Suddenly obsessed with this little female betta

[kellyrazz1996]

I've been wanting a red male betta for the past few months and finally set myself to the task of preparing for one. Lots of reading and a 20 gallon tank later and I found myself searching through three different pet stores, but none of the betta were calling out to me. I ended up going home with a little albino pleco instead. Anyway, I went back the next day and saw this little female and I fell absolutely in love. Haven't thought of a name for either fish quite yet, but they'll come to me.
The more I read the more I understand that I'll need a divider in this tank (even though I originally thought it would be large enough) if I want to add a male, for risk of aggression or breeding AND aggression. Maybe once I'm a little more experienced I can travel down that rabbit hole, as I definitely am interested in it, but I'm too green for now.
Anyway, I'm excited to find a forum for this new hobby of mine. I look forward to reading and learning from everyone!

 

[evanb]

That's a beautiful Betta.
I always love seeing the Bettas in my lfs and on the forum but unfortunately I've never had one of my own. Maybe one day..

 

[FishBearer9845]

Hello
Lovely fishies!
I hate to be that person, is your tank cycled?

 

[kellyrazz1996]

Hello
Lovely fishies!
I hate to be that person, is your tank cycled?

Don't hate when you're here to educate!
It is not, I'm actually sitting here in horror as I read about it and realize my mistake. Up until now, my explanation of "cycling the tank" was letting the pump and new filter run for 24 hours before adding a fish. I feel kinda stupid for believing that. I'm putting together a list of supplies to pick up when PetSmart opens in a few hours, and then I'll start working on hopefully fixing my mistake. Until then, mild anxiety

 

[tonitetra]

Don't hate when you're here to educate!
It is not, I'm actually sitting here in horror as I read about it and realize my mistake. Up until now, my explanation of "cycling the tank" was letting the pump and new filter run for 24 hours before adding a fish. I feel kinda stupid for believing that. I'm putting together a list of supplies to pick up when PetSmart opens in a few hours, and then I'll start working on hopefully fixing my mistake. Until then, mild anxiety

Don’t feel too bad about it. I did the same thing when I got my first tank. It’s just soo hard to be patient to add fish but you must like it is mandatory. Since you already have some fish in there I would recommend doing water changes often, like every 2 days but not too much water because you do want some bacteria in the tank. However you don’t want a ammonia spike because then you will be doing water changes every day. You gotta get some testing strips to see what your levels are. You’re main concern now is the ammonia and then later it will prolly be the nitrite. You want both of these to be zero. I would recommend treating the water you do water changes with Seachem Prime. It’s great and I would say better than API stress coat. Also don’t change your filter media for a while you are going to want the bacteria in there to grow to control the ammonia levels. It you do need to rinse them, then rinse them in water from your aquarium so you maintain the bacteria. I mean I can go on forever and I am not going to lie people on here can be pretty direct. The first time I posted on here, I got my feelings hurt lol, but I am just saying what I have been through and how I overcame it. Sorry for writing an essay

 

[evanb]

By the way..Welcome To The Forum!!

 

[kellyrazz1996]

Thank you for your essay! It's very helpful.
I can understand peoples irritation with me if any comes up, to be honest. I am actually an emergency veterinary technician and see a lot of stupid things come in that could have been avoided with simple education. I get pretty irritated with these cases, so I can only imagine how a long time hobbyist would be irritated with me. But I'm here to learn and hopefully prevent any serious mistakes in the future.

 

[kellyrazz1996]

By the way..Welcome To The Forum!!

Thank you!!

 

[AilyNC]

Welcome.

Lovely Pleco there too

Every fish keeper needs a good testing kit, especially as you cycle the tank. API Master Test Kit is great. It covered 800 tests so worth the cost. I was in similar situation except my tank had crashed & my fish were dying almost daily. What fish are currently in the tank?

 

[kellyrazz1996]

Welcome.

Lovely Pleco there too

Every fish keeper needs a good testing kit, especially as you cycle the tank. API Master Test Kit is great. It covered 800 tests so worth the cost. I was in similar situation except my tank had crashed & my fish were dying almost daily. What fish are currently in the tank?

Yep! I'll be picking up whatever I can from PetSmart once they're open, but I've got the API Master Kit in my cart on Amazon right now in case I can't get that in stores. I only have the betta and the pleco for now, plus a little marimo moss ball (not a fish but it is a live thing).

 

[AilyNC]

Here are some great posts about the Nitrogen Cycle and fish-in cycle (which is what you'll be doing). Testing daily & performing 75% water changes when ammonia or Nitrite is above 0 and/or nitrate is above 20. The beneficial bacteria isn't floating in the water so big water changes won't harm their development.

Adding more plants will go things along. Especially fast growing plants like Amazon Sword, Water Wisteria, Hornwort. And definitely pick up some floating plants - your fish will feel better with cover and they help get water balance you need.

 

[kellyrazz1996]

Here are some great posts about the Nitrogen Cycle and fish-in cycle (which is what you'll be doing). Testing daily & performing 75% water changes when ammonia or Nitrite is above 0 and/or nitrate is above 20. The beneficial bacteria isn't floating in the water so big water changes won't harm their development.

Adding more plants will go things along. Especially fast growing plants like Amazon Sword, Water Wisteria, Hornwort. And definitely pick up some floating plants - your fish will feel better with cover and they help get water balance you need.

Thank you so much! This is really helpful

 

[AilyNC]

Sorry I forgot the links

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part I

RESCUING A FISH IN CYCLE GONE WILD Part I If you are reading this it means you have tried to cycle your tank using fish and have run into problems and don’t know what to do. Before we begin to discuss the potential solutions, we would like to make it clear that we do not recommend to...

www.fishforums.net

 

[kellyrazz1996]

Sorry I forgot the links

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part I

RESCUING A FISH IN CYCLE GONE WILD Part I If you are reading this it means you have tried to cycle your tank using fish and have run into problems and don’t know what to do. Before we begin to discuss the potential solutions, we would like to make it clear that we do not recommend to...

www.fishforums.net

Even more helpful!!

 

[tonitetra]

Honestly, it becomes like an obsession after a while. First you are worried about your water levels, then you’ll want to breed or aquascape and the next thing you know you have 5 different tanks and more knowledge than someone working at sea world. Lmao