Greetings!

[Toli820]

Hey, everyone!

I'm a complete and utter newbie when it comes to fishkeeping. For a long time I'd been convinced that I'd be bored to death with the idea of having fish, then, I came into the responsibility of caring for a betta fish at work. Then, I thought I'd try one of my own at home. Sadly, it passed away not long after my initial attempt. Undaunted, I persevered, and my girlfiend and I put together a small tank with a betta, an albino cory, and 3 glofish, which, though still young, seems to be going swimmingly (excuse the pun).

That being said, honestly, I'm pretty hooked. I find myself with ideas of lovely tanks I can put together. So, rather than doing random searches through google, I decided that it might be a good idea to join a forum and get specific answers to specific questions.

Hope you don't mind a new (new) voice asking questions you've probably heard a million times before!

 

[RustedKnight]

I'm sure noone minds, and atleast questions they've heard before they already know the answer to

Out of interest did you cycle your tank? As this may have been the unfortunate cause of the original Betta.

What size is your tank, and would love to know what colours and tail shape your Betta is.
And yes, once you catch the tropical fish bug, there is no looking back.

 

[Toli820]

I'm not going to lie, I blame the failure on my own lack of knowledge. The tank was tiny, only 1/2 a US Gallon, which I'd read (as I said, I'd done a lot of skimming on google and such, and probably got bad information) would be fine for the betta. I also think the betta itself might have been in poor health from the start. It was somewhat lethargic, even in the store.

Right now, on the recommendation of one of the fish guys in PetSmart, I have a 5 gallon miniBow tank, filtered and heated. The betta is a white opaque veiltail (I believe) and, seems quite happy and active in this tank. He also doesn't bother his tankmates (though he seemed quite curious about the albino cory), which I was very afraid of, seemingly without any reason since the more I read, the more I see that bettas CAN coexist with others.

 

[RustedKnight]

Oh indeed they can, our betta lives with corydora catfish, otocinclus catfish, and 2 species of tetra (though we keep an eye on those pesky tetra's as they are known to nip fins, but so far ours haven't)

Yeah that tank was rediculously tiny, even though it is possible to keep a betta in those conditions it'll never be happy, and of course a happy fish is a healthy fish.

White opaque veiltail, sounds lovely.

Ok, well from the sounds of it you have not done a cycle, which means you may have to do a fish in cycle. This isn't your fault if you haven't done it, the shop should have advised you to do so.

You'll need a testing kit, one that checks the following;

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
GH (general hardness)
KH (no idea what it stands for.. but it works like a pH buffer)
pH (the acidity or alkaline properties of the water)
and Cl2 (chlorine)

For the cycle I don't think you'll need GH, KH or pH testing, but they are extremely handy to have lying around.

Now I hope you're ready for some work, as the members on this forum will be having you likely doing a water change and testing the water every day!!
It sounds daunting, but this is to help get your filter up to maturity, as it needs to colonise with "friendly" bacteria, Abac's and Nbac's, which then help significantly to keeping your water clean.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

Here's more information.

 

[Toli820]

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated!

I haven't done a cycle, no, and, I must admit, I've been very, very nervous about the process. I'd been quite happy the the water in the tank is crystal clear, warm and seemingly keeping the fish happy... Should I be aware that I've been lulled into a false sense of security? xD

 

[RustedKnight]

Yes a little bit so, as your tank and filter start to mature they will have nitrate and ammonia "spikes", which is where the readings jump very high, this can be bad news for your lovely fish.

Don't panic over it too much, so many people, including myself, were not told this information when first starting up and it's a shame on the fish store really.

Right, so the sooner you act, the better it will be for your fish you need the testing kits (sorry for getting you to buy stuff) and then you'll need some patience.

What you can then do is start an online logbook as many others do in the "your new freshwater tank" forum, and people will keep track of how your filter is maturing, and can advise you on what to do every day.

Then hopefully we can get your bacteria up and running, and then we can all enjoy photo's of your lovely fish

 

[the biffster]

Oh indeed they can, our betta lives with corydora catfish, otocinclus catfish, and 2 species of tetra (though we keep an eye on those pesky tetra's as they are known to nip fins, but so far ours haven't)

Yeah that tank was rediculously tiny, even though it is possible to keep a betta in those conditions it'll never be happy, and of course a happy fish is a healthy fish.

White opaque veiltail, sounds lovely.

Ok, well from the sounds of it you have not done a cycle, which means you may have to do a fish in cycle. This isn't your fault if you haven't done it, the shop should have advised you to do so.

You'll need a testing kit, one that checks the following;

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
GH (general hardness)
KH (no idea what it stands for.. but it works like a pH buffer)
pH (the acidity or alkaline properties of the water)
and Cl2 (chlorine)

For the cycle I don't think you'll need GH, KH or pH testing, but they are extremely handy to have lying around.

Now I hope you're ready for some work, as the members on this forum will be having you likely doing a water change and testing the water every day!!
It sounds daunting, but this is to help get your filter up to maturity, as it needs to colonise with "friendly" bacteria, Abac's and Nbac's, which then help significantly to keeping your water clean.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

Here's more information.

KH = CARBONATE HARDNESS


hi

 

[Carlovel1]

 

[the biffster]

can i ask why do we need Cl2 for if you use
a dechlorinator

 

[RustedKnight]

Just in case :shrug:

I was being cautious.

 

[the biffster]

Just in case :shrug:

I was being cautious.

joke i was trying to be funny