jimbob_30_1

Hi
I have recently cycled my nine gallon biube.There are currenly a betta,a platy and three neon tetra.I have checked the water levels, the pH 7.2, O PPM for ammonia, nitrates and the temp is around 72 degrees.

The problems is now my betta has ripped the fins of my platy and one of my neon has his anal fin totally gone.I am still wondering how he is able to swim.
From research, I have been told told that the platy's are fins nippers, and now i see that my betta is a fin nipper as well.I don't know who nipped the neon.

It breaks my heart that my neon is hurt.I hope he survives.I am going to have to remove my betta into a tank by himself.Does anyone have any suggestions of what i should do..

Jimbob

Lucy

Hi jimbob,
Is your aquarium info correct, the tank is a few days old? If so, how did you cycle it?
What are your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates?
What are you using to test?
Here's a link that explains the cycling process:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

I'm sorry you fish aren't doing well. You've found out why we don't recommend keeping bettas with neons.

The first thing to do is move the betta to a filtered heatedtank to himself.
You should use Prime as your water conditioner, it will detoxify any ammonia in the tanks for 24 hrs.
Add a few drops of garlic juice to his tank to boost his immune system. If you can get Fish Protector and Vita-Chem, those will help him also.
You'll need to keep his water pristine in order to prevent infection.

I hope this helps, good luck.

Allie

Betta shouldn't be with those other fish. They should be alone in a 3g tank or bigger. They are ll probably fighting which is why they are hurt.

jimbob_30_1

Will the neon tetra fin grow back.Is there any other capable fish for neons.

Barbrella

Fins nipped right down to the base probably won't grow back.

Bettas and neons are one of the worst combinations, since bettas often mistake fish with brilliant colours for another betta and will attack them.

Neons should be kept in schools of at least 6 and need excellent quality water in a stable, cycled tank.

Martinismommy

The Betta needs to come out of that tank ASAP.....That is not a good combo of fish....Another thing is the temp needs to warm up to 78......

Fins will usually grow back if you have ideal conditions in the tank...

jimbob_30_1

I have the test results....ph is around 7.6, nitrate .10 ppm,ammonia .25ppm and nitrate,50 ppm.How can i manually lower the ph..I think the ph is too high for the neons..the tank has been in effect for 2 weeks..What is the correct temp for the platy and neons.

Chief_waterchanger

The pH is fine and fiddling with pH does more harm than good, usually. Most fish commonly kept in the hobby will do fine in that pH.

Your tank isn't cycled, because a cycled tank ( a tank that has established proper amount of good bacteria) shows no ammonia or nitrites on testing and only a little nitrate. I would do daily 50% waterchanges until your ammonia and nitrites continuously test as 0.0 and nitrates are under 20-30ppms.

Alessa

Hi, sorry to hear your fishies arent well, As everyone already mentioned, you have a few problems going on:

Neon tetras need to be in a school, at least five but for that you would need at least a 10 gallon tank.

Platies are social fish, you need at least three more, again, three platies would fit in a 10gallon tank.

Bettas are solitary fish, they require to live alone in at least 5 gallons.

all of the above mentioned fish are tropical needing a teperature of 78-80 degrees.

a betta will most likely kill a tiny neon because of its bright colors. A nervous neon that lacks of a school will nip at the bettas fins.

and 5 days arent nearly enough to cycle a tank (unless you used tetra safe start) you need to be doing daily 50% water changes, or add tetra safe start, otherwise your fish will most likely die.

jimbob_30_1

Would that improve the cloudyness as well

Alessa

the least that should be worrying you right now is the cloudiness. As I already said, changing 50% of the water daily will not only improve your fishes chances of survival but also help with the cloudiness.

Chief_waterchanger

I respectfully disagree about Betta Splendens being solitary fish. That is a preference of the owner, not necessarily a fact. I know some of them are more aggressive and would do better alone, to avoid injuring other fish, but that is not the rule on all, or even argueably not the rule for most Betta Splendens, in my experience.

I know that my viewpoint on that is not that popular amongst those that keep bettas and not many other fish, but I believe that we should be careful to seperate fact and opinion.

I do, however, agree that it is pretty risky to keep fish with flashy tails (such as bettas) with certain species of tetras and other notorious fin-nippers, but there are plenty of fish that do alright with betta splendens.

Alessa

Yes Chief, you might be right, but that depends on the bettas personality and this one seems to be an agressive one.

Bettas can be kept with cories, and ottos, and in general with small bottom dwellers. Every once in a while you might find a betta that is mild tempered and isnt agressive, which could be kept in a community tank.

Lucy

CWC, while this maybe be true, most people that come here aren't here saying their fish get along great. They're normally asking for help with nipped fins which is usually traced back to other fish in the tank.

Chief_waterchanger

I agree with you all, nipped fins occur, but what I was getting at is that in my opinion to combat false information (not just about bettas, but in general) I believe that we should give full truths and not just partial information. I know it is worlds easier to just say they are solitary fish and go on about the rest of the questions, but that just is not the whole truth and in my opinion it is better to field a bunch of questions to get the whole truth known rather than to take the easy way out.

