Alright so.. I got a small beta tank as a "beta tester" to see if I could keep a fish alive because as I child I killed off more tiger barbs than imaginable and I would always cey my eyes out because I love animals so much.
I have really bad ADHD so my parents thought I wasnt feeding but I was..
When I researched fish as an adult a few months ago, I found out you should not do complete tank changes and clean gravel all at once like my dad always did. so I thought you know what I love fish, maybe it wasnt my fault so I got 1 beta, a bigger sucker fish so the beta wouldnt bother him, and 1 snail.
They did great, I used drinking water as their water and all the chemical levels always tested great. he got a little bit of ich, i treated him, all better.
SO I get a used 11 1/2 gal from my bf dad's. I scrub it all clean bc it was awful with calcium deposits etc you know
and I go to pet store, I asked if I could put sand in with gold fish man said yes, and he said only do water changes every 3 weeks or month when I change the charcoal filter pouch thing monthly. (I hate the look of gravel, so I buy those glass pebbles n such for beta tank)
I saw lilly (the black one) pick up sand, gravel a lot and spit it out so I got worried and dumped in more of the gravel from what the 1st owner used to use to cover it up so lilly wouldnt suck some in and choke. Also when I put them into tank I saw filter was broken so I freaked out and went to walmart to get a new one (I live in the middle of now where, only pet store we have charges over double the price for same brand and supplies as walmart so..) I go get new one awesome it works right?
I feed them peas when they get constipated etc, they follow me around, are not ready to be hand fed quite yet but they are getting social so I thought they were happy.
Suddenly a lot of decorations had brown stuff on them. I am like ohkayyyy.. somethings not right..
I have been super busy with finals these last two weeks. so instead of playing with them a lot i talk to them a bit while feeding and thats that.
So I got out a tester... the nitrate and the other one, nitrit? was BEYOND THE SCALE LITERALLY SO DARK PINK IT WENT PAST BOTTLE!
SO I started sobbing at 2 am bc the stress from finals, my clubs, and now this, i just broke (I have really bad anxiety ptsd, do therapy etc but ugh very stressful time atm)
I am sobbbbbing. I know to ppl they are "just fish" but I wanted to socialize them, train them, be friends. these things can live for decades I feel as a pet owner it is my duty to always provide the best I can. So I am just breaking between the stress of finals for 17 credits and being officers in two clubs and now I am convienced my fish will flop over any second and die.
So I go to walmart, all filters are tetras.... but there is normal tetra, and tetra whisper, I had two tetra whispers that were for 5-10 gal break within last 3 weeks.
So I get normal tetra for 10-20 gal.
Then I dump out 80% of water, take out gravel to get rid of sand bc I read online someone was having filters die repeatedly and they had sand also... so then I remove MORE water, Iw ould say they had 1 gallone, maybe 2 of old water. i dump in half a bucket of water I had pretreated that was tap (we have HORRIBLE WATER, takes so much treatment chemicals isnt worth it price wise vs drinking water gallons), my fish dont have a bottom, and very little water, and the nitrate is still HIGH, not past the bottle high but now at highest shade so Im liek whatever, guys stay alive 1 hr plz, I will fix this. I come home set up new filter take a bit more water out, and put in 8 gallons of dranking walter which always tests great on the testers. now the nitrate is in caution zone, and it doesnt appear to be having a bateria bloom like when I first set tanks up.
and I thought about it... and I thought to myself.. you know my betta stares at gold fish tank a lot.. (side by side) and he gets along with his snail and sucker fish.. so maybe he has a good temperment for tank buddies. So I add him and mates into gold fish tank. I watch him for 4 hours checking on everyone, and the gold fish are playing, he is playing, I put in his beta castle which the gold fish cant fit into incase lilly decides to be as **** (lilly, when he plays tag, likes to mouth at happy(other gold fish), he doesnt suck his fins in, or tear them off, he just likes to investigate, and mouth things a lot lol but he did kill a snail once mouthing him)
everyone seems so happy you know? I fed gold fish last night in the front, and I fed jallah the beta in the back thru an opening so he gets his own food. I had also put in his filter bc its electrical part is on the floor to muffle sound and wedged it into what I assume is a gap in the back made for heaters. so now they have a bubbiler, a small filter on one cornor, and the big tetra filter on other side.
so they have a lot of bubbles. a lot. everyone seems great jallah is so happy last night swimming up, down, around, no one bothers anyone else.
I go to bed, wake up, check water, nitrate is alllmost in safe zone..
but jallah is either very very tired sleeping.. (he has this horrible habit of sleeping face down in rocks so I think hes dead, or laying on the bottom of the tank to nap lol hes like, trying to be nemo or something IDK lolol)
or something is wrong.. I woke him up for feeding time using the hand held end of the fish net so he wouldnt spaz out thinking I was trying to catch him, I just wanted to gently wake him up and guide him to that back to get him in the habit of being fed in the back so he wouldnt compete with goldfish in the front for food.
he just keeps... laying down though... and I dont know.. I know he can swim he seemed so delighted last night in the large tanka nd the gold fish even lilly the **** never bothered him.
