A Complete Noob

[Owen_R6]

Yeah hes kind of buy a window! Kiddy corner wall actually...The window gets enough light that i havnt bought a hood (with light) or anything for the tank, that might come later though!

Funny you should mention the tester, i actually went and got one of those tester thingys just to be on the safe side. I read a few posts about them and figured it would be cheaper in the long run to monitor it instead of havin to spend all the money to fix somethin!

As for a siphon...gotta admit i havnt read anything about them lol.

Hes pretty sweet, keeping any animal is a lot of work...some more than others...and so far (yes its early) its been great!

Hopefully things keep goin well! Thanks for all the help, i'm sure i'll be needin more!

 

[Owen_R6]

Ok, i've spent the last couple hours (at work and when i got home haha) searchin about the best times to do a water change and from what ive read with a 10 gallon tank and how mine is set up (filter, heater, etc) i should do about a 30% water change every week or so. My question is mainly just to double check this info. I also mentioned cloudy water earlier and have been reading a lot about that as well. I'm going to do a water test here in just a little bit to see what im at for levels but i just wanted to run somethin by you. When i first put the substrate in there, i put it in a strainer and rinsed it to try and get the dust off before i put it in. I'm not positive if i did that with the silk plants, which i just thought of as i was writing this sentence haha, so what would be best to do? I've read to do 20% water change every other day or so til it clears or to leave it and it will clear up with the filter. Now my last question, please dont beat me lol...I've been searchin threads and google tryin to find the best time length and best way to clean the filter instead of just gettin new cartridges and havnt really read a lot. Should i just rinse the cartridge and clean the inside of the filter? Anything better than the stock cartridges that come with it? The filter is a whisper 2-10i. Thanks again times a million guys...

 

[Netty]

30% once a week will be fine. If you've just got the one betta in there then you would probably only need to rinse the filter media once a month but remember to do it with the water you have taken out of the tank and not rinse it under the tap The filter will get rid of the cloudiness pretty soon

 

[Mauricia]

Also, bettas can jump so you might want to put something over the tank. If you don't want to buy a hood, the mesh plastic for some sort of craft involving yarn is only like a dollar, that's what I use on some of my tanks.

 

[Amunet]

He should be ok with no top, so long as the water lvl isn't too high. Where it's at in the pics is good. Leaves about 2 inches?
But if you just want that extra precaution though then definitely do as Mauricia suggested w/ the mesh. It's needlepoint mesh. You can get some at Walmart, or at a hobby shop. We got some black mesh at a Michael's this past weekend for 38 cents

As for the filter.... you can do it every month, maybe even every other month since it's just the one betta. Take out the filter media, and gently swish it around in some old tank water (like when you do a water change). Just to loosen up some of the gunk and that should be good enough.

 

[ReMz]

imo you wouldn't even need to do 30% water changes every week. that would be fine, but a 50% water change every couple of weeks should be more than enough for just one betta in a tank that large. check the stats before you are thinking about doing a water change and see if any nitrate is starting to show.

just swish the filter media around in a container/bucket that has the tank water you have taken out.

No lid is fine as long as you keep the water level low enough. The plus side of having a lid though is that less water evaporates and dust doesnt get in the tank.

 

[Owen_R6]

The slower evaporation and dust are actually the exact reasons i might pick up a lighted hood haha! I figure the water is low enough where he wont jump out and since theres really nothin instigating him to jump out (another betta) i figure he'll be good until i go out and pick up a hood. Unless he decides this place sucks and wants to get outta there lol...But we'll just hope not

I've been watchin him for awhile since ive been home and during the Allstar game, and im thinkin he loves that filter lol...he's been playin with that thing all damn day haha. He'll swim up to the current and then just stop swimmin and have the flow push him down and then suck him over to the intake vents...then he'll swim around the side of the filter and come up behind it and do it all again...Then after a bit he'll go over to the other side and chill in the plants! Then its over to the heater and he'll just chill there for awhile, which is actually where he has built up a little bubble nest! I love this beast haha, glad i bought him!

