queenrogue
New Member
Okay so spoiler: this is gonna be a lengthy post. Because I want to give you a clear view of my daily/weekly life with these fishes. So I’m gonna state my main problem first – is my betta sick? I will get into what I think are the red flags in a bit.
So I got my red half moon betta earlier this year, I named him Sushi (lol please don’t judge I thought of so many names like Crimson or Ruby or Scarlet but they didn’t really sound good to me and Sushi was the one I liked best)… After a month or two I added 2 tiger plecos & 10 cardinal tetras (used to be 10 but became 7 because I lost 3 which I will explain later).
He has an about 3gal tank (I’m not really good at math but my tank size is 20x30cm by 30cm height and when I did a conversion online it turned out to be between 2.6 to 3 gal)… I know its not big enough for Sushi plus his other tank mates but the guy from the fish shop says it’s not gonna be a potential issue if I add that much fish in the tank and I didn’t know any better at that time so for now I just try to provide all of the fishes as much as I can and at the moment I can’t afford to upgrade to a much bigger tank.
At first Sushi is very active and always go to the front of the tank when he sees me coming over. He eats whatever food he sees floating or sinking, and an overall very active betta.
Now I will elaborate on the other fishes first…
After a while I got the two tiger plecos, properly acclimated and all, he had a bit of pin holes and after a few days of water change every 2 days, his fins healed completely. He chases and pokes the tiger plecos the first few days the plecos joined the tank, after a while he just swims around them (and even hides together with the tiger plecos in one of the corners of my tank, it even looked like he was kinda clingy at that moment coz he hid like how the plecos hid lol).
Their feeding habits was I didn’t feed them algae wafers until most of the algae in my tank were gone, and then I started feeding them 1 mini algae wafers each (so 2 in total), once in the morning and once at night.
After a week of getting the tiger plecos, I decided to add the 10 tetras. Also properly acclimated and placed in the tank. I will list down the three tetra loss below:
Tetra 0: This one is not a death but more of me thinking that this is a red flag with regards to my betta’s health. This tetra looked skinny and like he haven’t eaten for a few days when I first got him, and was having trouble with buoyancy, as he seemed to struggled staying in the middle of the tank and kept floating on top of the tank. I tried to feed him but he wasn’t swimming up to the food and the other tetras end up eating the food that I give him. Surprisingly he looks better and eating better and until now he still lives and now he’s more brave and not letting the other tetras get to his food first.
Tetra 1: This one died at day 3 and due to unknown causes. I just found him lying at the bottom of the tank without eyes…. Also to take note that my betta’s stomach started bloating at the same time as this… RIP lil guy….
Tetra 2: This one’s life was short lived because day 2 of getting him he jumped out of the tank and I only realized it the next morning when he was all dried up on my floor. RIP another lil guy…
Note: There's another tetra that was lying at the bottom of the tank (but I can't remember which tetra because the day after that all of the living tetras are shoaling together) - it happened the same as when Tetra 0 started and I wanted to isolate both of them in a small bowl so I can monitor them closely and feed separately but my fish seller said it will just kill them faster… So I didn’t continue with the isolation.
Tetra 3: This one died just this morning actually the day after I let my fish fast and he looked okay and well-fed (not skinny at all he was the biggest cardinal fish in my tank) and as of today the cause of his death was still unknown…. RIP and I hope you’re the last one to die ):
Overall the tetras just swim in a group and when they wake up in the morning they’re actually all scattered around the tank and will later regain their color as they group up after that.
In terms of their relationship with Sushi, he just swims around them and disturb them but goes back to his won business afterwards.
Okay now back to Sushi….
I usually feed him pellets and only fed him for 2 minutes, twice a day. Every Sunday was his fasting day. I read online about feeding a betta and most of the results states that to only feed him whatever he can finish within 2 minutes, and no more than 2 times a day. I did that and he started becoming fat (not bloated….yet) so I put him on a diet only feeding him once a day (with that same routine, 2minutes feeding) and I know he didn’t like it (I know this from tail biting that resulted right after the diet started) so I went back to feeding him twice per day, but for about 4-5 pellets each feeding.
He had developed fin rot a day after putting the cardinal tetras in the tank, and developed pin holes resulting the fins tearing making him look like he has 4 main fins, so I checked with the fish seller and he advised me to put black water in the tank. After a while my betta’s fins are healing. His pin holes seem to heal pretty quick as fast as by 24hours but the tear on his fins is slow but healing still… It looks like part of his fin is growing because I see that his “incandescent markings” (the part of his fins that glows in the dark and is originally only is seen near his caudal peduncle) is growing together with the part of his fin that is “sprouting” outwards. I’ll try to insert some photos for better understanding.
