Turning a rustbucket into a haven

[Moony42]

Hey fishforums!!!

So nice to finally have dusshera break. Now I can devote myself to fish for a while. But only with your help I can save my betta ace's rustbucket tank.

Situation-

1 betta with slight fin rot [not at all curing] but he swims around normally
3 albino tetras
1 cubical tank [don't know how many gallons
No plants
No filter [far too tiny tank]
1 small rock

If I turn the light on one albino keeps nipping another one that is always swimming at the bottom of the tank
One albino only swims at the bottom. It comes up only for food.

Very recently my gourami died after 3 years of being with me. Can I hear you guys say R.I.P for him?

Thank you for taking time to read this
Love y'all

Moony 42

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a picture of the Betta and tetras?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

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Finrot is caused by poor water quality and a dirty environment. The easiest way to treat it is by doing a 75% water change and gravel clean every day for a couple of weeks. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge before water changes.

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My guess is the tetras are nipping the Bettas fins and preventing them from healing. All tetras need to be kept in groups of at least 6 (preferably 10) or more of their own kind.

Some tetras are fin nippers and should not be kept with fish that have long fins.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Good to have you back Moony42.

 

[Essjay]

1 cubical tank [don't know how many gallons
No plants
No filter [far too tiny tank]

If you measure the tank and tell us the numbers, we can work out the volume.

Colin - the tank doesn't have a filter.....

 

[Moony42]

Any chance of a picture of the Betta and tetras?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

-------------------------
Finrot is caused by poor water quality and a dirty environment. The easiest way to treat it is by doing a 75% water change and gravel clean every day for a couple of weeks. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge before water changes.

-------------------------
My guess is the tetras are nipping the Bettas fins and preventing them from healing. All tetras need to be kept in groups of at least 6 (preferably 10) or more of their own kind.

Some tetras are fin nippers and should not be kept with fish that have long fins.

Sure thing. I had a recent clean up to get rid of algae so now it is crystal clean. And yes I have sometimes seen
the cherry barbs nip the betta's fin. Unfortunately I don't have any tank that is spare right now, so I have no choice but to keep them with the betta.

The photos are bad sorry

 

[Moony42]

The aquarium might look cloudy but it isn't
actually cloudy

 

[Moony42]

I have measured and it is a 1.7 gallon essjay.

Deanasue, thank you for your welcome.

 

[Essjay]

A tank that small is just about do-able for a betta. But without a filter it will need large daily water changes. If you are not doing daily water changes, the water conditions will be poor and this can easily cause finrot. A bigger tank is needed for the betta asap, and the tetras or barbs or whatever they are need a much bigger tank.

It is not suitable for any other fish and definitely not with a betta in the tank.



What are the other fish in the tank? in the first post you said they were albino tetras but in the photo they are normal coloured cherry barbs.
Whatever they are, tetras and barbs need to be kept in a bigger group, and having 3 is causing them stress. They are in a tank which is way too small, and this is stressing them. Stress causes fish to behave in ways not usual for the species - and they often become aggressive. This is the reason that one of the tetras/barbs is being picked on.
But you cannot get any more of them as the tank is way too small.

 

[Moony42]

Essjay-

Aren't albino tetras and cherry barbs the same name for a species?
The fish do have a bigger 2.9 gallon tank that has not been set up yet.

Can you guys tell me what plants do I buy to plant in my 1.7 gallon? [I mean packaged plants not the ones in active aquariums]

 

[Essjay]

Cherry barbs are a specific species of fish, Puntius titteya http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/puntius-titteya/ . Tetra is a general name for many hundreds of species of fish mainly from south America. Cherry barbs are not tetras, they are barbs.

The 2.9 gallon tank will be fine for the betta - on his own. As you'll see from the link, cherry barbs need a much bigger tank than 2.9 gallons, more like 15 gallons at the smallest.

 

[Moony42]

I've just decided to buy some packaged ADA plants from my LFS. I have found a website with the list of plants
I want. I am not buying from it.

Here is the links for the plant I've decided

http://www.petzonesd.com/ada-tissue-culture-hemianthus-callitricoides-dwarf-baby-tears/