What do I need to know about Bettas??

[Emily]

Suggestions about the test tubes. Rinsing and air drying is fine, but before you test, rinse the tube in your tank water, it will give you a more accurate chemical reading. Just take a little, swish it, dump it, then use the dropper and start testing. This INCLUDES the lid. People often forget the lid part and it can mess with the results.

And don't forget to rinse the dropper in tank water too. Any residue from previous tests can and will influence the future tests.

[Eugooglizer]

Congrats! It already looks really great! Oddly, I haven't had much luck with anubias but I might give them another try. My amazon sword on the other hand has proved extremely hardy. Of course I also managed to kill a bunch of water wisteria when first starting my planted tanks so I don't think my experiences are exactly typical lol.

Thanks to sugarselections pics of her fluval chis, I've been ogling the various nano-tank kits online, particularly the Fluval Specs--the 2g one is on sale for $44.99 w/free shipping on Petco.com right now which is actually a very good price and trying to justify buying another tank haha. But my mind was made up for me when I stopped by a Petco in my area about a week ago and walked by the shelves with the nano tank kits as I was heading towards the front to checkout. Sitting there, just calling out to me, was an Aqueon Evolve 4 on clearance for $34.99 (retail price was $69.99), the last one left. Well there was no way I could pass it up for that price--if you're not familiar with them they're pretty similar (in looks at least) to several of the Fluval tanks, acrylic cube with built-in/hidden sump in the back for filter media, heater, etc. and a clip-on LED light that swivels and has daylight and moonlight settings which, from what I've read at least, is quite sufficient for low to low-moderate light requiring plants. This style also lends itself very well for modification into a nano-reef tank and if I had more money right now I'd definitely be checking out all the other Petcos in the area for a 2nd one lol.

[sugarselections]

That's so funny. I've also been looking at the Fluval Spec on sale at Petco. I was all set to buy it but then ended up having to change banks and I don't have my new debit card yet. Although I said four betta tanks is my limit, I was thinking of setting up the Spec on my desk for my guy with heavy fins and swim bladder disorder. I like the 2 gallon size for him plus people on the Amazon reviews were talking about how you can put a valve on the filter tubing to really reduce the flow. I just wish I had real Petcos locally. The only stores we have are a different chain of pet stores that was bought out by Petco and they just have tiny stores in strip malls. All my local Petcos are 10% the size of the local Petsmart stores.

[Happy Crabber]

You guys are such a bad influence................

I think I'm going to get a tank for my classroom next fall. For now, I will hold off.

My cycle is coming along. Amonia going down to 0 each day, Nitrites are very high 2-5, so doing some partial water changes. Nitrates around 20.

Quick question... do I keep the ammonia levels high by adding more each night? If nitrates are 5, Should I do a partial water change, then dose the Ammonia up to 3 or 4 again? It seems like its taking me more drops of ammonia each night to get a reading of even 1.

Hmmmm. Science in action...

[wodesorel]

If you've got nitrites and nitrates then you should stay at a steady dose of ammonia. Once the nitrites even out to 0ppm you're ready to go.

What you're doing is faking the fish pee of a fully stocked tank - which would be a steady stream (sorry! lol) of ammonia into the tank. It wouldn't fluctuate up or down as long as you weren't adding or removing fish. The fake pee tricks the filter into producing just enough ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria to keep both at level of 0ppm once the fish are added. You don't want too much bacteria or you can cause a "mini-cycle" as it starts to die off from starvation if the fish's output doesn't match the ammonia you had been putting in, but you do need to have enough or you'll end up with a "mini-cycle" because it can't process the ammonia quick enough. It's a Goldilocks situation.

[Eugooglizer]

That's so funny. I've also been looking at the Fluval Spec on sale at Petco. I was all set to buy it but then ended up having to change banks and I don't have my new debit card yet. Although I said four betta tanks is my limit, I was thinking of setting up the Spec on my desk for my guy with heavy fins and swim bladder disorder. I like the 2 gallon size for him plus people on the Amazon reviews were talking about how you can put a valve on the filter tubing to really reduce the flow. I just wish I had real Petcos locally. The only stores we have are a different chain of pet stores that was bought out by Petco and they just have tiny stores in strip malls. All my local Petcos are 10% the size of the local Petsmart stores.

The Aqueon Evolves look very similar to the Fluval Specs (style-wise at least) which I'm sure is a big reason why I like it so much. I know that with the Evolve 4 the flow is too strong for most bettas even with the pump turned down to the lowest setting, but there are multiple ways to effectively modify/divert the flow to be more appropriate, one of them being a valve inserted into the filter tubing as you mentioned--some people simply put holes in the tube apparently. That stinks that you don't have any "real" local Petcos, the 2 nearest me are still 45 minutes away so I don't get to go all that often, but when I do I've been able to get some pretty awesome deals on clearance items in particular. I was actually an asst. manager at a Petco in Dallas for about a year when I was 18 (12 yrs ago o.O) and it was right around the time they started transitioning from the smaller stores to the huge warehouse-sized ones. The particular store I was at was in a shopping center/strip mall next to a bagel place and a grocery store but was replaced by a new store at least 10X as large about 5 minutes away. A few of the smaller locations still exist around the metroplex currently, but even those have plans in the works for much larger locations to replace them within a few years. While I definitely enjoyed working in a smaller store, having the larger ones to actually shop at is nice.

[Happy Crabber]

If you've got nitrites and nitrates then you should stay at a steady dose of ammonia. Once the nitrites even out to 0ppm you're ready to go.

What you're doing is faking the fish pee of a fully stocked tank - which would be a steady stream (sorry! lol) of ammonia into the tank. It wouldn't fluctuate up or down as long as you weren't adding or removing fish. The fake pee tricks the filter into producing just enough ammonia and nitrite eating bacteria to keep both at level of 0ppm once the fish are added. You don't want too much bacteria or you can cause a "mini-cycle" as it starts to die off from starvation if the fish's output doesn't match the ammonia you had been putting in, but you do need to have enough or you'll end up with a "mini-cycle" because it can't process the ammonia quick enough. It's a Goldilocks situation.

OK- so here's what I need to know, what is the ppm of ammonia equal to one betta? The ammonia I'm using says that one drop/gal should equal 1ppm. But I'm finding that's not the case. When I do 3 drops (in my 5 g tank) I get a reading of .5ppm. So do you think there is something weird with my water, or are the directions on bottle off? How many minutes after redo sing the ammonia to the tank should I take a reading? I've been putting it in there swooshing it around and letting the filter run in for a few minutes. Should I just keep adding drops until the water reads 3ppm? (for example)

Today my ammonia was down to 0 with the slightest hint of green. Nitrites were between 2 and 5 (honestly- the colors on the card look nothing like the tests- grrr) and nitrates were between 10-20. So it seems like my nitrAtes are dropping but not sure my nitrites are dropping yet. But I guess the nitrates are responding to the water changes, and the nitrites are just building up again quickly? hhhhhmmmmmm... This is more confusing than I thought it would be.

ALSO- 2 of the leaves on my Amazon sword are turning translucent. Any idea what that's about? Should I clip those? It does seem to have new growth already, but clearly some of the leaves aren't enjoying themselves. Will they thicken up again? The annubia seems more hardy.

Thanks again fish gurus...