NURSING BACK TO HEALTH

[lorax311420]

Hey all, just want to say that although my betta (sharky) looked like he had some sort of illness I am slowly but surely nursing him back to health. At first it seemed like he had ick (grayish/white spots on his head) so i used a little ick guard from jungle labs but that didnt seem to do anything. Then my local fish keeper said it could possibly be fungus and gave me some meds for that. Still no help. So i stopped all meds and just continued checking water conditions and doing regualr partial changes. Unfortunately, the meds killed all bacteria and i am stuck cycling the tank again.

but as for sharky he is definitely an active little pig. He swims up and down the tank flaring his gills at the shiny backside of the thermometer, gobbling up every last pellet I feed him. It even seems that he follows my finger when I point to the food.

One problem i am having is that my water seems to be cloudy. I have cut back on his feedings to every other day and been doing daily water changes but it seems like the plants in my tank have a film covering them. Any ideas?

Also I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions on some tank mates. I have a 10 gallon hexagon tank

 

[BettaMomma]

what size is your tank?
I'm assuming that since you said it was cycled that it has a filter?
What temp is it at right now??

 

[lorax311420]

It is a 10 gallon hexagon with a filter. The temp is currently at 78 degrees

 

[Kiarra]

Tank mates for when he gets better could include:

Zebra/Leopard Danios
They're fast little buggers, and should be kept in a group of at least 6, or else they may bother the Betta to try and get him to play with them. They like to race back and forth the tank all day long, and are really quite entertaining, but they can annoy the crap out of other fish if you don't have enough of them.

White Cloud Mountain Minnows
Pretty harmless and inexpensive. They are sometimes called the "poor man's neon" due to their resemblance to Neon Tetras. Very easy to maintain. Should also be kept in groups of at least 6. They eat everything, get along well with other fish, and are very cute.

I have both of these species, and at some point, they've all lived with a Betta. As long as they're big enough to not be eaten, then everyone usually coexists just fine. All Bettas are different, however, and some will not tolerate ANY fish in their tank, no matter what species. However, Zebra/Leopard Danios and White Cloud Mountain Minnows are both short-finned species as a general rule, so don't usually arouse any Betta aggression.

 

[newfishies]

i don't know about the WCMM's, but the danios need more swimming space than a 10 gal hex. i don't think they would like that type of tank!

what do you use for dechlorinator? i use amquel, but i find that it leasves a film on the plants sometimes...

 

[BettaMomma]

I personally think the danios would nip and rip the betta's fins to shreds.

 

[eudielynn]

I have zebra danios in with my betta and they leave each other alone, but when I bought Jericho, he was in a tank with neon tetras that were chewing him up. Of course, I also have a 20 gal tank. Which I believe is the minimum dainos should be in.

 

[Kiarra]

The Danios usually only harrass the Betta if there aren't enough other Danios to keep them company. Having 6 Danios usually takes care of that enough that they couldn't care much less about the Betta.

 

[newfishies]

the 10 gal hex is still not the right size/shape tank for danios....