Sad Little Betta Need Help

[blondi22569]

Hello all. My 20 yr old college student daughter took off to do missionary work in Mexico which means I inherited her poor little betta. She forgot about him most of the time and he has been living in a tiny little maybe 2 cup petstore plastic little tank. He seems to have some fin rot and had some other problems with his swim bladder and color. I have been nursing him back to health in his little tank and his fins look a little better, color is getting better and the swim bladder problems seem to be gone. I decided he is probably healthy enough to move him to a larger tank so I purchased a 2.5 gal plain little plexi glass rectangular tank and am now attempting to prepare it for him but am not at all sure if I am doing it right. The "kid" at the pet store told me to use this stuff called stresszyme so put some of that in the water along with a plant and a few water plant seeds. I do not have a filter as I have read on other forums that bettas do not need or like filters. I am also having a difficult time getting the water to warm up. Bought a little heater and it did not do anything for the water. Also the ph level is at 7.6 but I do not want to put anymore stuff into the water so it is not going down. To top it all off there is this weird white film on top of the water and white fuzzy stuff almost looks like mold growing on one of the water plant pods. I am worried that the film could be from some lotion I had on my hand and stupidly put it in the tank to reset one of the seeds in the bottom of the tank.
I have spent nearly 100.00 already on this little guy and so do not want to kill him by transferring him to this tank until I know for sure it wont kill him. I have gotten so many conflicting information from the web and the people at these petstores that I am now afraid to move him at all! I have become attached to the little guy and want to make sure that he is a happy little fish. One guy at a petstore told me to just put him in a vase with bamboo and he will be maintenance free. Tried to tell me he will live off of the roots!!! I asked if he was joking because these little guys eat mosquito larvae in their native setting!
Any advice, especially if I can simplify this process, will be greatly appreciated. Oh and little mr no name betta is about a yr old already.
Thank you!

 

[waterdrop]

Wow! You have finally stumbled on the right place on the web I think and you are a wonderful person for all that you've done so far!

Welcome to TFF!

Planning to give your betta more space is excellent and the correct thing to do. Water changes, with correct technique, will also be a very powerful tool for you, as many of the most fundamental problems pet fish have are with water levels of ammonia and nitrite(NO2) that come from their own waste and are too high for them to live in.

StressZyme is a "snake oil" bacteria-in-a-bottle product and will be of no help. The one bottle of chemical that -will- be helpful will be what we call "conditioner", which is simply any product that can remove the chlorine/chloramine that cities add to kill bacteria in the water system. Good technique in a water change consists of using conditioner on the tap water in the amount directed and then roughly temperature matching the water (your hand is good enough) that goes in with the fish. I'd suggest you change 25 or 50% of the betta's water daily here for a bit while you interact on this forum and figure out your next moves.

There are wonderful betta lovers on this forum and we just need to get you hooked up with them. Often they come here to the beginner's section, so hopefully some will be along. There is also a betta specific forum you'll see if you look at the forum list and I'd post up something there too. They will know all the other good details to get you started and will know what your betta will really like.

The white films you are seeing may be bacterial biofilms, and, as such, are harmless, so I wouldn't worry about that. The betta experts, when they come along, should have the best advice about heaters and filters for your situation, which might need some changes, but it'll be fun and you're into it now

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blondi22569]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I did and do put the conditioner in the water, I am just concerned about this whole cycling business. I am totally confused as to what to do. I tried to get the petstore to give me and old filter or filter mud to put in my little filterless tank for the bacteria so that I could get him in there but they said they cant do that. Hopefully someone will come along and mentor and guide me because I really do enjoy this silly little fish and want to make him well and happy. I am an animal lover by nature anyway, one cat, two dogs and have been laid off so now the fish has become my new baby to take care of and keep my mind off of the lousy economy and depressing inability to find a decent job. TMI maybe? Sorry. Anyway, should I just dump the water from the new tank and start anew? Are the water plant and seedlings going to help cycle the tank? Thanks for any advice!

 

[backtotropical]

Wow! You have finally stumbled on the right place on the web I think and you are a wonderful person for all that you've done so far!

Welcome to TFF!

