Leftover food custodian Shrimp for 5 gallon tank

[missalyssa108]

I have a 5 gallon tank and a smallish betta I’ve had about a month and a half. I have two toddlers who help feed “Bluer” and as such lots of his food falls to the bottom. This is not really going to change. He only eats Bug Bites flakes (yes for real, he wasn’t eating the first 10 days in normal pellets (I saw him go for them a total of ONE time after a week and it seemed to big for his mouth, poor guy I was worried for his survival) and doesn’t eat little pellets either but he goes for the flakes thank heavens). He seems to hang out near the top of his tank a lot. It have a moss ball/sword plant and a few other live plants, lots of silk plants, 2 ceramic hides, and 2 floating hides, and a suction cup 3D printed bulb hide, substrate and gravel. I clean his tank every 2 weeks and do a 50% water change. But the leftover food BUILDS UP a lot. I was wanting to get a tank mate to help with this and so far I think it’s either a mystery snail, a MTS, maybe some kind of shrimp(?), and had read about African Dwarf Frogs or really plain looking (feeder) guppies. I don’t want to stress out my betta or have him eat something living and explain that to my 2.5 year old and 5 year old… I don’t see any algae.

TLDR: I want a little critter to add to my betta’s 5 gallon tank to eat his left over bug bites flakes. We don’t have any algae. A few live plants, many silk plants, plenty of hides. Thinking a snail or shrimp. What should I get?

Also no I can’t get a bigger tank currently. So that probably eliminates the frogs as an option and idk their diet at all.

 

[ProudPapa]

Welcome to the forum. Before reading the following, please don't think I'm trying to be discouraging. I want you to succeed and enjoy your tank, along with your children. Also, you're doing a much better job than I did when I started in the hobby.

Now that I have that out of the way, getting something to eat the food the betta doesn't isn't really a good solution. If you absolutely can't feed the fish only what it will eat in a few minutes, then your best option is to use the gravel vac you use for removing water changes and suck it up and dispose of it, then refill the tank.

Leaving it will negatively affect the water quality, which is likely to affect your betta's health and lifespan.

I commend you for your maintenance of the tank, but cleaning the tank is likely not necessary and may even be harmful, because depending on the extent of the cleaning you may be removing some of the beneficial bacteria. Changing a water change weekly would also be a good idea.

 

[kansas]

Putting other fish in a 5 gallon tank has a good chance of violence and will create too much waste unless you're willing to do frequent water changes.

If you overfeed constantly your fish is going to have health problems without frequent water changes.

 

[Sewerrat]

I would upgrade to a 10 gallon so the extra food doesn't affect the water quality as much. Using snails isn't a bad idea mystery snails generally do ok with betta wouldn't do a dwarf frog(slow eaters generally have to give more care if with a fish).

 

[missalyssa108]

Putting other fish in a 5 gallon tank has a good chance of violence and will create too much waste unless you're willing to do frequent water changes.

If you overfeed constantly your fish is going to have health problems without frequent water changes.

Meant to do a genera reply to the whole thread my bad. Edited

I have a 5 gallon tank and a smallish betta I’ve had about a month and a half. I have two toddlers who help feed “Bluer” and as such lots of his food falls to the bottom. This is not really going to change. He only eats Bug Bites flakes (yes for real, he wasn’t eating the first 10 days in normal pellets (I saw him go for them a total of ONE time after a week and it seemed to big for his mouth, poor guy I was worried for his survival) and doesn’t eat little pellets either but he goes for the flakes thank heavens). He seems to hang out near the top of his tank a lot. It have a moss ball/sword plant and a few other live plants, lots of silk plants, 2 ceramic hides, and 2 floating hides, and a suction cup 3D printed bulb hide, substrate and gravel. I clean his tank every 2 weeks and do a 50% water change. But the leftover food BUILDS UP a lot. I was wanting to get a tank mate to help with this and so far I think it’s either a mystery snail, a MTS, maybe some kind of shrimp(?), and had read about African Dwarf Frogs or really plain looking (feeder) guppies. I don’t want to stress out my betta or have him eat something living and explain that to my 2.5 year old and 5 year old… I don’t see any algae.

TLDR: I want a little critter to add to my betta’s 5 gallon tank to eat his left over bug bites flakes. We don’t have any algae. A few live plants, many silk plants, plenty of hides. Thinking a snail or shrimp. What should I get?

