Long post ahead, sorry in advance
Hey guys, I am in a bit of a pickle when it comes to two of my bettas, and I am wondering what my next course of action should be. For some back story and context: I am a college student and I live in on-campus housing, a dorm, where they recently and suddenly changed the rules on how many fish tanks we are allowed to have. Previously I had four separate five-gallon tanks. After making some admittedly stupid decisions on how I was supposed to house 4 bettas in one ten gallon tank, I took home two of my bettas home and left them with my mom with care instructions, with the intent to work something out with the university while still following the rules. So, for the last month and a half, I have been working with my university and got them to agree to let me have all my fish in what I believe to be humane conditions. I went home this Thursday to pick up my two bettas from my mom and let me tell you, the damage to the tank, and the fish is bad. My mom couldn't keep up with water changes because of various reasons and thought the filter would do the work for her and that water changes were excessive. My mom is not at all into fishkeeping and honestly did not know what she was doing, which was more on me than her because even though I left instructions, I should have known something like this was more than likely going to happen. My bettas have severe fin curling, rot and discoloration because of the poor conditions and Atlas (my blue butterfly tail) has a very dark red coloration on his tail that I am not sure is marbling or stress streaks, but either way, it is freaking me out. I have been doing twice-daily water changes of 50% to try and counteract the damage to no avail. What my question is: should I treat with kanaplex, keep doing the water changes, or both? I am a little lost on what to do here and really appreciate any advice.
Note: I have included before (the first two) and after pictures to highlight the issue and show the differences in Atlas's coloration. Also, the "algae" on the plants in the background is stained on and I can't get it off, so it's not actually algae as far as I am aware.
Thanks for reading
Tank details:
10 gallon, divided down the middle (both fish have five gallons), cycled
two bettas
Water is at about 78
Ph: 7
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Hey guys, I am in a bit of a pickle when it comes to two of my bettas, and I am wondering what my next course of action should be. For some back story and context: I am a college student and I live in on-campus housing, a dorm, where they recently and suddenly changed the rules on how many fish tanks we are allowed to have. Previously I had four separate five-gallon tanks. After making some admittedly stupid decisions on how I was supposed to house 4 bettas in one ten gallon tank, I took home two of my bettas home and left them with my mom with care instructions, with the intent to work something out with the university while still following the rules. So, for the last month and a half, I have been working with my university and got them to agree to let me have all my fish in what I believe to be humane conditions. I went home this Thursday to pick up my two bettas from my mom and let me tell you, the damage to the tank, and the fish is bad. My mom couldn't keep up with water changes because of various reasons and thought the filter would do the work for her and that water changes were excessive. My mom is not at all into fishkeeping and honestly did not know what she was doing, which was more on me than her because even though I left instructions, I should have known something like this was more than likely going to happen. My bettas have severe fin curling, rot and discoloration because of the poor conditions and Atlas (my blue butterfly tail) has a very dark red coloration on his tail that I am not sure is marbling or stress streaks, but either way, it is freaking me out. I have been doing twice-daily water changes of 50% to try and counteract the damage to no avail. What my question is: should I treat with kanaplex, keep doing the water changes, or both? I am a little lost on what to do here and really appreciate any advice.
Note: I have included before (the first two) and after pictures to highlight the issue and show the differences in Atlas's coloration. Also, the "algae" on the plants in the background is stained on and I can't get it off, so it's not actually algae as far as I am aware.
Thanks for reading
Tank details:
10 gallon, divided down the middle (both fish have five gallons), cycled
two bettas
Water is at about 78
Ph: 7
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
