bolivian_d
Fish Fanatic
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2008
- Messages
- 82
- Reaction score
- 0
Hello,
I purchased a betta this morning and broke some cardinal rules of fishkeeping. I'm hoping that this won't be too great a problem, and if it is, that I can somehow rectify it.
I purchased a Marina Betta Bowl, it holds 1/2 US gal or 1.84L, which I realise is smaller than the ideal home. I rationalised that it would be ok considering I live in Australia (warm climate) and that I'd be doing daily water changes (no need for a heater or filter). I have a mature 20G tank set up in my room, the water quality is great because I carry out small water changes every second day. My LFS suggested that I use tank water for my betta bowl, doing this may have been my first mistake. However, nitrates are never over 20ppm and that way I can do a water change for my betta everytime I do a water change in my main tank. This would ensure a relatively consistent temperature without trying to work out a microscopic amount of dechlorinator to use.
The second mistake that I made was that after I floated the bag for 20minutes I totally forgot to add a little tank water to the bag before adding the fish. The betta no doubt suffered a a PH shock (PH for my tank is 7.5). I panicked and quickly added the water that it came with to try and neautralise the effects, which in hindsight was stupid. The fish is now incredibly active, in stark contrast with how still it was in the shop (where it was in a far smaller container). It's pectorial fins are moving very quickly. Is this normal? If it isn't, is there anything I can do to lessen the shock, or do I just hope for the best?
Thanks
I purchased a betta this morning and broke some cardinal rules of fishkeeping. I'm hoping that this won't be too great a problem, and if it is, that I can somehow rectify it.
I purchased a Marina Betta Bowl, it holds 1/2 US gal or 1.84L, which I realise is smaller than the ideal home. I rationalised that it would be ok considering I live in Australia (warm climate) and that I'd be doing daily water changes (no need for a heater or filter). I have a mature 20G tank set up in my room, the water quality is great because I carry out small water changes every second day. My LFS suggested that I use tank water for my betta bowl, doing this may have been my first mistake. However, nitrates are never over 20ppm and that way I can do a water change for my betta everytime I do a water change in my main tank. This would ensure a relatively consistent temperature without trying to work out a microscopic amount of dechlorinator to use.
The second mistake that I made was that after I floated the bag for 20minutes I totally forgot to add a little tank water to the bag before adding the fish. The betta no doubt suffered a a PH shock (PH for my tank is 7.5). I panicked and quickly added the water that it came with to try and neautralise the effects, which in hindsight was stupid. The fish is now incredibly active, in stark contrast with how still it was in the shop (where it was in a far smaller container). It's pectorial fins are moving very quickly. Is this normal? If it isn't, is there anything I can do to lessen the shock, or do I just hope for the best?
Thanks