Also no I can’t get a bigger tank currently. So that probably eliminates the frogs as an option and idk their diet at all.

Here’s the little boy asleep on an Anubias leaf. I saw my friend’s betta they’ve had for a year and that thing was like triple the size of my little bub. He seems to be a bit lethargic since I cleaned the tank last night. I assume he’s stressed? He’s always seemed to have a little trouble staying vertical and swimming/staying down. After he wouldn’t eat until I found him better food (thanks to other posts here) I assumed he’d just lost weight which messed up his boyancy. But he eats now and still seems to not go down more than a third into his tank. Could I have TOO MANY fake plants and such? I also noticed when I look at the water from below there’s like a bit of a film? Also does having water post-water softener hurt them? I periodically add warmed hose water or else the general hardness (GH) goes to like 0 but I haven’t in a bit. Maybe he needs some minerals to perk up. Lol maybe I’m too much of a woman but this fish is like my little baby right now.

I have a 5 gallon tank and a smallish betta I’ve had about a month and a half. I have two toddlers who help feed “Bluer” and as such lots of his food falls to the bottom. This is not really going to change. He only eats Bug Bites flakes (yes for real, he wasn’t eating the first 10 days in normal pellets (I saw him go for them a total of ONE time after a week and it seemed to big for his mouth, poor guy I was worried for his survival) and doesn’t eat little pellets either but he goes for the flakes thank heavens). He seems to hang out near the top of his tank a lot. It have a moss ball/sword plant and a few other live plants, lots of silk plants, 2 ceramic hides, and 2 floating hides, and a suction cup 3D printed bulb hide, substrate and gravel. I clean his tank every 2 weeks and do a 50% water change. But the leftover food BUILDS UP a lot. I was wanting to get a tank mate to help with this and so far I think it’s either a mystery snail, a MTS, maybe some kind of shrimp(?), and had read about African Dwarf Frogs or really plain looking (feeder) guppies. I don’t want to stress out my betta or have him eat something living and explain that to my 2.5 year old and 5 year old… I don’t see any algae.

TLDR: I want a little critter to add to my betta’s 5 gallon tank to eat his left over bug bites flakes. We don’t have any algae. A few live plants, many silk plants, plenty of hides. Thinking a snail or shrimp. What should I get?

Also no I can’t get a bigger tank currently. So that probably eliminates the frogs as an option and idk their diet at all.

This is the “happiest” I’ve seen him and I was at work so my husband sent a picture. Then I knew he’d live haven’t seen him this close to the bottom since and this was 3 weeks ago.

Welcome to the forum. Before reading the following, please don't think I'm trying to be discouraging. I want you to succeed and enjoy your tank, along with your children. Also, you're doing a much better job than I did when I started in the hobby.

Now that I have that out of the way, getting something to eat the food the betta doesn't isn't really a good solution. If you absolutely can't feed the fish only what it will eat in a few minutes, then your best option is to use the gravel vac you use for removing water changes and suck it up and dispose of it, then refill the tank.

Leaving it will negatively affect the water quality, which is likely to affect your betta's health and lifespan.

I commend you for your maintenance of the tank, but cleaning the tank is likely not necessary and may even be harmful, because depending on the extent of the cleaning you may be removing some of the beneficial bacteria. Changing a water change weekly would also be a good idea.

I didn’t know about gravel vacs. I’ve ordered a Python mini from chewy.

 

[CWL7211]

Here’s the little boy asleep on an Anubias leaf. I saw my friend’s betta they’ve had for a year and that thing was like triple the size of my little bub. He seems to be a bit lethargic since I cleaned the tank last night. I assume he’s stressed? He’s always seemed to have a little trouble staying vertical and swimming/staying down. After he wouldn’t eat until I found him better food (thanks to other posts here) I assumed he’d just lost weight which messed up his boyancy. But he eats now and still seems to not go down more than a third into his tank. Could I have TOO MANY fake plants and such? I also noticed when I look at the water from below there’s like a bit of a film? Also does having water post-water softener hurt them? I periodically add warmed hose water or else the general hardness (GH) goes to like 0 but I haven’t in a bit. Maybe he needs some minerals to perk up. Lol maybe I’m too much of a woman but this fish is like my little baby right now.

