BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Fish Journal - BETTAS ONLY

:rolling: HI ALL:

Welcome NightsBella,

I found this forum searching for fish help as well. It is great isn't it! <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Sorry to hear about your fish. Bettas are such great little pets! I agree with others, just keep him as comfortable as possible and enjoy the time you have now. My friend's betta recently died, she said she thought it might have been a fungus, he had little white spots on him. She had not had him very long, just a few months. I actually gave him to her so I'm sad too. Hope she will have better luck, some of the fish are just sickly from the begginning. Maybe because pet places should take better care of the ones they are selling in the stores. Anyway, I wish you the best with your fish! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Bell, it sounds like your friend's fish had a case of "ick". There are treatments for that, you can find them at any store that sells fish usually...and Jilly has some articles on this site about taking care of sick fish and such.

Usually fish are all stressed out when you pick them up from the stores...especially bettas since they are only in those little cups and surrounded by other "challengers"...and....being picked up and jostled around alot by folks looking for a friendly fish. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Finding a nice warm place for them and treating thier water with stress coat and aquarium salt when you get them home..and leaving them be for awhile so they can adjust...are good ideas. also keeping an eye out for illness as they are suseptable from being so stressed.

Introduce them to thier new surroundings slowly..float thier cup in the tank/bowl you will be putting them in, before you actually put them in the water. This is so they can adjust to the temp change(takes at least 15 minutes),then add a bit of the tank/bowl water to the cup and let them sit a bit. When you think you have given them enough time, tip them into thier new home nice and easy.

None of this guarentees no illnesses, but it sure helps!

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

EMG,

<img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Thanks for all the info, I especailly liked the idea about letting the fish get used to the water. I was trying to think of ways to slowly get a fish adjusted to the water.

<img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> My fish bubbles water has been getting very troublesome. I changed it on saturday and by monday night it was all slimey again. It is strange, I'm not sure what this icky looking stuff could be but it looks like slime to me. It coats over the top surface of the water and stays there. It really does not have a color or anything. I have not had a chance to actually test this nasty water yer but I just keep changing it. Anyone have any ideas about what is happening? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Gee Bell....I don't know what that could be, but if it makes a slime over the top of the water that can't be good...bettas need to gulp air from time to time and a slimy surface can make that difficult I imagine.

You can take a sample of your water to a fish store...some of them will test it for you for free. If there is anyone there who knows anything about aquariums you can talk to them about your problem.

I think I would take everything out of the tank, and wash it all down real good, tank and all (NO soap! just good hot water) even the gravel, wash everything off. Then try it again and see if it comes back.

I bet Jilly has some ideas...I havn't run across that problem yet so I couldn't tell you what it might be.

Hope you get it all cleared up !

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> :kiss:
EMG,

Yeah I don't know what this stuff is either, the only way I can think of to describe it is it looking slimey, But it looks cloudy also, I just don't know how to explain it really but I am guessing whatever it is it is toxic. Yeah I have washed and changed everything. I might just take everything but the water out for a while. I have a feeling that this cave I have for him is not good. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

DOES ANYONE HAVE A CAVE FOR THEIR FISH, IF SO I'D LIKE TO CHAT WITH YOU SOME MORE ABOUT YOURS AND IF YOU HAVE EVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT LIKE CHIPPING OR FADING???? My cave is rainbow colored and it came from walmart. I think it might be putting toxins in my fish's water. The cave maybe seems to be fading, has a funny smell, and when I was washing it the other day. A piece of it chipped off from the inside. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

bellea

I think I would take that cave out, clean up the water and see if the slime comes back. That's one way to find out if it is the cave or not.

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have a betta and two african dwarf frogs in a 5 gallon tank. I have had them about two weeks. I had the tank set up and running for a week before I put my betta in, and about 10 days later I added the frogs. Probobly two days after I added the betta the water turned all cloudy, and as the tank had been running for over a week just fine, I figured it was a bacteria bloom, and it cleared up in a day and a half or so. However, i just got test kits to test the water, and the ammonia level is at .25ish, which seems okay for now. However, the nitrite level is off the chart almost! The fish and the frogs seem to be doing just fine, no signs of disease and all are eating like little monsters. Since I have found out-3 days ago-I have changed 2 gallons a day with fresh water treated with aquarium salt (I read this helps them absorb oxygen). I have cleaned their tank once a week otherwise, doing regular partial water change and gravel vacuuming. Am I doing anything wrong? Should I do something different? Sorry so long...

I should have listened to Emg about ghost shrimp. I bought 4 of them last night at WalMart -- only place I could find them. Put 2 each in my betta tanks. They went bazookas eating stuff, but when I woke up, the smallest ones were gone, and the bigger ones were both dead. :angel:

I also got 2 African aquatic frogs. They're hanging out in the tanks still, but I think they aren't happy right now. I have live plants in each tank, but no place for them to hide. I caught Pinky taking a nibble on his frog's foot, so I tapped the tank and told him to stop it. :devil:

Hi Nanny. Yeah, eventually the bettas seem to eat their shrimps, plus if you are adding salt to the water that kills them. I have ghosties in with my platys and guppies, and they are just fine.

I think your frogs will be okay if they are not too tiny. My frogs just hang motionless all day, then ZOOM they move, and return to doing absolutely nothing. Also, I have NEVER ONCE seen a frog eat. But they survive. I think they eat at night when no one is looking. And they keep the gravel pristine - you still have to do water changes for quality, but there's no mulm at all.