I think bc with his fins he seems about same size lol
I redecorated their tank too, and the gold fish like to weave around the stacked rocks.. and then jallah has his safe space.. but he just keeps.. laying there...
are bettas prone to swim bladder? what is this? did he just wear himself out swimming so much?
and FYI, I DO intend on getting them a very large tank once they grow, ohkay? I just did not want to spend the $$ and find out I truely am an awful fish keeper.. once the gold fish grow I am getting them all a very large tank to suit their size and prevent stunted growth.
I have attached photos of beta tank set up b4, gold fish tank before, and photos now of them all living together, before when seperated they had a rock in each tank, now together they have the rocks stacked, and the beta castle.
then I have photo of the two filters, and jallah is once again, sleeping on the gravel.. which is his normal sleeping spot.. he did swim when i nudged him a bit for feeding time, but went back to sleeping idk what is wrong with him!
is he just very tired from being so active? his privios tank was only 1 and a half gal bc as I said we didnt want to spend a lot at first only to find out i an a terrible fish keeper
I have done everything I can think of to do the best job I can!!! so now I am asking for help bc obviously everything the fish ppl tell me at the store is all wrong.. plz.. help.. I love my fish and I feel so horrible I let their tank get so bad... and now its fixed and jallah is sleeping a ton so idk!!! Is he tired? is it swim bladder? if he was hiding I would think hed be in castle he enjoys napping in it when hes not face down in gravel but now hes sleeping all the way down which is usual. when he naps its usually nose diving into the gravel vertically if hes not napping inside a rock
I have also attached a photo of the chemicals I used to treat tap water when emergencys happened, my fish medicene I used when jallah was sick, and calming salt stuff for tank buddies, then the beta has blood worms if he wants but he prefers pellets, and the gold fish get flakes in the AM, goldfish pelets in PM, with a snack of a pea in afternoon if they they look bloated.
I am trying so hard Idk what I am doing wrong plz hellllp..... I know ppl keep beta by themselves but I read on the rare occasion you get one with a good temperment they CAN be tank buddies and I though jallah would be good bc he was in such a confined space with sucker fish and the snail that he wouldnt care and he seemed sooo happy last night... just now I test my water and ph, softness, and nitrate are all low now thankfully so idk what is wrong.... plz.. help.. I dont want to accidentally kill them..
Please tell me what is wrong, is he tired? do beta get swim bladder? what should I do? he seemed so happy last night swimming all over the place! the gold fish didnt bother him one bit!
I cant seem to add more than 1 photo at a time, so please be patient loading photos so you can see everything i am talking about
1st photo was the beta(jallah) starter tank
I have really bad ADHD so my parents thought I wasnt feeding but I was..
When I researched fish as an adult a few months ago, I found out you should not do complete tank changes and clean gravel all at once like my dad always did. so I thought you know what I love fish, maybe it wasnt my fault so I got 1 beta, a bigger sucker fish so the beta wouldnt bother him, and 1 snail.
They did great, I used drinking water as their water and all the chemical levels always tested great. he got a little bit of ich, i treated him, all better.
SO I get a used 11 1/2 gal from my bf dad's. I scrub it all clean bc it was awful with calcium deposits etc you know
and I go to pet store, I asked if I could put sand in with gold fish man said yes, and he said only do water changes every 3 weeks or month when I change the charcoal filter pouch thing monthly. (I hate the look of gravel, so I buy those glass pebbles n such for beta tank)
I saw lilly (the black one) pick up sand, gravel a lot and spit it out so I got worried and dumped in more of the gravel from what the 1st owner used to use to cover it up so lilly wouldnt suck some in and choke. Also when I put them into tank I saw filter was broken so I freaked out and went to walmart to get a new one (I live in the middle of now where, only pet store we have charges over double the price for same brand and supplies as walmart so..) I go get new one awesome it works right?
I feed them peas when they get constipated etc, they follow me around, are not ready to be hand fed quite yet but they are getting social so I thought they were happy.
Suddenly a lot of decorations had brown stuff on them. I am like ohkayyyy.. somethings not right..
I have been super busy with finals these last two weeks. so instead of playing with them a lot i talk to them a bit while feeding and thats that.
So I got out a tester... the nitrate and the other one, nitrit? was BEYOND THE SCALE LITERALLY SO DARK PINK IT WENT PAST BOTTLE!
SO I started sobbing at 2 am bc the stress from finals, my clubs, and now this, i just broke (I have really bad anxiety ptsd, do therapy etc but ugh very stressful time atm)
I am sobbbbbing. I know to ppl they are "just fish" but I wanted to socialize them, train them, be friends. these things can live for decades I feel as a pet owner it is my duty to always provide the best I can. So I am just breaking between the stress of finals for 17 credits and being officers in two clubs and now I am convienced my fish will flop over any second and die.
So I go to walmart, all filters are tetras.... but there is normal tetra, and tetra whisper, I had two tetra whispers that were for 5-10 gal break within last 3 weeks.
So I get normal tetra for 10-20 gal.