He might be lethargic because of ammonia poisoning or swim bladder issues. You are doing better than most people but please don't leave the extra food in the bottom of the tank. Like ProudPapa said, it will all build up and cause negative effects.
When food is left at the bottom, it begins to dissolve and releases ammonia as it breaks down. Fish poop also does this. Ammonia even at 0.25 is poison to your fish. It should be at 0. When there's ammonia in your water it messes with your fish. Commonly, it gives them swim bladder disease. You can tell they have swim bladder disease because the swim bladder regulates buoyancy. It's when they have trouble staying at the top of their tank, trouble staying at the bottom, swims sideways, or upside down. If it goes on for a longer amount of time before being resolved, fish can become lethargic, stop eating, and eventually die. If you think he has swim bladder disease, it seems like it's early on, so try fasting him (not feeding him) for a day or more.

What I would suggest is getting a testing kit (something like the API master test kit but that's expensive, you could also get test strips that you just dip in the water) make sure the kit tests include Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and PH. Since you're not setting up a new tank, I would suggest getting a quick start and declorinator. I dont think you need a water softener, my water is also hard but it doesn't necessarily effect your fish because Bettas can handle different levels of water hardness.

If you can, you should also get some type of substrate like sand or dirt and replace the plastic plants with live plants. this will greatly help stabilize your parameters and help your fish.

Maybe you can tell your toddlers that he can only eat a set amount of food? the general rule to feeding Bettas is that their stomach is the size of their eyeball. After you get this resolved, then I would look into getting something else like snails or shrimp to put in there.

 

[missalyssa108]

He might be lethargic because of ammonia poisoning or swim bladder issues. You are doing better than most people but please don't leave the extra food in the bottom of the tank. Like ProudPapa said, it will all build up and cause negative effects.
When food is left at the bottom, it begins to dissolve and releases ammonia as it breaks down. Fish poop also does this. Ammonia even at 0.25 is poison to your fish. It should be at 0. When there's ammonia in your water it messes with your fish. Commonly, it gives them swim bladder disease. You can tell they have swim bladder disease because the swim bladder regulates buoyancy. It's when they have trouble staying at the top of their tank, trouble staying at the bottom, swims sideways, or upside down. If it goes on for a longer amount of time before being resolved, fish can become lethargic, stop eating, and eventually die. If you think he has swim bladder disease, it seems like it's early on, so try fasting him (not feeding him) for a day or more.

What I would suggest is getting a testing kit (something like the API master test kit but that's expensive, you could also get test strips that you just dip in the water) make sure the kit tests include Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and PH. Since you're not setting up a new tank, I would suggest getting a quick start and declorinator. I dont think you need a water softener, my water is also hard but it doesn't necessarily effect your fish because Bettas can handle different levels of water hardness.

If you can, you should also get some type of substrate like sand or dirt and replace the plastic plants with live plants. this will greatly help stabilize your parameters and help your fish.

Maybe you can tell your toddlers that he can only eat a set amount of food? the general rule to feeding Bettas is that their stomach is the size of their eyeball. After you get this resolved, then I would look into getting something else like snails or shrimp to put in there.

I’ve got the 5-in-1 test strips and it’s never shown high ammonium or nitrate levels. I’ve ordered a gravel vacuum and when it comes I’m going to try to do a clean up every 2 or 3 days. I have substrate and gravel. The house has a water softener (I live in Utah and our water is very hard so they’re pretty common) so I can’t avoid that, but I was wondering if it somehow makes the water TOO soft or somehow the salt makes it wrong? I have a tap water conditioner and the quick start.

 

[missalyssa108]

I’m gonna run out and get the master test kit, my 5-in-1 strips don’t measure ammonia. If it is high, other than fairly frequent water changes, like perhaps daily for a week, and fasting him 2 days, what else can I do to lower that asap?

His fins look a little shredded so i removed about half the plants. I got the hygger 6.6 gallon tank and it has a syphon so i used that a little and ran the filter on high for like 5 minutes. I usually turn it off and use a separate buffered one to make the flow less crazy. He moved around a lot and now things are calmer he’s going down a bit. Maybe the decorative plants were scraping him so he stayed up top?

