Tostada
Aquarium Advice Freak
I have a male betta which has always been really peaceful. He was in my 30 gal for a couple months. The only time I ever saw him flare was when I added 6 swords, but he never actually chased them around, and by the next day he was fine and I never saw him flare again.
The swords started attacking my mystery snail constantly, so I moved the snail out to a 5.5 gal a week ago. I jump-started the filter for the 5.5 gal by running it on the 30 gal for a week, and the water parameters are pretty good in the 5.5. The betta never nipped at the snail, so I moved him over to the 5.5 as well. So now I have a 5.5 with just a mystery snail and a betta (I ordered a bunch of dwarf sag that I'm going to be putting in there next week).
Anyway, the betta had always been just fine in my marginally overstocked 30 gal. He got along with everyone. He had his own little spot under some driftwood. Sometimes he would just go sit in with the plants. He would always come up for feeding time, eating flake food and bloodworms and betta pellets. He seemed really normal and happy, except for the fact that the current was a bit much for him at the top when he was trying to eat (my 30 gal. has a Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel). So, when I moved him to the 5.5 gal I thought he would be happier -- it has an AquaClear 20 on it, and I even turned down the flow a little bit.
So I put the betta in the 5.5 yesterday and he's just been sitting there. He lost a lot of color -- he looks REALLY pale and sick. He just bobs around now and then. I gave him some betta pellets and he ignored them. I gave him some freeze-dried bloodworms and he ate a few. He used to sit around plenty, but now he just looks bad when he's sitting around.
I think maybe the water current was too low -- there was actually a little bit of a film on top of the water. I turned it up to max (which still isn't much current on an AquaClear). He seems to be a little more active.
I think he might be getting better. He'll probably like it when the tank has plants and isn't all empty. Is there anything I can do to help him get his color back?
I've tested my water and the parameters are good (although I just did a 60% PWC anyway).
The swords started attacking my mystery snail constantly, so I moved the snail out to a 5.5 gal a week ago. I jump-started the filter for the 5.5 gal by running it on the 30 gal for a week, and the water parameters are pretty good in the 5.5. The betta never nipped at the snail, so I moved him over to the 5.5 as well. So now I have a 5.5 with just a mystery snail and a betta (I ordered a bunch of dwarf sag that I'm going to be putting in there next week).
Anyway, the betta had always been just fine in my marginally overstocked 30 gal. He got along with everyone. He had his own little spot under some driftwood. Sometimes he would just go sit in with the plants. He would always come up for feeding time, eating flake food and bloodworms and betta pellets. He seemed really normal and happy, except for the fact that the current was a bit much for him at the top when he was trying to eat (my 30 gal. has a Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel). So, when I moved him to the 5.5 gal I thought he would be happier -- it has an AquaClear 20 on it, and I even turned down the flow a little bit.
So I put the betta in the 5.5 yesterday and he's just been sitting there. He lost a lot of color -- he looks REALLY pale and sick. He just bobs around now and then. I gave him some betta pellets and he ignored them. I gave him some freeze-dried bloodworms and he ate a few. He used to sit around plenty, but now he just looks bad when he's sitting around.
I think maybe the water current was too low -- there was actually a little bit of a film on top of the water. I turned it up to max (which still isn't much current on an AquaClear). He seems to be a little more active.
I think he might be getting better. He'll probably like it when the tank has plants and isn't all empty. Is there anything I can do to help him get his color back?
I've tested my water and the parameters are good (although I just did a 60% PWC anyway).