Planning to give your betta more space is excellent and the correct thing to do. Water changes, with correct technique, will also be a very powerful tool for you, as many of the most fundamental problems pet fish have are with water levels of ammonia and nitrite(NO2) that come from their own waste and are too high for them to live in.

StressZyme is a "snake oil" bacteria-in-a-bottle product and will be of no help. The one bottle of chemical that -will- be helpful will be what we call "conditioner", which is simply any product that can remove the chlorine/chloramine that cities add to kill bacteria in the water system. Good technique in a water change consists of using conditioner on the tap water in the amount directed and then roughly temperature matching the water (your hand is good enough) that goes in with the fish. I'd suggest you change 25 or 50% of the betta's water daily here for a bit while you interact on this forum and figure out your next moves.

There are wonderful betta lovers on this forum and we just need to get you hooked up with them. Often they come here to the beginner's section, so hopefully some will be along. There is also a betta specific forum you'll see if you look at the forum list and I'd post up something there too. They will know all the other good details to get you started and will know what your betta will really like.

The white films you are seeing may be bacterial biofilms, and, as such, are harmless, so I wouldn't worry about that. The betta experts, when they come along, should have the best advice about heaters and filters for your situation, which might need some changes, but it'll be fun and you're into it now

~~waterdrop~~

That's what he said.............

 

[LauraFrog]

Hey, it's really great to see how much you want to help him... the 2.5 gal tank is a great place to start.

Filtration doesn't hurt bettas, but it's not strictly necessary either. There are a lot of people who argue on both sides of the debate. Personally I don't have filters, it's virtually impossible to filter the tanks I have. Bettas live in still water in the wild, and most of them don't like currents. In a 2.5 gal tank it's usually hard to find a filter that doesn't disturb the water too much. A bubbler might be an option - an air driven filter. It's not necessary though, if you change about 50% of the water weekly he will be fine without a filter.

I'm not familiar with stress zyme - does it say on the bottle that it neutralises chlorine and chloramine? If it does, it's fine to use as your water conditioner. As waterdrop said, it won't do all of the other whiz bang things it says it does, if it says it magically cycles a tank (if it prattles on about beneficial bacteria this is rubbish, as they can only live in a filter and they don't get there from a bottle). But it will remove the harmful components of tapwater.

I have never heard of aquatic plant seeds being sold to hobbyists before. I have to say I don't like the idea as the only aquatic plants that grow from seeds are among the most difficult to keep alive and healthy - do you know what the seeds are supposed to grow into? White film on the seed sounds as though it's dead and rotting to be honest. Live plants might be difficult to keep healthy in a 2.5 gal tank with no filtration. There are a lot of realistic fake plants available (silk is better than plastic to keep with a betta as they have been known to tear fins on plastic plants). If you do want to grow live plants, the best ones for small tanks IMO are anubias. They grow slowly, but they have broad green leaves and are quite attractive. They can be expensive though, ten dollars or so for a smallish one. If you wanted leafy tall plants, good choices are thin vallisneria (val), cabomba, elodea or bacopa. They are pretty easy as live plants go. Stay away from anything that looks like a houseplant (because it probably is, unfortunately a lot of plants sold for aquariums are not aquatic plants and die if ketp underwater).

Film on top of the water can usually be removed with kitchen paper towels, as long as they aren't dyed or scented. An oily scum on top of the water just happens sometimes in small, unfiltered tanks, and provided you mop it up with a paper towel every few days isn't a problem. If there's no fish in there it's a bit unusual - does it look oily (could be hand lotion) or not (probably bacteria)?

If you put a heater in the tank, turned it on, let it run for 24 hours and the tank is still cold, then the heater is faulty and you're entitled to a replacement. Bettas definitely do much, much better in warm water (around 24-26C) - they are tropical fish, and one of the worst things about tiny betta cups is that they are impossible to keep warm.

Good luck with him! I'm sure he'll be much happier when he's got a new tank.

