Newbie - help! stalled cycle?

Hey all ‍♀️

Please bare with me while I write this long post.

I'm currently trying to cycle a 15g Fluval Flex:

5th April

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites - 0

Added 7.5mls Seachem Stability
Added 10 drops Ammonium Chloride


6th April

Ammonia -1
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites - 0

Added 5mls Seachem Stability
Added 10 drops Ammonium Chloride - this brought the ammonia up to 2ppm


7th April

Ammonia -1.5
Nitrites - 0.2
Nitrites - 0

Added 5mls Seachem Stability
Added 5 drops Ammonium Chloride - this brought the ammonia back up to 2ppm
ALSO added was some seeded manky filter wool from a friends cycled tank


8th April

Ammonia -2
Nitrites - 0.5
Nitrites -2

Added 5mls Seachem Stability
Added in some seeded bio media from another friends tank


9th April

Ammonia -0.5-1
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -5

Added 10mls Seachem Stability
Added 7 drops Ammonium Chloride - this brought the ammonia back to 2ppm


10th April

Ammonia -1
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -5

Added 7.5mls Seachem Stability


11th April

Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -8

Added 10mls Seachem Stability


12th April

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -10

Added 10mls Seachem Stability
Added 10 drops Ammonium Chloride - this brought the ammonia to 1ppm


13th April

Ammonia - 0.5
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -10

Added 10mls Seachem Stability
Added 15 drops Ammonium Chloride - this brought the ammonia back to 2ppm

(this night I had an issue, the table tank was on broke, so I had to take water out, move tank to stable table, then I put the water I removed, back in)


14th April

Ammonia -1
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -10

Added 10mls Seachem Stability


Which brings me to today -15th April

Ammonia -1
Nitrites - 0
Nitrites -10

Added 5mls Seachem Stability
Added 1.5mls Seachem Prime

What has caused the stall of processing ammonia? Was it my moving the tank? If so why did it process ammonia the night after the tank shift but not last night?

ANY help is GREATLY appreciated. I'm totally about to throw in the towel

This tank was meant to be for my 12yr olds birthday back in Feb - she wants a Betta

 

One completely uncycled tank! Hate this so much.

Ok so will 4 ember tetra actually cause enough load to cycle this tank? I have a feeling it’s too small a bio load?

Also the PH dropped again darn it

 

One completely uncycled tank! Hate this so much.

Ok so will 4 ember tetra actually cause enough load to cycle this tank? I have a feeling it’s too small a bio load?

Also the PH dropped again darn it

A tank is cycled when it has enough beneficial bacteria for the waste in the tank. Four tetras will have a small bioload, but your tank will cycle as much as it needs to. Once your have the established bacteria, it'll grow much faster. So when you add more fish, it'll quickly grow to catch up with the increased bioload. And don't be hard on yourself, you're tank is almost completely cycled! Add them in when your ammonia is below 0.25ppm and I bet it's not going to rise at all.

 

What I mean is if only using 4 embers, won’t it take months to cycle it enough to add the Betta?

 

One completely uncycled tank! Hate this so much.

Ok so will 4 ember tetra actually cause enough load to cycle this tank? I have a feeling it’s too small a bio load?

Also the PH dropped again darn it

Since you rinsed the oyster shells it is gong to take a few days for it to raise and stabilize the pH. Unlike something that comes in a bottle it takes time for natural products to do their job. It is going to very slowly dissolve.

I agree with GuppyGal7 Cycling a tank simply means growing enough bacteria to process the ammonia the fish are producing (the bio-load) be that the bio-load of one fish or a dozen fish.

What I mean is if only using 4 embers, won’t it take months to cycle it enough to add the Betta?

It will take the same amount of time to cycle with one fish as it will with lots of fish.

 

What I mean is if only using 4 embers, won’t it take months to cycle it enough to add the Betta?

Nah, a Betta probably has a bioload or 1 or 2 ember tetras. Your filter will catch up very quickly, in a matter of hours. If you add too many fish at once you might experience a small ammonia spike, but that's only if you add, like, 20 embers at once. Even then, it'll be small.

