Thanks!!
10 gallons is a good size for a goldfish! Great job there.
However, this size can actually work against you in situations like this. With the lack of filter for a day, it isn’t necessarily the quality of the water. The only exception here is if you are over-feeding. Excess waste (both food and poop) will create water quality issues and pretty quickly.
I suspect the lack of filter (which as a byproduct produces oxygen into the water) and not having air bubbles, your goldfish is quite stressed during this time. Gasping leads me to be concerned moreso with air quality than water quality.
Increasing oxygen levels will allow the goldfish to relax. When you change water, this would be a good time to supplement air. Also, make sure you have plants that naturally oxygenate the water.
I would recommend:
So the only thing I have against Eco-Complete is how insanely expensive it is. According to the instructions on the bag and the current prices on amazon, we're looking at $85 - $170 just for substrate.
Compare that to the pool filter sand at only $25 - $50
The substrate I used was SeaChem Flourtie Black Freshwater Substrate. I have never tried to put sand on top of my gravel, actually I have always been afraid to. I applaud your bravery. I think that that would actually work well, I have always been intimated by mixing or Layering substrates that I have only ever used fluorite black for my planted tanks.
There is also more narrow siphons you can get online like this hyger one.
I personally went to lowes and got some PVC fittings and necked down my siphon to a 3/4" opening for narrow spaces in the tank instead of moving my hardscape around.
In that case, you definitely didn't cycle your tank and that's likely to be the issue. Go to your local pet store and you'll be able to find testing kits. API master test is the best one, you need one that tells you Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates.
Uneaten food results in ammonia, which is toxic to fish. A bacteria breaks ammonia down into nitrites, which is also toxic to fish. Then, another bacteria breaks down the nitrites into nitr*a*tes which aren't toxic unless they build up too much. Cycling is the process in which you let that bacteria grow in the tank before adding the fish. That way, the ammonia will be converted to nitrate quickly. Since it's not cycled, ammonia and nitrites are likely being built up because there isn't enough bacteria to convert them into nitrates.
You'll have to do something called a fish-in cycle. There are some good articles online that explain how to do it. As for the uneaten food you mentioned, get a gravel vacuum (self priming unless you want a mouthful of fishtank water). They work kind of like turkey basters, and they suck up food and fish poop from the gravel. This is the one I have
Okay, couple thoughts:
Do you already know about the nitrogen cycle and is there a heater and filter on the tank already? If not I can talk you through fish-in cycling. My first betta years ago died slowly because no one had ever explained it to me and I felt awful.
I’d see if you can exchange the mollies & guppies for 2 more corydoras (get the same types that you already have). Shoaling species prefer to be in groups of 6+, and this community can be a touch intense about this “rule”, however, from my personal experience a group of 4 cories is generally pretty chill and not freaked out and stressed and will be fine until you have the space to get a bunch of them. They’re also a nice choice to stick with because bettas usually tolerate them really well.
You can often get used big tanks for dirt cheap on Craigslist or fb marketplace. Someone is giving me a 40 gallon with all the stuff included for free just because they don’t want it in their house anymore.
Live plants really make all the difference and if you get a bag like this you can literally just like push plants into it and they’ll get enough nutrients. Floating betta logs have been really popular in this community too, bettas get kinda tired when they have those big flowy fins so they take little naps inside the logs and it’s cute :)
Because the beneficial bacteria reside on surfaces in a cycled tank rather than in the actual water I don’t think that would do much, if you get your new emergency tank, condition the water and get the filter going, put some plants in there (if you get substrate like this, rinse it til the water runs clear, then use it as your “gravel” then you can put live plants directly into it), and then in your already cycled guppy tank maybe put a fresh sponge filter directly into the filter for a few days so some beneficial bacteria go on it, then in a couple days you can put that sponge filter directly on the betta’s new filter, it may help to jumpstart the nitrogen cycle by a couple weeks.
Exactly this.