He started having bloated stomach a week ago when Tetra # 2 died, and that’s why I did the fasting. I concluded that he had constipation. I thought that he ate the tetra so I was kinda disappointed with him but all I could do is to treat him just in case it’s something serious. I fed him part of a green pea (thawed and crushed) and his stomach seemed to be smaller and back to his usual “fat” self. So I went back to the usual 4-5 pellets each feeding…
Now his stomach bothers me because it looks bigger again and I’m super worried because according to all of my google research Dropsy is usually mistaken as constipation… There’s no signs of pineconing on him (and I pray everyday that he doesn’t pinecone and that his bloating is just because of constipation) he just seems bloated. His stomach is a bit pale (his stomach is normally paler in color compared to the rest of his body) but I’m like 150% worried coz any small thing I will take them as a red flag and I really don’t want my betta to have Dropsy because I love him and I just want the best for him. I don’t think I will have the stomach to euthanize him if ever the worst happens to him.
His current behaviour are as follows:
I used to play 'follow my finger' with him and he used to follow my finger for an extended period of time (like 3 minutes?) but now he just follows my finger once and then swims away.
He still comes to the front of the tank when I walk over but the difference between now and last time was he sometimes just stares at me for a while and then swims away. He used to just be excited and stay at the front of the tank staring at me until I leave (i know I kinda sound clingy over a fish that lost interest in its owner lol but I just want to state it here as I'm not sure if it might or might not be a contributing factor to his health).
He still eats properly and has no change in his attitude when feeding… Whenever it’s the tetras’ turn to be fed, Sushi sometimes will try to steal their food so I hand feed the him and the tetras separately… The pellets are pre-soaked and I use the mini dropper to suck the soaked pellets from the plate and dropped directly in the water one by one. He knows how the food bottle looks like and will start his wiggle dance towards the front od the tank when he sees the bottle.
He still swims around and disturbs other fish but after swimming around chasing them he goes back to his spot on top of is favourite plant to rest. Sometimes he will try to find food at the bottom of the tank only to find his friends’ poop which will get cleaned out as well. When he’s not doing any of that he will sometimes go inside the decos…. like hide inside the dino decos, or will swim under the shells and will come out and go back to his resting place, or at the hammock when it’s feeding time.
As of today he stopped flaring when I showed the mirror to him… He usually flares when he sees the mirror but today he either stares at it like he doesn’t care at all, or just swims away from it like he’s scared/startled.
This is the first time I am seeing that kind of behaviour from him in front of the mirror.
Now for my tank parameters:
I do a weekly water change about 20-30% and a 10-15ml dose of beneficial bacteria (10ml for the weekly water change and 15% when I do a 40% water change)..
The aquarium salt is also replenished and mixed together with the new water. Sometimes I add a little bit directly in the tank when Sushi has fin rot and it seems to be working as his fin heals quite fast.
Water filter was customized by the fish seller so instead of the typical plastic sponge he used a different material (I can’t remember the name but it’s kind of like a porous ceramic?) and the sponge is replaced every two weeks or whenever I see fit.
I also put a pump or less of liquid fertilizer for the plants whenever I see fit.
Ammonia levels are at 0 and pH levels are at 7 constantly. I check water parameters every mid week. And it has never gone up or down, it just stays at those two readings constantly..
Let me know if there’s more information that you need to know and I will reply as soon as I can!
I used to have a heater but I'm scared that it becomes faulty and boil the tank so I removed it. Temperature stays at 26-30º C anyway and I live in Singapore which is a tropical country.
So basically my main problem is his bloating and his sudden change of attitude towards the mirror today. Based on the events that happened these past few months am I doing anything wrong?
I am thinking of going back to his green pea diet from tomorrow morning onwards… His fins look like it’s recovering and even growing so I don’t really worry about it too much… But if it’s a sign of something serious, please tell this fish mama so I can treat any problems as soon as I can!
Thank you so much in advanced and sorry for the lengthy post!! I just want to provide as much information as possible and I resorted to going to the forums because my fish seller doesn't really give elaborate answers and only tells me to "do a water change every 3 days" or "feed lesser" most of the time he just replies my messages in a phrase and doesnt really elaborate on what I'm doing wrong or even explain why whatever is happening, is happening...
