uprightandlocked

Hello All:

I am in a world of trouble! I went on vacation for a week and left all of my children in the capable hands of one of my closest friends. While most of her experience in house-sitting came in handy while taking care of my two cats ... I thought it would be fairly easy to walk her through feeding my fish over the phone.

Unfortunately, she misunderstood my instructions! I use Atison's betta Pro pellets and normally feed each of my little boys 5 pellets a feeding. When anyone baby sits my fish I usually tell them 3-4 b/c I know they won't have the patience to actually count the individual pellets and will overfeed, anyway. Well - she took this to mean 3 to 4 SCOOPS at a time!

I came home today and literally stood in shock as I looked at my two aquariums. Both tanks had pellets CARPETING the gravel! I kid you not - HUNDREDS of uneaten pellets covered the gravel, plants, surface and filter intakes of BOTH tanks. In each tank, the filters weren't working properly because they could not get any water through all the pellets stuck to the intake.

I looked anxiously for both of my boys and all I can say is WOW. The two of them are GIGANTIC! I didn't know what to do right away.

Then I came up with a plan. Please help me figure out if I made the right choice and what to do from here (and I apologize for how long this is getting!)

I have a 10g tank that had 4 RCS in it. At the end of this week, I am moving to an apartment (from a three bedroom house) and have been trying to figure out how to downsize anything and everything I can. I decided today to return to the RCS to the fish store I bought them from. Now with the 10g open, I decided to divide the tank and move both of my boys into it and out of their 5g tanks.

This is why:

The uneaten food in both 5g tanks was turning moldy. Clusters of white stringy fuzz were EVERYWHERE. As I looked, I noticed that the uneaten food could be seen UNDER the gravel at the bottom of the tank (those pellets are small!) and I knew that I would have to completely take apart both tanks in order to make them healthy and clean again. Then I looked at my boys. Not only were they gigantic - but both of them had ripped fins. I knew I needed to medicate them. So I decided to clean out the 10g from the shrimp, divide the tank, replant it and begin medicating my boys in it. I know that the larger the tank the more stable the water chemistry and also that it is most likely easier to medicate a 10g than a 5g. I bought some VitaChem and along with some extra StressCoat+ did a water change and began medicating the 10g. I am currently acclimmating Eos and Ansett will follow.

Just one question. The VitaChem says safe to use with the ChemNatural filter (or something along those lines) ... bought doesn't mention needing to take carbon out of the filter. Do I need to do that?

Thanks...are my boys going to be okay? Tonight when I go to the grocery store I'll get some jarred garlic and put some garlic juice in. How much do I use?

Anything else I should be doing? The 10g has a slightly raised water temperature to promote healing, by the way.

Thanks!

iloveengl

I definitely recommend fasting the poor little piglets on nothing but a tiny bit of thawed, shelled pea. This will help them digest and pass the pellets and hopefully allow them to recover without any problems. Transferring them to a clean tank sounds like a good idea (not sure if shrimp are enough to keep it cycled, though). Keep the water pristine. Good luck!

Meenu

oh. my. god. My jaw dropped reading this.

I think moving them is a good idea. I totally agree about fasting them. I'd try peas only, maybe soaked in garlic juice, for several days.

You might want to mention, in a very nice way, of course, that you meant pellets and not scoops, in case your friend ever fish-sits for anyone else.

Lucy

I agree.
Have you taken readings in the tank? The left over food might have caused an ammonia spike which will keep the tank cycled.

uprightandlocked

The shrimp don't eat a ton of food so she only fed them once per my instructions and its hard to mess up their food. I don't think they were overfed. I'll move some filter media from one of the betta tanks into the new 10g setup as added protection.

uprightandlocked

Okay....stupid question. I thawed a frozen pea, shelled it, and attempted to feed 1/4 of the pea to each betta. However, it doesn't float? It just sinks to the bottom? Even I can't find the peas now ... how will my bettas? How do you ensure they eat the pea? I've never fed pea before!

fishtroy

Hi! OMG! The poor tubby little things, don't worry, I think they will be ok. I have experiences over feeding crisis' before. I was feeding my Apatite once (huh, trust it to happen on this fishy name) and was holding the container over his water as I measured his meal out, I did not expect the lid to fall off my container and it to rain food. He of course was eating himself silly as I tried to get the food out. I was terribly worried about him but he was okay. Lived for years afterward. I would definitely agree with fasting them. I would also suggest as crazy as it might sound, trying to get them to exercise more. Putting them (one at a time) in a larger tank or fish suitable container and letting them swim their little hearts out. Work off that food! Keeping them swimming I have found is the best measure to defeat over feeding.