I use a gravel cleaner siphon. You don't have to have the entire hose filled with water. Fill up the big end and most of the hose with water, then put your finger over the other end, and put that end in the bucket, and release. Easy. I've shown a few people how to do it.
https://www.amazon.com/Laifoo-Aquarium-Siphon-Cleaner-Cleaning/dp/B07DBJ9YVB/ref=sr_1_5
Ooh your setup sounds amazing!! The waterfall I’m using is actually a filter (it’s a Tetra Decorative Reptofilter) but I expect the water to still get pretty gross so I bought an inexpensive mini water vacuum on Amazon so I can suction out the water every week. https://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Cleaner-Changer-Air-Pressing-Controller/dp/B083NRD2HJ
Wanted to give Mardy a sandbox in his tank and let him dig, so I gave him some Zoo Med excavator clay with a cave in a plastic tub and he seemed to really enjoy it.
Well, at his regular check-up the vet felt some concerning bumps and recommended either scheduling a follow-up in a couple weeks or taking an x-ray now and see what's going on in there. To quote the vet: "It's a party in there!"
Luckily he doesn't seem to be impacted and all the substrate seems to be moving through just fine, but the fact that he's INTAKING rocks is a problem. I'm not surprised, just disappointed.
So Mr. Untrustworthy has had his sandbox privileges permanently revoked, and I'll be making sure he gets plenty of fiber in his diet.
No! That's specifically for salt water tanks. This is the most recommended brand for lotls
Try excavator clay! Its made for bearded dragons and leopard geckos. Add water and boom! Its all done. Use a balloon to make it retain its shape! I found some for cheap on amazon (:
So this is Vanilla and her current setup. She used to live in one of those crappy 2 story cages until I convinced my sibling to get her a bin cage. My sibling isn’t caring for her anymore (besides her being his responsibility) so I took over her care. I don’t know a lot about hamsters but I want to give her the best setup I possibly can to help her thrive. She’s currently so stressed she climbs on the mesh lid :(.
Ill have an empty 15 gallon soon for her as I’m upgrading my goldfish to a 70 gallon. (Dimensions are 60x30x34cm) do you think this will be okay for her? She’s a Russian dwarf I believe.
Het current care is this: Small bin (im unsure of the size. I can’t find anything to measure it with.) with cotton substrate (there’s paper mixed in this because the plain cotton substrate isn’t sold anymore in the pet store.) I don’t think it allows for burrowing very well though… She has a small sand bath, a basic plastic drinking thing and a wheel that’s too small. a single wooden hide, a tube type thing and a ladder but that’s it. I sprinkle a hamster food mix around her enclosure 1-2x a week.
Can anyone give me tips and/or an in depth care guide or other sources? I’ve owned hamsters as a child but… yk how it goes when you give hamsters to kids.
Also, I was wondering something. There’s this product that people use to make custom reptile backgrounds. (I’ll be using this for my gecko.) do you think I could use this to make a stable setup? Its similar to hardened clay. I’m not sure if it’s safe due to chewing. Does anyone have any other things I could use that I could sculpt other than wood?
Plant and shrimp aquarium substrate. It's super easy to use and my plants seem to like it.
Aqueon Plant and Shrimp Aquarium Substrate 5 Pounds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HGKK59Q/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_JTRBTAS0WS8TCS4HCC40
Rule of thumb: Forget the nonsense about "waiting to callous" - it's a bunch of BS.
Get some sand (plain ordinary fresh water sand).
Find a small 2" - 4" unglazed terracotta pot. Put a small amount of cactus and succulent soil in the bottom and fill the rest of the pot with the sand.
Soak the pot so that the soil and sand is completely saturated. Drain. Poke holes in the sand for the stem and leaves.
Cut the stem (not the leaves) at an angle and poke it in the hole in the sand. Do the same with the leaves.
Mist it slightly to make sure the stem and leaves are firmly in the sand.
Put it in a bright location and let it be. Do NOT water for at least 10-15 days.
That's it.
