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I'm not sure what that could have been, but I'm glad to hear he's doing better! You can never go wrong with a water change...well, a properly done water change anyway...

Is there something I should do differently when I do my water changes? the quart jars I use only for my fish, I have a big heavy stainless stock pot about a 10 quart one that I condition the water in, and before I use anything it is thoroughly rinsed in extremely hot water..the apt complex's boiler or whatever we all get our hot water form is so hot that I can make a cup of instant coffee or hot chocolate and not be able to drink it..you can't fill the sink and put your hands in it b/c it so hot. so I think that it gets hot enough to just about sterilize anything. I also use a turkey baster everday to vacuum up. I do not use soap at all.

this is related to Jilli's post on living simply board. I thought about using the unbleached coffee filters when doing partial water changes. THe tank vacuum takes too much water out of my tanks, so I thought that it could be poured thru the filters to get the gunk out and then putting it back to a 50 to 75% amount, then adding the new water. I think you can get the replacement baskets that the filter sits in at walmart..Think I will try it..

hi charchar,

I would just do 100% water changes every week. The tank is small enough and there's no reason why not. The fish are so happy with fresh water. And if you're putting the fresh water in the tank and THEN putting in the conditioner, you've already killed off the beneficial bacteria anyway. Also, not sure about this, but the metal pot MIGHT be causing a problem. I know water comes from a metal faucet, but I understand that metal can be really toxic to some fish and invertebrates. I have an ACF and I read that metal should never come into contact with their water. I would just try a 100% water change every week and clean their gravel and plants and toys every week. That's what I do and it's never been a problem---the fish LOVE the clean water.

Abouot the cost of the bags of glass or jewels: I was in a Dollar or Everything's a Dollar store earlier this week and they had bags of flat-bottomed glass pebbles for --$1.00. Check your different dollar stores.

Jilly,I used the coffee filter idea of straining out my existing tank water when i did a 25% water change yesterday,and it seemed to work pretty good. I have a mesh strainer, and a plastic strainer, and i covered all the straining surfaces withe coffes fiolters, and the water that i strained definitley left behind some gunk, but I think it worked really good.. also rinsed the gravel out, and then put it in a lot of water, swished it around good and strained it and just strained it thru the coffee filter, (but didn't use that), and that dislodged a lot of gunk to,,I don't have a spray nozzle at my kitchen sink, so have to really rinse and rinse the gravel. When I put the filtered tank water back and added fresh, I didn't see stuff kind of floating like before when I have done partial water changes..

I have a new betta that I have had for about a week, and he doesn't want to eat. When I first got him, I tried the Tetra flakes and pellets that Boris and Morris eat, but he just spit them out. So I tried FD bloodworms and he ate those only. He seemed to be getting along ok until I did a 50 % water change and he stopped eating. I went and got Hikari FD brine shrimp, and didn't realize that they were almost microscopic. seems like it just disintegrates into dust on the top of the water. can't tell if any of them eat it. is there a certain way to feed this food? His color faded out, but he doesn't have any signs of ick. I had put him in a 2 gal but it has only a 5 watt bulb, so it doesn't take the water temp up to 80, keeps it about 76. I then went and got him a 2.5 bow front, and it has a 7.5 watt bulb that keeps water at 80. I put his oto in with him, as he didn't seem to mind oto in the 2 gal, but this change seemed to stress him more, so back into the 2 gal with Bettafix this a.m. with no gravel, just his cave and a towel wrapped around part of his tank. He seems to be a young fish, as his body length w/o tail is only a teensy bit longer than an inch. not real long fins or tail. Any suggestions?? Sorry so long!!!!!!!!!!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/fish.gif" alt="" />

Hello??? Anyone here?? update, did get Jake to eat 2 fd bloodworms last night, and if the Biogold pellets sit in his water till they soften, he eats them but spits some out. unsure if his mouth is very small yet, or something is wrong.. <img src="/images/graemlins/fish.gif" alt="" />

an update on Jake, if anyone is interested. I started soaking his pellets unitl really soft and mushy, and he is eating better. I will get him a 2 gal this weekend with a 7.5-15 watt bulb, as that seems to keep my other boys tanks at about 80 degrees. Jake seems to my totally inexperienced eyes, that he is young, because his body and fins and tail are small and short.

Hi charchar,
Sorry it has been so quiet around here lately, sometimes it gets like that. You might want to go back to the store you got your new betta from and ask to be sure, but it is posssible he is a type or short-finned betta. Doing a little searching of betta sites might help you too. I think one of the kinds is called "crown tail" if I'm not mistaken.