 

Nah, you'll be fine with the tetras. You have been dosing 1ppm ammonia per day. The tank will more than handle the waste from 4 ember tetras and their food. Honestly I'm at a loss when you say the tank is uncycled with the last set of pics. It looks like the ammonia is zero, which it should be if you only added a little bit of food. That means it is working. You just did a good sized water change so I wouldn't expect to see nitrates at all, even with the food you put in. Keep in mind the cycle isn't a 1:1 equation. Meaning if you put a dime in, you don't get a dime out. More like put a dollar in and get a dime out (1: 1/10).

Also 7.2 is not too high for tetras. It is actually within a good range for them. The extra emphasis on acidic water is really only necessary when trying to breed them to encourage spawning behavior. My neons display spawning behavior in water that is at 7.4.

 

A few things:

1. At this point I would just dump a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus (concentrated version) or Fritzyme bottled bacteria in there to help your cycle finish

2. Messing with your pH to keep it within range is a bad idea, just adjust your KH and your pH will stay stable from now on. If your tap is soft you can buy a liquid or powdered KH booster. Why are you using crushed coral just to move your pH by 0.2?

3. After the nitrite stage ends I only dose ammonia once more, maybe twice at most. You've been overdoing it from what I can see

4. Make sure your filter media is sufficient. What are you currently using in there? I tried to cycle a tank using only quartz bioballs as an experiment and it failed.

 

A few things:

1. At this point I would just dump a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus (concentrated version) or Fritzyme bottled bacteria in there to help your cycle finish

2. Messing with your pH to keep it within range is a bad idea, just adjust your KH and your pH will stay stable from now on. If your tap is soft you can buy a liquid or powdered KH booster. Why are you using crushed coral just to move your pH by 0.2?

3. After the nitrite stage ends I only dose ammonia once more, maybe twice at most. You've been overdoing it from what I can see

4. Make sure your filter media is sufficient. What are you currently using in there? I tried to cycle a tank using only quartz bioballs as an experiment and it failed.

In this case I can't agree with number 2. Adding crushed coral or in this case oyster shells is only to keep the pH from dropping and is the most natural way I know of to do it. I can't see adding powdered or liquid kh booster when the CC or OS will do the same thing and will do it constantly. It is basically add it one time and forget it.

 

A few things:

1. At this point I would just dump a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus (concentrated version) or Fritzyme bottled bacteria in there to help your cycle finish

2. Messing with your pH to keep it within range is a bad idea, just adjust your KH and your pH will stay stable from now on. If your tap is soft you can buy a liquid or powdered KH booster. Why are you using crushed coral just to move your pH by 0.2?

3. After the nitrite stage ends I only dose ammonia once more, maybe twice at most. You've been overdoing it from what I can see

4. Make sure your filter media is sufficient. What are you currently using in there? I tried to cycle a tank using only quartz bioballs as an experiment and it failed.

This is all useful info that I agree with, but let's not overload OP with advice, I'm sure they're very stressed right now. I wouldn't bother buying bottled BB. Just a large water change, and add the tetras. Oyster shells very slow change pH, so it shouldn't affect the fish. Not saying your advice isn't good or shouldn't be followed, but OP has put so much effort into cycling, I genuinely think they don't need to do anything else. A water change to get rid of the ammonia should be enough. 4 embers will have a very small bioload.

 

Edit:

Seems I hit a nerve here. It seems the OP is already receiving help so I will respectfully bow out

Kind regards

 

KH is what keeps pH stable.. crushed coral simply raises KH you can adjust it much easier with the liquid or powder if you only want to keep pH from moving a few ticks. Crushed coral is great for moving pH from 7.0 to 8.0 or larger jumps like that, not so much for bumping it up just a little

Her pH was falling down to 6. The oyster shell should prevent this happening again. Crushed coral is only going to stabilize the pH by raising the kh. It isn't going to shoot it up. It will be a different number in each tank. The number will depend on the chemistry of the water it is in. What it does in mine won't necessarily be the same as what it would be in yours or anyone else's.