I will link an option of vacuum from Amazon to give you a better idea. You suck out all the debris in the gravel with it. It’s basically a pump so while you are removing water from the tank you can dig into the gravel and remove fish waste while you are changing water. You can get a 5 gallon bucket at probably any large retail stores. So you basically use the hose, manually squeeze for suction, and then the dirty water will start flowing into the bucket. https://www.amazon.com/Laifoo-Aquarium-Siphon-Cleaner-Cleaning/dp/B07DBJ9YVB/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=2H7DCI8PUQTZA&keywords=5g+gravel+vacuum&qid=1650600887&sprefix=5g+gravel+vaccum%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-4
here's a substrate guide.
The most common substrate recommend is the topsoil/playsand mix shown in the first section of that guide. It's hard to give links for that because everyone's local home improvement stores have different stock. But overall you want organic topsoil with no added fertilizer or perlite, sifted to ensure it's free of debris. Then pre-washed and screened playsand, which you should wash again to remove dust.
You can also add excavator clay into the mix to add in some holding power for it your gecko digs. That can be purchased off amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Excavator-Burrowing-Substrate/dp/B000N5OM8S
5 gallon is good for a betta, they prefer still waters or low current. Cleaning gravel you can use something like this.
Laifoo Aquarium Siphon Vacuum Cleaner for Fish Tank Cleaning Gravel & Sand https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DBJ9YVB/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_MEMQC8T0VZAEN2V5JJJH
Betta will be good on its own. If you want to get him a buddy you can get a snail or smaller nano fish.
If you feel up to it you can get a 10 gallon tank and do more for him.
If you're looking for substrate for a planted aquarium you're not likely to find much under 10 bucks
This looks to be the cheapest and smallest package
Aqueon Plant and Shrimp Aquarium Substrate 5 Pounds https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07HGKK59Q/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_JFSQFHBVXQ74A5SH04F7
I can't to speak to it's quality, all my tanks are fluorite which seems to work well combined with root tabs, particularly for crown plants like crypts and swords, stem plants can be difficult to get anchored and rooted, but that's gonna be like upwards of 20 bucks for like a 7 pound bag, this looks like the cheapest color available
Seachem Flourite Red Clay Gravel- Substrate for Planted Aquarium, 7.7 lb Bag https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00GJX0E08/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_MYXJRX0ADARSK7JF6QD7
I want to upgrade my betta to a 10g and give him a properly planted tank. I was checking walmart and "aqueon plant and shrimp aquarium substrate" is on sale! Will this work? link to the same stuff on amazon
I give blood worms as a treat once per week, on the day before I do a water change. I use one of these to vacuum the bottom on changes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083NRD2HJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Might I recommend one of these bad boys to prevent accidental mouth / fish water encounters in the future?
It works well for me. I blast the trigger like five or six times and water starts flowing seamlessly. Also I feel like an underwater space alien officer pulling that pump trigger
This Seachem Flourite Black Sand. Here is the link below
I’m glad ! I have this in my aquarium right now, it’s worked well for my anubias and unknown carpeting plant. I’d recommend buying more substrate than you need just so you don’t have too little, the bag said 8.8 lbs would cover my tank with 2 inches and it’s barely 1 inch.
Kuhlis leach's like to dig they prefer a sandy substrate or at the very least a more smooth uniform substrate Aqueon Plant and Shrimp Aquarium Substrate
Great looking tank though💖
Lol it's Aqueon Plant & Shrimp substrate. It doesn't help lower pH and the balls are pretty light, so I'd recommend the Fluval Plant & Shrimp stratum. With the Aqueon, I have to feed the corys their food on a leaf so it doesn't fall into the substrate where they can't reach it.
You mean something like this?
hygger Aquarium Gravel Cleaner, New Quick Water Changer with Air-Pressing Button Fish Tank Sand Cleaner Kit Aquarium Siphon Vacuum Cleaner with Water Hose Controller Clamp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083NRD2HJ/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_SFBYRN8VFBWJW8N3FM5H