Stressin....or maybe obsessed?

[Mistymercer]

I rehomed a male betta fish from a friend. Wejt from 1 gallon skinny tank to 10g. He swam and would come up to glass and try act all tough and talk to me (breathing air lol) then he started acting lethargic, hiding and laying on his side at top of tank. He would get excited for food that about it. (this all started 3 months ago). Unno why but I got him some tank mates about months of having him. 4 neon tetras, 2 Mollies and a tiny snail. It didn't seem to help.

Sadly we lost 3 tetra, the snail and my fav Molly ?( long story) and our heater broke. We didn't have a lot of money to we bought cheap one said it for 10g tank but IT SUCKS! so I've got tank wrapped in thermal blanket till new heater comes.

Since joining this group I didn't realize how much I wasn't doing or needed to do more! So last 3 days I've been running around buying water testing strips, more plants, blood worms, ammonia tester. Had NO idea about water cycling just learned about that! I'd just clean the whole tank like deep clean it once a month and add water only if it evaporated. I knew to treat it (tap water). I'm getting betta medication too just incase and have ammonia water treater too.

So I'm hoping the new heater making it warmer, the worms and taking care of water will help!!! If not then I have no idea what to do. I know betta like to be alone so that be my very last resort. If ALL THAT fails then I have no idea!!!

Uhg! I've become so stressed and crazy over this fish! Reading forums and watching videos! I REALLY hope it works out and he cheers up or gets better if it's cuz he's sick.

Oh yeah p.s

I added some plants and added some water conditioner to water for stress because I finally bought more tetras and he's still doing nothing but he's not on his side! I also put him on a diet cuz I was deff over feeding him. Oops. So....kinda good news?‍


Wish me luck everyone!!!!! ?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

If the tank hasn't cycled yet you probably shouldn't have added more fish because you're increasing the bioload. You need to wait for the beneficial bacteria to grow in number to 'eat' the poisons (ammonia and nitrite) in the water. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

Don't feel too bad, we've all had to start somewhere! But your fish are getting sick and dying from ammonia poisoning. You need to do big water changes every day until your tank reads 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. After that you should do a partial water change every week, I like to do 50%, to keep his water nice and clean.

Leave the filter alone, as in don't clean it, for a few weeks, that's where your beneficial bacteria will grow... When you do decide to clean it, do so in used tank water, not fresh tap water because the chemicals in it destroys the BB... Another reason why we treat the new water with TapSafe.

Where feeding is concerned, remember that a fish's stomach is about the size of its eye, so if you feed them more than what could fit in that space you're overfeeding. Fish can go days without food and feeding less will actually help maintain cleanliness in your tank

I'm sure he's appreciative of all the efforts you're making for him! Keep asking questions, that's the only way to learn ?

 

[Dephea]

I'm very new too but if I could give you one piece of advice - get the water test in the form of drops. I was using strips for a fair few weeks and every time the read was exactly the same. Once I got annoyed and dipped 3 separate strips into 3 cups - fish tank water, tap water (untreated) and the water that my dogs left in their bowl overnight. All 3 had the same results even though I knew damn well that the fish tank was 100% not doing good in terms of ammonia.

Knowing the parameters of the water in my tank made it much easier for me to care for my fish

Good luck with your little one, hope he will get better soon!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I agree, strips are a waste of money. The API master kit is what you need