Who Gives A Fish Forums

New owner of fin_tank here, just noticed some reddish spots on his fin this morning. He's been hanging out in the bottom corner of the 10-gallon tank for 2 days now. We've had him for 2 weeks, took him in after his previous owner had an emergency.

She said it was a female, Lionessvia, but I'm pretty sure it's a male. She also mentioned it was blue and green, but I don't see much green - it's more of a steel blue with a purplish tint, and the fins fade to a light pinky peachy salmon color. Any ideas what kind of fish he is? I'm a complete beginner with fish, I'm used to owning Great Danes, lol.

We got the tank, API quick start, Aqueon 10 whisper filter, air pump with air stone disc, a pleko tank mate, gravel, and a castle from the previous owner. There was a live plant, but it was browning after a week, so I removed it. I've ordered an API master test kit, API stress coat, API ammo lock, API aquarium salt, API stress zyme, and some Marimo moss balls.

I set up the tank after cleaning it with hot water, no chemicals. Then I added tap water treated with API quick start. Went to Walmart to get the test kit, but all I could find were pH test strips, which I'm not sure are accurate. The test keeps reading 7.2.

I haven't done any partial water changes yet, since I'm not sure if API quick start can remove chlorine from my tap water. This morning, I thought about doing a partial change with refrigerator filtered water and API quick start until the other products arrive. Is this an option? I know I'd need to let the filtered water sit to reach room temperature before adding it.

Lionessver is eating fine and greeting me every time I approach the tank. He's swimming around like he did when we first got him. No issues there. But he's been resting in the bottom corner on the gravel more and more. I was shocked to see he wasn't the green and blue betta we were described.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey SoftPetal,

I'm pretty sure your fin_tank is a male.

The 10-gallon tank is a great size for him, but it's not big enough for the plec - there are so many species and some can get massive. Can you post a photo of the plec so we can ID it?

I think there's been some confusion with the API products. API Quick Start is actually bottled bacteria, not a dechlorinator. Stress Coat is the dechlorinator, and Stress Zyme is for breaking down sludge. To be honest, the only one you really need is Stress Coat, but API Tap Water Conditioner is even better.

Ammo Lock isn't necessary - it removes ammonia, which the beneficial bacteria need to thrive. Instead, focus on keeping ammonia under control with regular water changes.

Aquarium salt should only be used to treat specific diseases, not as a regular addition to the tank. You can store all these products in the cupboard for now.

If you can, consider getting Dr. Tim's One & Only or Tetra Safe Start - they're better bottled bacteria products, even if they're a bit pricier.

Do you know what your water supplier uses to disinfect the mains water - chlorine or chloramine? If it's chlorine, you can leave some water to stand overnight and the chlorine will gas off, making it safe for a water change. Unfortunately, chloramine doesn't gas off.

If the filtered water is chlorine-free, you can use that for water changes until the Stress Coat arrives. Once you have it, you can use treated tap water.

Until you get the test kit, try changing 50% of the water every day. Once you have the kit, test daily and do a water change whenever you get a reading for ammonia or nitrite above zero.

Even though you don't have any live plants right now, they really do help keep the water safe. Floating plants are the best - betta's love them too. Look into water sprite or water lettuce.

Lastly, your fin_tank may not be green and blue, but he's definitely a lovely betta!

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate your help and advice. I'll definitely try to find out what my water supplier uses for disinfecting the mains water. If it's chloramine, I guess I should wait for the Stress Coat to arrive before doing the 50% water change, right?

There was a live plant in the tank, but I didn't know if it was a planted or floating one. I removed it because it looked like it was dying, and now it's all dried up in a glass jar. I didn't realize it could've been a floating plant - oh well, hindsight is 20/20, right? I'll definitely look into getting a floating plant, as I love plants and it sounds like they're really beneficial for the tank.

I've been doing some research and I'm realizing that I need to be prepared with supplies and patience - haha, it's a learning curve for sure! But I did have a question about my betta's fins. There are these reddish spots on the tips of his fins, and the fins themselves are a bit transparent. Is this a normal characteristic for a betta, or is it something I should keep an eye on while I'm trying to stabilize his habitat?

And yeah, the pleco is definitely an... interesting creature. I'm told we can't release them here in North Florida, and I don't think it would be a good idea anyway - I've heard it's not good for the environment.

I think you should try reaching out to local pet stores in your area to see if they'd be willing to take in the plec. I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to identifying plecos, but I'm sure other members on this forum will be able to give you a better idea of what you're dealing with.

As for your betta, it does look like he's got finrot going on - I can see that part of his tail is missing. While it's possible that he's just biting his own tail, I'd say it's more likely that it's finrot, and daily water changes are probably your best bet for treating this. I'd stick with using filtered water at room temperature until you get your hands on some Stress Coat, and then you can switch over to tap water.

I just wanted to explain that ammonia is basically a byproduct of the fish's waste, decomposing poop, and uneaten food - it's a major stressor for fish, and stressed fish are way more likely to develop issues like finrot. One way to reduce the amount of ammonia in the tank is to limit your betta's feedings to just twice a week. Trust me, he won't starve. And of course, regular water changes will also help keep ammonia levels under control.

I'm going to do the water change this afternoon, I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right for my little guy. Thanks again for all the advice and info, it's really helping me to get a better understanding of what I need to do to keep him healthy and happy.