New Betta Aquarium

[SomethingSmellsFishie]

Hi guys!

My name is Ellie and I'm 19 years old.

I have been out of the hobby for about 4 years, and now that I am in college I got a new friend for my dorm room. The tank is a 5.5 gallon, with a Top Fin filter (Used a water bottle to buffer the stream as my betta was having issues swimming in his tank), Aqueon 50w heater, and some decorations. The heater is set to 80, and I bought Aqueon pellets for food and Seachem Prime for conditioner.

I'm just looking for any feedback about the tank and my care, as well as any tips! I remember basic things but I missed having fish a lot. Attached are pictures of the tank and my new buddy!

 

[FishFinatic77]

First of all, that is a really pretty betta!

I see you have some plastic plants in your tank. I would remove those because your betta's fins can rip really easily. Get either silk plants or live plants. Anacharis, valicineria, anubias, duckweed, and javafern are all great beginner plants. Check how strong your lighting is though because some of these prefer low lighting.

Are the aqueon pellets the only thing you are feeding him? Bettas (and all fish really) do best when they get lots of different foods. If you ate pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday, you would get sick of it right?
I give my betta two different types of pellets, freeze dried bloodworms, and a pea once a week to help with digestion. I'm also going to get him some frozen brine shrimp soon to give him some extra nutrients.
Bettas need lots of protein, so make sure the protein level in the pellets you feed him is above 36%.
Aqueon food is also not very good. They contain all sorts of color, wheat, fish meal, and other things that are not good for fish. The pellets I feed my betta are both by hikari. Omega one, bug bites, and full spectrum are also good brands.

Other than that, you are doing a great job and you seem to really care about your fish. Good job!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Your tank needs a picture on the back to make the fish feel more secure. You can buy aquarium backings from pet shops or online, or you can use some coloured card or even a plastic bin liner. Just sticky tape them to the back of the tank (on the outside).

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You can buy round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre and fit over the intake strainer of most external power filters. The sponge will prevent the fish from being sucked onto the strainer, and it will also hold beneficial bacteria. To clean the sponge just squeeze it out in a bucket of tank water, then put it back on the filter.

Don't bother buying replacement cartridges for your filter. You can get square or rectangular sponges for other brands of filter. These can be cut with a pair of scissors so they fit into your filter. Sponges last for years and won't need to be replaced, unlike the filter pads/ cartridges in your filter.

Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better. However, do not clean a new filter until it is at least 6 weeks old or you will wash out a lot of the good filter bacteria.

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Tanks should be given a regular water change and gravel clean. I recommend doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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How long has the tank been set up for?
If the tank is less than 6 weeks old, only feed the fish once every couple of days and do a 75% water change and gravel clean 4-8 hours after feeding. Monitor the water and do a 75% water change any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0, or a nitrate reading above 20ppm.

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The following link has information about what to do if your fish gets sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/