I think my betta might have ich?

[love4ballroom]

Hello!

So, I have had my betta, Poseidon for a few months now in a two gallon tank. I do partial water changes about once a week, unless I have a feeling like I need to do it more. So far, he has seemed to be pretty healthy. The first few days I was worried about him because he was laying at the bottom a lot and not really eating, but he started doing much better after that.

The other day I noticed that there were what I thought to be white spots on his tail, but then I realized they might be holes. I am now certain they are two tiny holes in his tail. One seems to have something white on it though. I did about a fifty percent water change last night and rinse off his castle and fake plant in hot water. I also took out his marimo moss ball and put it in hot water with water conditioner and it is still in the separate cup. Today I also saw white spots on one side of his head and starting to go down his body. I did a very small water change because I did a fifty percent water change when I moved him into my dorm a week ago and one last night, so I am afraid too many large water changes will stress him out. But a little while ago I looked and I didn't see the spots on his head, but I saw white particle looking things floating in the water.

So, my question is what is this? I was thinking ich because of the white spots, but does ich attach and detach itself like that? Does it cause holes in fins or is that fin rot? other than the two tiny holes, his fins seem to be in good shape. They aren't frayed and haven't lost any of their beautiful blue color. What is the best way to handle it if it is ich? I have read a lot of different things. Are chemical medications good or bad? My heater has its own thermometer and regulator, so I can't raise the temperature higher myself. I really don't think I can handle him dying right now.

[NoelFae]

Is there a filter or is it cycled?

If it's not cycled, with a tank that small you should be doing 75-100% water changes every day or every other day

Fin rot can start as white holes in the fins, as far as I know ich attacks the whole fish

[RiversGirl]

Welcome to the AC
It sounds like you've read up a little on ich. There are many articles that describe good methods to battle this protozoan.

Are you able to post a photo of your Betta? That would be useful to help determine if what you are seeing might be ich.

[love4ballroom]

He does have a filter in his tank. I change the filter cartridge about once a month as the box directions suggested. Do I need to change it again now that there is something wrong? Or to rephrase, is the cartridge going to be contaminated by whatever is causing this? This may be a dumb question, but I want to make sure.

[love4ballroom]

I can post a picture when I get off work if that helps

[Slaphppy7]

You shouldn't change the cartridge, you just just rinse it in old tank water when it gets dirty.

Read the cycling sticky here: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=36492

[love4ballroom]

531425314353144

These are not very high quality photos. One is him just laying on the bottom of the tank, one is of his holes (which look more like pink dots on his tail in this particular picture), and one is supposed to be of his spots, but they are hard to see in this picture. Also, it seems like most of the spots are gone now?

[RiversGirl]

You have a beautiful betta. Fresh water, with a good quality water conditioner, will be very good for him. Regular water changes. Read that sticky post that slaphppy7 linked to, above. It is good information.

As a water conditioner, many here use Prime. It is less expensive to order online.

I do not personally see signs of ich, but that doesn't mean it isn't present, either. Keep an eye on the holes that you've noticed (I can't see those either, but of course if you see them, then they are present.) They should be healing/closing up, as you provide fresh water during regular maintenance.

Best wishes for you and your beautiful betta. Please keep us informed. I'd like to invite you to start a journal for this tank over in the journal section. I would enjoy following along.

[love4ballroom]

I bought some home tests and his ammonia levels were pretty high. I used a gravel vac and did like a sixty percent water change. I think one of his holes got bigger though?

[Rocksor]

Did you use test strips or a liquid test for ammonia? You will need to test ammonia and nitrites every day. I would do water changes everyday until ammonia and nitrites are no higher than 0.25ppm.

[love4ballroom]

The nitrites and nitrates were a strip test and ammonia was a liqiud test. The first time I took the test it showed at a 2 and I did a 60% water change. Yesterday I took the test again and it still showed up at a .5 so should I keep doing about 25% water changes every day or should I do 50%? I have done a lot of water changes recently and I don't want to stress him out too much but I know the ammonia needs to be fixed right away.

[Slaphppy7]

Which water conditioner are you using?