 

A few things:

1. At this point I would just dump a bottle of Tetra Safe Start Plus (concentrated version) or Fritzyme bottled bacteria in there to help your cycle finish

2. Messing with your pH to keep it within range is a bad idea, just adjust your KH and your pH will stay stable from now on. If your tap is soft you can buy a liquid or powdered KH booster. Why are you using crushed coral just to move your pH by 0.2?

3. After the nitrite stage ends I only dose ammonia once more, maybe twice at most. You've been overdoing it from what I can see

4. Make sure your filter media is sufficient. What are you currently using in there? I tried to cycle a tank using only quartz bioballs as an experiment and it failed.

Hey there

1: We dont have either of those options here in New Zealand. I have been as you see, using Seachem Stability, I also at one point used 2 bottles of Dr Tims One and Only.

2: My KH is 3 at most, so yes very soft water, I know that manipulating PH is not good when you have fish, but i need the PH to be up a bit higher for the cycle to happen succesfully? Once thats done then i shouldnt have to do anything further to manipulate it?....

3: The nitrite stage ended almost instantly when i added seeded media, but it still wasnt processing the amount of ammonia the guide that i was going off told me to, and said to redose until it was processing the 2ppm of ammonia within 24hours.

4: I have a huge course sponge in my first compartment (its a 3 stage filter compartment at the rear of the tank), next to that i have filter wool, in the second compartment i have 500gms of fluval matrix and another 500gms of mixed ceramic media, third compartment i have the Oyster Shell, the filter pump and heater.

This is all useful info that I agree with, but let's not overload OP with advice, I'm sure they're very stressed right now. I wouldn't bother buying bottled BB. Just a large water change, and add the tetras. Oyster shells very slow change pH, so it shouldn't affect the fish. Not saying your advice isn't good or shouldn't be followed, but OP has put so much effort into cycling, I genuinely think they don't need to do anything else. A water change to get rid of the ammonia should be enough. 4 embers will have a very small bioload.

I did such a good job yesterday with the tank i have NOTHING left in the water, 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 0 nitrate.
So essentially im starting new which is darn frustrating. ‍♀️

I have been ghost feeding the tank 2x a day atm, tomorrow or wednesday im going to a diff fish store and will get 10 ember tetra and watch very very closely, the local store had 4, but one looked like it has swim bladder, wasnt comfortable with purchasing the others after that.

Im also a little worried about the tetra getting through the fluval flex intake grills - Ive attached a pic of grills and the rear of the tank. ⁉

Nah, you'll be fine with the tetras. You have been dosing 1ppm ammonia per day. The tank will more than handle the waste from 4 ember tetras and their food. Honestly I'm at a loss when you say the tank is uncycled with the last set of pics. It looks like the ammonia is zero, which it should be if you only added a little bit of food. That means it is working. You just did a good sized water change so I wouldn't expect to see nitrates at all, even with the food you put in. Keep in mind the cycle isn't a 1:1 equation. Meaning if you put a dime in, you don't get a dime out. More like put a dollar in and get a dime out (1: 1/10).

Also 7.2 is not too high for tetras. It is actually within a good range for them. The extra emphasis on acidic water is really only necessary when trying to breed them to encourage spawning behavior. My neons display spawning behavior in water that is at 7.4.

Definitely put in the dollars
The reason why i dont think its cycled is cos i think i cleaned it all out too much i did a 100% water change (however i did leave the media in a bucket with some old tank water and an air stone running until i could get the media back into the tank.

 

Hey there

1: We dont have either of those options here in New Zealand. I have been as you see, using Seachem Stability, I also at one point used 2 bottles of Dr Tims One and Only.

2: My KH is 3 at most, so yes very soft water, I know that manipulating PH is not good when you have fish, but i need the PH to be up a bit higher for the cycle to happen succesfully? Once thats done then i shouldnt have to do anything further to manipulate it?....

