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Betta Water Parameters

sdlTBfanUK

By sdlTBfanUK,
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jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

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I'm glad your betta tank is doing well. It's always so rewarding seeing my small contribution helping others in the hobby.

Sounds like it might be time for a couple of female bettas to be added.

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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One of my early attempts at betta was a tank with 3 females that I bought from a shop but it turned out one must have been a male as one day there were 10s of babies which I wasn't prepared for???? Gave a few away but most didn't survive very long as I didn't know what I was doing at that stage. It did make me aware that I don't want to breed them again.................

Simon

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  • 1 year later...
sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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Finally, photo of new Betta,

He is very patriotic, red, white and blue. Tail looks slightly ragged but if you look clearly it is just clear!

DSC00554.thumb.JPG.187549573ebbf5f422b3cdc4d8587521.JPG

Also got a photo of my killie in case anyone wants to see that, he isn't in the same tank as the betta but in my abandoned attempt at restarting my TB shrimps.....................

DSC00557.thumb.JPG.5dc75f1ce53ea5ef04c654bf7b26116c.JPG

Simon

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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53 minutes ago, Phoenix said:

They are great Simon ?  Have fun and let me know how he gets on ?

 

Both fish are doing well and enjoyed their weekly pea yesterday!

How are you getting on with your tanks, are you still using the chemicals to increase the GH etc?

Hopefully we may get to hear about Crabby new beta fish soon as well!

Simon

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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On 2/10/2021 at 1:01 AM, sdlTBfanUK said:

Hopefully we may get to hear about Crabby new beta fish soon as well!

Sorry Simon, I forgot to respond to this. My betta (Jupiter) is doing fantastically! A bit fussy with his food, but once this snap lockdown is over I’ll be ordering some more food, and I’m certain he’ll like one of them that I’ve used before. He really is just the cutest fellow though, so entertaining to watch and interact with. I've got a link to an album with photos of him at the bottom of this post. He’s a Red Koi HMPK, if anyone’s interested. So I’ll probably breed him with a female HMPK of some colouration, when I get the time. Also, he isn’t in his permanent tank yet, so in the photos you’ll see him alone in my native river aquascape. My plan is to put him in an island aquascape with some cardinal endlers. If I don’t get the cardinals, he’ll go with my blue stars. Very excited to test him with shrimp too... given his shyness around eating, I’m feeling hopeful!

Also I love your killifish Simon! He’s wonderful!!!
 

 

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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Alright... Jupiter is certainly not doing fantastically anymore. I just noticed within the last 24 hours he has developed dropsy. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m going to change the tank he is in to a healthier one. I think it helps to use a small amount of aquarium salt too? Or some melafix? I’ve had good experiences with melafix before so I’m thinking of trying that. Would really appreciate help from anyone with experience with dropsy though.

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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Change of plans - I have a friend who has had some level of success with Epsom salts, so I’m trying 1 teaspoon of that (in a 20L). It’s pure magnesium sulfate heptahydrate.

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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Sorry to hear Jupiter is sick.

I think my very first beautiful betta got this but I took it back to the shop and they refunded as it was within a week of getting it so I didn't try any treatments, it was my first ever fish and tank.

I hope the epsom salts work but it is not an easy thing to cure from my reading over the years. If you have a friend that can advise you with the treatment then go with them. From my reading though I had it down at 1 tablespoon for 5 gallons (20L) so you may want to check the quantity/ratio? I bought some epsom salts for my last fish but he died before I got a chance to try it out.

Are you sure you haven't just overfed him as that is extremely common with betta as they have tiny stomachs the size of their eye, but as the fish are qiuite large people feed them too much. I feed my betta an organic pea once a week to help with digestion, it may be worth trying that if you can get him to eat it, remove the outer shell of th pea, squash it into a soft paste and put it on the end of something like a match or skewer?

Indian almond leaves are also supposed to be good for betta, I use those and fulvic acid with mine?

Simon

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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Definitely dropsy... he's pineconing, has been very lethargic, won't eat, is now resting on his side and occasionally swimming around erratically. I increased the amount of epsom salts just before I fed all my other fish tonight, and put a towel over his tank to decrease stress. I'm really scared I'm losing him though, he looks so far gone. Can't believe I only noticed today! He's been lethargic and not eating for the last few days and I just put it down to attitude... :( 

Anyways, I'll try to get some organic peas, does it matter if they're frozen? Already have IAL in the tank.