I highly recommend you purchase one of these ASAP: http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=580#.WZrtt1GQzpE

This is the conditioner many of us use, with great results: http://www.seachem.com/prime.php

[Rocksor]

The nitrites and nitrates were a strip test and ammonia was a liqiud test. The first time I took the test it showed at a 2 and I did a 60% water change. Yesterday I took the test again and it still showed up at a .5 so should I keep doing about 25% water changes every day or should I do 50%? I have done a lot of water changes recently and I don't want to stress him out too much but I know the ammonia needs to be fixed right away.

When either nitrites or ammonia reaches above 0.25ppm, do a 50% water change. Test everyday. If you run out of the tests, do a 50% water change everyday until you get the new tests.

The stress from ammonia is worse than the stress from a water change because it is constantly there.

[love4ballroom]

I have been using TopFin water conditioner. Also, this may seem like a stupid question, but 2 seems really high? I had done a fifty percent water change a bit over a week ago then another fifty percent water change like three days before the first ammonia test then a 25 ish percent water change the day before. using the gavel vac instead of the cup after the first ammonia test for a sixty percent water change did make the levels go down to a .5, but that also seems a bit high considering. Is this just because I was using a cup instead of a gravel vac, or was I doing something wrong as well? Are the holes because of the ammonia?

[waylon101]

I have been using TopFin water conditioner. Also, this may seem like a stupid question, but 2 seems really high? I had done a fifty percent water change a bit over a week ago then another fifty percent water change like three days before the first ammonia test then a 25 ish percent water change the day before. using the gavel vac instead of the cup after the first ammonia test for a sixty percent water change did make the levels go down to a .5, but that also seems a bit high considering. Is this just because I was using a cup instead of a gravel vac, or was I doing something wrong as well? Are the holes because of the ammonia?

Are you saying that you were moving water out of the tank by scooping cups of water? The fish waste settles to the bottom and sits there rotting until you physically remove it. Scooping water out of the tank will help but ultimately you should use a gravel vac to remove the disintegrating waste. I hope I got the question right. The holes could possibly be from a disease or infection rather than a parasite like ick.

[BluewaterBoof]

I agree with Rivers; I do not see signs of ich. If you ever get ich, you will notice it from several feet away...it looks like your fish have a bunch of salt stuck to them.

I agree with the others.
1. Get a liquid test kit for your water.
2. Do not replace filter cartridges until they are falling apart or so gunked-up that flow is impaired regardless of how much you rinse.
3. Holes in fins are usually from poor water quality.
4. Vacuum up the bottom of the tank when doing water changes so that all waste is removed.
5. Feed only three or four pellets to your betta a day. You can skip a day or two, as well. Fish are opportunistic feeders and can go weeks without food. A fasting day will help keep your water quality much better as well as help prevent digestive issues like constipation and bloating.
6. Swing by your local aquarium shop, or even a Petsmart/Co. They will more than likely have live plants for your aquarium. Plants will help consume ammonia and nitrates, which is important in smaller tanks when they get fouled up quickly. Live plants are also much more aesthetic than plastic decorations.
7. Invest in a larger tank, when funds allow. Walmart usually has some bare 10g tanks for about $13. Larger tanks are more stable and easier to maintain, and the betta won't foul up a 10g right away.

BTW, welcome to the Community and your betta is beautiful! :22:

[love4ballroom]

Yes, I was using a cup to scoop. I bought a gravel vac and it did reduce the ammonia levels. I have also had a marimo moss ball in the tank for at least a month now thinking that this would help keep ammonia levels under control, but I guess that it got too out of hand even for the plant. I also noticed a seven day betta feeder that did not dissolve correctly and was there for at least two weeks. Could that have contributed to the water quality being so terrible? I do want to get a bigger tank for him, but I am living in a dorm, and it is a bit too difficult to transport a large tank every time I need to leave my dorm. In a few months I am hoping to have a more permanent housing situation though, and I will probably invest in at least a ten gallon tank then, if not a larger one. Until then, do you think the one marimo ball is enough to help or should I get a second plant as well? I was doing water changes once a week. Should I be doing it more if the tank is small?? I did invest in a water vacuum, and I am hoping that this will help keep it under control. I did buy water test kits. I am testing it every day now until it is back to zero ammonia and no other issues, but how often should I test the water normally? Once a week?