3: The nitrite stage ended almost instantly when i added seeded media, but it still wasnt processing the amount of ammonia the guide that i was going off told me to, and said to redose until it was processing the 2ppm of ammonia within 24hours.

4: I have a huge course sponge in my first compartment (its a 3 stage filter compartment at the rear of the tank), next to that i have filter wool, in the second compartment i have 500gms of fluval matrix and another 500gms of mixed ceramic media, third compartment i have the Oyster Shell, the filter pump and heater.


I did such a good job yesterday with the tank i have NOTHING left in the water, 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 0 nitrate.
So essentially im starting new which is darn frustrating. ‍♀

I have been ghost feeding the tank 2x a day atm, tomorrow or wednesday im going to a diff fish store and will get 10 ember tetra and watch very very closely, the local store had 4, but one looked like it has swim bladder, wasnt comfortable with purchasing the others after that.

Im also a little worried about the tetra getting through the fluval flex intake grills - Ive attached a pic of grills and the rear of the tank. ⁉

Definitely put in the dollars
The reason why i dont think its cycled is cos i think i cleaned it all out too much i did a 100% water change (however i did leave the media in a bucket with some old tank water and an air stone running until i could get the media back into the tank.

Most of your bacteria is in your filter. If anything, your substrate likely had a bunch of gunk releasing ammonia into the water. Now that everything is sparkling clean, the BB will have no ammonia source besides your embers and food. And don't worry about anyone getting stuck in the filter. A healthy ember tetra won't ever get caught in it. I think adding the ember tetras now will be fine. Ghost feeding + your (apparently) filthy substrate means your filter has constantly been receiving large amounts of ammonia.
Ohh, by the way, to keep your substrate clean, instead of just putting food in the tank, cut open a tea bag, wrap a small pile of fish food with it, and put in against the filter intake. You can remove it whenever you'd like, no mess.
10 embers should be completely fine. Or you could buy 5, then get 5 more a week later if you'd like. Don't feed them for the first 24 hours and then test the water. I'm sure your ammonia levels will be 0 or very close to it.

 

Most of your bacteria is in your filter. If anything, your substrate likely had a bunch of gunk releasing ammonia into the water. Now that everything is sparkling clean, the BB will have no ammonia source besides your embers and food. And don't worry about anyone getting stuck in the filter. A healthy ember tetra won't ever get caught in it. I think adding the ember tetras now will be fine. Ghost feeding + your (apparently) filthy substrate means your filter has constantly been receiving large amounts of ammonia.
Ohh, by the way, to keep your substrate clean, instead of just putting food in the tank, cut open a tea bag, wrap a small pile of fish food with it, and put in against the filter intake. You can remove it whenever you'd like, no mess.
10 embers should be completely fine. Or you could buy 5, then get 5 more a week later if you'd like. Don't feed them for the first 24 hours and then test the water. I'm sure your ammonia levels will be 0 or very close to it.

The substrate WAS filthy, but I cleaned that completely when I did the water change. There were hundred of dead detritus worms.

Fantastic idea re the tea bag! That’s the one thing I hated about the idea of ghost feeding - the mess left over.

Sweet. Thanks. I will see if I have time to get them tomorrow, will acclimate them and not feed and check parameters the following morning.

You have both been a godsend

 

The substrate WAS filthy, but I cleaned that completely when I did the water change. There were hundred of dead detritus worms.

Fantastic idea re the tea bag! That’s the one thing I hated about the idea of ghost feeding - the mess left over.

Sweet. Thanks. I will see if I have time to get them tomorrow, will acclimate them and not feed and check parameters the following morning.

You have both been a godsend

Aww, thx. I have one more piece of advice: don't stress. I'm a complete hypocrite saying that, but don't.
I was thinking about your stalled ammonia and I think it was the substrate causing it. It was simply releasing so much ammonia the filter couldn't keep up with it all. Any "extra" ammonia you added would quickly be converted, but the constant ammonia releasing from the substrate kept your ammonia above 0. When you stopped adding an ammonia source (food), there was actually ammonia still being released, thus it looked like the BB was doing nothing. That's my theory at least. I'm 97% sure when you add the embers your ammonia will not go above 0.25ppm. Keep us posted!

