Jorja
- #1
What GH, pH, NO3, NO2 & KH levels are ok for a betta fish?
Sorry I am a newby so I need it put simply please.
Sorry I am a newby so I need it put simply please.
In a small tank, during cycling, the parameters can change very quickly. In my opinion, 50% is the best to ensure the safety of the fish. If the tank is less than 5g, daily of every two days.Still trying to work out how to use forum, not great with computer's. Got me thinking that is why I put ? at the end of 0 nitrate reading. Seems a bit excessive also with 50%water change, I'm finding 1/3 works well on my set-ups at moment.
During cycling, yes, but after that a weekly change of 20-25% should be enough. Just keep an eye on Nitrate levels. Ammonia and Nitrite should stay at 0 unless you add something to the tank. My 3.5 gallon is completely cycled and I have been doing one gallon changes ( 1/3 of the actual volume) every Sunday. It's working out well. I shoot to keep Nitrates at 20 or less and my Anubias Nana, Windelov Java Fern, and Marimo Moss ball help with that.In a small tank, during cycling, the parameters can change very quickly. In my opinion, 50% is the best to ensure the safety of the fish. If the tank is less than 5g, daily of every two days.
I haven’t put anything in except the SeaChem prime conditioner. The only other thing that I could think of is about a month ago I rinsed the sponge under my tap.. other than that nothing else has been put into the tank. It’s been up and running since TuesdayNo, definitely don’t add the Betta. Why is the ammonia so high? Have you been putting pure anmonia or fish food in?
Yep I will do that right now and post a picture!Can you test your tap water for ammonia real quick? Theres no reason to be seeing ammonia at all if you have nothing in the tank.
I posted pictures! Sorry I’m dumb on here and didn’t realize I had to directly respond for you to get a notification. Thanks for helping me out!Yep I will do that right now and post a picture!
This is what I would use to do the water changes. I do use the prime water conditioner as mentioned above so would that continue working for my changes? Should I double what I would normally do? Should I use two conditioners? Also, do I let my tank sit like this for quite some time or do I continue doing water changes? When is a safe time to add in the beta?No you don’t, I got the original so it looks like your tap has ammonia, which isn’t good. I’d honestly contact your city water and give them the business, because although it’s not gunna kill you, it’s not good for you amd definitely not good for your fish if you do water changes with it.
my tap water has .50 ammonia too. since your current tank water has 0 ammonia, you're fine. even if you do a big water change like 50%, your tank water will only be at .25, and should be gone within a day or two. .25 ammonia won't kill your betta. it also helps if you have some floating plants like anacharis or hornwort in your tank, which will eat up the ammonia.
the nitrates level isn't bad. to lower it you can do a water change, like 25 or 30%. once it gets above 40ppm that's when you might want to do a wc. the cloudiness was probably just a bacterial bloom or disturbance from a water change.
don't freak out, take a deep breath, and slowly acclimate your betta if the parameters between his old water and the new tank are different. your fish will be fine. do not use more than one water conditioner, you only need prime. prime will detoxify up to 1ppm of ammonia for up to 48 hours. dose only the amount the bottle says. overdose only when necessary, which in your case, it isn't.
Well I did a complete fresh start on the tank so it’s all new water. I did this on Tuesday so this will be going on day 3!sure, I don't think it'd hurt to do a small water change to get some fresh water in there and help lower the nitrates. when did you do your last one? 25% weekly sounds good. once the tank is cycled, you might only need to do it once every two weeks.
a good nitrate-soaking plant is devil's ivy/pothos. a lot of people keep it as a house plant, but you can take a bit of it and stick the stem part into the water at the top of your tank, or have it grow out of your hob. it'll grow roots and help with the nitrates. but then again, so will water changes.
I believe I uploaded photos of all my results but I’ll reupload them here. Would you mind looking at them?? Just want to make sure your opinion doesn’t change on getting the beta..if it's only been 3 days, then your tap water probably has some nitrates in it too. i'd go ahead and test your tap not just for ammonia, but everything else as well. it's always a good idea to know what you're putting in your tank.
it's not a dumb question! there are lots of different ways to rinse plants: it depends on what you're most comfortable doing. some plants are very delicate. I just rinse my plants under warm tap water. it's probably not necessary, but then you can soak them for a bit in water treated with prime to get any chlorine off.
some people quarantine their plants for a while to make sure they aren't carrying any parasites or bacteria. others do salt dips, or diluted bleach dips, or potassium permanganate dips. some live plants might have pest snails and eggs on them, so if you're worried about that, be sure to inspect them closely and remove any pests.
if you're getting tissue culture plants from the pet store (comes in tubes or packets), just rinse them off and put them in your tank.
Awesome! Sorry I’m a bit of an idiot with technology LOL. And someone just recommended the Indian almond leaves and said it worked wonders so I’ll definitely consider trying that out in the very near future. I had a PH rock previously which seemed to make things worse. Can’t wait to try out some live plants and see how the leaves work.. I’m very excited to get the ball rolling on this tank. Thank you so much for all the help and all the advice. It means alot!yes, I looked at them already and I think they're okay, which is why I said not to worry and just put a betta in there, hehe. that's for your tank, right? not tap?
nitrite and ammonia are excellent at 0. nitrates look like they're at 5, maybe 10-20? which is fine. your ph is a bit high, but your betta will get used to it. if you're getting a betta from a pet store nearby, you guys probably use the same tap water, so that's good. you can try driftwood or indian almond leaves to lower the ph a bit and give your tank a nice natural look your betta will appreciate. you definitely don't have to, though. don't use any chemical ph buffering products because they'll just mess with your tank.