I apologize if these seem like obvious questions, but I want to be the best pet parent possible for Poseidon.

And thank you :)

[love4ballroom]

Ok so six hours ago I did a 45% water change, and I tested the water and the ammonia is just as high as it was yesterday. Is this normal? I used conditioner that states it neutralizes ammonia, he has a plant in there, I did use the gravel vac again to get the gross bottom water and poop and food out. Shouldn't the ammonia have gone down?

[Boundava]

Yes, I was using a cup to scoop. I bought a gravel vac and it did reduce the ammonia levels. I have also had a marimo moss ball in the tank for at least a month now thinking that this would help keep ammonia levels under control, but I guess that it got too out of hand even for the plant. I also noticed a seven day betta feeder that did not dissolve correctly and was there for at least two weeks. Could that have contributed to the water quality being so terrible? I do want to get a bigger tank for him, but I am living in a dorm, and it is a bit too difficult to transport a large tank every time I need to leave my dorm. In a few months I am hoping to have a more permanent housing situation though, and I will probably invest in at least a ten gallon tank then, if not a larger one. Until then, do you think the one marimo ball is enough to help or should I get a second plant as well? I was doing water changes once a week. Should I be doing it more if the tank is small?? I did invest in a water vacuum, and I am hoping that this will help keep it under control. I did buy water test kits. I am testing it every day now until it is back to zero ammonia and no other issues, but how often should I test the water normally? Once a week?

I apologize if these seem like obvious questions, but I want to be the best pet parent possible for Poseidon.

And thank you :)


Marimo moss ball will help but you can add some other plants like cabomba, hornwort, water sprite. They are fast growers and will take up nutrients-but you may need to keep on top of them so they don't overgrow the tank. Poseidon will love to lay on top of the plants as well.

Remove the 7 day feeder, as much of it as you can. It definitely contributed to the problem as bettas don't poop that much.

As someone suggested-don't throw away the filter cartridge. When it gets gunked up you can take some of the tank water and put it in a small bowl or even a mason jar, pop the filter cartridge in-tighten the lid and shake the cartridge cleaner. Then rinse it in some more tank water you removed from the tank, and pop it back in the filter without letting it dry out at all or rinsing it with tap water. You are trying to grow some beneficial bacteria and throwing away the cartridge throws them away too-rinsing in tap water kills them, treated tank water will not arm them, but it will clean the cartridge.

I would test the ammonia daily, and do water changes as needed if the levels get to be over .25. Ammonia and nitrites are deadly in small amounts so doing at least 50% water changes will help to keep them from hurting Poseidon. Also using the Prime water conditioner will help neutralize the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for a period of time-making them less of an issue too.

No obvious questions and thank you for being a good parent. Poseidon is a beautiful boy, he will love a 10 gallon tank when you are able to upgrade him.

[love4ballroom]

Thank you for your advice :) and thank you I think he is very beautiful too :) I just want him to be happy and healthy

[waylon101]

I had a 29 gallon in my dorm. I did water changes via the shower lol. It took about 10 mins to fill a 5 gallon bucket. It was terrible. I agree with much of what boundava has said (I usually do lol). 7 day feeders often destroy your water quality. Remove that and keep up on your water changes. Check in with us throughout this next week so we can help.

[love4ballroom]

I would love to have a 29 gallon tank but I do not think my RA would love for me to have a 29 gallon tank haha. I am hoping by January to get something bigger so he can have lots of plants and maybe some mates as well. I have noticed that the tap water tests at a .5-1.0 ammonia levels. My conditioner is supposed to neutralize ammonia though. Also, is the BettaFix a good option to help heal the holes in his fins?

[NoelFae]

Also, is the BettaFix a good option to help heal the holes in his fins?

No, a quick google search of bettafix is generally the entire community thinking it's garbage. There's a product called paraguard that helps for finrot - which is probably what you're looking at the beginning stages of.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002DWTIU6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503395307&sr=8-1&keywords=paraguard

Put it in after your water changes and it stays in the tank for 24 hrs before neutralizing so you can't overdose your betta, as long as he's not showing signs of stress you should use it for a week. Always put it in after a water change

Bettafix can usually help a bit after the rot is healed but can destroy the bettas labyrinth organ.

