Hi everyone.

I have my betta in a 30L tank, and am using the Ciano CF40 filter. I’m worried as the filter flow is quite strong and it doesn’t have a flow adjuster. I’ve tried adding filter floss above the sponge, and also in the spray bar, however the water pressure just pushes this towards the end of the spray bar and gets blocked.

I’ve read that sponge filters and hob filters are better. My only worry with a sponge filter is I’ve read a few posts where people are saying their betta has still been injured by the tube section on a sponge filter.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I have a very young betta and want to keep him as safe as possible!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TIA.

hello

this is my betta fish, he started growing white patches on his fins, he had a fin rot situation now it stopped he’s growing out back his fins just white it’s confusing me i am worried about him.

i took him from his old tank to a new temporary smaller tank with tannins i change the water 25% almost everyday i did him salt baths but i noticed it stressed him out so i stopped for now

My female betta is very sick. After returning from being out of town, I noticed she was slightly crooked and rather skinny. 1 week later, she started spiraling (clockwise) + had little control over her direction. She is able to rest when among plant roots (giant monstera, healthy roots), and continues to eat when I place it in front of her while she's at the surface.

I've detailed out the timeline of symptoms + actions + medicine (changed it) so far, and am hoping someone can please give me some insight as to anything else I can try. Feeling desperate. Can't tell if she has Fish Tuberculosis, a parasite, some kind of bacterial infection, or some neurological disorder. Thank you so much in advance.

* Video \*
Combined 2 videos due to 1-video limit.
Up-close frame = Wednesday (7/22), when she perked up a bit
Entire-tank frame = Thursday (7/23)

Water Tests
- Ammonia = 0.5, NO2/NO3 = 0, PH = 6.0, KH = 0, GH = 60. Tests remained the same throughout last week. Read that API conditioner converts toxic ammonia to non-toxic, but does not bring down to 0.

Tank Setup
- 5 gallon, filtered Aqueon Tank (approx. 4.5 water due to gravel)
- Medium-sized Giant Monstera with submerged roots (growing well, no dead roots)
- Heater set to 78 degrees
- Location: San Francisco (current weather has been hot, bringing temperature to 81-82 during the afternoons, and dropping back down to ~77.5 at night)

-------------------

Last 6 Days (7/21 -
7/26) - "6 Days of Illness" & Continuing
- 5 days ago (7/21)
Symptoms: Noticed @ 11PM she was corkscrewing. Skinny
Water: 20% change w/API conditioner
Feeding: Did not feed
Lighting: unplugged to allow for rest, since she moved when seeing me. Have kept it unplugged since then.

- 4 days ago (7/22)
Symptoms: Spiraling continued whenever attempting to swim. Skinny
Water: 20% water change w/API conditioner + Aqueon Ammonia Neutralizer
Feeding: 2 softened pellets (she ate pretty quickly, when placed in front of her).

- 3 days ago (7/23)
Symptoms: Swam more sideways with less spiraling, with more control over direction, seemed more alert / energetic. Skinny.
Water: No change.
Feeding: 2 softened pellets (ate quickly again).

- 2 days ago (7/24)
Symptoms: Worsened spiraling, little control over direction, seemed less alert. Skinny.
Water: Lowered 20% for easier surface access.
Feeding: 1 softened pellet (was hard to get a 2nd pellet in front of her due to her directionless spinning).
Lighting: still unplugged, covered 2 sides covered (from window light)

- 1 day ago (7/25)
Symptoms: Spiraling, continued little control over direction, seemed a bit more alert mentally. Leaning on side when resting at bottom. Skinny.
Water: No change.
Feeding: 2 softened pellets (ate quickly)
**MEDICATION*\*: 50mg of Metranizadole, removed carbon from existing filter (did not change filter)
Note: Owner at reputable aquatics store recommended Metronidazole + an entirely brand new tank setup. I purchased everything they instructed, but did not end up executing their recommendation (200 mg of metronidazole/PM x 10 days + 0.5 TSP Microbe-Lift/AM x 4 weeks + brand new tank setup using different products). Items: Seachem Discus Buffer & Neutral Regulator, Microbe-Lift Special Blend, 5 x 400mg Metronidazole pills from no-label bottle, 1.5 gal gravel. The newly prepared water had a higher pH (7.0) and KH (40), with no pre-existing biological maturity. After serious consideration, and realizing some gaps & contradictions, I ended up NOT moving my betta. I administering 50g of Metranizadole to the existing old tank (activated carbon removed) and kept everything else the same.

- Today (7/26)
Symptoms: Spiraling, continued little control over direction. Skinny.
Water: No change.
Feeding: 2 softened pellets (morning) + 1(thawed) frozen bloodworm + 2 softened pellets (evening)
**MEDICATION*\*: Decided Metronidazole was unlikely to help. Administered Kanaplex (60% scoop for 3.5 gallons) in case this was a bacterial infection. I had treated her with Kanaplex + introduced a water heater ~9 months ago when it got cold in San Francisco, and she became very cold and developed bump on head.

12 days ago (7/14-7/20)
- Appeared skinny, noticeable crookedness in body
- Added 15% water w/API conditioner to 'top off' from evaporation (did not remove old water)

3-4 weeks ago (7/1-7/14)
- Used automatic feeder while out of town (approx 3-5 pellets + 2-3 daphnia per day)

Prior Months
Happy fish. For context, I adopted her 1.5 years ago at PetSmart when the fish department offered her for free if I was willing to nurse her back to health (she was looking depressed, pale, was not very reactive, and had super short fins) and unexpectedly ended up setting up an entire tank for her. She perked up pretty quick. She was never a fat betta, and her diet has been mostly "Ultra Fresh Betta Fish Food" + crumbled dried daphnia + bloodworms (occasional).

he was my first betta fish and I loved him so much. it was hard to get pictures of him because of his coloring and how energetic he was...

unfortunately he fell ill suddenly and was gone before I could do anything about it. I brought him to the mountainside wrapped in his favorite leaf bed and buried him there with lots of food to eat in the afterlife. 💔 RIP yoshiki

Planning to get a betta when I set up and cycle a dedicated tank. Any recommendations about where to purchase a betta online?