 

Aww, thx. I have one more piece of advice: don't stress. I'm a complete hypocrite saying that, but don't.
I was thinking about your stalled ammonia and I think it was the substrate causing it. It was simply releasing so much ammonia the filter couldn't keep up with it all. Any "extra" ammonia you added would quickly be converted, but the constant ammonia releasing from the substrate kept your ammonia above 0. When you stopped adding an ammonia source (food), there was actually ammonia still being released, thus it looked like the BB was doing nothing. That's my theory at least. I'm 97% sure when you add the embers your ammonia will not go above 0.25ppm. Keep us posted!

Hahha im a huge stress ball, but I will try to stress less
Will update the thread when we add the Embers, for now i did your teabag idea and have it sitting right in front of the top intake grill

 

Hahha im a huge stress ball, but I will try to stress less
Will update the thread when we add the Embers, for now i did your teabag idea and have it sitting right in front of the top intake grill

Great! Try to test your water before you get the embers. If it's above 0, remove the teabag so the filter can get it back to 0 for the arrival of the embers. All the best. Enjoy your new fish!

 

Today’s testing - have a little teabag with an amount of fish food sitting at the inlet like GuppyGal7 suggested. - I’m sure there’s slightly more than 0 nitrates when I compare to yesterday’s ?

 

Today’s testing - have a little teabag with an amount of fish food sitting at the inlet like GuppyGal7 suggested. - I’m sure there’s slightly more than 0 nitrates when I compare to yesterday’s ?

Aha, you're being paranoid. That's 0. You know what that means, right? Your cycle is done! Congratulations. Can't wait to see your new fishy friends!
Edit: Sorry, I thought you were talking about Ammonia. Yes, your nitrates have climbed! Your tank is completely cycled. It can definitely keep up with your new fish. Stop worrying and send us pics when you get them.

 

Aha, you're being paranoid. That's 0. You know what that means, right? Your cycle is done! Congratulations. Can't wait to see your new fishy friends!
Edit: Sorry, I thought you were talking about Ammonia. Yes, your nitrates have climbed! Your tank is completely cycled. It can definitely keep up with your new fish. Stop worrying and send us pics when you get them.

Just as I thought. HahHa I thought you were confusing which parameter I was talking about.
Instead of getting the tetra could she now just get her betta?

 

Just as I thought. HahHa I thought you were confusing which parameter I was talking about.
Instead of getting the tetra could she now just get her betta?

Yup, your choice. A betta will be absolutely fine.

 

Mr fish is on his way ❤️

 

Ohh he's stunning! What's his name? Just a warning, I see a little bit of darkening at the edges of his tail. That could be a sign of finrot. Don't panic, this early on, clean water and frequent water changes might get rid of it. Bettas can get finrot very easily from bad water quality and stress (such as being with too many other fish). Alone with good water quality, it should hopefully heal up. Just keep an eye on it, but you have nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario: you spend $15 on medication and he gets better. Best case scenario, it's already gone by the time you read this message. Don't mean to stress you at all. Enjoy your new fish!

 

He’s from one of the main importers to NZ. Said he’s had this colouring since he got him in. But I will watch closely

 

He’s from one of the main importers to NZ. Said he’s had this colouring since he got him in. But I will watch closely

Ohh, ok. Likely just his colours. Unless you notice the fins looking like they're being eaten away, you've got nothing to worry about. Enjoy!

 

Kinda see what you mean now! Hope with the shipping it’s not going to get worse.

 

Kinda see what you mean now! Hope with the shipping it’s not going to get worse.

Bettas are pretty hardy little dudes. I've heard stories of them surviving days in shipping because of delays and turning out fine. And the worst case scenario is you have to treat him. And one Betta fish alone in a tank is the easiest thing in the world to medicate. It's just something to keep an eye on. His colours are going to change with time and as he grows more, as with all bettas. You'll be fine, I'm certain you'll watch him like a hawk.