Finrot sucks but as long as it's seen in early stages is generally pretty easy to kick in the butt.

[Rocksor]

When dosing with Paraguard, you want to wait at least 30 minutes after a water change. Water conditioners are a reducing agent that destroys some medications like Paraguard when it comes in contact with it. I typically wait about 1 hour after a water change before I medicate.

[love4ballroom]

53181531835318453182

Pictures of his tail the other day. Is this fin rot?

[BluewaterBoof]

Until the water quality improves, medication is only going to slow the fin rot. Need to tackle the source of the problem. That's going to be your ammonia. Since your tap already has super high ammonia levels, you're going to be fighting an uphill battle until you get a nice stable cycle going in the tank, as you are actually adding ammonia to the tank each time you do a water change. Ammonia will also burn your betta's gills, which is another reason to get it down asap. In addition, your water conditioner is only temporary. It binds up ammonia for only like 24hrs or something like that.

Despite their name, marimo moss balls are not moss. They are actually a type of cladophora algae, and aren't going to put much of a dent in your ammonia by themselves. What you need are fast-growing plants that will suck up as much as they can throughout the day.

The others are more than welcome to correct me, but what I believe the best course of action at this point would be:

1. Stop using your tap for your water changes.
2. Go to Walmart and pick up some gallon jugs of pure distilled water ($0.88 per jug).
3. Do small water changes, maybe half a gallon if your tank is only 5g, over the week with the distilled water. Don't do one big massive change as you will more than likely shock the fish since the purified water will be so much different than what the fish is acclimated to. The TDS levels, hardness, and pH will be very different. Slow and steady wins the race.
4. Call up your local fish shops (LFS) and Petsmart. Ask them if they have any duckweed. Duckweed is a small floating plant that grows insanely fast and will suck up the ammonia and nitrates in the tank. Some people consider duckweed to be a nuisance because it grows so fast, so you may be lucky and be able to get a cup of the stuff for free or very cheap. Some people have a hard time controlling duckweed, but in a small tank like yours it won't be difficult.

Here is one of my old betta tanks. Duckweed is the stuff you see growing on the surface with all the little roots hanging down. I had to keep this water very clean as my betta used to bite and shred up his own tail. The duckweed helped keep all my nitrate levels down so low that they wouldn't even register on my test kit.


https://youtu.be/rNtD1Yd7TzQ

[love4ballroom]

I know my PetSmart sells something called Betta Water and it is literally a bottle of water. Is this just the same thing, but more expensive because it is called Betta Water, or is it something that would actually be helpful to him? I have looked there a few times at plants, but I do not recall seeing duckweed, but at the time I wasn't sure what I was looking for. If I do not find it, are there any other suggestions you might have? I am a bit concerned about buying a fast growing plant because of how small his tank is. Is this a real concern I should have, or am I just unnecessarily worried about it?

[BluewaterBoof]

I've seen the "Betta Water" at some stores. Snake oil. Get yourself some purified water for a fraction of the price. $5 of distilled water from Walmart will go a long way. One of the things you will discover as you travel deeper into the hobby is that there are countless products out there that are completely unnecessary or have much cheaper options. Pretty soon you won't even waste money on buying filter cartridges because you'll just find it cheaper to buy a huge roll of polyester quilt batting for $5 and cut your own pieces out for your filter :)

Duckweed is not sold in the plant section. It won't survive in those little tubes and packets. It will be found in one or several of the tanks that house the fish. I've seen it sometimes at Petsmart, but usually it is found at local pet stores that sell fish. They usually just scoop up some out of a tank with a cup and give it to you. Give the stores a call and ask them if they have any duckweed available and they'll let you know if they do or not so you don't waste a trip.

Don't worry yourself about a fast-growing plant. Duckweed multiplies like crazy, but all you'll need to do is just take your little net and skim some off the surface once or twice a week to keep it under control. You want fast-growing, because that means they are sucking up the nutrients in the water at a fast rate. The betta is being burned by the ammonia in the tank, so you want to get that soaked up and removed as soon as possible. Duckweed is one of the fastest-growing plants in the hobby and is readily available and super cheap. If you can't find any at local stores, I'm sure there are members here would would be happy to send you some as long as you pay the $5 USPS shipping fee. I don't have any anymore, otherwise I'd help you out :(

[Slaphppy7]

If this is a "kit" filter on this little tank, I imagine duckweed would clog it in no time....I'd stay away from duckweed.

