Hi! I just joined this forum and I'm excited to learn from you all.
We have a veiltail betta we got my 7 year old for his birthday about a month ago. We originally had him in a 1 gallon tank, but quickly discovered he needed to be in something larger, so he is now in a 5 gallon, heated tank and has been for about 3 1/2 weeks.
Until recently, he's been a pretty mellow little guy, and seemed pretty well adjusted and happy. He ate well, and loved hanging out on the silk plants, betta hammock, and even on top of the suction cup that holds the heater (favorite place actually).
We've been checking the water levels, and about 4 or 5 days ago his ammonia levels had bumped up and were at 1.0 ppm -- nitrites at 0 and nitrates about 5. I did a 30% water change, and since then his ammonia levels have never gone back down to 0. They seem to hover at about .25ppm.
I've been doing water changes every other day or so, but I'm concerned because now he seems to surf the glass a lot. That wasn't his normal behavior, so I'm afraid he's stressed. He is eating well, and he still looks really good. Should we be concerned about the ammonia levels hovering around the .25 ppm mark and his surfing?
This is our first fish, so I didn't read anything about cycling until after we got him. Thanks!
We have a veiltail betta we got my 7 year old for his birthday about a month ago. We originally had him in a 1 gallon tank, but quickly discovered he needed to be in something larger, so he is now in a 5 gallon, heated tank and has been for about 3 1/2 weeks.
Until recently, he's been a pretty mellow little guy, and seemed pretty well adjusted and happy. He ate well, and loved hanging out on the silk plants, betta hammock, and even on top of the suction cup that holds the heater (favorite place actually).
We've been checking the water levels, and about 4 or 5 days ago his ammonia levels had bumped up and were at 1.0 ppm -- nitrites at 0 and nitrates about 5. I did a 30% water change, and since then his ammonia levels have never gone back down to 0. They seem to hover at about .25ppm.
I've been doing water changes every other day or so, but I'm concerned because now he seems to surf the glass a lot. That wasn't his normal behavior, so I'm afraid he's stressed. He is eating well, and he still looks really good. Should we be concerned about the ammonia levels hovering around the .25 ppm mark and his surfing?
This is our first fish, so I didn't read anything about cycling until after we got him. Thanks!