Sleipnir wrote:Equid, thank you for the wonderful post it was very informative. I was in a state of panic when I saw that the first male (now named Jones) was still alive. It was the same sink they use to bag the fish in tanks so at the time I didn't question it. Although now that I think about it who know whats in that water. Out of generally precaution I let them acclimate in the water they came in and then fish them out of the old water when they where ready. I'm on well water out here so I usually just use stress-coat for the miracle worker that it is, the dechlorinator is just a bonus.
I do have some Jungle Start Right (Conditioner & Dechlorinator) tablets. They come with a maintenance kit I use, but I've never had to use them so I just throw them into my fish medicine draw.
Both bettas survived the night and were poking around their new jars when I got up this morning. I'm going to hold my breath until we're completely out of the woods, but I think we got lucky.
I need to go get some picture, their not the most beautiful bettas but I'm already smitten. Macgyver is so social and likes to hang out with me when I'm visiting where as Jones literally swims to the other side of his tank. Hopefully he comes around, I think he's just shy because when I sneak a peek he's exploring and acting like his brother. :3
The part about the cookie jar was actually quite funny. Maybe once I move Jones and MacGyver out I'll let some dirty filter media float in their for a while, dirty it up a bit, dump the water, put some cookies in and send it to my old history teacher. >:D (Kidding of course!)
You're welcome for the post. For acclimation though, you can't just acclimate temperature, you have to acclimate the water.
How I do mine is of course the fish comes in a bag. I start by adding water from my water source (Usually tank water, but in your situation, you might just use treated tap water ) gradually into the bag with the betta. After there is no further room to add existing tank/tap water to the bag, and the temperature in the bag is the same as the new water, I net out the betta (Easiest by pouring him into a net) without using the combined water sources and then place him into the new water/new tank. This way if the store used any chemicals, they don't pour out into the new water. Even well water is a shocking situation if a betta goes from city water to well water for example, so acclimation is always the key.
For the other person who posted about their deceased Molly. In regards to the Molly that died, and your other new fish. Did you do this type of acclimation from the store's water to your own new water, or did you just dump them into the new tank?
Acclimation is the LARGEST mistake new fish owners make and it is often a sad and deadly demise for the fish. You can not just dump a fish from the store into new water, it has to be treated.
No one ever answered the question about what cycling is. It's when you have a fish tank newly set up and cycle the water to establish microbacterial colonies. Typically it takes a week of cycling the water without enzyme treatment or 1 to 2 days with enzyme treatment. No new fish should be introduced until this cycle has been performed. (I.e, no impulse buys if you don't already have a tank set up for the fish.)
About the fin rot issue. If your betta's fin ends are a little balled up it is because he's hanging down at the bottom too much. It happens also with long finned angelfish who aren't very active and is a sign of an unhealthy tank or an unhealthy fish. The fact it did not respond to salt treatment leads me to believe he is nipping himself out of stress or boredom more than fin rot. Fin rot starts out looking like white slime, next it does sometimes turn black and blue, but typically the fins just kind of rot off. There are lots of good products for fin rot, so I have no preference, check your local fish store or pet section.
There is one other fin rot type of issue, but usually it will be white in color and it's cotton fungus or Saprolegnia fungus. That is treated with a sulfur based powder I can't recall the name of. It's a yellow powder. There are also fungus tablets that can be bought which dissolve in the tank.
Everyone enjoy their fish.
Equid