 

[CWL7211]

I’ve got the 5-in-1 test strips and it’s never shown high ammonium or nitrate levels. I’ve ordered a gravel vacuum and when it comes I’m going to try to do a clean up every 2 or 3 days. I have substrate and gravel. The house has a water softener (I live in Utah and our water is very hard so they’re pretty common) so I can’t avoid that, but I was wondering if it somehow makes the water TOO soft or somehow the salt makes it wrong? I have a tap water conditioner and the quick start.

I did some research- Bettas DO like softer water but near 0 is a little too soft. I don't have the API master test kit but I assume it measures GH and KH (carbonate hardness) so you can see what it measures and take action from there. What I found was that Bettas like the GH to be between 70-140 ppm and they can tolerate a little lower but not 0. They can tolerate 1-10 dKH. If you find that your water IS too soft you can buy something like Seachem Equilibrium or Sera KH/GH Plus to help get it to better levels

I’m gonna run out and get the master test kit, my 5-in-1 strips don’t measure ammonia. If it is high, other than fairly frequent water changes, like perhaps daily for a week, and fasting him 2 days, what else can I do to lower that asap?

His fins look a little shredded so i removed about half the plants. I got the hygger 6.6 gallon tank and it has a syphon so i used that a little and ran the filter on high for like 5 minutes. I usually turn it off and use a separate buffered one to make the flow less crazy. He moved around a lot and now things are calmer he’s going down a bit. Maybe the decorative plants were scraping him so he stayed up top?

When lowering ammonia you can do big water changes until it's completely gone and if that isn't doing it fast enough you can get live plants! they basically eat the ammonia. You should look up on the Nitrogen Cycle! it will definitely help.
Keep us updated!!!! I would love to keep helping you

 

[ProudPapa]

. . . The house has a water softener (I live in Utah and our water is very hard so they’re pretty common) so I can’t avoid that, but I was wondering if it somehow makes the water TOO soft or somehow the salt makes it wrong? I have a tap water conditioner and the quick start.

You will likely need to re-mineralize your water, unless you can get some that hasn't gone through the water softener, maybe an outside faucet? My water is hard also, but I don't have a water softener, so hopefully someone else will be able to help with that.

I’m gonna run out and get the master test kit, my 5-in-1 strips don’t measure ammonia. If it is high, other than fairly frequent water changes, like perhaps daily for a week, and fasting him 2 days, what else can I do to lower that asap?

There is no substitute for water changes.

His fins look a little shredded so i removed about half the plants. I got the hygger 6.6 gallon tank and it has a syphon so i used that a little and ran the filter on high for like 5 minutes. I usually turn it off and use a separate buffered one to make the flow less crazy. He moved around a lot and now things are calmer he’s going down a bit. Maybe the decorative plants were scraping him so he stayed up top?

I assume you removed some of the artificial plants, and not the live ones? If you did remove live plants I'd encourage you to put them back, since they're a big help with water quality.

 

[missalyssa108]

You will likely need to re-mineralize your water, unless you can get some that hasn't gone through the water softener, maybe an outside faucet? My water is hard also, but I don't have a water softener, so hopefully someone else will be able to help with that.



There is no substitute for water changes.



I assume you removed some of the artificial plants, and not the live ones? If you did remove live plants I'd encourage you to put them back, since they're a big help with water quality.

I have an outside hose spigot (120 hardness) so I’ve been adding some of that in addition to the kitchen sink (like… 5 hardness) water to get in between when I do water changes to get about 45 in GH and like a 80 KH. Yes, just the artificial plants.

I’ve used the syphon to get some of the debris out twice so far and am waiting on a Phython mini gravel vac to make that easier.

Bluer really like his anubias on a suction cup so I’m going to try to get 1-3 more. Are those like Indian almond leaves good as well? I keep seeing ads.

Is that bottle Betta water good or a waste of money for these big water changes? I have been adding water from my outside hose to kitchen sink tap water to avoid 0 hardness and I admit it’s a bit of a pain.

 

[CWL7211]

I have an outside hose spigot (120 hardness) so I’ve been adding some of that in addition to the kitchen sink (like… 5 hardness) water to get in between when I do water changes to get about 45 in GH and like a 80 KH. Yes, just the artificial plants.

I’ve used the syphon to get some of the debris out twice so far and am waiting on a Phython mini gravel vac to make that easier.

