# Condensation and Other Concerns



## Apav (Jun 1, 2020)

I have a inexpensive 3.5 gal plastic tank that came with a filter and plastic lid. I've ordered a heater and thermostat controller, but currently the water is just room temperature, which I'm guessing would make the water 74-75 degrees. There's maybe 1.5 inches of space between the water's surface and the lid, which has regularly been fogging up. I just want to confirm this is normal, and I'm not suffocating my Betta in some way. Also is evaporation like this something I need to look out for after heating the tank?

More worryingly, my Betta hasn't been eating very well. I've got some New Life Spectrum Betta pellets coming in the mail tomorrow, but I'm currently stuck on these Tetra branded pellets. When I drop in the pellets he goes after them immediately, but spits them back out. Then he leaves them floating at the top, sometimes for over 30 minutes. I would assume this is to wait until they're soft, but even after they are soft he seems to struggle breaking them down and leaves half the pellet at the bottom of the tank. Besides that he acts pretty normal; what are your thoughts?


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## HannahJo93 (May 14, 2020)

74-75 is not an unacceptable temperature, although I would suggest a bit higher for betta. The big thing with temperature is to make sure it's not fluctuating. I'd rather keep a fish in cooler water than to keep it in water that's fluctuating temps.
As long as your betta can get oxygen he won't suffocate. He will take oxygen from the water or he will go to the top and grab oxygen from the surface. You've left him room to grab oxygen from the top so he should be fine there.
From my experience, when I did NOT have a heater, I had fogging up/condensation. My tanks with heaters do not fog up or get condensation. You will experience evaporation, that's normal. You can add more water to your tank as needed. 
What are your water parameters? Is your tank cycled/what is your water change schedule? If your water parameters are not good, he may be reacting to that and not eating. Orrrr he may just not like the type of food. My female is a very picky eater! Try a different brand/type of food and see if he improves.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Many new Betta do not eat for several days or even a week or two. They are not actually being finicky. Usually they either do not recognize what you offer as food or are still stressed over going from a cup to a "mansion." 

Some Betta are raised on live or frozen foods or the pet store feeds freeze-dried. This is why they look askance at pellets or flakes. When we offer they may take the food in their mouths and spit it out. When they do this their tiny teeth are scraping bits off and ingesting so they are not going completely without nutrition.

The best way to handle this is to offer one pellet. If he won't eat it then remove using a turkey baster. Wait a few hours and attempt to feed again. What you do not want to do is offer him other foods, especially frozen or freeze dried, as this just sets you back to square one. Even if it more than a week, keep offering the NLS until he recognizes it as food or becomes comfortable enough to eat.

Trust me, either way, he will not allow himself to starve.


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## Apav (Jun 1, 2020)

HannahJo93 said:


> 74-75 is not an unacceptable temperature, although I would suggest a bit higher for betta. The big thing with temperature is to make sure it's not fluctuating. I'd rather keep a fish in cooler water than to keep it in water that's fluctuating temps.
> As long as your betta can get oxygen he won't suffocate. He will take oxygen from the water or he will go to the top and grab oxygen from the surface. You've left him room to grab oxygen from the top so he should be fine there.
> From my experience, when I did NOT have a heater, I had fogging up/condensation. My tanks with heaters do not fog up or get condensation. You will experience evaporation, that's normal. You can add more water to your tank as needed.
> What are your water parameters? Is your tank cycled/what is your water change schedule? If your water parameters are not good, he may be reacting to that and not eating. Orrrr he may just not like the type of food. My female is a very picky eater! Try a different brand/type of food and see if he improves.


I was doing a 50% water exchange every week, until I mistakenly thought my Betta had an infection. Because of that, I ended up completely cleaning the tank and replacing 100% of the filtered-softened-well water I had been using, with spring water. After a week passed I tested the water with the only test strips I had. 

NO3 Between 0-20ppm
NO2 Between 0-0.5ppm
pH 8.0
KH Between 80-120
GH 180 

I then did my routine <50% water exchange. I'm still a little confused by the whole process of cycling and how to monitor it, I know it has something to do with building up beneficial bacteria.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Here's this Forum's tutorial on fish-in cycling. You will need SeaChem Prime water conditioner and a liquid Ammonia test. If you can budget in the API Master Test Kit you will get way more bang for your buck than with strips. The kit is liquid and measures the four most important parameters: Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and pH.









CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial


Change half the water when either ammonia or nitrite approach 0.50ppm (alternately, 25% at 0.25ppm), or weekly, whichever comes first. Add Seachem Prime at 2-drops per gallon of tank size every day until cycled. That’s all you have to do. You can stop reading now. But there’s a lot of...




www.bettafish.com





Keep us posted on how you are doing or if you have more questions.


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