sparklepuff
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2021
- Messages
- 2
Hello all. I'm new here (previous member on FishLore, I want to join new forums/connect with more folks!) and wish I could introduce myself on more positive terms, but I hope you might have some insights into my situation.
Due to struggling with my bipolar disorder for the last 3 or so months, I must admit that I did not keep up with the maintenance of my tank very well (semi-regular water changes, slacking on them when the water test readings were good). There was quite a bit of algae growth (no ammonia spikes, thankfully...I performed semi-regular testing and had one of those SeaChem monitors in the tank). The day before yesterday I decided to buy a glass cleaner to scrape up the algae and do a deep clean of the gravel. Ended up doing probably a 75% water change (there was just so much debris that had been hiding in the gravel, it was disgusting).
I want to help my betta (Stitch)as much as I can and feel terrible for letting him down like this.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 5 gallon
How long has the tank been running? 5 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 80 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? One betta
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Every other week. See description.
How much of the water do you change? ~25-50%
What do you use to treat your water? SeaChem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes
Parameters
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No
What do you use to test the water? API Easy Strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-40 (hard to read)
pH: 6.2-6.8
(hard to read, but on stripalkalinity is low)
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1x day
How much do you feed your fish? 3-4 pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish?Omega One Color Mini Pellets
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? Yes, blood worms and sometimes brine shrimp
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 5 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days ago for lethargy, fin biting for about 2 months
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Lethargy (sitting on bottom of tank), fins are progressively in shreds (very "even"/C-shaped edges & no whiteness...does not look like fin rot at all)
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Large water change two days ago, had tried indian almond leaves & Seachem StressGuard for fins previously.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Just his fins
More Details:
After the water change, my nitrates went up to about 80-100 ppm afterwards, and I've noticed my betta Stitch is sluggish. He's still moving around and was excited to eat his food today, but goes back down to sit on the bottom usually (not laying down). I put a piece of nitrate removing sponge in the filter to buy some time while I figure out what to do next, and the nitrate level was actually 20 this morning, now look to be creeping towards 40 (the strips are hard to read and I need to go get a new master test kit today to be sure). He has been biting his fins for a few months, which I presume is due to the water quality not being the best (the tank was never visibly dirty, nor was there a spike in ammonia/etc. as aforementioned...but it still was not right of me to neglect it/him.)
I'm supposed to go home to the west coast for Christmas on 12/17 (I'm in university) and am worried about this situation not resolving in time. I have a pet sitter coming who will be feeding him every 2 days, and can brief her on what to do, but want to have a plan/do all I can before I go. Would love any advice you guys might have.
Due to struggling with my bipolar disorder for the last 3 or so months, I must admit that I did not keep up with the maintenance of my tank very well (semi-regular water changes, slacking on them when the water test readings were good). There was quite a bit of algae growth (no ammonia spikes, thankfully...I performed semi-regular testing and had one of those SeaChem monitors in the tank). The day before yesterday I decided to buy a glass cleaner to scrape up the algae and do a deep clean of the gravel. Ended up doing probably a 75% water change (there was just so much debris that had been hiding in the gravel, it was disgusting).
I want to help my betta (Stitch)as much as I can and feel terrible for letting him down like this.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 5 gallon
How long has the tank been running? 5 months
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 80 F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? One betta
Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Every other week. See description.
How much of the water do you change? ~25-50%
What do you use to treat your water? SeaChem Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Yes
Parameters
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No
What do you use to test the water? API Easy Strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-40 (hard to read)
pH: 6.2-6.8
(hard to read, but on stripalkalinity is low)
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1x day
How much do you feed your fish? 3-4 pellets
What brand of food do you feed your fish?Omega One Color Mini Pellets
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? Yes, blood worms and sometimes brine shrimp
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 5 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days ago for lethargy, fin biting for about 2 months
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Lethargy (sitting on bottom of tank), fins are progressively in shreds (very "even"/C-shaped edges & no whiteness...does not look like fin rot at all)
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Large water change two days ago, had tried indian almond leaves & Seachem StressGuard for fins previously.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Just his fins
More Details:
After the water change, my nitrates went up to about 80-100 ppm afterwards, and I've noticed my betta Stitch is sluggish. He's still moving around and was excited to eat his food today, but goes back down to sit on the bottom usually (not laying down). I put a piece of nitrate removing sponge in the filter to buy some time while I figure out what to do next, and the nitrate level was actually 20 this morning, now look to be creeping towards 40 (the strips are hard to read and I need to go get a new master test kit today to be sure). He has been biting his fins for a few months, which I presume is due to the water quality not being the best (the tank was never visibly dirty, nor was there a spike in ammonia/etc. as aforementioned...but it still was not right of me to neglect it/him.)
I'm supposed to go home to the west coast for Christmas on 12/17 (I'm in university) and am worried about this situation not resolving in time. I have a pet sitter coming who will be feeding him every 2 days, and can brief her on what to do, but want to have a plan/do all I can before I go. Would love any advice you guys might have.