Bluer really like his anubias on a suction cup so I’m going to try to get 1-3 more. Are those like Indian almond leaves good as well? I keep seeing ads.

Indian almond leaves will probably also help a lot! they have beneficial antibacterial properties and Bettas really love it I would just warn you though, if your already worried about water hardness I wouldn't get that at the moment because adding tannins like that can actually lower GH and PH.

Is that bottle Betta water good or a waste of money for these big water changes? I have been adding water from my outside hose to kitchen sink tap water to avoid 0 hardness and I admit it’s a bit of a pain.

I don't really know what's in the Betta water but I've definitely heard of it. In my opinion it is definitely a waste of money even though I don't know what it does. A cycled tank is the same or better than precycled water. It's definitely more expensive to buy the water than to to it yourself. If you want to try it, I don't think it would be a completely bad idea, it would just be costly.

 

[ProudPapa]

I have an outside hose spigot (120 hardness) so I’ve been adding some of that in addition to the kitchen sink (like… 5 hardness) water to get in between when I do water changes to get about 45 in GH and like a 80 KH.

Good.

. . . . Are those like Indian almond leaves good as well? I keep seeing ads.

They are, but I am not at all sure they're any better than dead hardwood leaves you'd pick up off the ground this time of year. I've used sycamore, magnolia, cottonwood, and at least three species of oak leaves in my tanks.

Is that bottle Betta water good or a waste of money for these big water changes?

If you'd rather not keep mixing your outside and sink water you can buy bottled water from the supermarket for a lot less money. Just be sure to get spring water or drinking water, not distilled water.

 

[missalyssa108]

used the strips and master kit. A bit confused but here are the numbers

pH 7.6
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
GH 30
KH 60
Nitrate like 2? Or 20? The strips measured with numbers with 0s and the master kit doesn’t so unclear. For the API master test tube it was like a dark yellow, so not 0 but not orange at all so not 5
Nitrite 0 or .5??

So I see the ammonia is totally a problem. Is there any other measurement that’s a crazy cause for concern?

To fix ammonia, is this an accurate understanding?

• Feed less (as possible)
• use syphon or gravel vac to remove leftover food (daily or is every 2 days ok?)
• lots of water changes (And that means NOT putting the strained water back in, just NEW water?)

Question for water changes as well, percentage and frequency until ammonia is ok? Also i suppose I better get a bucket instead of going straight into the sink with my tubes. Or does wiping a container out with a vinegar solution work? Or maybe an empty bottle that had held distilled water?

It’s probably pretty obvious I didn’t cycle my tank. The water conditioners I have are the API Tap Water Conditioner, API Quick Start, and an unused API BettaFix I “returned” since I had heard negative things but amazon was like don’t send it back.

I added 2 more Anubias on suction cups.

I’ve seen ads for Aqueon “Pure Betta Beads” that claim to add beneficial bacteria. Any opinions on them? They are for unfiltered tanks since they clog normal filters, but I have an Imaginarium Powered Sponge Filter (mini size) so I don’t think it would clog…

Gonna try to do a water change tonight. So input on the “never something that has touched soap” vs cleaning off soap residue with vinegar solution feedback desired

I used the old empty distilled water gallon jug and did a 30% water change with just hose water about 2 hours ago. I added some Quick Start. The ammonia seems to be more towards 0 but not exactly 0, so more like .15

GH is now 60 and KH is 70

Bluer is still finding places to brace himself and when he swims it’s a bit sideways. Fingers crossed

 

[DaveKS]

Stop this insanity. You are the parent. Only one child gets to feed the fish per day. You, the parent gets to curate how much food the fish gets by doling out a preset amount into small plastic condiment cup every day. Sara gets to feed fish today, Johnny gets to feed the fish tomorrow. Those are the rules they must abide by. Do not leave fish food anywhere that they can get a hold of it.

 

[CWL7211]

used the strips and master kit. A bit confused but here are the numbers

pH 7.6
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
GH 30
KH 60
Nitrate like 2? Or 20? The strips measured with numbers with 0s and the master kit doesn’t so unclear. For the API master test tube it was like a dark yellow, so not 0 but not orange at all so not 5
Nitrite 0 or .5??

So I see the ammonia is totally a problem. Is there any other measurement that’s a crazy cause for concern?