If the OP would invest in Prime as advised above, the ammonia from the tap, as well as nitrItes and nitrAtes, would not be an issue. I too have at least 1 PPM of ammonia reading from my tap, and I do large water changes weekly with no problems.

OP needs to read and understand the fish-in cycling sticky I linked above, as well. The liquid test kit is a must-have.

[BluewaterBoof]

The difference, though, is that your tanks are fully cycled and heavily-planted, Slap. OP has a small uncycled tank with a fairly large fish creating a lot of waste in addition to the ammonia from tap. Prime only binds up ammonia for one or two days. I'd rather use cheap purified water and some plants to cut down and eliminate the ammonia rather than constantly adding chemicals to the tank every day or two.

Duckweed is easily handled. My buddy Slap is one of those people who struggled with it and has built up a distaste for the stuff haha

[Slaphppy7]

Depending on the OP's tap water composition, I'd be cautious about adding water that is much different as far as ph, gh, and kh are concerned.

I've never had duckweed, thank goodness, just have read all the horror stories about what a mess it makes.

[BluewaterBoof]

Yeah, I was sure to point out to OP the need for doing small gradual water changes with the cleaner water.

Duckweed isn't bad at all, Slap ole buddy. People try coming up with fancy ways to remove it from a tank when all you need to do is skim it off the top with your net. I had it in two 10g tank and a 29g tank for a long time. When I decided to get rid of it, I just took about 5 mins a day to skim off the bits and pieces for maybe three or four days and it's gone.

I think most of the people who complain about duckweed going out of control and clogging filters and whatnot are the people who skip on regular tank maintenance. It won't cover your tank overnight. The outflow from the filter keeps it pushed against the opposite corners of the tank. If you notice it getting a little too dense for your liking, a dip of the net is all it takes to thin it out again :)

I really did like the stuff. I'm using dwarf water lettuce and frogbit now, but only because they don't get tossed around so violently by my spray bars.

[love4ballroom]

I have attached photos of the water tests of my tank from last night. I do not have a picture of the tap water test I did, but it looked pretty much the same. I had done a 45% water change in the tank about six hours before those tests were taken, but the day before the results were the same. 5318653185

[Boundava]

Search for chiming in on duckweed I would say that I would not wish it on my worst enemy. I have it in tanks ranging from 5 1/2 to 20 gallons, it's even trying to take hold in my 75. Fortunately that one has a lot of current and the duck weed can't do anything but annoying me. We have tried multiple times in many ways to rid ourselves of the duckweed however other than tearing the tank down entirely and scrubbing the walls and the filter it is next to impossible to truly be rid of it once you get it. If you're looking for a fast-growing floater please don't go duckweed try frog-bit instead it's bigger it grows equally as fast and it absorbs nutrients just like frog-bit however instead of tiny little plants in your tank clogging everything these are bigger about the size of a quarter. If you'd like to PM me I can send you duckweed and I can also send you frog-bit no charge just pay for shipping. I can even send you eat a little sample of each so you can see what a pain the duckweed is just don't put it in your tank if you're going to give it a test run.

[Slaphppy7]

A long time ago, a dear member here who has not been active in TOO long of a time (KevinH) sent me a pair of apistos, juveniles...unfortunately, they did not work out...but he gave me an explicit warning that a few bits of duckweed would be in the bag the fish were in, and to NOT let it get into the tank....he was (and is, I suppose/hope) a long time fish keeper and absolutely hated duckweed, it plagued him for a very long time

[BluewaterBoof]

You guys are crazy haha Duckweed is not that awful. I love you Nat, but if you're struggling with it that badly you're doing something wrong :14:

[Boundava]

Wait until I get home and show you the tanks then you'll see what fun duckweed is. You just went you asked for it.

