Thank you for your support. Please find below some more information about the fish and the tank. The only thing I add to the water is chlorine remover. I will get a conditioner as you have recommended. Regarding the temperature, I had placed a 5 gallon water heater in the tank but after a few weeks, I had a hard time keeping it at a set temperature, it kept getting the warmer than 80 degrees. I have tried several heaters, thinking that the previous one was malfunctioning. I have read the instructions many times and all of the heaters work well in the beginning but then don't control the temperature very well. Maybe it's the size of the tank or the fact that, because it is such a small tank, heater placement is limited and so it is affected by the nano filter pouring water into the tank.
I just changed the water 2 days ago so is it too early to take a water sample, considering that the tank is clean? We feed the betta 3 times a day - around 8:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 11:00 pm. We give 3 pellets of Hakari Betta Bio-Gold. I change the water every month (I was told by the aquarium person that this would be fine since he is in a 2.5 gallon tank and has a filter.
He still has his blue color and is still begging for food every time he sees someone in front of the tank (as usual). I did see him brushing against the plastic plant but I do not see him doing it often. The nano filter stream is fast and heavy, he is used to this. It does not create air bubbles in the water unless the water level is low. At this time we add some more water (maybe every 2 weeks). We have not given him any live food, just the pellets. I don't know about his poo. Regarding his growth, it is difficult for me figure out if it is hard or soft, but it is solid, not semi-transparent or transparent. It looks like a cauliflower or an frog egg mass (I know it is not eggs).
The growth does not appear to have changed in size since my daughter first noticed it last week.
One possibly important thing I did not mention in my original post - we had placed some aquarium snails in the tank from our outdoor 50 gallon bird bath in late fall before it got too cold for the snails. After a few days, we moved the snails to another tank but during that short time, the snails laid eggs that survived several tank cleanings, and hatched. So we had about 12 baby snails in the tank and I moved them to the snail tank last week. I did not put them earlier since they were too small to move. Could this be a snail disease? Also, another aquarium person suggested trying the medication Life Guard. Would this help? I did not try it yet since we don't know the disease. Thank you again.
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