20 Gallon Tank Emergency betta fish: updated info at bottom 12/26/20

[bendybetta]

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 20 gallon
How long has the tank been running? 5 days
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 75
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Betta fish and guppy

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Monthly
How much of the water do you change? 25 percent
What do you use to treat your water? Aqueon water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No
What do you use to test the water? I don't
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: I don't have a test kit
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Daily
How much do you feed your fish? 2-5 pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Hikari betta bio gold
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 10 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Today
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Not really
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? No

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

So I just realized when I shine my flashlight on my betta fish the color changes immensely and the bottom appears all to be brown I fear there might be a high ammonia level.

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If you are not aware of what the aquarium nitrogen cycle is, then please read about it here!

 

[SanDiegoRedneck]

hello, if you have had this tank up only 5 days you are in what is called a fish in cycle you can read about then ask more questions. as soon as you can afford one you need to get water test kit. until the cycle is complete you will need to be doing water changes daily.

 

[UnknownUser]

this is the same tank with the guppy that is staying at the top, correct? Thank you for filling out the template. Mike can you please merge the threads so it’s easier to follow?

The issue is definitely that you are doing a fish in cycle. This is why the guppy is staying at the top and any other issues you are seeing. The betta and guppy will not get along and should not be in the same tank. They are pretty and want to be the only pretty fish, they’ll attack each other. You need a test kit, to read up on the Nitrigen cycle, and you need to do a 75% water change now and 50% daily until you get a test kit. Then you need to do a fish-in cycle. There are a LOT of threads here about how to do this without any fishie deaths.

 

[bendybetta]

The guppy is is like colorless and it's a female. The color is only turning brown under a flashlight.

this is the same tank with the guppy that is staying at the top, correct? Thank you for filling out the template. Mike can you please merge the threads so it’s easier to follow?

The issue is definitely that you are doing a fish in cycle. This is why the guppy is staying at the top and any other issues you are seeing. The betta and guppy will not get along and should not be in the same tank. They are pretty and want to be the only pretty fish, they’ll attack each other. You need a test kit, to read up on the Nitrigen cycle, and you need to do a 75% water change now and 50% daily until you get a test kit. Then you need to do a fish-in cycle. There are a LOT of threads here about how to do this without any fishie deaths.

Do you think API quick start will help?

 

[bendybetta]

Update.
Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No
What do you use to test the water? Api master freshwater test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
pH: 7.4-7.5

 

[ALonelyBetta]

I would pick up a bottle of Seachum Prime. This stuff is a blessing when it comes to unstable parameters and fish-in cycling.

 

[bendybetta]

I would pick up a bottle of Seachum Prime. This stuff is a blessing when it comes to unstable parameters and fish-in cycling.

I got api quick start
Will api quick start work? I moved the fish to a different tank for the time being.

 

[ALonelyBetta]

Sorry for the super late reply, I’ve personally never used API quickstart but none of the “instant” cycles really work in one day. Sure they may help but they are not instant. Prime isn’t an insta cycle, it just makes ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates harmless. Also works as a water conditioner. It’s always worked for me.

 

[bendybetta]

Sorry for the super late reply, I’ve personally never used API quickstart but none of the “instant” cycles really work in one day. Sure they may help but they are not instant. Prime isn’t an insta cycle, it just makes ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates harmless. Also works as a water conditioner. It’s always worked for me.

Based of the reviews in api quick start it says it works great so I'll just go with it then.
Also I reviewed some photos of when I first got my betta fish 10 months ago actually it was already brown on the bottom when I got it.
Is there a specific reason why my betta keeps getting air from the top of my tank. My ammonia is 0 my nitrite is 0 and my nitrate is 0 and pH is 7.8 I understand pH is a bit high.