[Boundava]

Here you all are...
https://youtu.be/p_Uyd8335tk

[SueD]

Gotta chime in on the duckweed also. It's so manageable and I've never had anything clogged by it. Now, I wouldn't necessarily add it on purpose (some people buy this stuff), but since I got some I've learned to deal with it. A few scoops with a cup is all it takes to remove most of it. You can remove it all if you're diligent and go after every last minute bit, but I don't bother. I find it nice to look at and it has its benefits.

[Rocksor]

Depending on the OP's tap water composition, I'd be cautious about adding water that is much different as far as ph, gh, and kh are concerned.

I've never had duckweed, thank goodness, just have read all the horror stories about what a mess it makes.

Distilled water is not needed. Simple drinking water will do. This won't alter the water as drastically as distilled water. There shouldn't be any ammonia in regular bottled/drinking water.

Another option is to put the tap water through ammonia chips or zeolite, which is easily purchased from the LFS.

[NoelFae]

Wouldn't OP just need to cycle the tank?

I have high everything in my tap water, and just testing every 24 hrs and doing changes once in the 24 hrs depending on my Ammonia or trites (25% for .25 ammonia, 50% for .50 etc) I got my tank cycled in a month and other than a tap water trate spike haven't had any issues in the bacteria department. Or is the tank too small for that?

[NoelFae]

Also if I have my trites/trates mixed up oops? I got to the point where I stop reading the bottle and am unsure which is which anymore other than by knowing if my tube isn't blue it's bad [emoji29]

[love4ballroom]

Ok so I was watching Poseidon just now, and he keeps jumping at/out of the water. It reminds me of how he "attacks" his food at the surface, but more dramatic and there is nothing there. I have a lid of the tank, so he can't jump out, but a friend suggested this may be a result of ammonia poisoning? Does this sound right? What can I do? He was also biting at the tank, which may have been him trying to fight himself, but he has never done this before, then he just let himself sink to the bottom.

[Rocksor]

Dose with Prime for the whole tank volume everyday. If you want to lower the ammonia than what comes out of tap, add regular bottled water (gallons) to the tank. You can combine this with adding duckweed, which will only eat the bound ammonia (known as ammonium) when using Prime. The duckweed would more likely stop the fish from jumping as well.

[love4ballroom]

Also, a lot of people keep seeming to think my tank is not cycled. I have had this tank running since mid/late April. It has also never had a problem until I went out of town for a week, came back, and moved him from the apartment to the dorm. A friend has a theory that something happened while I was away that messed up the natural cycle in the tank. Does this sound like that is what happened? Any ideas on what could have caused it to get so messed up? Are there quick fixes to this or just waiting for it to cycle again? I do not think he is well enough to wait in this tank while it still has any ammonia. Someone suggested getting a smaller temporary tank to put him in so I can mess with the old tank and even start over with it if necessary. Does this sound like a good solution or is moving him over and introducing him to new water like that twice going to stress him out to much?

[BluewaterBoof]

Also, a lot of people keep seeming to think my tank is not cycled. I have had this tank running since mid/late April.

Well by definition, the tank is not cycled if you're having ammonia issues. It sounds like it used to be, but now the tank is out of balance.

If all was fine before the move, and nothing else has changed with the tank except for the water source, I'd say the water is the culprit. When the tank was cycled in the beginning, the ammonia produced was low enough for your filter to process it and break it down into nitrates. It's possible that you just don't have enough bio media in your filter to handle the large increase in ammonia from your new water source.

I reassert my advice to stop using your dorm water and start using bottled water as soon as possible. You can pick up 5 gallons of purified water for less than $5 at Walmart. That is the quick fix that you are asking for. You can also look into better filtration. You can buy ceramic media to shove in your filter that will increase its ability to process the ammonia (that's what we're referring to if you see us talking about bio media). The ceramics are extremely porous and allow much more beneficial bacteria to grow on, which consume the ammonia and break it down into nitrites and then nitrates.

Bio media comes in a couple of different forms. Some look like beads, others look like thick rings, and some look like gravel. Here are some of the name brand options that you can find in most pet stores and Amazon:

53204
53205
53206
53207

Amazon will have more brands/types and better prices, but can take some time to reach you. Especially since it is already close to the weekend you probably won't get your order until Monday.

