General questions

[Spanger]

Hi'ya everyone. I just wanted to make a quick update. I hope he doesn't mind me saying but yes this little guy is one of Adams. I'm also happy to report he's sparked up.

I have started testing the water just to keep an eye on it, I got quite a high ammonia reading yesterday but as it was my first I'm not sure if it was accurate or if I was just dumb and didn't read the results quite right. Either way I got a result of between 0.25 and 0.5, which I don't think I should have because Merlin had only been in his tank <24 hours. But I did have the java moss in there for close to 10 days - could have have contributed?

Anyway, I warmed up some water I was aging (in a small tub in a sink of hot water - think the same way you'd warm a baby bottle LOL) and changed some of the water. I changed some more this morning. Tonight when I got home he was the happiest yet. He even ate which is fantastic. The ammonia reading was down too - down to zero so I am happy and think it was possibly human error for such a high reading but still - it would also explain the change in happy-ness levels if both readings were correct.

Now for my next worry - the water in the tank appears to be quite merky. Is this another side effect of not having cycled? Was I too generous with my 1/2 IAL? Is that perfectly OK?

I only have one crummy photo taken with my phone because I didn't realise the camera was out of battery but you still get the gist.

This is me saying this is ikky water, not "excuse my crummy camera" Compare it to the crystal clear photos I posted three days ago and you'll know why I'm now questioning this.

Edited to add: This photo was not taken directly after changing the water.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Spanger

[Pyrefly]

He's a gorgeous little fella, congratulations

Bacterial blooms can happen in newly cycling tanks, causing cloudy water.. but even if thats a bad photo, it looks pretty extreme.

Theres nothing in the tank that could be dissolving or breaking apart to cause this? Check the bases of your plants, the filter media etc.

[Spanger]

I was warned against the evils of using "clown poop" pebbles.... so maybe it's that. Will check tonight when home from work and Uni.

[Spanger]

So I had planned to do a big water change when I got home tonight but I was at uni till about 30 minutes ago. Water still merky but didnt test or change because I came home to find a bubble nest and the little man resting in his coffee cup cave.

I will change it tomorrow and see how were progressing.

[Spanger]

I promise I'll stop giving you all daily updates ...soon.

I think we're finally on top of all things fish around here. I changed about 50% of the water today and removed the last plastic plant in Merlin's tank. That leaves the silk plant which he's ho-hum about and his all time favourite rubber coral which is - Merlin says - awesome for hiding in.

He still wasn't eating on Thursday and I'd had such a late day yesterday I figured Friday could be fast day in this house. I waited til I'd hovered and changed the water to feed him today and just kinda crossed my fingers that he ate. When I dropped the pellet in he rushed up and gobbled it up so fast I was all HOORAY :bighug: I was so happy he was finally eating . THEN HE SPAT IT OUT!

So I dropped in another brand we have (a very different looking, smelling, sized generic brand) and he sniffed at it then went to eat some java moss which had come loose during the change! I also found some wrigglers in a bucket of water sitting out on the back step earlier so I went and got one and I fed him the unidentified wriggler and then he seemed happy!

So this afternoon after Mr Spanger got home we headed off to the LPS (I had planned to go earlier but my car broke down ) and got a Mystery snail and looked for some blood worms and maybe some frogbit or something float-y. But they only had big frozen packs and it looked like all too much work and way too messy - maybe when oh, I mean if there were 20 to feed.... Plus the three kids in the fish department were far too busy talking about footy to even want to see if they could help us. Second week in a row I have been completely ignored by staff at Kellyville pets. I finally went and broke up the convo to get the snail but I wont be going back. Really I shouldnt have even bothered getting the snail from them but I know that my local Petbarn only has ramshorns and you guys recommended mystery or apple.

So after that we called into a small LFS near home and we chatted to the very helpful sales guy who asked about my water quality and temp and if I was using a smaller bowl. He actually trouble shoot the "my fish isnt eating" thing with me and we got some dried blood work to try Merlin on. He also recommended we try to coax him to eat the pellets again when were happy that he's healthy. We looked at some of their plants but there wasn't anything which really took our fancy.

