concerns about new betta, beginner keeper

Hey guys! So I got my betta the day before last and drip acclimated him. He’s been in my aquarium and I have some mild concerns about his behavior (and a bigger one about my water parameters)

size: ten gallons
temp: 75-78 Fahrenheit (fluctuates a bit through the day)

ammonia: 0.5ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 5ppm
ph: 7.5

food: fluval bug bites betta formula
& frozen baby brine shrimp (accidentally got babies instead of adults but he seems to like them anyway)

I thought my aquarium was cycled and was getting readings of 0ppm ammonia and nitrite after using a full ammonia dose and waiting 24hours. i’m not sure why it’s showing up as .5 ammonia now, but i’m treating it as if it’s a fish-in cycle and dosing with prime + doing a 50% water change every five days. let me know if i’m missing anything.

He’s been glass surfing a lot and swimming in big fast laps, which worries me. Another big thing is, I cant tell if his fins are clamped or not? I don’t think they are as he’s quite young and might just have small fins, but please let me know. If they are clamped i’m not sure if it’s because of where he was kept at the store, the new environment change, or my parameters…

he’s eating VERY well and does seem curious about everything in his environment. When I was feeding him he flared at me a lot and tried to nip at my fingers which is funny but i’m also wondering if it could be stressing him out? He seems to have some favorite spots under leaves and behind the floating plants so he is relaxing more in those places. he also likes to chill on the bottom but is also explorative a lot of the time. I’m pretty sure he’ll adjust but I’d like some input on his behaviour anyway since i’ve never had fish before.

Pretty tank and betta! When doing a fish in cycle its actually recommended to do daily water changes of over 50% when ammonia is present in a tank... Is there ammonia in your tap water? I would test your tap to make sure

Rocky998 said:

Pretty tank and betta! When doing a fish in cycle its actually recommended to do daily water changes of over 50% when ammonia is present in a tank... Is there ammonia in your tap water? I would test your tap to make sure

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oh jeez thanks for telling me! i thought it would be okay to wait longer if i dose my tank with prime? the article i read said you can dose five full doses of prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite before it becomes harmful, and i was only planning to dose it three times before doing the water change. my tap water turns very light green if the test is left for longer than the instructed five minutes but i heard that could happen even when there is zero ppm ammonia? if not then my tap has a little less than .25ppm

Assuming that your Betta is new, it's normal for them to glass surf as it's way for Bettas to acclimatized to their environment. It will take a few days until he stops doing it. Fins doesn't appeared to be that clamped. As long as he is eating and exhibiting healthy behaviors, then you shouldn't worry.

With regards to a fish-in-cycle, just feed the fish less, add Prime every 1 to 2 days, and do water changes of at least 25% daily.

Feed less, every other day (he won't starve). Change 80% of water and vacuum substrate every day if ammonia or nitrite is above zero. DO NOT change filter if not clogged, if clogged rinse with old tank water, reuse filter, and use water on plants.

Crispii said:

Assuming that your Betta is new, it's normal for them to glass surf as it's way for Bettas to acclimatized to their environment. It will take a few days until he stops doing it. Fins doesn't appeared to be that clamped. As long as he is eating and exhibiting healthy behaviors, then you shouldn't worry.

With regards to a fish-in-cycle, just feed the fish less, add Prime every 1 to 2 days, and do water changes of at least 25% daily.

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thank you!

katienewbettakeeper said:

oh jeez thanks for telling me! i thought it would be okay to wait longer if i dose my tank with prime? the article i read said you can dose five full doses of prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite before it becomes harmful, and i was only planning to dose it three times before doing the water change. my tap water turns very light green if the test is left for longer than the instructed five minutes but i heard that could happen even when there is zero ppm ammonia? if not then my tap has a little less than .25ppm

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My tap has 0.25-0.50ppm ammonia so I am always using something to detoxify it before adding the water... You use prime so you SHOULD be ok... But when doing a fish-in cycle it is important to at least do a water change every other day... Every day is best though

Oblio said:

Feed less, every other day (he won't starve). Change 80% of water and vacuum substrate every day if ammonia or nitrite is above zero. DO NOT change filter if not clogged, if clogged rinse with old tank water, reuse filter, and use water on plants.

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thank you, i’ll probably only do 25% changes daily due to the fact i use prime which should detoxify the ammonia and nitrite temporarily. i’ll be sure to not change the filter media, i think the beneficial bacteria is very much present as i did try to fishless cycle for many weeks I was just wrong about it being finished! good tip about the plants i’ll definitely do that

Rocky998 said:

My tap has 0.25-0.50ppm ammonia so I am always using something to detoxify it before adding the water... You use prime so you SHOULD be ok... But when doing a fish-in cycle it is important to at least do a water change every other day... Every day is best though

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i’ll do a 25% every day for now on! thank you so much for your advice this is why i love the fish community

Oblio said:

Feed less, every other day (he won't starve). Change 80% of water and vacuum substrate every day if ammonia or nitrite is above zero. DO NOT change filter if not clogged, if clogged rinse with old tank water, reuse filter, and use water on plants.

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One time my aquarium decided to get an ammonia spike... Turns out all it needed was a good vacuum... There was so much built up yuck in the substrate

katienewbettakeeper said:

i’ll do a 25% every day for now on! thank you so much for your advice this is why i love the fish community

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No problem! One thing I do want to say is that prime only detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates for a short period of time... While its detoxified, the beneficial bacteria will get rid of ammonia and nitrites for good BUT your tank is obviously having an issue getting rid of the amount of ammonia being produced. I would reduce feeding and do large water changes. Its a 10 gallon tank so a "large" water change isnt that bad lol...

Rocky998 said:

No problem! One thing I do want to say is that prime only detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates for a short period of time... While its detoxified, the beneficial bacteria will get rid of ammonia and nitrites for good BUT your tank is obviously having an issue getting rid of the amount of ammonia being produced. I would reduce feeding and do large water changes. Its a 10 gallon tank so a "large" water change isnt that bad lol...

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ooooh didn’t think about that. i’ll bump it up to 50% changes, i’d like to avoid stressing out gilbert too much as apparently he hates the gravel vac (im using it right now) at least using it will get him more used to water changes

katienewbettakeeper said:

ooooh didn’t think about that. i’ll bump it up to 50% changes, i’d like to avoid stressing out gilbert too much as apparently he hates the gravel vac (im using it right now) at least using it will get him more used to water changes

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Ok awesome! If the gravel vac is real stressful than only vacuum the substrate every other day but keep up the water changes daily. Maybe try hiding the siphon so he doesn't see it too much...

Does the tank have any floating plants? These do 2 things - they give the betta something to hide under from those predators waiting to scoop him up (he doesn't know there aren't any) and they take up a lot of ammonia - being at the surface, floating plants are close to the lights and can get carbon dioxide from the air. They also don't turn ammonia into nitrite.

Essjay said:

Does the tank have any floating plants? These do 2 things - they give the betta something to hide under from those predators waiting to scoop him up (he doesn't know there aren't any) and they take up a lot of ammonia - being at the surface, floating plants are close to the lights and can get carbon dioxide from the air. They also don't turn ammonia into nitrite.

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yes! i have a good amount of red root floaters that he loves to hide amongst.