Sticky fins on my betta

[Vanessa12]

Hill I have never posted here before, I am looking for some ,pretty a advise or double check what is have been told is correct.?
I bought my first betta fish last Sunday the (5th of march) my tank had been up and running for 3/nearly 4days before I bought my betta home. I tested the water befor i whent to buy him and all water levels were perfect.
I introduced him to the tank and he was fine for the first 24/48 hours (as seen in the first 2 pics) on the Tuesday dinner I notice some slight clumping on his fins (on the 3rd pic) I went straight back to the aquatic shop were I had bought him from with some water to test and for some advice.
He tested my water and all my water levels were perfect but my PH level was slightly higher than normal at just under 8. He advised me to take some of my gravel out and test it with the PH down and if it bubbled to get rid i tested it and It did!! I went straight to buy new gravel that is now perfect for him. Changed nearly 100% of the water (bar what was in the bag I had caught him with) I treated the new water with bettaplus and re introduced him back to the tank.
He also advised me that he would need to be treated with JBL ektol cristal as a supplementary tonic to treat stress and to regenerate the mucous membranes. I have been doing this now as advised on the leaflet but he seems to have got worse!! (The 4th 5th pic)
I just wanted to know am I doing the right thing and will it get worse befor it gets better, and any other advise would be great thank you

Tank stats
•25 liter tank
•50 watt heater reading 28 degrees on the tank thermometer
•small filter that came with the tank not sure on make
• water levels today (11th march) nitrate 0,0. PH 7. carbonate hardness 80. General hardness 60.
I have also added a pic of my tank so you can see the set up. Thank

 

[marnold00]

Hello!

First of all, welcome to the forums

Im afraid to say that your tank wont have cycled.

Please have a read of the "cycle your tank" section of these forums to help you understand the nitrogen cycle, although i shall summarise it below.



In short, waste in the tank produces ammonia (very harmful to fish) -> bacteria that lives on the surfaces in the tank - primarily your substrate (sand/gravel on the floor of the tank) and inside the filter processes the ammonia and produce nitrites which is also very harmful to fish. More bacteria then processes the nitrites and produces nitrates which are much less harmful and can be maintained via making sure you dont overfeed your fish, and by maintaining a regular partial water change schedule.

For a 25l tank i would say doing a 30% water change every 4 days would work - i say this because rather surprisingly to some people, the smaller tanks are actually the most difficult to keep water pristine in!


Anyhow, i digress. A cycled tank is one in which any ammonia that is produced is processed all through to nitrates quick enough so that ammonia levels arent noticable in your tank. More fish = more waste = more ammonia, so overstocked tanks are stressful for fish due to overcrowding, but also potentially fatal due to ammonia build-up.

In order for a tank to be cycled, the bacteria colony has to be large enough in size so that they can process the bacteria quick enough. This takes time and patience.

The preferred method is a fishless cycle. This is where the tank has water, plants etc but no fish. You then manually add ammonia and keep topping up ammonia levels until the ammonia and nitrites get processed fast enough. This process usually takes at least 4 weeks (my most recent one was 5 and a half). You dont rush mother nature. So this is why most fish stores dont advertise it - you have a potential customer whos excited about the fish. If you say "cool heres your tank, i wont sell you fish for over a month" then they will lose custom.


The other method is a fish in cycle. Where you have a fish in the tank to produce the ammonia. This is what you are essentially doing.

You have two options: 1) rehome/take back the fish and perform a fishless cycle.

2)complete the fish in cycle. It is possible for a fish to survive this, however its virtually impossible for the fish to avoid any negative side effects of the ammonia poisoning.

Theres a guide in the "cycle your tank" section of the forum. This will help you a lot. It was my bible for the 5 weeks of cycling. And the people on this forum can help you through every stage


Im sorry to be the bearer of bad news on this one. Dont let it put you off. Do this bit properly and it is totally worth it. Fishkeeping is extremely rewarding, but it can be hard work at times.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Vanessa12]

Thank you soo much.
I know you have to have your tank up and running first but was told at least 3/4 days at the pet store were I bought the tank, but when I bought the fish and, took the water back to be tested I had told them then how long the tank was running for this is very frustrating to me if I would have know this is would have waited.
My mum has a tank up and running but it has 3 guppy and 2 of them have had fry some are a month old and some a few days then she has some neons would he be OK to move to this tank and be treated or would it affect the fry in the tank?
Thank you again x

 

[fluttermoth]

Bettas will often attack guppies, and would probably eat the fry, so that plan won't work, I'm afraid!

