondering why it spiked rather than the number itself. what all do you have in the tank (including substrate, decorations, etc)? what chemicals do you add to your tank?

uprightandlocked

THe only chemicals I have in the tank is StressCoat+. The only things I have in my tank are gravel (been in since the tank started), two plastic decorations (one log in for two weeks and one broken pot in since the tank started) and the silk plants. Only one silk plant is new and I doubt that it changed the pH.

I am adding StressCoat+ every day to Aadyn's tank and am unable to find VitaChem or Fish Protector at any of my LFS. Will GarlicGuard do?