Making A Total Noob Of Myself...

[Saedcantas]

Hiya guys,

I'm getting really peeved at my bettas bowl. As I said before, I have him in a 5uk gal glass bowl, unfiltered with ultrafine black gravel and a plastic ornament.

I did have two plants in there and the water just went disgusting (as in cloudy and smelling odd) in about 4 days of them being there. Last night I gave my little boy a 100% change and totally cleaned his bowl in the hopes of stemming this problem. I removed the plants and added a very small heater (suitable for up to 20l tanks).

Lo and behold less than 24 hours later the water is cloudy/milky again and I just looks dusty when it isnt
The little guy seems completely unphased by all this, he's swimming around and nesting happy as anything, he goes completely bananas during his 5 minutes of reflection time per day aswell

Basically, I know that the problem is not lack of maintainance, I just dont know whats going wrong so quickly? I'm feeding him very little to be honest.

Anyway here's pics...

 

[bUcky]

you betta is healthy thats good,

but when you clean do a 100% water change then use a paper towel to wipe everything dry.

then try the bowl without gravel, ornaments or anyting. just water. even ue bottled water if you can.

most likely you clowdy water is coming from the gravel, or just your water supply.

 

[liz2]

I got rid of gravel in my betta tanks. I just use those glass pebbles you get from the pound shops! At first the bettas flare at them but then they get used to them. They look pretty as well, and you can see if they are going to the toilet and if they are leaving food about!

 

[OohFeeshy]

Have you used any sprays or similar in the room? They can get into the water and make it icky.

 

[Saedcantas]

Well, It's got to be the gravel or the ornament as the water comes from the same supply as my other tank which has never had any similar problems, I do a 100% water change on his bowl each time with a good thorough clean all around and there are definitely no sprays or otherwise used in the room as the room houses my reptiles also which of course are also prone to problems from sprays and such.

Ahh well, I'm just going to turf out the gravel and see if that does the trick! I only wanted it because it contrasts so beautifully with his colour

Thanks peeps!

 

[bUcky]

let us know cause my bet is on the gravel being the reason

 

[e11cloud]

They also make little filters for fish bowls. That could also be something that you might want to consider if the water keeps clouding up. I'm in the US not UK, so I'm not for sure where you'd get them there, but you could always check out big al's online.

 

[Saedcantas]

I work in an LFS and we do sell the small circular UGF plates amongst other crappy little things. I would really prefer to just 100% water change tho, I'm already hopelessly devoted to my fish and reptiles so another bit of frequent maintainance to the list isnt really a problem

On that note tho, he's built two more seperate nests since yesterday the silly little sausage must have gotten bored of his first constructions