However, you could steal a little bit of your mum's media ('media' is anything that's inside the filter) and put in your tank's filter. As long as your mum doesn't wash her filter under the tap (filter media should only be gently cleaned in some old tank water) there should be plenty of good bacteria in there to kick start your cycle. You only need a small bit; a healthy tank can easily donate a quarter of it's media, as long as you replace it so the bacteria can regrow.

 

[Vanessa12]

Thought nothat about the guppy and the fry.
I have just been reading about donating bacteria the filter only ever gets rinsed in the water we have taken out of the tank when we do are weekly water change.
I can't get the jIstanbul do I add some of the water I have washed the filter in into my tank?
Sorry for the stupid question I just want to make sure I am doing this right x

 

[marnold00]

Ahhhh your mums tank is such a good stroke of fortune. If you can, physically place some of her filter media in your filter - not all of her media as you dont want her tank to cycle... But a third to half of her media would be a great assistance to your tank. If that isnt possible, then squeeze the gunk etc on her filter media into your filter.

This is very good news!


Unfortunately some shop employees simply dont understand. Im very fortunate as the manager of my local store is incredibly knowledgable. The same cant be said for some of his staff though. Youre likely to find much better help and advice on this forum - simply because people are there to tell you if advice is bad!

Keep up with the very regular water changes for now, but you should be OK. I still think its best for ypu to buy the test kit i mentioned earlier. This will help determine when the tank is cycled.

Test strips often arent as good because they can get exposed to moisture and then theyre ruined. The API master test kit is incredibly straightforward to use, and the results are easy to read.



Oh and just to add, please remember to add water conditioner to your tap water before adding it to the tank! It will help removed heavy metals, chlorine etc which are all toxic to your fish

 

[Vanessa12]

Always brill I am doing my mum's filter as we speak this has given me some good news my mum's tank filter is the marina I100 same as myn I could just add some of her gunk as the filter inserts are separate enclosed inserts.

 

[marnold00]

If yours mums filter has atleast 2 inserts with filter sponge/floss, it might be worth swapping one of yours for one of hers. Her filter should be able to cope - most of the filter bacteria are on the ceramic disks. She will also have the bacteria all over her tank and substrate.

If it isnt possible then the gunk on its own will still be good.

 

[marnold00]

Also i must add that your tank looks lovely. Bettas will appreciate floating plants. My favourite has to be amazon frogbit. Easy to grow, and has these wonderful long roots that really add a sense of occasion to the tank.

Im an advocate for floating plants. Theyre an amazing addition to any tank. The fish love them, theyre a great source of oxygen, and they also use up nitrates very well which is also great for your fish.

 

[Vanessa12]

Thank you I have a lovely bit of bogwood with the plants attached in the middle and not sure what the plant is called at the side but it dose look fresh.
I have upgraded my filter 2day with a lot more effective biomedia I have ran it through some extracted tank water while I was doing a water change with the added gunk off my mum's tank. I have also been reading and added JBL FILTER START which is full of all the good bacteria. I do hope this will help xx

 

[marnold00]

Thank you I have a lovely bit of bogwood with the plants attached in the middle and not sure what the plant is called at the side but it dose look fresh.
I have upgraded my filter 2day with a lot more effective biomedia I have ran it through some extracted tank water while I was doing a water change with the added gunk off my mum's tank. I have also been reading and added JBL FILTER START which is full of all the good bacteria. I do hope this will help xx

What are you ammonia levels and nitrites looking like? If youve got no way to test yet i'd err on the side of caution and do another big water change today or tomorrow. Just before the water change maybe see if you can take a water sample to your fish store.

 

[NickAu]

Bettas will often attack guppies, and would probably eat the fry, so that plan won't work, I'm afraid!

There is no probably, LOL , I actually feed my Bettas live Guppy fry, They love hunting them.