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Thanks, GuppyDazzle and Fisch. This is good advice. GuppyDazzle, I do partial water changes every week, typically around 30%, but more if I notice ammonia creeping up much above 0 (it's always ammonia that wants to creep up on me, never the nitrites or nitrates). When I started my tanks (I have...

This is good to know for future reference. I wonder why there would be products on the market to help sick fish that instead only make them worse? I am seeing them highly reviewed on Amazon, and wondering how that can be? Perhaps it's a superstition - people use them on fish that are already...

GuppyDazzle - thank you so much for that pep talk. I really needed to hear it. My last couple of Bettas have also died (for other reasons as far as I can tell) so I have been starting to wonder whether I am just not cut out to keep fish. It's heartening to hear that sometimes it just takes some...

GuppyDazzle Thank you. Your advice resonates and I appreciate it. This is the 3rd bad experience I've had with this particular store owner and I think you are right it's time to move on. I think she does probably know a lot about fish but does not appear to be all that interested in helping, or...

OK. Oy. I have some Furan-2 on hand. I will dose with that. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how it goes.

I am hoping for some help. I have a very sick betta fish and I am hoping someone can help me diagnose what is wrong and help me fix him up. Tank: 5 gallons, heated to ~80 degrees F, biologically filtered, started tank with a fishless cycle and achieved pH 7.6, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 5...

Thanks so much for this advice! We used substrate and decorations that were bought in the same store, side-by-side on the shelf. The decorations are not actually identical, though. That is a good point. We'll take your suggestions and run tests every 3 days or so to make sure we're keeping...

mattgirl and everybody: Good news: I'm back with pictures! Bad news: I'm still not quite in the clear and hoping for some advice. I did go ahead and do 1 last water change and get a betta fish from my LFS. Two, actually. As it turns out, I actually have 2 identical 5-gallon tanks that went...

OK, pictures are promised.

Outstanding! Thank you so, so, so much for your help. I am feeling so relieved to finally be done with this very long cycle. I really appreciate your helping me. I honestly am not sure what I would have done without it. I'll do as you suggest and hopefully soon be the proud owner of a fish...

mattgirl, I have news: The evidence is pointing to your being very much correct! But hoping you can confirm or correct me on this. I have 2 things to report. First, I wanted to make sure I am dosing the tanks with the right amount of ammonia. To figure that out, I filled a pot with 1 gallon of...

OK, I am going to go experiment with this outside my tank and figure it out. Will report back!

So... Tonight I did a 75% water change. I then added in 1.6mL of ammonia, which is what I thought should be the right amount to get me up to 1ppm (based on earlier trial-and-error dosing and testing with plain water). I waited about 45 min for it to dissipate into the water evenly and then...

All, Thank you so, so, so much for this help and support. After 24 weeks I was starting to question whether the universe was telling me not to keep fish. And actually this tank is for my kids, who have been asking me every day for the last 24 weeks whether we’re ready to get a fish. Oy… (The...

Thanks for these questions! I tried attaching my records again, this time as a PDF. 1. I'm using clear ammonia (ingredients: ammonia). Eventually my first bottle ran out (I also use it for cleaning in my home) and I bought a new bottle of "clear ammonia." A couple days later I discovered that it...

I am hoping for some advice on a fishless cycle. I'm fairly new to aquariums and fish. I'm 24+ weeks into a fishless cycle on a 5-gallon tank (heated, filtered) in which I am hoping to someday keep a betta fish. Records of the cycle data and my specific actions are attached. Unfortunately, the...

Related question: I live in the northeast US where there is a lot of hard water. I'm starting 2 small 5-gallon tanks over again after betta fish did not survive the first attempt. My initial thought is that my tanks hadn't cycled properly, so over the past 6 months I have learned how to do a...

Update: Not good news. On Wednesday he was doing great, acting like a regular fish and seeming like he was on the up-and-up. We continued the 2x daily 50% water changes and fed daphnia. On Thursday all throughout the day he seemed very lethargic and spent the day hiding and not moving. Not...

Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I am really, really appreciating your help. Attached is the best photo I could get just now. Update on fish: Good news and bad news. Good news: When I woke up this morning, the fish was swimming peacefully around his tank, no apparent swim bladder...

Update: I've followed the plan above. For the past 4 days, we have done the following: 50% water changes 2x daily (morning and evening) (to try to get ammonia down to 0) epsom salt baths 2x daily (morning and evening) (to combat potential constipation) fasted him (to combat potential...