Also, the water seems to be clearin up now that i look at it so thats a good deal! I also havnt had time to go over and try to find a suitable pimp suite such as a cave or somethin since i work each day, maybe this weekend i can find somethin premade or somethin that i can put together! I'm also goin over sometime this week, or wait for the weekend, and im going to pick up a siphon since thats going to be a great thing to have as well as some normal medication which would be good to have on hand! As soon as i can get the cave/pot/etc i'll post a couple updated pics!

Thanks for all the replys and help...

 

[Amunet]

Lol.. your posts are so great Owen!
It's just so wonderful to see someone else getting sucked in by these little creatures.
Too many people out there view them as just a decoration. That typical "just fish" attitude.
If more people would just give these fish (and other fish) a chance, and actually care to observe them, they would see that they're filled with such wonderful personalities.

Anywho.. I can just picture your pretty little boy playing in the filter current. So cute!

 

[Owen_R6]

Ok, i tried to catch a quick little vid of him playin with that filter but i always caught him at the wrong time! Anyway, i did catch him doin laps around the heater as usual as well, which hes been doin forever since ive been home haha. I also snapped a quick pic of a little bubble nest that he built while i was at work tday!

 

[azulfire24]

dang! he did that right next to the filter flow,, busy boy!

 

[ReMz]

lol. that vid confirms he is a very happy betta. that's exactly the behavior you should be seeing in a healthy setup.

i cannot believe he got a bubble nest going next that current/rippling. he must have been realllllly busy. i can image at least half his bubbles popped .

I honestly think that if he would have chosen the still water by the plants (which would have made more sense), half the tank would have been full of a bubble nest.

example... my copper guy after his 4th day in this tank. he did almost all of it in one day :

ur guy probably made twice that much but chose a bad spot ! he must love that filter

edit: oh btw i just recognized that heater. i had the same one from wal mart. how is it holding the temp? mine was a bit low in a 5 gallon, but it worked just fine. sorry i didn't notice that earlier when i posted about the heater.

 

[Owen_R6]

Sorry to bring my thread back from the dead guys!

Well, i just ran into my first problem! I had to go away for a few days and got him all set to go....then when i came back half his tail was gone so i'm definitely thinkin fin rot since he doesnt live with any other fish and theres a slight pale color at the end of his tail. I'm going to go over to every pet place i can tnite to see if i can find tetracyline or even melafix! Since its sunday most of the places are closed so does anyone know if they would have it at walmart??? Poor lil guy...

EDIT: Oh, and also i havnt been able to find a cave or somethin that fits what id want...if i were to get a small clay pot from a flower store or somethin, would that work fine if i cleaned it and everything?

 

[Mauricia]

Flowerpots work well only if you cover the hole with something, because bettas try to swim through the whole and get stuck and seriously damage themselves. You can use aquarium silicone to put a glass marble on either side of the hole, or you could look for a pot that doesn't have a hole.
As for your bettas fins, it may be fin rot, but your betta may have also chewed them off, so watch for this sort of behavior when you treat for the fin rot.

 

[Owen_R6]

well, i picked up some melafix and ive also cut a piece of pantyhose that im going to put around the filter so his fins cant get sucked into it since he likes to play near it. Hes still extremely active and i also did a 75% water change which i acclimated til i put him in. I also picked up some new filters in case there was some bacteria on the filter which could go back into the water which i will use soon. I'll use the new filter as soon as he calms down and i get the tank run with the new filter for awhile.

Hopefully everything goes well!!!

I'm also picking up a pot tomorrow after work!

 

[ReMz]

My gf has had this problem w/ her bettas after a short absence.

I have been gone for 1 week an no problems with my bettas. ... thought her bettas were the same, but they had finrot for NO reason

Forget the Melafix treatmeant. Go with Maracyn 1 & 2 (you can find it in petsmart and petco). Melafix is a basic preventative and fin regrowth treatment. Marcyn is a full on antibiotic