Shredded Dorsal Again

[Winterlily]

Amazing. I took it out - didn't even DO the water change (nitrites not quite at .25) - and by that evening nitrites were 0. I'm a POSITIVE that if I put it back, they'd go back up. Horrible! How do they get away with it! Ought to have a warning on it!

So now... my questions remain:

How bad is it, honestly, do you think, to have the little shrimp things in there for him to chase, catch, and (over)eat? I'm not terribly interested in any more live plants (I do so badly with them), but I could easily get a moss ball and some java moss etc, I'm sure they'll hitchhike on it again. Particularly in light of that he lost his little "bed" again - would love to get another moss ball, but not if eating the shrimp is going to cause a problem with his eating too many of them all the time.

Whatcha all think?

 

[doggiebag]

thanks for that I am now positive these soft silicone type corals do cause nitrites. You seem to have confirmed my findings too. It even says, safe for all aquariums on the packaging, but it appears this isn't quite the case.........I reckon if you have a very mature filter it may not be such an issue as your bacteria are strong and stable enough to cope, but it isn't worth the poor bettas stress if you ask me. I will be interested to see if his tail now mends, I suspect the raised level was stressing him ......well done on trying the theory, you can rest a little easier now.

 

[Winterlily]

Here's even more proof. As I said, I took the thing out of the tank. Put it in a bowl with fresh water. Left it for a bit over a day. Tested the water with a liquid nitrite test kit. Guess what? .25 of nitrite. (No nitrites present in my tap water.) Also, since taking it out of the tank, btw, nitrites are 0 in there.

Unreal. Absolutely unreal. How dare they market something like this for use as an aquarium decoration if it's going to cause chemistry changes?!

Will let you know how his dorsal is doing! And thanks so much, really - I never, not ever, would've suspected that thing as the cause of nitrites if you'd not written!

 

[doggiebag]

You're welcome Hun, lets hope he gets better now and is no longer stressed

 

[Winterlily]

Another big chunk (like rectangular) out of his dorsal. Not shredded - a chunk. This one he did himself the stinker. Gonna hang a permanent mirror as Loraxchick said and may re-import some shrimp for him to hunt and chase again. Not thrilled about that because I'm unsure if the constantly full belly is a great idea... but...

 

[lilacamy931]

Sorry having all these problems with your little man, hope all perks up soon x

 

[Winterlily]

Thanks so much - I appreciate that!

 

[lilacamy931]

Just keep us updated! Oh and spoil him rotten One of mine is a poorly chappy and feeding sparingly but spoil with lots of attention

 

[Winterlily]

Thanks! And yes, I just read that post .... Hope your little Rude starts feeling better soon!!

 

[loraxchick]

been away on vacation and just read thru the thread. glad you have positive proof that he is doing it himself. how's the mirror working out. mine hangs there all day and night for weeks now. he only flares at himself when he feels the need/urge to do so and has helped his nipping a lot. there are lots of hidey holes in his tank where he can get away from the constant reflection and urge to flare all the time. i hope it helps your boy out.
as for the shrimp type things in your tank, i see no harm in letting him chase them around and eat them. i wish i had a nice supply of live foods for my fish. if yo uare worried about over eating then dont feed him so much fish food. we have to remember that in the wild these fish (and ANY carniverous/omnivorous fish) eat lots of live, protein rich foods. i think we coddle out fish too much. usually it is the freezedried foods that cause the problems as they swell once eaten if not soaked first. i would suggest letting him eat as much of the hitchikers as he wants, resist feeding him yourself (unless you notice he is skinny/not rounded as he should be) and feed a pea once a week to clean him out. seems so much more natural to me than insisting not feeding live foods and giving them prepared pellets and such.
in any case good luck with him. and you should defo get some moss balls! basically no care involved. just squeeze them out when you do water changes to get rid of debris that has collected on them.
best of luck!