 

Just to recap.
Fishy - no name yet, arrives in about 12 hours (tomorrow morning)
Do I take out the tea bag of fish food tonight? And float acclimate him when he arrives? I will just go look how to do this properly.
And not feed him the first day?

I also made him a hide

 

Just to recap.
Fishy - no name yet, arrives in about 12 hours (tomorrow morning)
Do I take out the tea bag of fish food tonight? And float acclimate him when he arrives? I will just go look how to do this properly.
And not feed him the first day?

I also made him a hide

Aww, he'll like the hide. Yes, take the food out before putting him in. Acclimating fish from the mail is different. Normally, you'd let the fish adjust to the temperature by floating the bag, then slowly put tank water into the bag to let them get used to the new parameters, then net the new fish and put him in, dispose of all water in the bag. That's what you'd do if he had been in the bag for 20 minutes on the way home from the pet store. But, he hasn't, so:

Firstly, ask the seller whether he's being shipped in a regular or breather bag. Regular bags will be mostly filled with air, enough oxygen for your fish. Breather bags can absorb oxygen through the walls of the bag. NEVER float breather bags. It will suffocate the fish very quickly. He's probably in a regular bag, but just double check.
Secondly, we cannot slowly add new water with a mailed fish. Being in the bag for much longer, a lot of ammonia has built up in it. Since the oxygen content is low, the pH will be very low, rendering the ammonia harmless. The moment you open the bag, all that oxygen goes into the water and your ammonia will become toxic very quickly, in a matter of minutes.

If you have a regular bag, float fishy for half an hour to temp acclimate. After that, open the bag. Most people will just dump the fish straight in, but I'll scoop a bit of tank water into the bag to get a 50/50 ratio, leave it for a minute or two (no longer) then put him in. Whichever eases your conscience the most.
If you have a breather bag, honestly, put tank water in for a few minutes, put straight in. Bettas are hardy. It's best to get mailed fish out immediately.
When he arrives and you open the package, give him a few minutes to sit in the box with just the lid open and keep the tank light off for at least 24 hours and throughout the whole acclimation. Remember, he's been in complete pitch black darkness for 24 hours and doesn't have eyelids. Gotta let him get used to light.

Don't be too worried about different parameters. Shipping is much worse with parameters going nuts and water quality. Just remember as soon as you open the bag, a timer starts ticking. And don't let any bag water get in the tank.

TL;DR float for half an hour, net him out and put in tank. Leave lights off.

 

Aww, he'll like the hide. Yes, take the food out before putting him in. Acclimating fish from the mail is different. Normally, you'd let the fish adjust to the temperature by floating the bag, then slowly put tank water into the bag to let them get used to the new parameters, then net the new fish and put him in, dispose of all water in the bag. That's what you'd do if he had been in the bag for 20 minutes on the way home from the pet store. But, he hasn't, so:

Firstly, ask the seller whether he's being shipped in a regular or breather bag. Regular bags will be mostly filled with air, enough oxygen for your fish. Breather bags can absorb oxygen through the walls of the bag. NEVER float breather bags. It will suffocate the fish very quickly. He's probably in a regular bag, but just double check.
Secondly, we cannot slowly add new water with a mailed fish. Being in the bag for much longer, a lot of ammonia has built up in it. Since the oxygen content is low, the pH will be very low, rendering the ammonia harmless. The moment you open the bag, all that oxygen goes into the water and your ammonia will become toxic very quickly, in a matter of minutes.

If you have a regular bag, float fishy for half an hour to temp acclimate. After that, open the bag. Most people will just dump the fish straight in, but I'll scoop a bit of tank water into the bag to get a 50/50 ratio, leave it for a minute or two (no longer) then put him in. Whichever eases your conscience the most.
If you have a breather bag, honestly, put tank water in for a few minutes, put straight in. Bettas are hardy. It's best to get mailed fish out immediately.
When he arrives and you open the package, give him a few minutes to sit in the box with just the lid open and keep the tank light off for at least 24 hours and throughout the whole acclimation. Remember, he's been in complete pitch black darkness for 24 hours and doesn't have eyelids. Gotta let him get used to light.