Anyhow... Obviously this is a huge post and I've actually been up and down, feeding the dog and doing other things as I type. I want to add about 15 minutes ago I went to lock up the house and put the dog out and I was like "oh where's Brock gone" (We named the snail Brock Lesnar after the wrestler) and he was in Merlin's coffee cup / cave. So Mr Spanger and I were standing there having our pretend conversation about what was going through their little aquatic brains (like we often do when the dog does something funny/silly/maughty) and we caught Merlin body slam / head butt the snail. Maybe we named the wrong one after the wrestler. Merlin is totally about the fact that there's a SNAIL in HIS COFFEE CUP CAVE! We're still giggling. We'd only been saying how he has a bit on an attitude and discussing that whole theory that you project your personality onto your pets (something I basically believe) but we sure as heck didn't project that... He has a 'tude and he ain't about to share his mug.

Spang.

[Pyrefly]

Yay a snail!

Sorry to hear about the crappy LFS kids. You'll find your favourites soon enough, but even then.. always always do independent research before buying fishy things, the really honest and knowledgeably salepeople are not as common as we'd all like.

So as I read it, Merlin hasnt eaten anything since you brought him home, aside from the unidentified wriggly thing?

Can't remember if you mentioned earlier, but you are conditioning/dechlorinating all water that goes into the tank yes?

If you have the kits, would recommend doing tests for Ammonia/Nitrite & PH each day until things stabilise. Your biofilter will not be mature yet, so you'll have to keep very close eye on the water parameters for a few weeks.

[Spanger]

No no... he did eat on Tuesday of this week AND he may have eater during the week - he can be a bit shy so I cant say for sure but we had some trouble with the water. My test said we had a huge ammonium spike but I can't be 100! sure if it was my dodgy testing or bad water. Either way, were feeling our way along. He's a lot happier today and the most active he's been since he came home so i take that as good news.

Am testing most days. Didn't yesterday or today - yesterday was a 15 hour day for me...

Otherwise, back to his fussy eating. I thought it was related to the lethargy but now I think its fussy-ness. Today I saw him eat the un-identified wriggler and 2 freeze dried blood worms and some junk off the java moss. (Ha I'll make a great Mum some day - "well he ate some random junk consisting of something thats only really for treats, something that I cant identifiy and something else off the ground")

Tomorrow will tell. I'll try him on the pellets in the AM and give him a worm or two if he wont eat the pellets in PM.

God. Dogs are so much easier.

Oh and thanks - you guys have been so supportive :)

[Yanagi]

I may have missed it but what brand pellet(s) are you trying to feed him?

[Spanger]

Aquarian - parent company Waltham. about $25 for 28 g but I think I paid more than I should have...

Also Aquamaster betta total diet. Cheap generic brand. Parent company aristopet.

Both brand names I know from my vet nursing days. The Aquarian ones are much smaller than the larger, way more smelly aquamaster ones.

That said...

first ingred. in the Aquarian ones are wheat, soybean, fishmeal. Min protein 34%

Main ingred in Auqamaster = Fishmeal, meat meal, soy flour. Min protein 56%

Aquarian on left, betta total food on right coke lid for scale - it was the smallest thing handy. Pls excuse the image quality - must charge camera.

Edited April 30, 2011 by Spanger

[Yanagi]

Holy mother of.. fish.. I've never seen a fish food have that much protein. That CAN'T be healthy as a regular food. The other one sounds rubbish and extremely overpriced.

A good cheap generic is Vitapet's Marine Master Betta Food from Woolies or Big W. It's tiny but all my fish love it and it makes a good fry food as well. I think it's about $3-5 for 57g.

Hikari Betta bio-gold, I think average is about $8 for the bigger packet which is 20g. It's lasted my 20+ bettas months so far, with heaps still left in it. No one turns it down. It's probably just a bit smaller than the larger pellet.

Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta food. 15g, pricier food although I forget how much. I think I paid over $13 for it at least. It's quite small and they all love it as well. Probably the same size as the small pellet you pictured.

Mine get fed a mixture of the above. Depends whatever is closest to the tank at feeding time. I have a few of Adam's fish as well and they all eat whatever I give them. I think it's a combination of a new (which is stressful) environment and poor water quality which you can't really avoid in setting up a new tank. Perhaps getting your hands on some Seachem Stability and/or Nutrafin Cycle to help the process along.

Marine Master Betta food - fish meal, shrimp meal, wheat germ. All natural colouring. No protein and other such amounts listed but I am not using it as their only food so it's not a concern to me.

