Recent content by Gylie

What kind of snails or shrimp do you think would be best? And how do you keep their numbers down or are they self limiting?

I have a spare 5 gallon tank that I am going to plant up and I'm wondering what inverts I can stock it with. I'm a newbie so I would prefer ones that aren't too challenging, and won't outgrow/outbreed my tank (at least not too fast), but have some interest. I was thinking maybe some zebra...

New fish keeper here. I'm a student and most of the time I stay up late, but I'm worried about my fish not getting enough darkness/rest. He's a betta fish in a 5gall planted tank. Should I cover the tank with a towel at night to block out light or does that usually stress fish out?

Update 2: The water temp has been at 86-88F for 4 days now and I've been doing 30% water changes every day. There are no more ich spots and his fins haven't deteriorated anymore. He also made a bubble nest yesterday, so I'm confident he's feeling better. I will update again if anything changes...

When I got home, his hole was gone?? But it looks like the edge of his ventral fin is torn. His tail fin doesn't look so much shredded now as chopped. :( I did a 30% water change, cleaned the filter a bit and trimmed the plants. Do I need to remove the carbon cartridge from my filter while I am...

Update: So I got the temp up to 86F yesterday and all the spots are gone. Gonna keep it like this for another 10 days. But... This morning I fed him and left the room to get ready for school, and when I came back there was a hole in the middle of his bottom fin (not sure what it's called)!! And...

Thanks again! Another question: Will raising the temp have any effect on the healing rate of his tail? How long does it usually take for these types of injuries to heal? He had such a beautiful tail :(

Thanks for all the fast replies! My question now is: How can I make him as un-stressed as possible? I don't want him to bite his fin again if that's what's going on. He's very active and inquisitive and doesn't seem bothered by water changes. If I raise the temp 1 degrees tonight, 2 degrees over...

So last Monday (Jan 30), I brought home a red male betta fish from school. I think its a young fish because my prof just purchased them for our lab. This is my first fish ever. I put him in a 5 gallon tank, with lots of live plants, a piece of driftwood, large pebbles, and natural substrate. The...