Help..I'm blind and there's a problem

I don't have a test kit, I can't get to a store, and something is going on in my Betta tank


I woke up this morning and there was an oily residue on the water. It was also only 74

I noticed a brown dust settling, and decided that the filter was not working properly the way I had baffled it. So I bought a heater and a new air line pump, and ran a corner filter

I changed the water with prime this morning, taking it from the top to take the slick, and again just now doing a gravel vac for the plant waste....about 30% each time

I've also pulled out the hornwort because it's making such a mess of the substrate that I'm sure it can't be good for water quality

Any other suggestions? The absolute soonest I can hope to have readings done is tomorrow

The filter media was disgusting, which may have contributed to the problem....I was overdue with changing the media. I put new media in this morning, putting and added extra carbon when I made the new one. I also used some of the(rinsed in tankwater) old media and an extra package of carbon when making my corner unit. So it's well packed with the equivalent of two filter pads, and the corresponding carbon packets

 

What exactly is your question.?

You do know that changing your media completely may kill the cycle in the tank leading to new problems? I remove the old one from the frame and cram it in with the new one to keep the cycle going.

 

Did your hornwort fall apart? The rotting bits of plant matter could explain the oil slick. It's a biofilm and can be caused by any organic matter that decomposes and includes bacteria feeding on the organic matter.

Increasing the surface agitation as you've done is a good way to prevent the components of the biofilm from being able to stick together to be a biofilm and increasing the filtration will also help to pull the organic matter out of the water that goes into its formation and feeds the organisms that populate it.

Keep pulling out the dead plant bits and siphoning out the betta poop and it should clear up in no time!

 

There are two parts to my media....a black sponge, which never changes, and a white floss"packet", which fits over a plastic frame and holds activated carbon....that's the bit I changed the bacteria stays in my black sponge, and on the frame, in form of slime coating on the plastic

Yes, the hornwort fell to pieces and she'd like a month old Christmas tree....not enough nutrients in the new tank, or light. I'll stick with wisteria if it stays ok..even that's got a few spots indicating a magnesium/potassium deficiency.....but safe fish water comes before plants as far as purchases go, and I'm out of root tabs for now. I think I might use flourish from now on, it seems like more bang for your buck

As far as what's going on in the tank, I am certain it's a water quality issue...the snails tried to leave


The new air pump is good to 25 gallons, and I'm using twice the carbon as before....theoretically that's a stronger filter than the tetra ten g, right?

 

Hard to say. The air pump rating is more about how hard it can push against the weight of the water. By hooking it up to a filter it depends on how much water it can pull through itself using that air pump. In concert with the tetra 10 I'm sure it's fine.

If you can get Osmocote slow release fertilizer (I can't remember the exact one) you can make your own root tabs using empty pill capsules. You can get them in vegetarian gelatin and you drop in a few pellets of the Osmocote and put the caps on!

Apparently, there are alternatives now!

 

Interesting, I'll check that out. I do have a couple of swords, which-whilst not exactly dying-are not thriving in either tank

I know they're root feeders and will need tabs of some variety

 

It's a cheap alternative. Unfortunately I can't get the Osmocote Plus but I'll have to look into the other types I can use now that I know they exist!

 

I think they might actually be at my lfs....there's a slow release ferts in a gelatin capsule in a white box

But since I didn't know the brand I went API...... and stained my sand rust coloured because I couldn't bury it deep enough:/