Beginners Questions

[musetekno]

I'll admit that this is the first time I have ever kept a fish so please bare with my ignorance but I do have a couple of questions about bettas that are not covered in your information guide. Before I start my questions I will give you as much info as I have about my set up and water condition.

1. I have a 1.5 net gallon hex tank with an UGF and 7.5 watt Jr. heater along with 1 plastic plant and two Java Ferns.
2. It has been running with 18 days
3. I have a lone male betta, Zane, in the tank.
4. the temp in the tank ranges from 77 to 80 degrees
5. my pH is 7.8 after aging
6. I just did a 100% water change today rinsing the gravel in the old water before I ran into trouble 3 days ago I changed water every 3 days and I was doing a 25 to 50% water change using a mini vac siphon.
7. my ammonia levels were running at .25 ppm with a spike at .5 three days ago
8. my NO2 levels before today were running at .10 or less until three days ago when it took a huge jump up to .5 and I did a 75% then for the last two days its been 0.10
9. I treat my water with 10 drops AmQuel, 10 drops NovAqua and 1/4 teaspoon salt per gallon
10. Except for 4 days ago we fed exclusively Bio-gold pellets(2 pellets once a day). We started offering a different pellet that was larger OEI I think its called(1 once a day.) I think that was the cause of the ammonia spike so I went back to just Bio-gold. Zane won't touch free dried bloodworms at all.
11. My GH test out at about 300
12. My KH test out at 40 ppm

Zane presently has some fin and tail rot losing about 30 to 40% because of the tank condition which I am treating with a solution of Kanacyn. He just recieved his second treatment today.

Other then the tail rot Zane is eats vigerously, has good color, swimming actively, no clamped fins, flaring and generally being a cheeky little bugger.

Question #1: If you cannot "cycle" a 1.5 net gallon tank how often should I change the water with this mini UGF and how much a week?

Questin #2: After the Kanacyn treatment should I wait 3 days and retreat again?

Question #3: If not repeating the Kanacyn what course of treatment should I use to help regrow his fins?

Questiin #4: Should I add Tetra's Black Water to his tank to give him vitamins and to bring the pH down?

Question #5: What the heck is the difference (in layman's terms) the between a total Nitrite ion concentration (TetraTest NO2 test) and a Nitrite-Nitrogen concentration?

[ACKislander]

Question #1: If you cannot "cycle" a 1.5 net gallon tank how often should I change the water with this mini UGF and how much a week?

Uncycled tanks require 100% water changes to illuminate harmful components like ammonia. The amount of ammonia produced and the rate differ from fish to fish and by tank size, type of food, amount of food fed, other fish and decaying plant matter. The only way to really know how often to perform 100% water changes is to do ammonia tests. The best method is to do a 100% water change and begin testing for ammonia every day after. If it takes 7 days for ammonia to register on the test kit, you then know you have to change the water every 6 days. You can continue performing these water changes every 6 days unless you do something to drastically change the rate of ammonia in the water. (i.e. add more fish, get a bigger tank, change diet greatly) If you make a major change, you just repeat the ammonia testing experiment until you get new results. You may find one betta's tank needs to be changed ever 5 days while another betta needs his water changed every 10 days.

Questin #2: After the Kanacyn treatment should I wait 3 days and retreat again?

If the fin rot is vary bad, it can be beneficial to treat again after the first run is over. You do not have to wait 3 days. If he takes to the first treatment well, it may not be necessary to retreat. Do not treat more then 2 full courses. Remember, pristine water conditions are the best treatment of all.

Question #3: If not repeating the Kanacyn what course of treatment should I use to help regrow his fins?

Vary clean water with no temperature or pH spikes and 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite at all times. Some people find metafix to be helpful, but I personally don't care for it because of additives it contains that cause harm in some fish. I personally prefer just good old clean water.

Questiin #4: Should I add Tetra's Black Water to his tank to give him vitamins and to bring the pH down?
Betta's do fine at a pH of 7.8, Black water is not necessary. It's generally intended for Amazon freshwater fish (soft water) like Discus, tetras, gouramis, angelfish, etc. Betta's can get all the nutrition they need from a varied diet. Just remember to never expose him to ammonia. The higher the pH the more toxic ammonia becomes.

Question #5: What the heck is the difference (in layman's terms) the between a total Nitrite ion concentration (TetraTest NO2 test) and a Nitrite-Nitrogen concentration?

In layman's terms, it's about measuring the molecular weight of nitrate. Nitrate is nitrate, there is only one kind. The difference is in the kit and how it's measured. It's kind of complicated, but it comes down to weighing nitrates as nitrogen or as just nitrates. (ions) If you're really interested I can send you some information, but if not just know this. Some kits just read one or the other and some read both. If you have the Nitrate/Nitrogen (N) reading and want to convert it to the nitrate ion reading multiply it by 4.4. If yo want to go the other way divide it by 4.4. They are both correct, it's just two ways of reading it. I comes down to if you include the hydrogen atoms in the measurement or not. Kinda boring, huh?

[hellann]

>>>In layman's terms, it's about measuring the molecular weight of nitrate. Nitrate is nitrate, there is only one kind. The difference is in the kit and how it's measured. It's kind of complicated, but it comes down to weighing nitrates as nitrogen or as just nitrates. (ions) If you're really interested I can send you some information, but if not just know this. Some kits just read one or the other and some read both. If you have the Nitrate/Nitrogen (N) reading and want to convert it to the nitrate ion reading multiply it by 4.4. If yo want to go the other way divide it by 4.4. They are both correct, it's just two ways of reading it. I comes down to if you include the hydrogen atoms in the measurement or not. Kinda boring, huh? <<<<

Hi, Sorry to budge in, but we just got our first Betta. Does which test you get really matter? Are they both supposed to give a reading of 0 or what should I be aiming for with either test? Thank you

[amanichen]

Your nitrate should ideally be zero.

For more information take a look at this article, part 3:

s94779296.onlinehome.us/website/Fish/articles/nitrogencycle.html