Atison's betta food - fish meal, cereal meals, krill meal. Crude protein min 36%

Bio-gold - Crude protein min 38% Ingredients aren't listed online and I can't find that packet of food at this very moment.. Hiring a maid, inquire via PM.. LOL

[Spanger]

Yeh. I was dumb not to read the packet of the more expensive stuff. I had no choice in the other stuff, I got it, as I might have already mentioned, in a mix of other things, on w whim, when I did a big cat and dog order online - before he even arrived. Interestingly the "100% freeze dried blood worms" I have for him are also 56% crude protein.

Dont really want to spend MORE on food will try and plod along with him and con him into eating - might try crushing the larger one up and feeding a ratio. I wont hold out too long on him though. I do have the worms and the wrigglers and there's always the LPS on the way home from work if I break before he does. Will look in woolies today too - but have not noticed betta food in my local.

What about soaking them? He at least puts the Aquarian in his mouth before spitting it back out? He wont have a bar of the other stuff.

Edited April 30, 2011 by Spanger

[kermadum]

All of mine while they're here eat Spectrum Pellets (I think Thera A is the variety but can't remember off the top of my head) and hikari tropical micro wafers plus live foods scattered throughout whenever I feel the need.

Are the pellets he's spitting out big? Lots of my fish as they're growing when I move up to a bigger size pellet will grab it then spit it out if it's too big, but usually go back to it a few times until it's softened enough that they can eat it. He might also be eating some while you're not looking, what's his energy levels like now?

[Spanger]

OK. I'm at my witts end. My car broke down this weekend just past and Mr Spanger and I have been sharing a car - sounds fine but that means 4.30am starts me. I've been killing time at Maccas with a coffee and paper and coming into work early ... urgh. But this isnt about me - just that I haven't had time to get here to update on Merlin.

I might have mentioned that he's picked up on the weekend - he was eating blood worms and being very cheeky on saturday. By Sunday he'd gone back to lethargic. He's spent hours sitting in his corner - This morning he was swimming around but I think his fins are clamped and I think - i stress i think there is some discolouration on his body. I did a 50% water change saturday and I put the doing backwards down to that change. Now I think it's more sinister.

I'm going home tonight to jar him up in a coke bottle. The snail can go into one too... I'm going to strip the tank and sterilise it with condys crystals. and start from scratch.

For Merlin I'm thinking of going down the salt/increased temp/ dark towel and 100% water changes til he looks like he's picking up. I seriously do not think he can get any worse!

No photos - I've been too busy to charge the camera and the phone wont take a decent photo.

Should I try the salt or should I go bigger and more chemically - like .... protozin, tri sulpha or tetracycline. Also how much salt per litre? I'd prefer to use salt because I'm treating un-diagnosed.

Thanks all - hope someone sees this before about 3.30 today

Have also posted to the clinic

Edited May 4, 2011 by Spanger

[Bettarazzi]

Is the coloured gravel still in there?

[Spanger]

Yep it is. Come one over to the clinic thread for full update.

[Spanger]

No photos just wanted to drop a quick update on the little guy. He's doing OK. Still looking tatty but really really full of attitude. Water has stabilised, with no change in chemistry from week to week. I do a 50% or more water change each week and he's got 2 small IAL in his tank + the snail - all seems to be good. Other tank is still cycling. Have not tested it for a few weeks as I've been heaps busy but there aren't any fish in there so it can take as long as it needs to.

Have been fasting Merlin on Fridays and yesterday I forgot to feed him til quite late in the day - he was really cranky - he even flared at the spoon I use to feed him! LOL. I did manage to sneak 2 of the pellets he doesnt like into him before he jacked up and wouldn't eat any more. Other than that - he's still on dried blood worm and aqua one Betta food (not pellets, much finer) as it's all he'll eat.

That's pretty much it. I'm still totally in love with him - he's full of attitude and always entertaining. He rot doesnt look to be getting any worse but doesn't appear to be getting better quickly either. He flared at me tonight for no good reason. LOL. Love him. Might try to get a photo tomorrow if I can find the camera.

[meganj]

So pleased to read your latest post on Merlin. I hope he is still doing well and recovering from the fin rot.

Don't forget to "feed" your cycling tank or the good bacteria you've built up will die of starvation and you'll start all over again. A fragment of mushy fish food every couple of days will do it.

:D