Hello all

[theresamarie3366]

Hello all! My name is Theresa and I am a total newbie at the aquarium thing. I bought a Betta about weeks ago at a Pets Plus store because I felt so sorry for the conditions he was in. I didnt even know the color of him until I got him home and put him in fresh water. At first he was in the tank the incompitent sales clerk told me to buy. Poor Ramses was so unhappy in there. I did a little research and bought a 10 gallon set up,but stupid as I am, did not realize about the cycling of a new aquarium. I am now going through the cycling stage and I am trying to keep it as stress free as possible. Ramses is suffering from Ich and sometimes constipation and a little bit of swim bladder disease that comes and goes. Any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Love,
Theresa and Ramses

 

[lilfishie]

Hi and to thte forum Theresa

Lilfishie

 

[jflowers]

Welcome to the forums theresamarie3366. Sorry that you are having a bad time. I would post your problem in the betta forum. For now I would advise 50 - 100 % water changes everyday to keep the amonia and nitrite to a minimum. It will slow down the cycle, but is better for the fish, after all, some betta keepers, use water changes instead of filters.

Ich meds will not do much good as you will be replacing the water often. A high temp can help as the parasite cannot survive, not a betta expert though so not sure they can handle the temp needed - 86f+.

Jon

 

[Eunen_de]

They normally live in shallow marshes and ponds with lots of plants and little current. It can get pretty hot in there on a sunny day. Bring the temp up slowly (2 degrees a day) to avoid stress and also to monitor how he's handling it. That's true for all fish.

You can also use the technique of moving him from bowl to bowl each day while you leave the original tank or heat it. If you heat it the parasites will go through the lifecycle faster. You don't need meds this way because when the parasites fall off it will take time for them to hatch and by then your fish has moved on. Ich and Velvet die without a host. You have to move the fish in a net so as not to take any parasites with him to the next tank. Since he is just one and not big you can use big jars to keep him in each day - anything see through, non toxic and with a big enough opening to get him in and out. Cover it because Bettas jump but the cover must have airholes in it. A light piece of fabric and elastic band will do in a pinch. The process takes something like 5-7 days a new jar each day then back to the tank. Someone will hopefully correct me if I have missed anything or misremembered. I've never done this method myself.

Down side is some fish find this very stressful. On the whole Bettas seem pretty adaptable. If yours hides behind stuff all day and startles easily the bowl to bowl technique may not be for him. If he is calm and curious it should be fine.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hi theresa!
What is the smaller tank you originally like? and is there a heater for it?
How big is it, etc?
I have some other suggestions for you with the smaller tank as far as heating it, etc., but i would like to hear what size it is and what type of tank it is first.

and you will DEFINITELY want to treat for the ick immediately.
Maracide is my favorite, but pretty much any ick meds will work pretty well.

What you might consider doing is to put him back in the smaller tank (of course you'll want to heat it up, though) until your tank is done cycling. It might save him some VERY traumatic stress. Just let me know what size your tank is and we can go from there.

One thing you do NOT want to do is constant moving of him - that would be worse than leaving him in one place.
Also, don't use a net to transport a betta - nets are murder on their fins. I usually use a solo cup, and let him swim right in, if possible. You might have to take part of the water out of your large tank to be able to catch him, but netting them is not advisable.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

For the tank cycling, i would do a 30% water change every day or two but do not clean out the filter because it needs to build up as much good bacteria as posible to cope with the betta(when you clean out the the tank don't leave it turned off for too long), like bettamomma said i would avoid moving him around too much as well and treat him for ich/whitespot straight away.
Treating ich/whitespot can take quite awhile but don't be discouraged, i would use the med mentioned or anti whitespot/ich med by Interpet; remember to keep an eye on the levels of med in the water as the water changes will lower it so you need to top it up but be very careful not to overdose on med as whitespot/ich med is very strong stuff.

For the constipation i would avoid or significantly lower the levels of high protein foods like bloodworms/tubifex/daphinia and try feed him more vegetable based foods like cooked shelled peas and algae wafers/tablets as these will help get is digestive system working normally again.
The only other advice i can give on treating constipation is not to overfeed and in fact, feed him less than what you normally would. Remember to remove any uneaten on the bottom of the tank after 10mins to avoid him over-eating or the food rotting and causing ammonia spikes in the tank(which are bad).

I would also get a water testing kit that tests for ammonia/nitrate/nitrites to help accuratly moniter the water quality(depending on your water stats, this will also help give you an indication of when you need to do water changes and how much).

If you havn't got a heater, buy one and try to maintain the tank temp at around 25/26 degrees; if you have a filter try turning the water flow/current down as bettas don't like strong water flows/currents in their tanks.
I owuld advise you get a filter if you don't already have one as this will help cycle your tank alot.
Buying some live/real plants will also help cycle your tank .

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

How long should it take for her tank to be cycled, so she does not need to do the daily water changes? Once cycled it is 50% once a week right

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It realy varys, it depends on what fish fish you are using to cycle it(that is if you are going for a cycle using fish), how many, their size, tank conditions like does it have plants in it or not and lighting, tank temp, size of tank, wether is has any established tank water or filtration in it or not etc etc.
The best way to tell if a tank is cycled or not is by using water quality testing kits that test for ammonia/nitrates/nitrites; the time it takes to cycle a tank varys for everyone...As for water changes water testing kits will help give you an indication of how much water you need to take out in water changes and how often; also i find with smaller tanks it is better to do lots of little water changes while with large tanks it is better to do the once a week medium/large water change although this also depends on how long the tank has been mature for etc.