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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It is very difficult to tell the temperament of a newly bought fish like a betta, I agree!  You would expect them to be a bit stressed as well when you first get them.

I have tried a few times years ago to keep bette, and they never lived long or seemed as happy and interactive as the recent couple, and I believe that that is bcause I was just using dechlorinated tap water before, but this time am adding GH+ (to get TDS higher 240),occasionally KH+, and fulvic acid as I had these already for the shrimp tanks, together with the IAL. Both fish since doing this have been very active and healthy looking from day 1, so I have assumed it is down to JayC great parameter advice from setting up this tank.

I hope the salt helps and he recovers but once they get bad enough that you can really see they are sick I think it is probably too late usually to recover? Of coarse he may have already been sick when you got him as you  haven't had him long?

You can use a frozen pea, mine are frozen, and my betta and killie had theirs this morning.

Do you know what the water parameters of his tank are, mine were PH7.5, tds 240, GH 8 drops, KH 4 drops last time I checked a few weeks ago? 

I have my fingers crossed that he makes it...........

Simon

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jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

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It's very hard to treat dropsy if the fish is no longer eating.

A bit of diluted Melafix or Oregano oil on food, might have helped to combat the internal bacteria.

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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Thanks for the support and help guys, but I think I just must’ve caught it too late. Kicking myself for not recognising it earlier. Sadly he passed away a couple of days ago. 
?

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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Very sorry to hear that!

It seems spookily like my early attempts at keeping betta and why I gave up for a long time with them.

I put the success now down to JayC great advice with the parameters (as per the beginning of this thread) and letting the tank settle more than I would normally - we all get impatient, especially if there is a tank ready with nothing in it??? My parameters have not matched all of JayC but I got as near as I could using what was available to me using tap water, GH+ etc, the PH started at 7 and after a few months went up to 7.5 (that worried me at the time but has been constant now for over a year and I assume it happened very gradually as the test kits only show variations of .5) but they don't seem to mind even - maybe it is because of the KH? The difference has been instant from the start this time, where they were shy and not interested in interacting or food when I tried previously, these last couple were the opposite from day 1.

I hope this experience hasn't put you off having another betta?

Incidently, I feed mine bug bites directly by moistening an old shrimp lolly sick (matchstick would do), then picking up 1 or 2 bug bites, and then feed the killie and betta about 2 mm above the water surface, they attack it and it means you know they have had food and that they also haven't had too much!

Simon

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Crabby Shrimp Breeder

Crabby

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2 hours ago, jayc said:

Sorry to hear that Crabby.

May I suggest checking out my Local Fish Shop for a replacement.

https://nanotanksaustralia.com.au/product/assorted-hm-hmpk-ee-males/

They have some stunning bettas.

They're wonderful looking guys. I'll have a think about it. I have a local breeder with cheaper but equally beautiful stock who I'm thinking about getting a male and female from, actually, but I haven't decided yet. Originally I was just going to get a female from the breeder, and breed her and Jupiter. Only issue now is I might get some problems from the inbreeding, so if I did that (this is all assuming I actually have the skill to breed them) I'd have to cross my F1 favourite breeder with something outside the gene-pool, so maybe I would go to nanotanks aus. I got Jupiter from 7 Fishes, which also has a magnificent collection. 

Also GEEZ you're lucky to have nanotanks as your LFS, that's amazing. I'm a little jealous.

 

1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

It seems spookily like my early attempts at keeping betta and why I gave up for a long time with them.

From what you said before it does sound quite similar. It is pretty disheartening.

1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I hope this experience hasn't put you off having another betta?

No, I'm still really wanting to keep and breed some bettas. They're just such a beautiful fish. Of course I can't 'replace' Jupiter, he really was special to me, but I would still like to keep some.

1 hour ago, sdlTBfanUK said:

I put the success now down to JayC great advice with the parameters (as per the beginning of this thread) and letting the tank settle more than I would normally - we all get impatient, especially if there is a tank ready with nothing in it???