Don't be too worried about different parameters. Shipping is much worse with parameters going nuts and water quality. Just remember as soon as you open the bag, a timer starts ticking. And don't let any bag water get in the tank.

TL;DR float for half an hour, net him out and put in tank. Leave lights off.

Perfect. Thanks

 

Ohh, and feeding him should be fine if your daughter wants to (because obviously, she will). He's just one fish, so it won't make any difference to the water. Just be aware from my experience, mailed fish don't have the best appetite for the first 12-24 hours. I got a trio of fancy guppies shipped overnight. They didn't start paying attention to flakes for a few days. They went rabid for mosquito larvae though. if you have any mosquito larvae in old buckets of water or ponds, I 10000% recommend it. My betta adores them. Mosquito diseases won't spread to fish, so as long as the water they're in is safe (i.e. regular tap/rain water you left outside), your fish have no risk of disease from them. They're a great treat as bettas eat them in the wild.
So feel free to feed him, but don't be alarmed if he isn't interested at first. Although, bettas are a lot more gluttonous than guppies, so he could immediately gobble it up anyways.

 

*sigh*

I’m so upset. He arrived today, he’s just sitting in his bag in the tank to adjust to the water temp, but the pic he advertised must be an old photo because his fin rot is much more noticeable especially on his top fin.
This isn’t what I or Kadee wanted or needed for our first experience

 

*sigh*

I’m so upset. He arrived today, he’s just sitting in his bag in the tank to adjust to the water temp, but the pic he advertised must be an old photo because his fin rot is much more noticeable especially on his top fin.
This isn’t what I or Kadee wanted or needed for our first experience

I am so sorry to hear this. Hopefully you got him out of the bag and into clean water quickly. Often all it takes is fresh clean water to help heal this.

 

He’s zooming around everywhere, eating the detritus worms, but I still think my flow is too strong, waiting on the fluval pre filter sponges to arrive that should help. Plus with the air pump stuffing out on me so no air stone the top of the water looking murky. Have new pump arriving tomorrow.

I didn’t leave him in his bagged water for long as I wanted him out of it given the state of his fins.

He is a funny guy though, keeps picking up odd coloured gravel thinking it’s food and spitting it out lol

 

Aww, he looks adorable! I do agree he has finrot though. If he doesn't show any noticeable improvements you may need to treat him, but I'd give it at least a week. A Sponge on the filter outflow is a good idea for bettas.
You don't need so stress about the finrot though. Like I said, at worst it's $15 down the drain. It's not going to kill him without months of neglect. In better water quality he might improve on his own. Got a name yet? He looks pretty happy in his new home.
My Betta was constantly zooming in her new home for months. Like I said, they've never experienced this much space for most of their life. Imagine living in a small bedroom all your life and being gifted a mansion.

 

Aww, he looks adorable! I do agree he has finrot though. If he doesn't show any noticeable improvements you may need to treat him, but I'd give it at least a week. A Sponge on the filter outflow is a good idea for bettas.
You don't need so stress about the finrot though. Like I said, at worst it's $15 down the drain. It's not going to kill him without months of neglect. In better water quality he might improve on his own. Got a name yet? He looks pretty happy in his new home.
My Betta was constantly zooming in her new home for months. Like I said, they've never experienced this much space for most of their life. Imagine living in a small bedroom all your life and being gifted a mansion.

No name yet. Will leave that up to Kadee, she takes awhile with these things haha

Yeah I’m a little worried he’s annoyed at the flow but I have put sponge in the outlet pipe to slow it down somewhat. Im sure the person filter sponges over the outlets will work better when they arrive.

I’ve contacted the seller though because I think it’s unfair to sell a fish that’s not 100% without mentioning it. He’s denying it’s fin rot but I know better.