Then I dump out 80% of water, take out gravel to get rid of sand bc I read online someone was having filters die repeatedly and they had sand also... so then I remove MORE water, Iw ould say they had 1 gallone, maybe 2 of old water. i dump in half a bucket of water I had pretreated that was tap (we have HORRIBLE WATER, takes so much treatment chemicals isnt worth it price wise vs drinking water gallons), my fish dont have a bottom, and very little water, and the nitrate is still HIGH, not past the bottle high but now at highest shade so Im liek whatever, guys stay alive 1 hr plz, I will fix this. I come home set up new filter take a bit more water out, and put in 8 gallons of dranking walter which always tests great on the testers. now the nitrate is in caution zone, and it doesnt appear to be having a bateria bloom like when I first set tanks up.
and I thought about it... and I thought to myself.. you know my betta stares at gold fish tank a lot.. (side by side) and he gets along with his snail and sucker fish.. so maybe he has a good temperment for tank buddies. So I add him and mates into gold fish tank. I watch him for 4 hours checking on everyone, and the gold fish are playing, he is playing, I put in his beta castle which the gold fish cant fit into incase lilly decides to be as **** (lilly, when he plays tag, likes to mouth at happy(other gold fish), he doesnt suck his fins in, or tear them off, he just likes to investigate, and mouth things a lot lol but he did kill a snail once mouthing him)
everyone seems so happy you know? I fed gold fish last night in the front, and I fed jallah the beta in the back thru an opening so he gets his own food. I had also put in his filter bc its electrical part is on the floor to muffle sound and wedged it into what I assume is a gap in the back made for heaters. so now they have a bubbiler, a small filter on one cornor, and the big tetra filter on other side.
so they have a lot of bubbles. a lot. everyone seems great jallah is so happy last night swimming up, down, around, no one bothers anyone else.
I go to bed, wake up, check water, nitrate is alllmost in safe zone..
but jallah is either very very tired sleeping.. (he has this horrible habit of sleeping face down in rocks so I think hes dead, or laying on the bottom of the tank to nap lol hes like, trying to be nemo or something IDK lolol)
or something is wrong.. I woke him up for feeding time using the hand held end of the fish net so he wouldnt spaz out thinking I was trying to catch him, I just wanted to gently wake him up and guide him to that back to get him in the habit of being fed in the back so he wouldnt compete with goldfish in the front for food.
he just keeps... laying down though... and I dont know.. I know he can swim he seemed so delighted last night in the large tanka nd the gold fish even lilly the **** never bothered him.
I think bc with his fins he seems about same size lol
I redecorated their tank too, and the gold fish like to weave around the stacked rocks.. and then jallah has his safe space.. but he just keeps.. laying there...
are bettas prone to swim bladder? what is this? did he just wear himself out swimming so much?
and FYI, I DO intend on getting them a very large tank once they grow, ohkay? I just did not want to spend the $$ and find out I truely am an awful fish keeper.. once the gold fish grow I am getting them all a very large tank to suit their size and prevent stunted growth.
I have attached photos of beta tank set up b4, gold fish tank before, and photos now of them all living together, before when seperated they had a rock in each tank, now together they have the rocks stacked, and the beta castle.
then I have photo of the two filters, and jallah is once again, sleeping on the gravel.. which is his normal sleeping spot.. he did swim when i nudged him a bit for feeding time, but went back to sleeping idk what is wrong with him!
is he just very tired from being so active? his privios tank was only 1 and a half gal bc as I said we didnt want to spend a lot at first only to find out i an a terrible fish keeperI have done everything I can think of to do the best job I can!!!
so now I am asking for help bc obviously everything the fish ppl tell me at the store is all wrong.. plz.. help.. I love my fish and I feel so horrible I let their tank get so bad... and now its fixed and jallah is sleeping a ton so idk!!! Is he tired? is it swim bladder? if he was hiding I would think hed be in castle he enjoys napping in it when hes not face down in gravel but now hes sleeping all the way down which is usual. when he naps its usually nose diving into the gravel vertically if hes not napping inside a rockI have also attached a photo of the chemicals I used to treat tap water when emergencys happened, my fish medicene I used when jallah was sick, and calming salt stuff for tank buddies, then the beta has blood worms if he wants but he prefers pellets, and the gold fish get flakes in the AM, goldfish pelets in PM, with a snack of a pea in afternoon if they they look bloated.
I am trying so hard Idk what I am doing wrong plz hellllp..... I know ppl keep beta by themselves but I read on the rare occasion you get one with a good temperment they CAN be tank buddies and I though jallah would be good bc he was in such a confined space with sucker fish and the snail that he wouldnt care and he seemed sooo happy last night... just now I test my water and ph, softness, and nitrate are all low now thankfully so idk what is wrong.... plz.. help.. I dont want to accidentally kill them..
Please tell me what is wrong, is he tired? do beta get swim bladder? what should I do? he seemed so happy last night swimming all over the place! the gold fish didnt bother him one bit!
I cant seem to add more than 1 photo at a time, so please be patient loading photos so you can see everything i am talking about
1st photo was the beta(jallah) starter tank