To fix ammonia, is this an accurate understanding?

• Feed less (as possible)

What I said in my ortehr comment about fasting your Betta, I meant go 1-2 days without feeding at all. Like completely no food in that time period

• use syphon or gravel vac to remove leftover food (daily or is every 2 days ok?)
• lots of water changes (And that means NOT putting the strained water back in, just NEW water?)

When doing a water change, to help the ammonia, try to do a 50 percent water change maybe every day or every other day until the ammonia is zero. A water change is removing some water (like through a syphon and into a bucket to dump out later) then adding fresh(new) water. You have to make sure the water is the same or around the same temperature, and add your dechlorinator and quickstart BEFORE you add the fresh water to the tank.

Question for water changes as well, percentage and frequency until ammonia is ok? Also i suppose I better get a bucket instead of going straight into the sink with my tubes. Or does wiping a container out with a vinegar solution work? Or maybe an empty bottle that had held distilled water?

I would say doing one 50% water change daily would be okay! I don't necessarily know how long it will take but its a good start!

It’s probably pretty obvious I didn’t cycle my tank. The water conditioners I have are the API Tap Water Conditioner, API Quick Start, and an unused API BettaFix I “returned” since I had heard negative things but amazon was like don’t send it back.

I added 2 more Anubias on suction cups.

I’ve seen ads for Aqueon “Pure Betta Beads” that claim to add beneficial bacteria. Any opinions on them? They are for unfiltered tanks since they clog normal filters, but I have an Imaginarium Powered Sponge Filter (mini size) so I don’t think it would clog…

The API quick start already contains beneficial bacteria! Your tank most likely has enough beneficial bacteria in it that extra isn't needed.

Gonna try to do a water change tonight. So input on the “never something that has touched soap” vs cleaning off soap residue with vinegar solution feedback desired

I used the old empty distilled water gallon jug and did a 30% water change with just hose water about 2 hours ago. I added some Quick Start. The ammonia seems to be more towards 0 but not exactly 0, so more like .15

GH is now 60 and KH is 70

Bluer is still finding places to brace himself and when he swims it’s a bit sideways. Fingers crossed

 

[bgarthe]

You could also replace the gravel with course sand and use a big turkey baster to grab up missed food at the time of feeding. You could also add a Corycat or two.

 

[DaveKS]

The house has a water softener (I live in Utah and our water is very hard so they’re pretty common) so I can’t avoid that,

If just doing a 5gal tank for betta I would rather just buy a gallon of RO/drinking water (20% water change) from market and slightly re-mineralize with Ca/Mg and add some leaves/blackwater extract to normalize it for aquarium use rather than change with water that is unbalanced with excess sodium ions and zero Ca/Mg ions.

You could also replace the gravel with course sand and use a big turkey baster to grab up missed food at the time of feeding. You could also add a Corycat or two.

Not sure what OP thinks they are accomplishing with that layer of aquasoil type beads loosely covered with coarse gravel but it is sub-optimal. Nothing but a detritus trap.

Better use would be .5” aquasoil covered by 1-1.5” of HTH pool sand or Caribsea Peace River, no need to gravel vac as you can easily skim excess detritus off top of the tighter grained top substrate when you change water.

 

[missalyssa108]

If just doing a 5gal tank for betta I would rather just buy a gallon of RO/drinking water (20% water change) from market and slightly re-mineralize with Ca/Mg and add some leaves/blackwater extract to normalize it for aquarium use rather than change with water that is unbalanced with excess sodium ions and zero Ca/Mg ions.


Not sure what OP thinks they are accomplishing with that layer of aquasoil type beads loosely covered with coarse gravel but it is sub-optimal. Nothing but a detritus trap.

Better use would be .5” aquasoil covered by 1-1.5” of HTH pool sand or Caribsea Peace River, no need to gravel vac as you can easily skim excess detritus off top of the tighter grained top substrate when you change water.

Spring water?

 

[DaveKS]

Spring water?

Spring water is usually just whatever spring they pull from and processed through sediment and carbon filters. It should still have most of the water hardness left to it. Buy some and test it to see what you’re getting. Most are just fine, some may be a little on hard side.

If you read the fine print on jug at store some will usually tell you how it’s filtered. Some will even say from a municipal water source + purified by RO.


If spring water tests a little hard for betta water simply buy a 1gal jug of distilled water as well as the spring water and mix them at a ratio that gets you to where you want to be. Say 50/50 mix, throw in a small catappa leaf, in let it set overnight stirring a couple times to absorb gases and test it next day.

I mean for a 5g single occupancy betta tank the most water you could ever possibly need is a 1g water change a week (20%), if you don’t grossly over feed you could probably cut that down to .5g weekly (10%) or 1g bi-weekly.

Betta as a general rule like water with some organic content say tannins/extracts from catappa leaves or sera peat pellets.

If you want a clean up crew I’d just point you at some red ramshorn, 5-6 of them . Looking at your full tank picture above, get you some floating plants. Plants that will actually process and clean your water. Red Root Floaters #1 or some Salvinia Minima #2. Mr Betta will be occupied building his bubble nest up among those mini floaters instead of laying about like a lazy bum.

If you get balance of floating plants/fish/snails right you can almost reach a equilibrium in tank where you almost never actually have to change water, just scoop out 40-50% of floating plant mass bi-weekly.

Fish eats (carbon compounds in to system), fish poops. Snails reprocess fish poop, eats algae and cleans other ornaments in tank of bio-film etc, generates snail poop, snail poop=best plant fert ever. Floating plants thrive, absorbing excess carbons and other contaminants as they grow.

You simply come in bi-weekly etc and simply scoop out 30-50% of floaters that are overrunning surface of tank and throw them into trash or propagate into another tank (carbon compounds removed from system).

Carbon In/ Carbon Out, it really is that simple.

 

[missalyssa108]

So Bluer is not very active and still seems to have a bit of trouble staying down/ he floats to the top without really trying to. He’s not constipated as I’ve seen his poop. The water parameters seem fine, I’ve been doing the water changes. I’ve been trying to limit food to the correct amount and suction out extra. Since Bluer hides in one of two of his upper corners most of the time, I’d still like to add a tank mate or two of some kind. It’s a 5 gallon tank with a few live plants and plenty of hides. Here are my ideas, please share your input. I would get only one of these options.
1. One mystery snail
2. One Malasian Trumpet snail
3. Ramshorn snails
4. A shrimp? I’m having real trouble finding info on shrimp.
Unfortunately the tank is not big enough for African Dwarf Frogs but I kinda really want them.

If you want a clean up crew I’d just point you at some red ramshorn, 5-6 of them . Looking at your full tank picture above, get you some floating plants. Plants that will actually process and clean your water. Red Root Floaters #1 or some Salvinia Minima #2. Mr Betta will be occupied building his bubble nest up among those mini floaters instead of laying about like a lazy bum.

If you get balance of floating plants/fish/snails right you can almost reach a equilibrium in tank where you almost never actually have to change water, just scoop out 40-50% of floating plant mass bi-weekly.

Will the ramshorn snails overrun the tank by making lots of babies? I want to get some floating plants but my local Petco didn’t have any so I’m unsure where to get them. Any recommendations?

 

[ProudPapa]

I'm sorry to hear that the betta isn't doing well, but unfortunately they're one of the fish that are a victim of their own success. They are so popular that growers don't seem to cull for poor health, or poor genetics in general. Guppies and neon tetras are also fish that were very hardy decades ago, but that is no longer true for them (except for hobbyist bred fish; they're usually pretty good.

Assuming you're referring to Neocaridina davidii shrimp (red cherry shrimp and the other color varieties, I would encourage you to give them a try, and I'd suggest getting at least five, and ten would be better. That should be a large enough group for them to reproduce (assuming you get males and females, of course), and your children may enjoy seeing the tiny baby shrimp.If you mean amano shrimp then two or three would be fine since they won't reproduce in fresh water.

Snails won't generally overrun a tank unless they're overfed.

 

[otterblue]

Your Petco might carry water wisteria or water sprite. Both can be floating plants on top of the water, rather than rooted in the substrate. Also, there are a lot of reputable places to get aquarium plants online, such as Aquarium Plants Factory.

Any other animal you put in that tank might be harmed/killed by the betta, although a snail would be the least likely to be targeted.

 

[DaveKS]

“Will the ramshorn snails overrun the tank by making lots of babies? I want to get some floating plants but my local Petco didn’t have any so I’m unsure where to get them. Any recommendations?”