Now I'm gonna post a few photos for reference, you won't see the tiger plecos by the way, they're usually hiding behind or under or in the decos when I turn the lights on.
So I got my red half moon betta earlier this year, I named him Sushi (lol please don’t judge I thought of so many names like Crimson or Ruby or Scarlet but they didn’t really sound good to me and Sushi was the one I liked best)… After a month or two I added 2 tiger plecos & 10 cardinal tetras (used to be 10 but became 7 because I lost 3 which I will explain later).
He has an about 3gal tank (I’m not really good at math but my tank size is 20x30cm by 30cm height and when I did a conversion online it turned out to be between 2.6 to 3 gal)… I know its not big enough for Sushi plus his other tank mates but the guy from the fish shop says it’s not gonna be a potential issue if I add that much fish in the tank and I didn’t know any better at that time so for now I just try to provide all of the fishes as much as I can and at the moment I can’t afford to upgrade to a much bigger tank.
At first Sushi is very active and always go to the front of the tank when he sees me coming over. He eats whatever food he sees floating or sinking, and an overall very active betta.
Now I will elaborate on the other fishes first…
After a while I got the two tiger plecos, properly acclimated and all, he had a bit of pin holes and after a few days of water change every 2 days, his fins healed completely. He chases and pokes the tiger plecos the first few days the plecos joined the tank, after a while he just swims around them (and even hides together with the tiger plecos in one of the corners of my tank, it even looked like he was kinda clingy at that moment coz he hid like how the plecos hid lol).
Their feeding habits was I didn’t feed them algae wafers until most of the algae in my tank were gone, and then I started feeding them 1 mini algae wafers each (so 2 in total), once in the morning and once at night.
After a week of getting the tiger plecos, I decided to add the 10 tetras. Also properly acclimated and placed in the tank. I will list down the three tetra loss below:
Tetra 0: This one is not a death but more of me thinking that this is a red flag with regards to my betta’s health. This tetra looked skinny and like he haven’t eaten for a few days when I first got him, and was having trouble with buoyancy, as he seemed to struggled staying in the middle of the tank and kept floating on top of the tank. I tried to feed him but he wasn’t swimming up to the food and the other tetras end up eating the food that I give him. Surprisingly he looks better and eating better and until now he still lives and now he’s more brave and not letting the other tetras get to his food first.
Tetra 1: This one died at day 3 and due to unknown causes. I just found him lying at the bottom of the tank without eyes…. Also to take note that my betta’s stomach started bloating at the same time as this… RIP lil guy….
Tetra 2: This one’s life was short lived because day 2 of getting him he jumped out of the tank and I only realized it the next morning when he was all dried up on my floor. RIP another lil guy…
Note: There's another tetra that was lying at the bottom of the tank (but I can't remember which tetra because the day after that all of the living tetras are shoaling together) - it happened the same as when Tetra 0 started and I wanted to isolate both of them in a small bowl so I can monitor them closely and feed separately but my fish seller said it will just kill them faster… So I didn’t continue with the isolation.
Tetra 3: This one died just this morning actually the day after I let my fish fast and he looked okay and well-fed (not skinny at all he was the biggest cardinal fish in my tank) and as of today the cause of his death was still unknown…. RIP and I hope you’re the last one to die ):
Overall the tetras just swim in a group and when they wake up in the morning they’re actually all scattered around the tank and will later regain their color as they group up after that.
In terms of their relationship with Sushi, he just swims around them and disturb them but goes back to his won business afterwards.
Okay now back to Sushi….
I usually feed him pellets and only fed him for 2 minutes, twice a day. Every Sunday was his fasting day. I read online about feeding a betta and most of the results states that to only feed him whatever he can finish within 2 minutes, and no more than 2 times a day. I did that and he started becoming fat (not bloated….yet) so I put him on a diet only feeding him once a day (with that same routine, 2minutes feeding) and I know he didn’t like it (I know this from tail biting that resulted right after the diet started) so I went back to feeding him twice per day, but for about 4-5 pellets each feeding.
He had developed fin rot a day after putting the cardinal tetras in the tank, and developed pin holes resulting the fins tearing making him look like he has 4 main fins, so I checked with the fish seller and he advised me to put black water in the tank. After a while my betta’s fins are healing. His pin holes seem to heal pretty quick as fast as by 24hours but the tear on his fins is slow but healing still… It looks like part of his fin is growing because I see that his “incandescent markings” (the part of his fins that glows in the dark and is originally only is seen near his caudal peduncle) is growing together with the part of his fin that is “sprouting” outwards. I’ll try to insert some photos for better understanding.