Definitely will have a less reclined approach next time. Gonna make sure everything is perfect first. I think I got too comfortable, thinking it would all be fine since I have decent tap water and some experience now.

Thanks guys.

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jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

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10 hours ago, Crabby said:

Also GEEZ you're lucky to have nanotanks as your LFS, that's amazing. I'm a little jealous.

Yeah, they are a great LFS to have.

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  • 2 years later...
sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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I had friends round at the weekend, moving furniture around so now I can see the fish tanks from where I normally sit. The only tank that has been running since I moved has had bloody mary shrimps in it and they are fine. It was my betta tank before, and after moving my friends went out and got me a new betta;-

IMG20230311145000.thumb.jpg.01682d23668fab578a4a842a9870b3a8.jpg

As you can see he is ultra healthy looking (pic is of him in the fish store tank) and he has been very active from the moment he arrived and started a bubble nest within an hour of going into the tank. He is about half the size of a fully grown one!

He is a bit bland to look at as just white but I went for him as the tank is quite (understatement) dark and so he is easily visible, even from a distance. Hopefully he won't devour the shrimps (the odd baby shrimp I don't mind) but I will have to see on that issue! All the water parameters seem fine aside frm KH which is 6 as this area has harder water than where I was before, but I will gradually get that down using the filtered water (RO) with GH+ shrimp remineraliser from this point, that has no KH and I will just do it gradually over a loooong period as neither he nor the shrimps seem unhappy as it currently is anyway!

Apparently the store he came from also sell blue bolt (and some other taiwan bee type) shrimps etc so I will start thinking about setting that tank up (it is situ next to the betta tank) at some point in the near future, though that will be months away even when I do decide to start, as the substrate needs running-in, and the tank will need to cycle etc. 

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jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

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What nice friends you have!

Have you named the new betta yet? 

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sdlTBfanUK Shrimp Master

sdlTBfanUK

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I shall probably just call him bertie as I did the previous 2 I had.

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      I had friends round at the weekend, moving furniture around so now I can see the fish tanks from where I normally sit. The only tank that has been running since I moved has had bloody mary shrimps in it and they are fine. It was my betta tank before, and after moving my friends went out and got me a new betta;- As you can see he is ultra healthy looking (pic is of him in the fish store tank) and he has been very active from the moment he arrived and started a bubble nest within an hour of going into the tank. He is about half the size of a fully grown one! He is a bit bland to look at as just white but I went for him as the tank is quite (understatement) dark and so he is easily visible, even from a distance. Hopefully he won't devour the shrimps (the odd baby shrimp I don't mind) but I will have to see on that issue! All the water parameters seem fine aside frm KH which is 6 as this area has harder water than where I was before, but I will gradually get that down using the filtered water (RO) with GH+ shrimp remineraliser from this point, that has no KH and I will just do it gradually over a loooong period as neither he nor the shrimps seem unhappy as it currently is anyway! Apparently the store he came from also sell blue bolt (and some other taiwan bee type) shrimps etc so I will start thinking about setting that tank up (it is situ next to the betta tank) at some point in the near future, though that will be months away even when I do decide to start, as the substrate needs running-in, and the tank will need to cycle etc. 
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      I see the 2 shrimplets, very exciting and the shrimp in the photo look very healthy! The KH is fine at 3 and slowly dropping because of the substrate, but still in the acceptable range. Not sure about your tank size, other than 'nano' but if you have fish in that same tank (I think I see one in the photo blrred and at the back) I would do 25% weekly water changes (mainly because of the fish) and that will help counter the substrate as well, until the substrate is 'exhausted' of its buffering ability. Use the same kh4 new water as currently and always add the new water slowly, a drip method is best. Obviously you will need to be extra careful when removing the old water that you don't remove any of the new shrimplets........ Try not to change too much though as you may do more harm than good and it looks like everything is actually already going well, visible mating behavour and shrimplets doing well. Hope you manage to get rid of the planaria and that usually involves sizeable water changes in the process so complete that first and from then do the 25% regular water change routine. As the population grows you will need to increase the amount of food but be cautious not to overfeed. The bacter AE should help with biofilm growth etc but it isn't actually a food for the shrimps, though you may see them eating some if it isn't dissolved fully. The scuds are harmless and I would (and did in the past) remove them manually when you see them.
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