10gal Tank Started 7th June 08 & Cycling With 6 Cardinals

[Lazerus]

Well, so far so good,

Neither seems interested in each other at all....the cardinals stay at the bottom and middle and the betta mainly stays around the middle and top....he's been exploring in the foliage & logs & stuff all morning and often passed the cardinals on his way, but never paid them any attention at all.

The cardinals haven't gone near him either & seem happy just doing what they normally do.

He seems to be quite calm actually. He's still a little fella though....only about half his full mature size i'd say.

Anyway, this morning my ammonia is up a bit again (0ppm-0.25pmm), so I've done another 15% water change. The others are at 0.

 

[Lazerus]

All fish doing well today.... No nipping or fighting from either corner! All getting along just fine.

(Well, that one fish is still poorly so on advice I've added some Interpet no.9 to the tank with the hope that it will improve things.)

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, ph.7.8...

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh he is a pretty boy isn't he!!

glad things are working out so far but we warned that this may not last. a lot of fish are calm and peaceful when they are juveniles, but when they reach sexual maturity can turn aggressive.

So while it may work out for you, and I do hope it does, you must exercise caution. You need to make some sort of Plan B, Be it a tank divider, a spare tank or whatever, just something you can use to seperate them if needs be.

It's also perhaps time to have a chat to your sister, explain that while you really appreciate the gift, not all fish are compatible so you'd rather she didn't go out and buy you them but suggest perhaps a trip to the fish shop together if she ever wants to do the same thing, so then you have control over what you end up with.

 

[Lazerus]

Oh, believe me I have!!!! We had a discussion yesterday about when she rang to ask me how things were. She was a little surprised, but understood, and said the fish shop hadn’t told her any of that…where have I heard that before!! Anyway, lesson learnt.

Sure only the other day when I went to buy the Interpet stuff for medicating the tank, I saw the shop selling this little child & his mother a beautiful blue feisty male Betta with several male fancy tailed guppies. Disaster! He was already flaring up at them.

Not once did they say anything about the aggressive nature of the fish. I felt like intervening to highlight it, but then as I’m not really qualified I didn’t say anything. I felt awful about it though afterwards.

I bet that child was crying on Sunday morning.

Yes, this betta of mine is a little fella at the moment and very placid. He’s only about 3.5cm in size (not including the tail) so he’s a bit to go yet. They are getting on just fine currently, in fact the 6 cardinals and himself are swim up and down the tank together on occasion when he’s not exploring. He’s a pleasure to watch, he really is. He has such a little character in him already. He comes up to me when I approach the tank, not a bit scared at all. I’ve a feeling he was definitely tank bred.

I have a spare 15 litre plastic tank on standby though just in case.... I used to have goldfish in it, it has a built in air pump, but I’ve no spare heater or filter though. ~ That will be a problem if I need to transfer in a hurry.

So anyway….my ammonia is up this morning…a definite pale lime green…it’s at 0.25….so I was just asking in another post about how I should go about this particular water change, seeing as I’ve medication in the tank.

Ok, I’ve written another novel here…must stop typing.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Oh, believe me I have!!!! We had a discussion yesterday about when she rang to ask me how things were. She was a little surprised, but understood, and said the fish shop hadn’t told her any of that…where have I heard that before!! Anyway, lesson learnt.

Sure only the other day when I went to buy the Interpet stuff for medicating the tank, I saw the shop selling this little child & his mother a beautiful blue feisty male Betta with several male fancy tailed guppies. Disaster! He was already flaring up at them.

Not once did they say anything about the aggressive nature of the fish. I felt like intervening to highlight it, but then as I’m not really qualified I didn’t say anything. I felt awful about it though afterwards.

I bet that child was crying on Sunday morning.

Yes, this betta of mine is a little fella at the moment and very placid. He’s only about 3.5cm in size (not including the tail) so he’s a bit to go yet. They are getting on just fine currently, in fact the 6 cardinals and himself are swim up and down the tank together on occasion when he’s not exploring. He’s a pleasure to watch, he really is. He has such a little character in him already. He comes up to me when I approach the tank, not a bit scared at all. I’ve a feeling he was definitely tank bred.

I have a spare 15 litre plastic tank on standby though just in case.... I used to have goldfish in it, it has a built in air pump, but I’ve no spare heater or filter though. ~ That will be a problem if I need to transfer in a hurry.

So anyway….my ammonia is up this morning…a definite pale lime green…it’s at 0.25….so I was just asking in another post about how I should go about this particular water change, seeing as I’ve medication in the tank.