But anyway, I've taken up enough of this gent's thread with this sharing of opinions.

Lucy

jimbob, How are the fish doing tonight? If you use Prime as your water conditioner, it'll detoxify the ammonia for 24 until your next water change.

jimbob_30_1

Sorry, i just wanted to add my info again


I have a tank( biube-9 gallon) that has been in affect for almost 4 weeks's this coming friday,I recently added, 8 neon tetra's, there are currently 2 guppies and 1 platy.The tank is well beyond it's capacity.
I have routine water changes about 3 times a week( 2 1/2 gallons each time.

The aquarium readings ,The ammonia is about .025 ppm.The nitate,and nitrates are about 0 ppm, and the PH is 6.4-6.8 , it was about 7.0-7.2 before and the temp about 76 c.

Is the ammonia level toxic to my fish, and is so how can I improve it.

Lucy

Yes, it's toxic to your fish.

Do daily water changes until your readings are
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
5-10 nitrates

Then you can go back to the routine you have now.

This link will explain the nitrogen cycle:

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
The temp is 76C?? I hope that's a typo.

jimbob_30_1

Is it normal behavior for neon tetra's not to school.I have recently added 2 fancy guppies.It seems since the guppies were added, the 7 neon tetra's aren't schooling.The guppies are all over the tank and it seems like the smaller one has become very aggressive, and tries to nip at the other neons fins.

The ammonia is about .0 ppm.The nitate,and nitrates are about 0 ppm, and the PH is 6.2 -6.4, there are routine water changes ( 3 gallons) about twice a week.

Is there any need to be concerned, the fish looked so great swimming together.

Lucy

I wouldn't worry about them not schooling.
Just keep your eye on the nipper. Fiesty little guy huh?
You can try rearranging some decorations and making sure everyone can get away from him if they need to. Your tank is young, so don't be surprised if they get things worked out on their own.

Good luck.

jimbob_30_1

would ghost shrimp be compatible

Lucy

Is the betta still in there? If it is, I wouldn't add shrimp. Bettas find them tasty.

They'd be ok with the neons and guppys.
Ghost shrimp are fun to watch....you could add a bunch of them, they really don't add all that much to the bio-load.

jimbob_30_1

The betta has been removed and placed in his own tank.Thanks for the help Lucy.I really appreciate all the information and the support you provide !! I would be totally lost without you....You are a awesome.

jimbob_30_1

Do you think adding the ghost shrimp will help the tetra's to school again !!

Lucy

Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you took the betta out. How's he doing?

I don't think adding the shrimp will help, but you never know.

Try re-arranging the plants, I'm not sure that'll help, but it's worth a try.
If I'm not mistaken, schooling fish school together for safety, perhaps yours feel secure enough not to be in a bunch.
That's just a guess.

jimbob_30_1

The betta is great.I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of his baby biorb.He is currently in his
own 2 gallon tank.

jimbob_30_1

My fancy tail guppy died last night.She was really pretty,
Now my platy has a white cloud/Film over his left eye and seems to be swimming funny.
There are also tiny white crystals in the water, could that be a sign of ick.I recently had ick, could the ick be back again.I have been using MelaFix the past few days.Does the carbon need to be removed from the filter and if so, will the melafix hurt my ghost shrimp.
Should I use quick cure instead.

The ammonia is about .0 ppm.The nitate,and nitrates are about 0 ppm, and the PH is 6.2 -6.4.

I feel very terrible, I love my fish,They definately add a great enjoyment to my life.
I feel very helpless at times.I just want to have a happy, healty tank.

Lucy

I'm sorry you've lost your guppy and your platy is not doing well.

Don't you wish fish could talk sometimes and tell you what's the matter? (That would be kind of scary tho. lol)

When you're medicating your tank, you should remove the carbon. It filters out the meds.

It's odd that you're not getting any readings, what are you using to test?

I'm not sure about white crystals in the water. If you think it's ick, you can raise the temp to 84F for a least 2 weeks and increase aeration. Vacuum your gravel to remove any ick spores.

Is the film just over his eye or on his body too?

jimbob_30_1

I am using the API test kit,The film is over the eye( it's almost like a white cloud).Do you think I should use the quick cure and raise the temp.How long should the carbon be removed for..

Lucy

You would remove the carbon for as long as you're medicating the fish.

I'm not sure about the cloudy eye, I've read that it could several things, a bacterial infection, poor water quality, low ph, medication overdose. Iv'e read that you can try Maracyn II, but really, I'm not sure.
You might want to start a new thread in the disease section of the forum and title it cloudy eye, perhaps someone who's dealt with it can help you.

With the API kit, the #2 nitrate bottle has to be shaken, banged on a table and really roughed up to get the crystals to mix together to get an accurate reading.
In a cycled tank you should have 0 for both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing.