SAECommunityBettaTank
- #1
-THE BEGINNING-
At first, my boyfriend and I started out with a betta we felt we rescued from a local pet store.
we only had a 2.5 gallon fish bowl and did not have it filtered or aerated. (Looking back, I can't believe it survived!)
However, We did frequent water changes about every week (sometimes more or less) and that was probably why it survived. <It was summer, and we did at least have a thermometer>
We kept the betta this way for about 4 months. Then, we decided the betta looked bored so we got it a friend, a nerite snail to test the temperment of the betta. The betta flared a little at first but then got used to the snail and seemed to enjoy watching it.
Unfortunately, when my boyfriend and I went on vacation, we left the care of the bowl to my brother who overfed the betta and the snail died very shortly after. We currently have snail no.2 and we also purchased a goldfish for the betta. They actually get along great, which is pretty awesome.
Our ambitions grew, so as we slowly purchased all the necessary items for a larger tank, we included a heater and filter (finally) and decided that we would like to try to maintain a community fish tank and perhaps one day maintain a planted aquascape.
Although we did take our time setting up the new tank, we gave the goldfish and betta (and snail) a small filter to introduce 02 to their environment.
I noted the goldfish was "gasping" so this did actually help a lot and taught us that you MUST have an air filter. It was cruel of us to not have one.
-THE DREADED "ICH"-
Our new tank (10 gallon) was finally set up, I just decided to finally set it up one day (after weeks..) and it wasn't as much work as I thought.
The new tank looked great, we started it with a small filter, a heater, added the thermometer from the old bowl, added plastic plants/basic large gravel substrate and the snail, goldfish, and betta seemed to love it.
We were so happy with our new tank we couldn't wait to buy more fish. On a whim, (NOTE:**Which is a bad emotion to go with when purchasing new pets of any kind)
we bought a pleco and two guppies to expand our community tank. NOTE**: goldfish eventually grow too big for guppies, and may eat them; a fact we did not anticipate. Also, guppies may not be the best choice for some bettas, ours however, does not mind them at all.
About only..3 days later... I spotted the dreaded white spots on my betta... we failed to quarantine our new fish before introducing them to the new tank..
..and even allowed a bit of water from the store tank inside our own.. that is what we believed to be our downfall. Rookie mistake, and it should be put in these notes for other newbies.
(Next time I will wait at least 2 weeks after buying a new fish before introducing it to the main tank to observe any signs of illness.)
-FIRST ATTEMPT TREATING ICH FOR THE COMMUNITY TANK-
The betta had white spots on all parts of its body, the tank also needed cleaned so, we decided to remove all of the fish & snail...
...to clean the tank first. We then put the fish together in the old 2.5 G bowl we were using before. I did not see any white spots on the other fish but did not want to take a chance with not treating them as well. We did some quick research online and moved the heater to the bowl and upped it to 85 degrees slowly. Then, I bought some of the treatment called "Super Ich Drops" and it had the blue tint.
NOTE****The snail IMMEDIATELY fell off the inside of the bowl glass, shriveled up and squirmed. We had to remove him ASAP and he now seems fine... (its been a few hours) So, I do NOT recommend this treatment for snails.
I am not even sure if snails can get sick with Ich.
I have nowhere else to put the fish but that small bowl other than the new tank so we are keeping them in there (two small guppies, a pleco, a betta, and a goldfish) until we notice healing. (snail is in separate container) I added 30 drops per directions for tx (treatment) of Ich.
And after doing this then, increasing temp to 85 degrees within 4 hours, our goldfish has died. We are not sure if this is due to the temp increase or the tx. But, we will not be getting another goldfish as long as we have smaller fish again...
AFTER 48 HRS...
Betta seems to be doing better after the temp. increase to 82 degrees. The guppies seem to love the temp and no signs of white spots on any other fish. Betta's spots have decreased to about 90%. I am about to add the second dosage of Ich drop treatment to the 10 gallon tank. Will add an update if anything changes tomorrow. Not sure how long I should keep the temp this high, if it even matters. However, I do have a pleco (rubber lipped) and I'm still catching up on research with this little guy. I have learned my lesson and will not purchase another fish until I know exactly how compatible it is for a community tank. No more listening to the pet store clerks.
December 7th 2017:
Thank goodness, the Ich seems to be gone. It took a week of higher temps (82-85)no more white spots at all. Joel and I put in the new filter system (2 pillars that push air from above the water down to the bottom under gravel) now, I noticed yesterday evening my betta's eyes are bulgy! Seems like one thing after the other with my experience as a newbie. (R.I.P Pleco..) not buying anymore fish unless I do good research. Only left with 2 guppies, (ones an "A" hole..) and my original fish, the betta. I went ahead and turned off the filter for a little bit, considering getting a new one b/c I read that there could be too much O2? or pressure? I would like to add that we check the pH constantly and do frequent water changes. I have good water quality so I'm confused as to how this happened.
At first, my boyfriend and I started out with a betta we felt we rescued from a local pet store.
we only had a 2.5 gallon fish bowl and did not have it filtered or aerated. (Looking back, I can't believe it survived!)
However, We did frequent water changes about every week (sometimes more or less) and that was probably why it survived. <It was summer, and we did at least have a thermometer>
We kept the betta this way for about 4 months. Then, we decided the betta looked bored so we got it a friend, a nerite snail to test the temperment of the betta. The betta flared a little at first but then got used to the snail and seemed to enjoy watching it.
Unfortunately, when my boyfriend and I went on vacation, we left the care of the bowl to my brother who overfed the betta and the snail died very shortly after. We currently have snail no.2 and we also purchased a goldfish for the betta. They actually get along great, which is pretty awesome.
Our ambitions grew, so as we slowly purchased all the necessary items for a larger tank, we included a heater and filter (finally) and decided that we would like to try to maintain a community fish tank and perhaps one day maintain a planted aquascape.
Although we did take our time setting up the new tank, we gave the goldfish and betta (and snail) a small filter to introduce 02 to their environment.
I noted the goldfish was "gasping" so this did actually help a lot and taught us that you MUST have an air filter. It was cruel of us to not have one.
-THE DREADED "ICH"-
Our new tank (10 gallon) was finally set up, I just decided to finally set it up one day (after weeks..) and it wasn't as much work as I thought.
The new tank looked great, we started it with a small filter, a heater, added the thermometer from the old bowl, added plastic plants/basic large gravel substrate and the snail, goldfish, and betta seemed to love it.
We were so happy with our new tank we couldn't wait to buy more fish. On a whim, (NOTE:**Which is a bad emotion to go with when purchasing new pets of any kind)
we bought a pleco and two guppies to expand our community tank. NOTE**: goldfish eventually grow too big for guppies, and may eat them; a fact we did not anticipate. Also, guppies may not be the best choice for some bettas, ours however, does not mind them at all.
About only..3 days later... I spotted the dreaded white spots on my betta... we failed to quarantine our new fish before introducing them to the new tank..
..and even allowed a bit of water from the store tank inside our own.. that is what we believed to be our downfall. Rookie mistake, and it should be put in these notes for other newbies.
(Next time I will wait at least 2 weeks after buying a new fish before introducing it to the main tank to observe any signs of illness.)
-FIRST ATTEMPT TREATING ICH FOR THE COMMUNITY TANK-
The betta had white spots on all parts of its body, the tank also needed cleaned so, we decided to remove all of the fish & snail...
...to clean the tank first. We then put the fish together in the old 2.5 G bowl we were using before. I did not see any white spots on the other fish but did not want to take a chance with not treating them as well. We did some quick research online and moved the heater to the bowl and upped it to 85 degrees slowly. Then, I bought some of the treatment called "Super Ich Drops" and it had the blue tint.
NOTE****The snail IMMEDIATELY fell off the inside of the bowl glass, shriveled up and squirmed. We had to remove him ASAP and he now seems fine... (its been a few hours) So, I do NOT recommend this treatment for snails.
I am not even sure if snails can get sick with Ich.
I have nowhere else to put the fish but that small bowl other than the new tank so we are keeping them in there (two small guppies, a pleco, a betta, and a goldfish) until we notice healing. (snail is in separate container) I added 30 drops per directions for tx (treatment) of Ich.
And after doing this then, increasing temp to 85 degrees within 4 hours, our goldfish has died. We are not sure if this is due to the temp increase or the tx. But, we will not be getting another goldfish as long as we have smaller fish again...
AFTER 48 HRS...
Betta seems to be doing better after the temp. increase to 82 degrees. The guppies seem to love the temp and no signs of white spots on any other fish. Betta's spots have decreased to about 90%. I am about to add the second dosage of Ich drop treatment to the 10 gallon tank. Will add an update if anything changes tomorrow. Not sure how long I should keep the temp this high, if it even matters. However, I do have a pleco (rubber lipped) and I'm still catching up on research with this little guy. I have learned my lesson and will not purchase another fish until I know exactly how compatible it is for a community tank. No more listening to the pet store clerks.
December 7th 2017:
Thank goodness, the Ich seems to be gone. It took a week of higher temps (82-85)no more white spots at all. Joel and I put in the new filter system (2 pillars that push air from above the water down to the bottom under gravel) now, I noticed yesterday evening my betta's eyes are bulgy! Seems like one thing after the other with my experience as a newbie. (R.I.P Pleco..) not buying anymore fish unless I do good research. Only left with 2 guppies, (ones an "A" hole..) and my original fish, the betta. I went ahead and turned off the filter for a little bit, considering getting a new one b/c I read that there could be too much O2? or pressure? I would like to add that we check the pH constantly and do frequent water changes. I have good water quality so I'm confused as to how this happened.