I'm a complete newbie to aquariums, and here's my story:
Back in August last year, I decided to buy an Aquafarm after I learned about the product, and I stocked it with a betta fish as recommended. I also started out with a snail as per the recommendations to keep algae growth to a minimum. My betta fish was pretty happy, but the snail only lasted a couple of days before croaking, and I decided to buy an "algae eater" fish from one of the local pet shops. This little guy and my betta lived together in harmony for a while, and all was well. Although it was still summer and the indoor temps were between 27C and 30C, I also decided to buy a little heater because I knew that fall and winter were coming soon.
A few months later, I was starting to get tired of the aqua farm because it wasn't working out too well for me in practice, and it was a major PITA to do water changes and keep it clean because of the need to remove the plant trays, filter, and heater before I had unencumbered access to the water. The tank was also on the small side, and I thought that my betta would be happier if I gave him more room to move around in. I decided to buy a Fluval Spec V and I moved over Mr betta and Mr sucker fish over to their new home.
Once they were in their new home, I was already much happier with the Spec V, as water changes were much, much easier to do, and the setup of the tank was much cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing as both the filter and the heater were tucked away in a separate compartment. The downside is that the tank was less ideal for my betta without modifications, and he was getting blown around the tank. I first tried to solve this by covering the filter nozzle with a circular sponge, and while this made Mr betta happy, a couple of days later I found my sucker fish gasping for air at the top of the tank.
This is when I started to read up about keeping the water oxygenated, and I decided to remove the sponge filter and place a floating log in front of the nozzle, held in place by an ornament below. This kept a part of the water turbulent so that the water would stay oxygenated for my sucker fish, while keeping a large part of the waters calm so that my betta could be comfortable. For a while, my betta would still deliberately try to swim in the current because I think he was curious, but he eventually stopped doing that.
It was now winter, and I decided to try and figure out what actual species my sucker fish was, so that I could learn more about how to keep both fish comfortable and keep things within parameters for them. After comparing a lot of pictures, I finally figured out that he was a Hillstream Loach. That surprised me, because I read that they need fast water currents and cool waters (21-23C) to survive, and he'd been in hot waters of 27-30C for months during the warm months with apparently no ill effects. So, I decided to keep the waters at 24C as that seemed like a compromise that both fish could live with.
I left on a trip a few weeks ago, and while I was gone my fish had a caretaker who fed betta 5 pellets twice a day and sucker fish a green algae pellet once a week. The caretaker didn't come on the weekends so during this time betta was on a vacation feeder. I did a 50% water change before leaving and I was gone for about two weeks.
When I got back home, I noticed that betta was a little less active than usual and he wasn't eating much of his usual food. I thought that at first he might be rejecting the pellets because he preferred his vacation feeder, or that he might just be constipated. I fasted him for a couple of days to help him clear up his system, but it didn't seem to help and I noticed his belly starting to increase in size and his scales started to expand. I googled around and figured out that he had dropsy, and he was probably not going to make it.
I transferred him to a hospital jar and gave him Betta Revive and a bit of epsom salt as I read on another forum, but if anything, this just seemed to hasten his demise and he was motionless within only a few hours. My tank now has a solo sucker fish, and it really isn't the same without my betta around.
So now I'm trying to figure out what I should do from here; my loach is really happy having the whole tank to himself, but the tank looks so empty now. At the same time, it would be really terrible to buy another betta only to have him suffer the same fate. I was stressed out for days, which might sound silly over a fish that only costs a few dollars, but it was my fish just the same and I'd been taking care of him for more than 6 months before he passed away.
I've been thinking about what I did wrong, and here are some of my theories:
1) I fed him too much while he was healthy. I did fast him every Sunday but perhaps 5-6 pellets twice a day was still too much.
2) He didn't get enough variety of food, or perhaps vacation feeder over the weekend was a bad idea.
3) I was too rough with the water changes. I would usually just pour the water straight from a tap and use the back of my hand to gauge temperature, swirl it around in a bucket for a few seconds with dechlorinator, and then pour it straight it.
4) 24C was simply too low for his immune system to work properly. From the sources I read this is the bottom of his range and 27-28C would have been a lot more ideal for him. The problem here is that this also seems to be far too high for my hillstream loach.
It seems like I have a couple alternatives:
1) I could get another betta and just crank up the temperature to make him more comfortable. After all my hillstream loach did survive for months at 25-30C before I figured out he was a hillstream loach, and he never saw colder than 24C until now (I switched off the tank heater after my betta passed away), so is it really true that they need 18-22C? There's no way they're going to get that in the summer months where I live, where 27C is really as cold as it's going to get.
If I do go down this route, what would make suitable companions for the new betta and sucker fish? I'd rather have 4 or 5 creatures in there but I don't want betta to attack and kill them, and I also don't want to overstock the tank. Betta got along with sucker fish for the most part, so it does seem possible.
2) I could skip getting another betta and just go with different types of fish. What would be appropriate for a Spec V and what type of fish would go well together? Without using a tank heater, temperatures where I live will range from 19C - 21C in the winter up to 27C in the summer if I keep the AC blasting 24/7, and 30C if I don't.
What could I do and what would you guys recommend? Please don't roast me too hard, as I said I'm a complete newbie at this and this was my first real experience keeping an aquarium, and I'm here to learn.
