Hi there!
I'm new to this forum as well as being a new fishy caregiver!! I recently got a male veiltail about a month back named nugget. He is in a 5gallon planted tank with standard gravel, driftwood, 3 ghost shrimps, and some moss balls (will post pictures). About 2 weeks after I got him I broke down and got another male butterfly and put him in a similar 5gal planted setup the onlt difference being that his substrate is fine aquarium sand instead of gravel. Both have filters and heaters and get weekly 10% water changes with distilled water.
On to the issue--
Nugget is a very active happy-go-lucky fish. He's my favorite. He will jump and bite his pellets off my finger and rarely ever misses one, even if it sinks. Occasionally a lucky shrimp will get one he overlooked. He had badly torn fins from my first tank setup (plastic plants!!!! Learned my lesson) and his fins have healed beautifully. I've had his water tested one time with the unreliable dip sticks which his levels were fine. Mushu (the newer butterfly) is more shy and less active. His favorite past time is just laying in his aquarium plants. He is slow at eating and often misses 2 or 3 pellets a feeding (once a day 5-6 pellets sometimes I'll give them another 2-3 a second time). I let them sink and figured his 3 ghost shrimps would take care of them. I've noticed a more yellow color to his tank water although I thought it was just the sand making the water reflect weird. I've also noticed some brown algae on his plants and a milky clear fungus starting on his driftwood. Today I've noticed what looks like the beginning stage of fin rot. His tail looks slightly crumpled around the edges and I noticed a milky white fluff on some of the tips on his fins.
I do have a bottle of api bettafix I got for nuggets torn fins but never used (his fins were doing fine on their own). I was considering doing a 50%water change tonight and try to vaccum the sand best I can and treat the new water with some Betta fix. I will also lessen the amount of pellets I'm feeding. Tank temps are always between 78 and 80 degrees although I never properly tested either of the tank water.
Any advice or constructive crticism are welcome! I'm new to this but very fond of my fish and would like to keep them happy and healthy.
Nuggets tank
And mushu/his tank
Suspected fin rot, weird plant algae on java fern, and fungus on driftwood. (Ignore the black charcaol mess simply a disintegrated flourish tab for plants)
I'm new to this forum as well as being a new fishy caregiver!! I recently got a male veiltail about a month back named nugget. He is in a 5gallon planted tank with standard gravel, driftwood, 3 ghost shrimps, and some moss balls (will post pictures). About 2 weeks after I got him I broke down and got another male butterfly and put him in a similar 5gal planted setup the onlt difference being that his substrate is fine aquarium sand instead of gravel. Both have filters and heaters and get weekly 10% water changes with distilled water.
On to the issue--
Nugget is a very active happy-go-lucky fish. He's my favorite. He will jump and bite his pellets off my finger and rarely ever misses one, even if it sinks. Occasionally a lucky shrimp will get one he overlooked. He had badly torn fins from my first tank setup (plastic plants!!!! Learned my lesson) and his fins have healed beautifully. I've had his water tested one time with the unreliable dip sticks which his levels were fine. Mushu (the newer butterfly) is more shy and less active. His favorite past time is just laying in his aquarium plants. He is slow at eating and often misses 2 or 3 pellets a feeding (once a day 5-6 pellets sometimes I'll give them another 2-3 a second time). I let them sink and figured his 3 ghost shrimps would take care of them. I've noticed a more yellow color to his tank water although I thought it was just the sand making the water reflect weird. I've also noticed some brown algae on his plants and a milky clear fungus starting on his driftwood. Today I've noticed what looks like the beginning stage of fin rot. His tail looks slightly crumpled around the edges and I noticed a milky white fluff on some of the tips on his fins.
I do have a bottle of api bettafix I got for nuggets torn fins but never used (his fins were doing fine on their own). I was considering doing a 50%water change tonight and try to vaccum the sand best I can and treat the new water with some Betta fix. I will also lessen the amount of pellets I'm feeding. Tank temps are always between 78 and 80 degrees although I never properly tested either of the tank water.
Any advice or constructive crticism are welcome! I'm new to this but very fond of my fish and would like to keep them happy and healthy.
Nuggets tank
And mushu/his tank
Suspected fin rot, weird plant algae on java fern, and fungus on driftwood. (Ignore the black charcaol mess simply a disintegrated flourish tab for plants)