He started having bloated stomach a week ago when Tetra # 2 died, and that’s why I did the fasting. I concluded that he had constipation. I thought that he ate the tetra so I was kinda disappointed with him but all I could do is to treat him just in case it’s something serious. I fed him part of a green pea (thawed and crushed) and his stomach seemed to be smaller and back to his usual “fat” self. So I went back to the usual 4-5 pellets each feeding…
Now his stomach bothers me because it looks bigger again and I’m super worried because according to all of my google research Dropsy is usually mistaken as constipation… There’s no signs of pineconing on him (and I pray everyday that he doesn’t pinecone and that his bloating is just because of constipation) he just seems bloated. His stomach is a bit pale (his stomach is normally paler in color compared to the rest of his body) but I’m like 150% worried coz any small thing I will take them as a red flag and I really don’t want my betta to have Dropsy because I love him and I just want the best for him. I don’t think I will have the stomach to euthanize him if ever the worst happens to him.
His current behaviour are as follows:
I used to play 'follow my finger' with him and he used to follow my finger for an extended period of time (like 3 minutes?) but now he just follows my finger once and then swims away.
He still comes to the front of the tank when I walk over but the difference between now and last time was he sometimes just stares at me for a while and then swims away. He used to just be excited and stay at the front of the tank staring at me until I leave (i know I kinda sound clingy over a fish that lost interest in its owner lol but I just want to state it here as I'm not sure if it might or might not be a contributing factor to his health).
He still eats properly and has no change in his attitude when feeding… Whenever it’s the tetras’ turn to be fed, Sushi sometimes will try to steal their food so I hand feed the him and the tetras separately… The pellets are pre-soaked and I use the mini dropper to suck the soaked pellets from the plate and dropped directly in the water one by one. He knows how the food bottle looks like and will start his wiggle dance towards the front od the tank when he sees the bottle.
He still swims around and disturbs other fish but after swimming around chasing them he goes back to his spot on top of is favourite plant to rest. Sometimes he will try to find food at the bottom of the tank only to find his friends’ poop which will get cleaned out as well. When he’s not doing any of that he will sometimes go inside the decos…. like hide inside the dino decos, or will swim under the shells and will come out and go back to his resting place, or at the hammock when it’s feeding time.
As of today he stopped flaring when I showed the mirror to him… He usually flares when he sees the mirror but today he either stares at it like he doesn’t care at all, or just swims away from it like he’s scared/startled.
This is the first time I am seeing that kind of behaviour from him in front of the mirror.
Now for my tank parameters:
I do a weekly water change about 20-30% and a 10-15ml dose of beneficial bacteria (10ml for the weekly water change and 15% when I do a 40% water change)..
The aquarium salt is also replenished and mixed together with the new water. Sometimes I add a little bit directly in the tank when Sushi has fin rot and it seems to be working as his fin heals quite fast.
Water filter was customized by the fish seller so instead of the typical plastic sponge he used a different material (I can’t remember the name but it’s kind of like a porous ceramic?) and the sponge is replaced every two weeks or whenever I see fit.
I also put a pump or less of liquid fertilizer for the plants whenever I see fit.
Ammonia levels are at 0 and pH levels are at 7 constantly. I check water parameters every mid week. And it has never gone up or down, it just stays at those two readings constantly..
Let me know if there’s more information that you need to know and I will reply as soon as I can!
I used to have a heater but I'm scared that it becomes faulty and boil the tank so I removed it. Temperature stays at 26-30º C anyway and I live in Singapore which is a tropical country.
So basically my main problem is his bloating and his sudden change of attitude towards the mirror today. Based on the events that happened these past few months am I doing anything wrong?
I am thinking of going back to his green pea diet from tomorrow morning onwards… His fins look like it’s recovering and even growing so I don’t really worry about it too much… But if it’s a sign of something serious, please tell this fish mama so I can treat any problems as soon as I can!
Thank you so much in advanced and sorry for the lengthy post!! I just want to provide as much information as possible and I resorted to going to the forums because my fish seller doesn't really give elaborate answers and only tells me to "do a water change every 3 days" or "feed lesser" most of the time he just replies my messages in a phrase and doesnt really elaborate on what I'm doing wrong or even explain why whatever is happening, is happening...
Now I'm gonna post a few photos for reference, you won't see the tiger plecos by the way, they're usually hiding behind or under or in the decos when I turn the lights on.
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