Red streaked bettas in bowls.. :/

[absolutangel04]

Have you thought of names for them?
I am sure she will be fine in the 1g tank while waiting for her bigger home.

 

[lelouchzeta]

Gamma and Jenny after Forrest Gump's wife.

 

[absolutangel04]

Nice.
Let us know how they are both doing. What other tank are you getting for the other girl? Did you order another chi, or a different tank?

 

[lelouchzeta]

Ah not another chi. My student budget can't handle another I ordered a 5 gallon hawkeye aquarium from wal-mart (I've never purchased anything from walmart so we'll see how this goes.

 

[absolutangel04]

OK. I have heard that tank is fine. Its probably not the best filter in the world, but I have always heard it is totally fine for a betta tank.

 

[lelouchzeta]

Hmm would it be ill-advised to add 3-ish celestial pearl danios to either tank after they have cycled?

 

[absolutangel04]

Well, you may find some differing opinions about this, but IMO bettas really shouldn't be with tankmates in a 5g tank. The smaller space offers more possibilities for aggression. I wouldn't add tankmates in with a betta unless the tank was more like 10g. But, like I said, you may find some differing opinions out there. JMO.
Also, cpd are schooling fish, so I personally wouldn't add them because, as far as I know, 6 should be the miniumum you add and that would be cramped in a 5g tank with a betta IMO.

 

[lelouchzeta]

Okay... I don't really want to put anything else in there but having one fish in that tank is making my boyfriend antsy. Maybe I can pacify him by adding something cute to our 10 gallon brackish tank.
Anyway, my new question is about the sad little blue one, Gamma, that seems much more shy and stressed than Jenny. She still has horizontal stripes. I put her in my rush ordered 5 gallon tank and the water is pretty warm..she has her leaf hammock but the gravel and tank ornament won't come until thursday. I am worried that the filter on my hawkeye 5 gallon is blowing her around to a small extent. It has a little dissipating hood that softens and consolidates the pressure of the filter's output squirty things, but I'm wondering if that's enough.
ALSO I am wondering if there is enough air for her at the surface if it has a big stupid ugly plastic hood. (I know the tank needs a cover so she doesn't leap out but dang this thing is unattractive and lumpy.)
The heater hasn't come yet either, but is there ANYTHING else I can do to make her more comfortable?

 

[absolutangel04]

Some bettas are more picky about current than others. I suggest you briefly turn off the filter (make sure the filter media stays wet though) to see if her behavior changes at all. If there is no difference, I doubt the filter/current is the issue. If she perks up, then you can figure out a way to dampen the current a bit.
I think its likely she is still in rough shape form the way she was treated before you got her though.
Keep us updated.

 

[lelouchzeta]

So now I'm having a big problem. The blue girl, Gamma, was happily active and not overly bothered by the filter, until this morning. She is now swimming somewhat lopsided and seems sort of gently bent. She seems to have control over her back half and fins, but is very weak and kept getting sucked near the stupid filter. I noticed this and freaked and unplugged it. She seems to be able to move around the tank better, but she's still staying very near the surface and seems to keep floating back up every time she comes down, so at this point I'm thinking swim bladder.
BUT when I first got her she was irridescent blue, and yesterday I saw that the top of her face was sort of a matte green. I thought oh cute, changing colors since she's a wee lass. BUT it has spread significantly since then (all of her face and now about 1/5 of her front side and now I'm wondering if it's something else. Confused.

 

[absolutangel04]

Yeah, she is definitely having an issue. Healthy fish shouldn't have an issue with the current from the filter. Does she look bloated at all? Swim bladder issues are often accompanied by a lopsided, bloated look.
I am guessing the color change is from stress.

 

[lelouchzeta]

I fed her some pea. I'll wait to feed her anything else besides peas for a few days.

 

[absolutangel04]

Ok. That can't hurt in case bloat is the issue, but it doesn't sound like bloat is the problem. The swimming troubles do make it sound like a swim bladder issue. Let us know if anything changes.

 

[lelouchzeta]

Okay well now she's on the bottom of the tank sort of tilted sideways and only moves to go breathe. My room mate is teasing me because yesterday I was worried that she was only at the top. I'm starting to wonder if I'm just worrying about everything she does but she is being very weird compared to the way she used to behave. She seems sick to me.

 

[meegosh]

I just read through the thread I'm surprised no one mentioned ammonia poisoning. Red gills is a tell tale sign of ammonia poisoning.

Some signs:

Gasping at surface
Laying at bottom of tank
Red/Purple gills
Red streaks on body/fins

What are you using to test the water in your tank? What are your readings for ammonia and nitrite specifically? Typically if the fish has red gills already the damage has been done, unfortunately. Water changes to reduce the amount of ammonia present is necessary to avoid shortening the lifespan of the fish any more.

 

[lelouchzeta]

Well betta's already sort of breathe at the surface so I guess it's not shocking that I missed that one, though it was only once every few minutes. Otherwise it fits. My water must be cycling.. I did a 20% water change at an hour ago. (She's been in there since sunday.)
<.25 ammonia
0 ppm nitrate
0 ppm nitrite
77 degrees F
Should I just take out all the water? My problem is that this tank had to be assembled IMMEDIATELY and I didn't have any gravel, so I won't be able to properly cycle until I have substrate for the bacteria. I know it's bad, but I'm doing the best I can. She has space and a heater and I'm doing PWC's...I want her to live as long as possible and I feel terrible that she's so uncomfortable
She had red gills when she came to me and was less active than the other girl that came with her.

 

[meegosh]

Arriving with red gills isn't too surprising. After all they are only in a cup of water. If the pet store forgets to change the water or just plain doesn't change the water the ammonia can easily build up enough to cause ammonia poisoning.

Keep your ammonia and nitrites below .25ppm and you should be fine. Your tank is still cycling because you should be reading some measurable amount of nitrates when your cycle has completed.

I applaud you for your dedication to your fish. A lot of people would not put in the time to do research or the necessary water changes. Good work and best of luck!

 

[lelouchzeta]

Regrettably, she did not make it.

 

[absolutangel04]

I'm sorry. Poor little girl.
Its pretty common for bettas in cups to come to you with issues like ammonia poisoning or chlorine burns or other similar issues as a result of their care before you got them. You did all the things you could do for her though, but sometimes they just don't make it. I hope your other one is still doing well though.

 

[lelouchzeta]

She seems to be doing okay. She seems happy and active and curious. I am having a hard time keeping the ammonia in her tank down...I recently reduced her feeding (5 pellets to 2) after reading about bettas' tendencies to eat way more than they need to I'm going to cycle the tank that Gamma was in and hopefully find a more ethically stored betta.