Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[NopesaurusRexx]

I just got 3 new bettas the other day. I'll post a picture within the next few days hopefully. The first is an unnamed original that is mostly orange with a bit of purple in his tail fins and his side fins are purple. I've been looking at him for a few weeks so I really want the perfect name for him. He's really chill, he kind of has a "it's cool" attitude about him. The next is a super delta that is red with a lot of white on his body. He's named Delta and he is super active and loves to puff up to show off. And finally Spike who is a black crowntail. He's really small, I already had to change his feed from pellets to flakes so he could fit it in his mouth. He's got red and white in his fins and is super shy. And yes, they are in separate tanks :p

[Keletheryl]

My tank was brand new, only a week old, when they started showing up and breeding. My plants were very healthy, I think there was one dead leaf from when I got it from the store. They started eating it and now that entire plant is dying BECAUSE of them. And I wasn't overfeeding either, my betta ate all his food and any that he didn't was eaten by my shrimp. The only thing I can think of other than that is the algae wafers, which my oto's sometimes took maybe three days to fully eat.
Either way though, the assassin snails will do the same job as the pest snails, except you can keep the over-breeding to a minimum.
Ultimately it's the owners choice, but neither option is wrong!

I can say with almost certainty that it was the algae wafers that at least encouraged the snails. Food should never be left in a tank for three days. It decomposes over the days (causing nitrates and TDS to rise) and some of the nutrients are lost so by the time the fish eat the food it isn't completely healthy. Break algae wafers into small enough pieces that it will be completely eaten within a day.

Nope, they won't do the same job actually. Now I'm not saying either is better, or one is bad, or anything like that. You need to do what you need to do to maintain your tank, and that will vary from tank to tank. But assassin snails are carnivores so if they have meat options (such as snails) they won't eat any algae. Most pest snail species will.

Once the snails are cleared I won't be putting any algae wafers in the tank because right now theres enough for my oto's, but not enough for the oto's + pest snails.
So I've got to try to feed my oto's before the snails take over the wafer. It's kind of a battle as of the moment.
For my tank, it works well because I have the oto's. So they will take care of the algae while I get rid of the snails with my assassins.


On another note, I really want another betta fish, but I don't know where I'd put him. And I even came up with a name already... I mean, I'd have King Arthur.... and Captain Jack Sparrow!
I think it would be pretty awesome.

[NopesaurusRexx]

I'm really sorry the pictures came out so big I honestly thought they were smaller.....
So the top one is Spike! And then in the bottom picture the top left is my unnamed baby and the top right is Delta! The one of Delta and the orange one is right after I got them, their colors have greatly improved since they have been in their tanks and they are all very healthy, happy, and active.

[CSF]

I'm really sorry the pictures came out so big I honestly thought they were smaller.....
So the top one is Spike! And then in the bottom picture the top left is my unnamed baby and the top right is Delta! The one of Delta and the orange one is right after I got them, their colors have greatly improved since they have been in their tanks and they are all very healthy, happy, and active.

Very cute ^-^ how big are your tanks?

[Polly44]

Picked up Obsidian from the shop today and he has been in his new home for a few hours now. I hope he likes it. Really worried he doesn't, heh. xD
He is a Betta and just wondering if anyone has some tips on how to care for one? As we've never had one before. Also we have to leave for a few days next week for a funeral and i am wondering what i need to do for him, before we go, as i know i am going to completely freak out about him dying while we are gone.

Edit:
This fish is going to be the death of me. Can see half the tank from where i am sat and i just looked over and he was sort of floating in the middle of one of the plants not moving. I completely freaked out, legged it over and it kinda looked like he had got stuck between the leaves of the plant and the glass of the tank, but then he moved and backed out. Nearly gave me and my mum a frickin heart attack. xD Should i move the plant?

[satuurnity]

I now have eight tetras and they're all doing good. Their colours have come back and they seem happier now I have more plats iand an air stone in the tank. The plants are: one java fern, one Anubias, some hair grass, three hygrophila and ten vallisneria spiralis. Two of the larger tetra do seem to be chasing each other quite a bit - is that normal?

Unfortunately yesterday when I measured the parameters ammonia has spiked to 1.2 mg/l, which is bad :c The nitrates are still in the 0 mg/l of the test zone and nitrites are 0.1 mg/l. I'm going to carry on with regular water changes, however, I'm running out osf fresh start which I use to condition the water. Will I be okay to just condition the volume of the bucket and then pour it in the tank, or should I continue to dose for the whole tank?

I'll buy some ammonia remover tomorrow, which hopefully will help the problem.

[NopesaurusRexx]

@CSF they are half gallon tanks. When I move into my apartment I'm going to get them bigger ones, I can't afford and don't have the space for bigger tanks. But they are healthy and thriving, I've had many bettas over the years and these guys are doing wonderfully

[PeachFuzz]

I now have eight tetras and they're all doing good. Their colours have come back and they seem happier now I have more plats iand an air stone in the tank. The plants are: one java fern, one Anubias, some hair grass, three hygrophila and ten vallisneria spiralis. Two of the larger tetra do seem to be chasing each other quite a bit - is that normal?

Unfortunately yesterday when I measured the parameters ammonia has spiked to 1.2 mg/l, which is bad :c The nitrates are still in the 0 mg/l of the test zone and nitrites are 0.1 mg/l. I'm going to carry on with regular water changes, however, I'm running out osf fresh start which I use to condition the water. Will I be okay to just condition the volume of the bucket and then pour it in the tank, or should I continue to dose for the whole tank?

I'll buy some ammonia remover tomorrow, which hopefully will help the problem.

Could be the tetras are just doing a little mating dance.

Why are you conditioning the whole tank? When using water conditioner you should only be adding enough for the amount of new water you add. The chlorine and chloramines have already been removed from the old water - they don't come back.

Ammonia remover is a temporary fix. It's like shoving a pile of dirty clothes under your bed - the mess is still there, you've just gotten out of dealing with it for the time being. You need to find out WHY the ammonia is spiking between water changes. Either you're not doing enough water changes or your tank isn't cycled.

[reanimator]

The planted 10 gallon has been set up and is almost ready, once the water is warm enough I'll move Daniel into his half
...

It's a divided tank
I got another betta
(The new betta, his name is Thymes, will be moved into the 2.5 for a short while, he looks p healthy but I want to make sure.)

[ladybug5]

I bought an Amazon Sword plant for my aquarium a few weeks ago and some of its leaves are turning/are brown. I did some research online and found out that it was normal for some of its leaves to turn brown and then die after being planted. The gravel I bought is for plants and already has nutrients and stuff in it for the plant. My aquarium light is on for a little over 12 hours a day. There aren't any snails in the aquarium. Is there anything else I should be doing? I just want to make sure it survives and grows new leaves because the brown leaves are kind of worrying me a little.