Petsmart carries a lot of filtration media, but you'll be paying a little bit more. If it was me and I was in your situation, I'd spend the extra couple of bucks and head to Petsmart and grab a box of the Fluval Biomax rings, then stop off at Walmart or a grocery store on the way back home and pick up five gallons of water. If you have some nylon hose, make a little pouch and put the Fluval rings in it for easy removal when you clean your filter out. If not, you can still put the ceramics in the filter but they might be a bit of a pain to fish out whenever you take the filter apart for regular maintenance. Start doing some gradual water changes of about half a gallon throughout the afternoon/evening so that you don't shock the fish as the TDS, pH, and hardness of the bottled water is probably going to be very different than what is in the tank. You could probably get away with doing a larger change all at once, but why risk it?

[Rocksor]

Plastic bio filters plain suck for the normal sump less aquarium.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=53205&d=1503591967

[BluewaterBoof]

I've never had any issues with bio balls, other than I can't stand how they float. They're also a bit bigger than I like, so they don't fit well in smaller filters. I use a bit of everything. I have Matrix, Substrat, Biomax, crushed basalt, even nylon scrubbies. The only difference I've noticed between the products in how much they hit my wallet haha

[love4ballroom]

My tank is pretty small, so the filter is obviously also small. Are they going to be a problem? And does this work close to immediately? I read that his jumping is due to the high ammonia levels, so I am going to assume that means this needs to be solved now.

Also, how did this come up so quickly? He was totally fine up until maybe a week ago, and even then his behaviors were not so drastically changed like this until last night. Does ammonia poisoning/ammonia stress usually go like this?

[BluewaterBoof]

The bottled water is the immediate fix. That will get your fish into clean water not loaded with ammonia. That should be your first and foremost action at this point.

Adding the bio media will not have an immediate effect that is noticeable. It will take some time for the nitrifying bacteria to establish colonies on it. Using the bottled water will reduce the ammonia until the new media has time to grow enough goodies on it to catch up to the higher levels of ammonia that your tap is providing. It shouldn't take weeks like a brand new tank, since I'm assuming your tank already has some level of beneficial bacteria in it, but it probably won't be overnight, either. But it's a good idea to get it in there sooner rather than later. Having a ton of bio media in a tank will ensure that you have a bulletproof cycle that can handle whatever you - or your water - throw at it. You'll still have to do regular weekly water changes to keep your nitrates down, but you won't have to worry about the ammonia content in your tap water.

[BluewaterBoof]

Here you all are...
https://youtu.be/p_Uyd8335tk

Nat, I didn't have time to watch the entire video but one thing I saw right off the bat was that you have other stuff for the duckweed to get mixed up with. Having plants like pothos that grow out of the water are going to create tons of places for the duckweed to get into and at the same time make it impossible to net out the duckweed. Your other tank was a mixture of frogbit and duckweed. There will not be any way to remove the duckweed without removing the frogbit, as well. Those tanks are lost causes unless you remove the other plants that are on the surface.

Again, duckweed is simple to remove. You turn your filter off, take your fish net, and gently scoop it all up by skimming the surface with the net. Takes about five minutes to remove 98% of the duckweed floating around. The next day, you will notice some more that were either hiding around your filter the previous day or were lodged in some plants underwater that came loose overnight. Turn your filter off, then skim off the surface again. By the third and fourth days, you'll maybe see a dozen or so stragglers floating around, but no where near the thousands you started out with. Grab your net and scoop them out when you see them. The key word you used in your video was when you were showing your sister's tank and said "diligence." You have to stay on top of the stuff for three or four days to eradicate it. You can't scoop some out one day, then wait until later in the week. Five minutes (or less), every day, for a week, and you will be duckweed free. No fancy bottle skimmers or anything like that is needed. That upper tank that you zoomed in on to show the dozen or so pieces floating around? Right then you should have whipped out your net and skimmed them out. Walking away when you see duckweed is the very reason people struggle with it.

I want no excuses, missy! If I could clear out my duckweed in less than a week in THIS:


https://youtu.be/gb3f8Ky3tH0

there is no reason you can't clear it out of some little 5 and 20g tanks :)


EDIT: and now I'm sad :( I miss my pearl so much!

[love4ballroom]

That makes a lot of sense! I will try to get that stuff tonight. Thank you!

[NoelFae]

A natural cycle takes about a month to work itself out