 

[blondi22569]

Thank you for the response. The stresszyme is supposedly beneficial bacteria, for cycling the tank. The seeds, pods, not sure what to call them didnt say what they were, just that they were for bettas. The plant I purchased is a smallish plant with small leaves all along long stems. Do not know what it is called. I got the plants because I read somewhere that they are helpful in cycling as well as cleaning amonia out of tank.
My little guy is not in this tank yet because I was afraid to put him in after all that I have read about the need to cycle the tank so I set up the tank about a week ago and have done nothing to it but add the stresszyme because I dont know what to do next.
The heater never heated the tank and neither did the replacement, but then what should I expect for 15.00 really? There is another for up to 8gallons that is about 40.00 but it seems a bit pricey and large for 2.5 gallons.
I will remove the plant seed and clean the film off for now. I did add a bit of the gravel from his tiny little tank hoping that would be helpful but not sure if that was proper thing to do either.

 

[wackystarfish]

I have heard of stress-zyme being used as a water conditioner Congratulations for taking all the necessary precautions and welcome to TFF! Im not sure about the heater prediciment though maby its your thermometer that is faulty?! How did you test the temp of the water, i know this may seem really stupid, but even though the water is 'warm' degree wise, the water doesnt 'feel' warm to touch if that makes sense if not just ignore me! lol, good luck with the Betta!

 

[guppy fan]

Hi, welcome to TTF. I think you'll really like it here, there are lots of people that can help you. Yes, having plants in your tank can help keep the tank helthy but they aren't essential. I don't know if putting some of the old gravle in the new tank will work, but it might. It's just that the helpfull backteria that might have been in it probably died because it didn't have any ammonia to feed on. There is a little heater that Wallmart sells for pretty cheep. I am having good luck with it. It's called Junior something or other. I'll have to look at it when I get home from the library. It's for 2.5-5 gallon tanks.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

With the heater, does a little red light come on when you switch it on? If it does then the heater is working. There's normally a twisty temperature adjuster on the top. You need a thermometer though as the temperature scale on heaters isn't always accurate.

Without a filter there is nothing for the "Stress zyme" to cycle. Cycling is what happens to filter material in a filter. As the tank is 2.5 gallons you need to do water changes a couple of times a week anyway, so may aswell throw the stress zyme away. Just use the conditioner

There's a Betta section on the forum, so if you need anything pop in

 

[blondi22569]

Thank you to all, I appreciate it. The heater I got was a little cheap thing from Petco. No dial, no light, nothing. Just a square little paddle shaped thing with a cord attached. They just didnt heat up enough when you took it out of the water you could barely tell it had any heat to it. I think it is just bad product.
So should I just condition 2 gallons of water, put it in the tank and add my betta and change the water like I normally do? This cycling thing that I have seen all over the web for preparing a tank has me totally crazy! Can anyone tell me step by step what to do to this tank to be able to put the betta in it? I do not have a filter or heater at this time. Should I have them?

 

[guppy fan]

My heater is a Jr. Aquatics heater. It doesn't have a dial or light ether. I think I only payed like 10$ for it. Did you make sure the the it was fully submerged? I though mine was broken too until I discovered that the "water line here" sticker was a ways above the water line . Thermometers are a good idea, some heaters aren't accurate. Filters definitely help a lot, but I've heard that some beta keepers do fine without them. They do need heaters though. They are tropical fish and their tanks should be kept between about 76-78 degrees F. There are a lot of people on here who can walk you through the cycling process. My tank kind of cycled by accident , so I can't really help you there.

 

[LauraFrog]

You can't cycle a tank without a filter. I wouldn't worry about it to be honest. If you're going to be doing regular water changes on the tank, it's not essential. If the tank was cycled you'd only need to be doing a 25% weekly water change instead of 50-75%, that's the only real difference. As far as I know, stress zyme neutralises a certain amount of ammonia so it may be beneficial, personally I'd use it instead of dechlorinator because it removes the harmful components of tapwater (which is all you need it to do) and it may just do a little bit more.

Live plants will remove a small amount of ammonia, but unless you had, like, a 10 gallon heavily planted tank with one betta in it, plants alone will not be enough. Regular water changes are the more important thing there.

The sooner you move him the better, he's probably quite uncomfortable in the small pet store tank. If neither tank is cycled, he might as well be in the bigger one. Changing most of the water in the new tank is probably a good idea if you think you got hand cream in there.