Hello Everyone,
I would greatly appreciate everyone's advice. I have several issues going on with my betta fish that I suspect are related, and I am not sure what to do.
A little background: I bought a male betta about 5 weeks ago. He is in a 5 gallon tank, with a heater, and a filter. I clean a minimum of once a week, and last week did two water changes. I did not cycle the tank, but have been testing the water. I feed him twice a day during the week and once a day on the weekend.
The fin tearing started about 1.5 weeks ago. I was not sure what happened but wondered if it was caused due to the high level of nitrites in the tank and possibly overfeeding. I reduced food intake and last week did two water changes (Monday-Tuesday). This morning, I noticed brown algae in the tank and that his tearing was slightly worse. Tonight I did a deep cleaning and tested the water to remedy this. A massive amount of junk came up and there were no nitrites, nitrates, or ammonium in the water. I am not sure if the algae did something? I watch him eat, and most of the food he does eat so the junk was not excess food.
Note: I use the API test kit and have never confirmed ammonium or nitrates in the tank, only nitrites. I never knew why ammonium never showed and assumed it was a malfunction because the nitrites always showed up. I kind of expected to see nitrates tonight though. I do have hard water, but I use an API Water Conditioner.
Sorry for the long post, but I am hoping this gives a clear picture for an accurate diagnosis. I really do not want my fish to suffer
I would greatly appreciate everyone's advice. I have several issues going on with my betta fish that I suspect are related, and I am not sure what to do.
A little background: I bought a male betta about 5 weeks ago. He is in a 5 gallon tank, with a heater, and a filter. I clean a minimum of once a week, and last week did two water changes. I did not cycle the tank, but have been testing the water. I feed him twice a day during the week and once a day on the weekend.
The fin tearing started about 1.5 weeks ago. I was not sure what happened but wondered if it was caused due to the high level of nitrites in the tank and possibly overfeeding. I reduced food intake and last week did two water changes (Monday-Tuesday). This morning, I noticed brown algae in the tank and that his tearing was slightly worse. Tonight I did a deep cleaning and tested the water to remedy this. A massive amount of junk came up and there were no nitrites, nitrates, or ammonium in the water. I am not sure if the algae did something? I watch him eat, and most of the food he does eat so the junk was not excess food.
Note: I use the API test kit and have never confirmed ammonium or nitrates in the tank, only nitrites. I never knew why ammonium never showed and assumed it was a malfunction because the nitrites always showed up. I kind of expected to see nitrates tonight though. I do have hard water, but I use an API Water Conditioner.
Sorry for the long post, but I am hoping this gives a clear picture for an accurate diagnosis. I really do not want my fish to suffer