Just a question, when you say GIGANTIC, how big are we talking? Can we have an approximate measurement, or a before and after photo?

uprightandlocked

They both look they swallowed large marbles. On Eos it is even more alarming because he is a tiny fish to begin with!

fishtroy

Oh dear, do they have The Biggest Loser for fishies?

iloveengl

If you have a clean (never-seen-soap) dish, you can set that on the bottom and feed the pea off the dish. A spoon would work too. Or a flat piece of fish decor. Pretty much anything with a flat surface.

Meenu

Also, I think they like it better if it is soaked in garlic. If it doesn't work, and they won't eat the peas, Lucy told me Daphnia works too

fishtroy

Children & fish, sometimes they just don't want to eat their greens! LOL

Lucy

1/4 is probably too big. Try and make it more pellet size. My bettas love peas and have no problem going after it as it sinks. If they miss it, they scrounge around alter and find it.
It would be a good idea to fast for a couple of days before giving peas.
Good luck.

whisper

Try squeezing the piece of pea between your fingers too. It will be easier for them to eat. Also I wondered why you're taking the shrimp back. I have had shrimp in with Betta's. Are you affraid the Betta's will eat the shrimp? They don't.

Lucy

Some do.

peacemaker92

OMG! That's crazy! Glad you managed to get them into a medicated tank. And thank goodness you had an extra tank. I hope to see some before and after photos too. Good luck!

aquarist48

Hello Upright. Wow! So sorry to hear about your fish / tank issues. I think many of us have had the same problems with tank sitters in the past at one time or another.

Speaking from experience, if I have to go away, I pre-measure all of the food my fish will need. I count each piece and put the food into zip lock bags. On the bags I write the day that it is to be used. (different treats for different days). Then I hide all the remaining fish food so the sitter can't find it. I haven't came home to a nasty tank since. (I've also read that some people will sort the food into daily pill boxes.)

Wishing you and your fish the best! I hope everyone is going to be ok. Great tips about feeding the peas.

Ken

shellbell4ever

OMG!!!That's some mess,so glad I left all my food for mine in zip lock baggies taped and labled on the tanks Anyway,fasting first ,for a couple of days at least,then pea's as small as you can get them...I soaked mine in garlic juice...Oh and by the way mine did eat the ghost shrimp I had with them (LOL)Hope they'll recover!!!

aquatic mouse

What in the world was she scooping the food with? No fish food I've ever bought has come with a scoop?

BTW, pill boxes is an EXCELLENT idea! I've never thought of that.

uprightandlocked

Hello...the Atison's Betta Pro pellets come with a little spoon. If you filled it up it probably holds anywhere from 50-100 pellets. The fish are fasting...no real news to report on them yet ... I'm trying to determine if they are constipated or not.

COBettaCouple

Wow! I wish you the best in getting them back to healthy and over their all-you-can-eat buffet. Do you have substrate in the tank they're in now? A tiny pellet size piece of pea every 1-2 days for each of them is a good idea and a bare tank bottom helps monitor how much betta poop they're putting out.

ags2083

Yeah, I have tried ghost shrimp with both my bettas and both times the shrimp were devoured withing 5 minutes of going in the tank......

Martinismommy

My Daughter in law had the same thing happen when she had someone come in and feed.....They though 8 pellets meant 8 scoops lol....There were 5 girls in a sorority tank....They all lived and no complications...The worst part of this is the clean up!

Hope they are feeling better today.....

fishtroy

The one time I went away and left someone else in charge of feeding I counted out the number of pellets and sticky taped them to a piece of paper with a note in all capitals that said 'ONLY FEED THIS MUCH!' and then I sticky taped it to Apetites container.