Back in August last year, I decided to buy an Aquafarm after I learned about the product, and I stocked it with a betta fish as recommended. I also started out with a snail as per the recommendations to keep algae growth to a minimum. My betta fish was pretty happy, but the snail only lasted a couple of days before croaking, and I decided to buy an "algae eater" fish from one of the local pet shops. This little guy and my betta lived together in harmony for a while, and all was well. Although it was still summer and the indoor temps were between 27C and 30C, I also decided to buy a little heater because I knew that fall and winter were coming soon.
A few months later, I was starting to get tired of the aqua farm because it wasn't working out too well for me in practice, and it was a major PITA to do water changes and keep it clean because of the need to remove the plant trays, filter, and heater before I had unencumbered access to the water. The tank was also on the small side, and I thought that my betta would be happier if I gave him more room to move around in. I decided to buy a Fluval Spec V and I moved over Mr betta and Mr sucker fish over to their new home.
Once they were in their new home, I was already much happier with the Spec V, as water changes were much, much easier to do, and the setup of the tank was much cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing as both the filter and the heater were tucked away in a separate compartment. The downside is that the tank was less ideal for my betta without modifications, and he was getting blown around the tank. I first tried to solve this by covering the filter nozzle with a circular sponge, and while this made Mr betta happy, a couple of days later I found my sucker fish gasping for air at the top of the tank.
This is when I started to read up about keeping the water oxygenated, and I decided to remove the sponge filter and place a floating log in front of the nozzle, held in place by an ornament below. This kept a part of the water turbulent so that the water would stay oxygenated for my sucker fish, while keeping a large part of the waters calm so that my betta could be comfortable. For a while, my betta would still deliberately try to swim in the current because I think he was curious, but he eventually stopped doing that.
It was now winter, and I decided to try and figure out what actual species my sucker fish was, so that I could learn more about how to keep both fish comfortable and keep things within parameters for them. After comparing a lot of pictures, I finally figured out that he was a Hillstream Loach. That surprised me, because I read that they need fast water currents and cool waters (21-23C) to survive, and he'd been in hot waters of 27-30C for months during the warm months with apparently no ill effects. So, I decided to keep the waters at 24C as that seemed like a compromise that both fish could live with.
I left on a trip a few weeks ago, and while I was gone my fish had a caretaker who fed betta 5 pellets twice a day and sucker fish a green algae pellet once a week. The caretaker didn't come on the weekends so during this time betta was on a vacation feeder. I did a 50% water change before leaving and I was gone for about two weeks.
When I got back home, I noticed that betta was a little less active than usual and he wasn't eating much of his usual food. I thought that at first he might be rejecting the pellets because he preferred his vacation feeder, or that he might just be constipated. I fasted him for a couple of days to help him clear up his system, but it didn't seem to help and I noticed his belly starting to increase in size and his scales started to expand. I googled around and figured out that he had dropsy, and he was probably not going to make it.
I transferred him to a hospital jar and gave him Betta Revive and a bit of epsom salt as I read on another forum, but if anything, this just seemed to hasten his demise and he was motionless within only a few hours. My tank now has a solo sucker fish, and it really isn't the same without my betta around.So now I'm trying to figure out what I should do from here; my loach is really happy having the whole tank to himself, but the tank looks so empty now. At the same time, it would be really terrible to buy another betta only to have him suffer the same fate. I was stressed out for days, which might sound silly over a fish that only costs a few dollars, but it was my fish just the same and I'd been taking care of him for more than 6 months before he passed away.
I've been thinking about what I did wrong, and here are some of my theories:
1) I fed him too much while he was healthy. I did fast him every Sunday but perhaps 5-6 pellets twice a day was still too much.
2) He didn't get enough variety of food, or perhaps vacation feeder over the weekend was a bad idea.
3) I was too rough with the water changes. I would usually just pour the water straight from a tap and use the back of my hand to gauge temperature, swirl it around in a bucket for a few seconds with dechlorinator, and then pour it straight it.
4) 24C was simply too low for his immune system to work properly. From the sources I read this is the bottom of his range and 27-28C would have been a lot more ideal for him. The problem here is that this also seems to be far too high for my hillstream loach.
It seems like I have a couple alternatives:
1) I could get another betta and just crank up the temperature to make him more comfortable. After all my hillstream loach did survive for months at 25-30C before I figured out he was a hillstream loach, and he never saw colder than 24C until now (I switched off the tank heater after my betta passed away), so is it really true that they need 18-22C? There's no way they're going to get that in the summer months where I live, where 27C is really as cold as it's going to get.
If I do go down this route, what would make suitable companions for the new betta and sucker fish? I'd rather have 4 or 5 creatures in there but I don't want betta to attack and kill them, and I also don't want to overstock the tank. Betta got along with sucker fish for the most part, so it does seem possible.
2) I could skip getting another betta and just go with different types of fish. What would be appropriate for a Spec V and what type of fish would go well together? Without using a tank heater, temperatures where I live will range from 19C - 21C in the winter up to 27C in the summer if I keep the AC blasting 24/7, and 30C if I don't.
What could I do and what would you guys recommend? Please don't roast me too hard, as I said I'm a complete newbie at this and this was my first real experience keeping an aquarium, and I'm here to learn.
