Advice - Something Going On In My Tank

[eduller]

I have the medications for dropsy, and I know how to treat it. But a lot of what I am reading is pretty discouraging and it sounds almost incurable. I think I caught it very very early, so I am hopeful. I just feel bad for the poor little guy. He's a really good fish and was my very first betta.
 
The puffer is in her own 5 gallon tank. She has a nice cave in each corner of her tank as well as a ton of live stem plants. Lots of cover. I've only had her for a little over a week (tank is completely cycled, water parameters test pristine). The first few days, things were great and she was eating fine. But then she wouldn't eat this weekend. I don't have any live food yet, but she had been eating frozen bloodworms, blackworms, brine shrimp and also pond snails (my large tank has quite the pond snail population). The only live foods I've been able to find are the pond snails as well as some cherry shrimp fry. She didn't eat Friday or Saturday. I started treating her for internal parasites because I know puffers can be prone to them. I managed to get her to eat some bloodworms soaked in garlic and General Cure on Sunday night and then again last night. I think she's doing better. She had a nice fat little belly from eating last night, but folks on the puffer forum are saying she still looks pretty skinny. I hope to be getting some live blackworms soon, and that little cone feeder is awesome! I have never seen that before - thank you very much!
 

It did take me literally 40 minutes of shoving the pipette in her face to get her to eat last night (I know she's a he, but now I'm stuck calling him her), but at least she ate. Got some meds and some garlic and good food into her at least.

 

[Chad]

I've only had her for a little over a week.

Ah, you got it starved! Sadly that happens quite frequently. I'm glad to hear you are getting it to eat. I favor the snails for food. I always kept a separate tank to breed them so I had a good food supply for my little ones. Not only are they a food source but they bring out the fascinating and natural hunting behavior.

 

[eduller]

I was thinking of setting up one of my spare 10 gallons to just breed snails and shrimp.. I need to do something about the snail population in my large tank before it gets out of hand, so maybe I'll clean out as many as I can, pop them in the 5g and get an assassin for the big tank. This sounds like a plan!

 

[Chad]

I recommend setting up the 10 gallon but using it for the fish and use the 5 gallon for the snails. Assassin snails are great. I have for adults that really took care of all other snails. Now they breed (slowly) and I have 3 juveniles skimming around. Once they grow up I will trade them in at the LFS. 

 

[eduller]

Everyone is still fine as of this morning, so it seems like oxygenation was the problem. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Chad]

I'm glad to hear that. It's always a relief when it's something simple like that! 

 

[eduller]

I also managed to focus the spray in a way that doesn't stress out the poor neons. I have to say thanks again. My betta passed away this morning, and it has been actually really sad and emotional because he was our first fish and was so friendly and calm and just a good guy. And I was so sure he was going to be the exception and beat the dropsy. I think I caught it really early and got the right meds, but from what I've read it's very difficult to cure. But the puffer is doing well now, and it's SUCH a relief as well that I don't have to constantly check my big tank for gasping fish. For a couple days there I thought I was going to lose every fish I have all at once. 

 

[Chad]

Sorry to hear about the betta. That's a shame but I am glad other aspects of the tank have leveled out for you and allow you to relax a bit and enjoy it. 

 

[AeonMapa]

I know this issue is resolved but just wanna chime in with two little facts that are nice to know.
 
1. Water comes back from a canister filter with LESS oxygen. The bacteria in the canister filter consume oxygen, and so if your filter output causes no surface agitation, your filter is actually using up some of the oxygen in the water.
 
2. Plants only produce oxygen in the day. At night they consume oxygen, so that's why you see a lot of gasping in the morning

 

[Chad]

#1 is why one of the first things I asked was what type of filter. It can make a big difference! Thanks for bringing those up.

 

[eduller]

Even though I have resolved the issue (everyone is happy and lively) - would it be better for my fish to use an HOB filter?

 

[Chad]

There are pros and cons to both kinds of filters. I have a small ZooMed 501 canister on my 10 gallon tank. I use this because it's a planted tank and I actually want to keep gas exchange a little lower in order to maintain my Co2 levels. For all other applications on smaller tanks I have always preferred HOB filters. Once I get to bigger than 50 gallons I like a canister or wet/dry trickle filter. Of course that's for FW tanks. My marine tanks are totally different.

 

[AeonMapa]

I think that your canister is fine, no need to get a HOB since you've adjusted your canister to disturb the surface anyway