# ashleynicol3's Journal



## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Hi!

My name is Ashley and I'm planning to get a betta fish... Hopefully this weekend! I just received my sponge filter today and I ordered a bunch of other stuff (Tetra SafeStart, Seachem Prime, a heater, a thermometer, etc.), so I want to wait until all of that arrives before I actually get my betta fish. I'm super excited!

I set up my sponge filter today. It's an ATI Hydro sponge filter with a Tetra Whisper air pump. I'll take pictures of my setup once everything arrives. I already have a tank... It's an Aqueon Mini Bow 5. I also have some gravel and a cute little cave for my betta fish to hide in.

I'm thinking about adding some live plants to my tank. I don't want a full-on natural planted tank... I like gravel, but I want to add some anacharis or anubias to my tank and a marimo moss ball or two. I really like the look of live plants.


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

I got an anubias today and a marimo moss ball.











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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

All my stuff came today, so I went and got my betta fish - a twin tail halfmoon male!










Here are my initial test results. I tested the water again an hour or two after adding Tetra SafeStart and my betta fish - just to see what would happen... The results were the same.










Here he is in his new home! He seems to be doing well. He swam around for a while, exploring his new surroundings... Now he's resting near the top of the tank.





























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## 206Betta (Jan 28, 2016)

Nice looking fish and setup! Good to see that you got the API test kit too. Really helps in monitoring everything. 

I usually wait a day before testing just so that I get more accurate results. Are you using any water conditioner? If so, what kind? Your ammonia levels are pretty high.


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

I used Prime, but he doesn't look too good this morning. The ammonia levels are still too high, so I added more Prime. I could do a water change, but I've gotta go to work and I'm not sure it would help because the readings above were before I had added anything to the water, so wouldn't adding new water with the same readings be just as bad?


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

I thought the ammonia level was OK because Prime is meant to detoxify ammonia, not remove it - but maybe I was wrong? I feel terrible. Maybe I shouldn't have added him to the tank yet. I thought it would be fine with Prime + SafeStart. He's still alive and he doesn't look TOO bad, but he keeps kind of falling over.  He can swim to the top for air, but he's mostly just resting on the bottom.

I had added 10 drops of Prime for my 5 gallon tank. I added another 10 this morning. Maybe my water is too hard and I need to double that or something? Can you go overboard with Prime?

If he has ammonia poisoning, will he be able to recover? I feel so terrible. I came here and really tried to do my research before getting him and I still managed to screw it up somehow. 


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Is it normal for my tap water to have such high ammonia levels right from the start? If I wanted to safely keep a fish, would I have to get bottled spring water or something?


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## 206Betta (Jan 28, 2016)

ashleynicol3 said:


> I used Prime, but he doesn't look too good this morning. The ammonia levels are still too high, so I added more Prime. I could do a water change, but I've gotta go to work and I'm not sure it would help because the readings above were before I had added anything to the water, so wouldn't adding new water with the same readings be just as bad?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





ashleynicol3 said:


> I thought the ammonia level was OK because Prime is meant to detoxify ammonia, not remove it - but maybe I was wrong? I feel terrible. Maybe I shouldn't have added him to the tank yet. I thought it would be fine with Prime + SafeStart. He's still alive and he doesn't look TOO bad, but he keeps kind of falling over.  He can swim to the top for air, but he's mostly just resting on the bottom.
> 
> I had added 10 drops of Prime for my 5 gallon tank. I added another 10 this morning. Maybe my water is too hard and I need to double that or something? Can you go overboard with Prime?
> 
> ...


Oh ok, gotcha. Didn't know that the readings were before you added the Prime.


You really shouldn't blame yourself like that. Unlike me, you had done some research prior to buying your fish. As for me, it was an impulse buy and I foolishly did research after the fact. Also, I put my fish into a few tanks that weren't cycled or anything and was filled with plastic ornaments. 

I had some positive ammonia readings too a few months ago. Anyways, with a 5 gallon tank. You would probably have to do a 50% water change once a week. Just to start the cycling process. After about a month or so, you should be ok. Doesn't hurt to add a few more plants neither along the way. 

You're right but, Prime will decrease the ammonia to where it's safe for the fish. Think you might have added too much prime. If you already added 10 drops then 5 would have been good enough. Just try to leave it along for a bit just to be on the safe side. 

So, I think the most important part is to monitor everything closely from here on out. Especially the behavior of your fish. If the water conditions are better, then your fish will be more active. Since you added a lot of prime already. Do another test tomorrow or something to see where the ammonia is at. 

If it's still too high then maybe another water change is in order. Lastly, just take a breather and evaluate everything. I'm sure you'll be fine. 

My fish was lethargic for a few days before coming to life. 



ashleynicol3 said:


> Is it normal for my tap water to have such high ammonia levels right from the start? If I wanted to safely keep a fish, would I have to get bottled spring water or something?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Guess that depends on location but, I'm not entirely sure about that. For sure, you don't need to resort to bottled water since it's probably not healthy for the fish. 

Sounds like you're on the right track though. Hopefully, someone with more experience can help you figure out how to deal with tap water that has high ammonia levels in it.


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Thanks for the advice! I was freaking out yesterday, but in the end, I decided to put him in a small "quarantine" bowl with bottled water. It seemed like the best option because he was not doing well in the big tank since he was having trouble swimming/staying upright. He seems to be doing much better now, although he hasn't eaten. 

I was really beating myself up about it all yesterday, but I simply made a mistake. It happens! I've decided to use bottled water for now. I was able to get two 2.5 gallon jugs yesterday. The pH seems to match that of my tap water but without the ammonia, which is great. I will still treat it with Prime to neutralize any chlorine that may be in there.

I think once he's doing better and eating, I might put him back in the big tank and hopefully use SafeStart to get it cycled. Starting out with 0 ammonia, I think he should be OK and it should give the SafeStart time to start working before the ammonia builds up too much. Then I can continue to use bottled water (or maybe betta water) for water changes until the tank seems to be fully cycled, at which time I may be able to start using tap water again.

That's my plan anyway!


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## 206Betta (Jan 28, 2016)

Np, if you have no other option. Then I guess bottled water would be fine. Also, if you already have him out of the tank. Then perhaps this is the best time to start the cycling process in the big tank in preparation for your fish. 

Also, you can probably use tap water since your fish is safe in it's temporary home. That way you can get a feel of how much prime to use and everything else. 

Just a suggestion.


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Fish seems to be doing much better. Back to normal as far as his appearance, breathing, swimming. Still hasn't eaten, but that's probably normal given the stress he's been through. We got another tank for him (smaller) and set him all up with bottled water. Will be keeping him in the smaller tank until he starts to eat again and seems to be fully recovered. He will actually be going to live with my boyfriend as he started to take an interest in him/fish keeping while helping me through all of this. We got another betta for the tank I already had set up. So now we each have one! Both are in bottled water for now treated with Prime and we are attempting to cycle with SafeStart. Trying different forms of food (flakes vs pellets) for fish #1 to try to convince him to eat. Scooping out uneaten food right away (while still at least giving him a chance to show interest in it). Thinking of naming him Jaguar Paw (lol) from the movie Apocolypto since he's a real survivor! Fish #2 possibly named Neptune? Here is his photo.











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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Fish #1 (boyfriend still hasn't come up with the perfect name for him yet) ate a couple pellets today! Yay!!! He is in a temporary 1.2-gallon tank for now.


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## ashleynicol3 (Feb 23, 2016)

Fish #1 is now named Flipper. He went him with BF last night. He seems to be doing just fine! He doesn't eat as much as Neptune, but I guess that makes sense since he's smaller/possibly younger.


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