Jupiter's new home

[ErinMcG]

My nine-year-old got a betta and cube at Christmas. Although we tried to do regular water changes, Jupiter got fin rot and a swim bladder problem. I nursed him back to health by hanging his cube inside my big tank right up front, so I could change his water daily, and suck out uneaten food and waste immediately.

Much to my surprise, he lived. He now has a 5 gallon tank with a tetra mini whisper filter and an adjustable heater. My son did the landscaping.

Happy to report that Jupiter is thriving and his fins are healing. Monitoring his tank closely and hoping it will cycle sooner, rather than later.

That's one tough fish.

 

[severum mama]

Wow, great news! Oh, and welcome to AA!

Bettas certainly are tough. Jupiter should really enjoy his new 5 gallon. If you are worried about cycling, simply place a little filter media from your larger tank, into Jupiter's filter. That should cycle it VERY quickly.

 

[ErinMcG]

place a little filter media from your larger tank, into Jupiter's filter. That should cycle it VERY quickly.

Hi Severum mama! I would do a filter share, but sadly I have been fighting a losing battle with Cyanobacteria in the big tank and don't want to introduce it to Jupiter's tank. Was thinking of asking my LFS if they can help me out.

 

[ErinMcG]

It still makes me sad looking at Jupiter's fins. He's a crown tail, so you can see how extensive the damage was! But, the fins are growing back, slowly but surely.

 

[severum mama]

Yep, sometimes the damage is extensive, but most fish (including CT bettas) are surprisingly resilient IME. With a high quality diet and much attention paid to water quality, I'm sure Jupiter will be back to normal in no time.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Welcome to AA! Sounds like your doing a good job of nursing him back to health. Bettas are tough little fish. Keep up the regular water changes and he should be back to him old self in no time!

 

[Fishy Aston]

Keep it up...

 

[ErinMcG]

Oh, I am excited.... Jupiter's tank may have cycled.... Just waiting on my ammonia results. Patience, patience. I haven't done a fish-in cycle before and I have been worried about it. But, I started with seeded media, so that may just have done it. And he is so happy in his home. Blowing lots of bubble nests. Every time I do a pwc, I destroy his bubbles, but he just makes a new one.

 

[ErinMcG]

Awesome! Ammonia 0; nitrites 0; nitrates 5. Did a pwc yesterday, so won't touch it today. If it still looks good tomorrow I will be a happy camper.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Awesome! Ammonia 0; nitrites 0; nitrates 5. Did a pwc yesterday, so won't touch it today. If it still looks good tomorrow I will be a happy camper.

That's great news!

 

[ErinMcG]

Hi all,
Jupiter's filter is a Tetra Whisper mini. I was getting ready to put together an order from Big Al's for a betta log and a few other things and started looked at filter cartridges. Then I remembered reading something on here about not actually sticking with the store-bought filter cartridges. I have also seen people recommend against the pre-done ones because of the carbon.

I tried searching the forums, but it's hard to search effectively with the app.

I know I need a sponge in my filter. Is there anything else I should consider putting in there?

My current thought is to get a nice piece of open called foam that will fit in the filter, float it in the tank for a couple of weeks and then replace the filter cartridge with that. Then I can just rinse it in tank water as needed. But, I don't want to be leaving out anything important to the filtration process!

 

[ErinMcG]

Water is holding up well. Still at 0, 0, and 5. Tomorrow is pwc day. I put some of the ceramic ring things in the tank to seed with good bacteria to help my new tank along. I am guessing that about 2 weeks of being in Jupiter's tank (post-cycling) should be about right.

Jupiter seems to be a happy betta.

Oh, and he's baby-sitting some plants for my new tank. I picked up some Anubias cheaply on Used Vic.

 

[ErinMcG]

So Jupiter was a rather unhealthy betta. He had gotten sick with fin rot after being kept in a stupid 1/2 gallon cube. Nursed him back to health over the winter and moved him into a 5 gallon of his own a while back. He is healing, but it is a slow process. I am going to try to include a recent photo (attached to this message first), and if possible, a photo from when he was first healing. I am pleased with his fins, but it is slow going.

He's a crown tail, by the way, so his fins are supposed to be spiky.