I hope he’s happy in there.

I have aquarium salt and Indian almond leaves on the way incase they are needed to hwlp

 

No name yet. Will leave that up to Kadee, she takes awhile with these things haha

Yeah I’m a little worried he’s annoyed at the flow but I have put sponge in the outlet pipe to slow it down somewhat. Im sure the person filter sponges over the outlets will work better when they arrive.

I’ve contacted the seller though because I think it’s unfair to sell a fish that’s not 100% without mentioning it. He’s denying it’s fin rot but I know better.

I hope he’s happy in there.

I have aquarium salt and Indian almond leaves on the way incase they are needed to hwlp

Nice. Never used salt, but I've heard bettas like it, and it will help with the finrot. Bettas love almond leaves too. Your boy is a very lucky fish. I wouldn't be worried about the filter short term. There's plenty of spots where he can hide from it, so he's not constantly being pushed around. He has the ability to escape it. As for the seller, yeah, it's scummy selling a fish with finrot, but don't worry too much. It's the inside that counts.

 

Glad you found the one for you. Unfortunate about his fins though. As mentioned before, with clean water it should resolve on its own. I have heard that it is not uncommon for fins to become a little torn after shipping. Long finned betas can easily tear their fins during shipping by thrashing about in the bag which typically is small with little water. Thus the fins get smacked/dragged against themselves and the bag.

Betas can also chomp on their own fins as maladaptive stress response. Shipping stress plus your high flow could result in this. Filter sponges on the outlet are a great idea! Glad you are already on it.

Indian almond leaf has antibiotic properties, so adding some of that will help the fins heal. If you don't like the look of the giant leaf, cut it into smaller leaf like slivers. You can boil the leaf in a little bit of water to water log it fast and add the leaf bits and tea directly into the tank. This will drop the pH (so don't get too excited when you test the water) from tannic acids in the leaf. It also makes the water brown and hazy giving a nice blackwater effect, though I find it fades quickly with water changes. If you don't like the look, just adjust the amount of leaf you use.

 

Glad you found the one for you. Unfortunate about his fins though. As mentioned before, with clean water it should resolve on its own. I have heard that it is not uncommon for fins to become a little torn after shipping. Long finned betas can easily tear their fins during shipping by thrashing about in the bag which typically is small with little water. Thus the fins get smacked/dragged against themselves and the bag.

Betas can also chomp on their own fins as maladaptive stress response. Shipping stress plus your high flow could result in this. Filter sponges on the outlet are a great idea! Glad you are already on it.

Indian almond leaf has antibiotic properties, so adding some of that will help the fins heal. If you don't like the look of the giant leaf, cut it into smaller leaf like slivers. You can boil the leaf in a little bit of water to water log it fast and add the leaf bits and tea directly into the tank. This will drop the pH (so don't get too excited when you test the water) from tannic acids in the leaf. It also makes the water brown and hazy giving a nice blackwater effect, though I find it fades quickly with water changes. If you don't like the look, just adjust the amount of leaf you use.

Hi

thanks for your reply

I added in 2 catappa leaves yesterday. 1 leaf per 15-30L of water and my tank is 57L.
I plan on doing 25% weekly WC - hoping that’s enough.
I do have a concern using the leaves because I have had to add oyster shell to raise my ph so don’t want it leaves dropping it drastically but will watch with daily testing for couple weeks.
Is it normal for them to spend all day searching for food? He doesn’t stop, keeps picking up odd coloured gravel thinking it’s food then spitting it out.
Also spends the majority of the time mid to lower level of the tank when I expected hm to spend lost of his time at the top half?....

this is where I have placed his leaves, he hides under the bottom on sometimes - super cute

 

It sounds like Kadee's little guy is settling in well. He is doing what lots of fish do. He is foraging. Looking for tidbits of food.

I have to think the leaves aren't going to lower the pH any measurable amount. I have heard both the leaves and driftwood will lower the pH but if that was the case folks with a high pH would be able to easily lower theirs.