Ok, I’ve written another novel here…must stop typing.

glad she took it well and understood. It's a nice gesture but not always appropriate when you consider it's a live animal.

bettas are often kept without filters or heaters, not that it's my preferred method of keeping them, but it can work. you just need to do daily water changes to get rid of the ammonia and in a small tank just putting a desk lamp over it will warm it up (although obviously there's no thermostat so you have to monitor temp and adjust things). manageable for a couple of days if needs be.

 

[Lazerus]

Sure, its my own fault for going on about fish so much!!! Sure thought she was onto a winner with her gift. Not to worry!

Ok, thanks for the info on the tank...I've been reading up a bit on the 'Betta' threads too.

Loads of stuff here on this forum, its great!

 

[nigsy]

Hi,
Just caught up on your thread, well done on the cycle!!

As for Gouramis (dwarf or other wise), your tank really isn't big enough. They can be terretorial, especially dwarf gouramis. The advice given earlier 1M/ 2FM is correct. They need plenty of folliage, to hide in/ cruise through (gourami owners know what I mean), and yes they can get a little "bouyant" at feeding time.
I have a 260L tank and only have 2 (1M & 1F) dwarf gouramis in it, that way they can each have one end of the tank each for their own little piece of territory.

You need to have had the tank set up and stable for 6 months at least before you put these thing in!!

Shrimps are great though, get some!!

 

[Lazerus]

Thanks Nigsy...unfortunately not there on the cycle just yet....things have all gone a bit pear shaped for me.

I've just tested my water there again this evening and I'm getting a reading of 0.25 for ammonia again, even though I did a 30% water change this morning....

I'll need to change the water again now this evening, I take it?

Thanks for the info on the Gouramis by the way...beautiful fish, but I'll leave them for now as since I got that betta, my tank is fully stocked now I think....but as you say my tank is probably not big enough...

Edited: Speelings...as usual!

Edited again...I'm meant SPELLINGS!!!

 

[Lazerus]

Did a 30% water change just there (10 litres)....No harm anyway I imagine?

Better than leaving the ammonia to possbily rise futher during the night....

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Did a 30% water change just there (10 litres)....No harm anyway I imagine?

Better than leaving the ammonia to possbily rise futher during the night....

agreed

could be a little mini cycle, because you added the betta that's a fair sized increase in your bio load compared to 6 tetras. so again keep monitoring, if you see ammonia or nitrite then change the water

 

[Lazerus]

I feel happier now that its done.

Yes... this betta is a guzzler for the food alright....the tetras are so dainty compared to him....

These fish are quite similar to my cat and dog actually....The cat leaves her food when shes full, the dog would eat until her stomach bursts!!

So my tetras are like cats, the betta is like a dog! Its funny really, because their personalities are similar too! Interesting!

 

[Lazerus]

Ok....I just did another test there and the ammonia is still reading 0.25?

This is after a 30% water change an hour ago

Isn't this strange? I guess I should do a further water change then?

(Each time I'm adding the medication for the internal bacteria (Interpet no.9)...could this be causing the spike?)

 

[Bblou]

be careful on adding the meds again.... u might overdose them.


also, have you tested your tap water? if ya got ammonia in that all of a sudden, no amount of water change will stop it. I had that problem, but it was only temporary.


re the betta and the tetra... mine were fine together but bazils much happier alone, well... when hes not sick anyway. the tetra never went near him.. or anyone... until there was illness.. then they were ####s!! the gouramis do seem to like their territory aswell but theyre happy in my 20g... i guess they could be happier in a bigger tank.

keep doing water changes until you get a reading of 0. even if you have to do 90% water change.

check your tap water first though, that might be your problem. if its not that, you just need a bigger water change i guess. test for everything in the tap... and if ur ph in tap is diff to tank... i have no advice but might be worth asking about here.

I dont think the med would up the Ammonia... but I am as new to this as you.

just passing on what ive learned from similar problems

edit.

i meant be careful is ur ph were diff between tank n tap, but to check the ammonia etc also. it didnt make much sense in the other sentence. probably still doesnt.

 

[Lazerus]

Hi BBlou...Thanks!!

Just back from doing another 30% water change. I hope this helps...I'll check the ammonia reading again in an hour.

Having read Nigsy's topic earlier, about oxygen levels depleting in the tank after adding medication for white spot, I've also raised my filter up so that there is more of a current with bubbles to create more oxygen as I don't have an air pump or air stone. I know you are putting meds in your tank too for your Betta, so thats something you may not have known?

Anyway, as for the meds, I'm changing exactly 10 litres of water each time, so I'm adding 1 pipette to the bucket of new water. (The instructions say 1 full pipette for every 10 litres) So, I feel i'm ok with the dosing there.

I'm off to check the tap water now....good idea! Back in a minute!

 

[Lazerus]

Hi again...

So Ammonia from my tap is reading at 0ppm.