Betta Newbie Questions

[buggyboutbettas]

Ok. Hi. Up until now I've been one of those uneducated, put-a-betta-in-vase-and-let-it-die people . Obviously, since then, I've read books and heck of a lot of information on betta's and aquariums. I now have an 5 gal. aquarium with dividers for bettas. I just got a beautiful red betta and got it in the tank last night.

Here are my questions:

1. Orca (my betta) keeps flaring up and acting like he's fighting his reflection in the back of the tank. It wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that he's doing almost all the time. What should I do?

2. The water got cloudy this morning due to nitrites (I tested the water this morning to see what was making it cloudy). I tried adding Biozyme to the tank in hopes that it would handle it but it doesn't seem to be working. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the help!

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Nitrites do not appear overnight in an uncycled tank. Test your tap water and let us know what they are - either it already contains nitrites or your test is faulty.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Last night I tested the pH, ammonia, and the nitrites.

Last night the results were:

pH: 6.6
ammonia: 0.50 ppm
nitrites: 0.0 ppm

This mornings results were:

pH: 6.8
ammonia: 0.0 ppm
nitrites: 0.25 ppm

I was VERY careful so I don't know how the tests could have been faulty. And I don't see how testing my tap water would solve anything, but whatever you say...

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Alright, the results to my tap water are in (I decided I didn't need to do the pH this time):

ammonia: almost 0.50 ppm
nitrites: 0 ppm

Let me clarify something, I just want to know if my betta is going to be ok or not. And if not, what can I do about it? Help is greatly appreciated!

 

[StanTheBetta]

Ammonia in the tap water can't be good As for the flaring my betta used to do it all the time. After about a week he got used to it and has slowed down some but I'd say he still spends 1/4 of his waking hours flaring at his reflection. And for your test results you should take your water to verify your test kit. If its correct than you're very lucky the first part of the cycle (ammonia -> nitrites) was so quick.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Thanks stanthebetta!
So are you saying that the nitrite level and cloudiness is ok? Or is there something I should do?

The water where we live isn't the best--that's why we drink purified water.

I'll go test the water at a pet store as soon as I can.

 

[StanTheBetta]

Well nitrite isn't good but .25 isn't very high imo. I'm not exactly sure how high dangerous levels are. maybe someone more experienced can tell you. Once it gets higherish (lol) you'll have to do frequent water changes to keep it under control until your tank finishes cycling.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Thanks. That's just the info needed.

Oh wait...is the cloudiness in the tank normal?

 

[buggyboutbettas]

nevermind, couldiness is gone. hooray!!!