There is no such thing as one MTS, you will quickly have dozens of them. I’d rather have dozens of baby ramshorn, they are better grazers. Snails will only populate as much as food supply dictates.

You can get floaters like red root floaters, salvinia, or dwarf water lettuce on Amazon, Etsy ot EBay.

 

[missalyssa108]

I bought Salvinia and Purple Fringe Riccia from someone local off Facebook and added them as she said they were already quarantined since she didn’t have any snails. And Bluer is hiding.

He likes to wedge himself between things and the glass. He often arches up to breathe in actual air and then usually blows a single bubble. Thinking of fasting him a few days cuz he was getting a bit sideways earlier. I also added a few drops of the Beta Fix additive I still have. No idea if he has any bacterial issue but his fins do look a little ripped up.

How do I share a video? My phone is only allowing me to share photos.

He swims all jerkily and if he relaxes to much he goes sideways :/

 

[bgarthe]

Scroll down to Video Forum, and Click. Then look at very top for “How to Post Videos”. I use my youTube Channel when I post…..it’s pretty easy after a short bit of trial and error.

 

[DaveKS]

How do I share a video? My phone is only allowing me to share photos.

He swims all jerkily and if he relaxes to much he goes sideways :/

Just upload video using YouTube app on your phone and then you can share the link from there.

That swim, jerk, twist then tilt sideways is just normal betta behavior.

Exhibit A:

 

[missalyssa108]

I am happy to report he is seemingly a lot better. I fasted him 2 days and the floating plants roots help him relax without tipping which always makes him freak out. I saw him floating at the bottom of his tank and he very leisurely came up for his food instead of that uncontrolled buoyancy. Yay

 

[missalyssa108]

He did some poses for me before wedging himself back in his favorite spot lol. He was down in the ceramic hide briefly but I accidentally scared him by moving things away from the outside to take a picture. I swear if I look at him he swims up.

So active today

 

[missalyssa108]

Is this pose normal behavior? Like head up and tail down?

Also comparing him to the picture way above , his fins are looking a bit tattered. Other than removing the fake plants, is there anything else I should be doing for him to help with that?

 

[CWL7211]

Is this pose normal behavior? Like head up and tail down?

Also comparing him to the picture way above , his fins are looking a bit tattered. Other than removing the fake plants, is there anything else I should be doing for him to help with that?

If he is sitting like that and can’t swim, that usually indicates swim bladder issues. I’m not sure how to solve them further than fasting, I’m sure someone else will share on that bit.
His fins might be bitten off or have a bit of finrot. It doesn’t look very extreme so if your parameters are good over time it might fix itself as he gets healthier. If you really want to you could pick up some medicine. There’s all types of medication for finrot. I would recommend to stay away from tetra products as they have mixed reviews. But products from API or Seachem are generally good and popular

 

[missalyssa108]

If he is sitting like that and can’t swim, that usually indicates swim bladder issues. I’m not sure how to solve them further than fasting,

He’s active sometimes and seems to be swimming better as a whole. I wonder if he doesn’t like the roots of the floating plants tickling him? He hasn’t seemed to do the arching up to breathe as much and maybe this is his new preferred position to breathe air? Idk

Another change, but this one positive, is he’s spreading out his fins much more fully and frequently. His top fin used to not be far enough in water to actually open up.

Early on when I first cleaned his tank I removed him via a little net and he like … passed out? He really made me work to net him and once I did he like just lay there even when I put him in the small bowl (which I covered) during cleaning. I’ve not removed him since but is that normal?

Maybe Bluer’s just a little odd. I guess I should just be happy he’s made it 2 months. I bought him from PetCo and subjected him to a fish-in cycle for the tank so honestly…

 

[missalyssa108]

If the water parameters are good do I still need to do a weekly water change? I’m struggling to find water that isn’t too hard or like complete 0 hardness.

Also cherry shrimp yay or nay?

 

[otterblue]

If the water parameters are good do I still need to do a weekly water change? I’m struggling to find water that isn’t too hard or like complete 0 hardness.

Also cherry shrimp yay or nay?

Yes, still do weekly water changes. Shrimp are fun, good cleaners and your kids will probably like them. People mixing bettas and shrimp have had mixed results.