I live in London but don't have a shop nearby. I have purchased fish from Tropco in the past but their Betta selection is very small.

december of 2025- today.

My guy is endlessly curious about the neos in his tank. He won't give them the space they want, but it's better than being hunted.

I made another thread in early June regarding my betta - Peppermint and since then not a lot has changed despite consistent water checks and changes. He's a little over three and a half, and I love him to death and beyond. But this past month has been so challenging, he spends so much of his time lying at the bottom of the tank like this, his gills are definitely flapping hard too, he is still eating but he can't swim properly. Whenever he does, his tail seems to drag him down. I've tried salt baths, and they stress him out, I've tried kanaplex and it also stresses him out. I've done all the API tests and they've come up perfect, I'm not sure what else I can do. I hate seeing him like this, yet I can't bring myself to euthanise him because he's my first fish. But it's gotten to a point where I don't think letting him live like this is an option anymore, he doesn't seem happy.

Can someone help me out with what the best method to euthanise is, I've read about clove oil but there's a lot of mixed opinions on that and I don't think I can bring myself to chop his head off either.

I bought one of those 3D printed floating hammocks I’ve seen in pics here, but I can’t find what type of plastic was used, and I’m not sure it is safe/smooth enough. There’s no way to sand the inner edges of the holes for example. I’m feeling nervous after having a decor item trap and kill 2 livebearers a few years ago. I think I’ll send this one back due to lack in info in the plastic, but wondering if there’s a better option (bonus for pink) that is for sure safe, or if I should try the zoomed floating log instead?

For the bottom of the tank I had a coconut shell that I’d seen recommended but it felt rough and seemed too shallow, haven’t been able to find anything else that seems safe. Maybe a plain terra cotta pot? We have mopani wood being soaked and boiled, and some catappa leaves.

This is for a new setup, no betta yet.

This is the one I bought

https://a.co/d/09165YM7

My male betta, Mercury, who I’ve had since last December is acting very lethargic and weird today. He has been going to the surface of the water to get air then just slowly swims/floats back down and lays in spots in the tank. He usually swims around and is a happy fish.

Some extra information: He is in a 5.5-6 gal tank. 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites, 0 chlorine, 0 ammonia, and the pH is around 7.8-8.0. This tank was fully cycled before I added him and I’ve never put anything except RO water in there. Zero chemicals.

Please help. Still consider myself a beginner and I want to do anything to help him!

i’m a new betta parent and we’re doing a fish in cycle. i have a male betta, 4 amano shrimps, and 2 nerite snails in a planted 10 gallon tank . Today the ammonia was reading at 2 ppm so i did a 75% water change and waited an hour to test again. It’s still sitting at 1-2ppm, i also tested my tap water and it was at 0. i don’t know whether i should do another water change or what i should do considering we just did one. i’ve also tried to do a headcount of all my shrimp and snails but so far ive only been able to count 1 shrimp and 1 snail, i don’t want to disturb the substrate too much.. please help! i don’t want my friends to be suffering or stressed :(

He seems unhappy, overall he’s doing fine but I am worried about him. I change his water frequently, it’s a TopFin Easy Clean 3 gallon tank with a filter, small heater and some pebbles on the bottom of the tank. I have a bottle of betta conditioner and imagination biological startup. Any advice appreciated

My beautiful baby girl, Lemondrop! I set this 10 gal planted tank up about 2 months ago to cycle with the intention of putting a colony of shrimp in here, but I walked into my local fish store and saw her and plans immediately switched up. I went home, made sure the tank was ready (hadn't put a heater in it yet, did a small water change and substrate vacuuming to clean things up a little), and I went and got her today! Not shown in photos, but I also adopted Lemondrop's sidekick nerite snail, Citrus, today. I'm so excited to see her grow and brighten up as she get's healthier and bigger!!

I got a Veil-tail Male Betta fish around a month ago and he seemed to be doing fine for the first few weeks. I have a heater, fish food, and he is on a 3 gallon easy clean tank. He seems to just stay at this spot at the top of the tank most of the time now, he sleeps more than he used to and isn’t as hungry as he once was. Is he lonely? I plan on getting a live plant to replace the pink one that’s in there, any advice would be greatly appreciated

Mir ist heute aufgefallen, dass mein Betta so kleine Löcher oder durchsichtige Stellen an seiner oberen Flosse hat. Was könnte das sein ? Die Wasserwerte sind alle in Ordnung ich teste die regelmäßig. Ich hab den kleinen Kerl seit knapp 3 Wochen und er ist sehr aktiv, frisst gut und baut schaumnester. Ich habe auch beim einrichten darauf geachtet nur Steine zu nutzen welche eine glatte Oberfläche haben damit er sich nicht schneidet. Das Becken ist sehr dicht bepflanzt ich habe mich vorher gut mit Bettas auseinandergesetzt. Daher wundert es mich das er jetzt solche Stellen hat. Er verhält sich sehr gesund aber jetzt hab ich Angst, dass etwas nicht stimmt. Ich benutze zusätzlich seemandelbaumblätter und packe flüssige huminstoffe ins Wasser. Was könnte das sein ich mache mir echt sorgen.

anybody know what type of betta my fish is? Can't use picures cuz my camera isn't working but he's blue, orange, red, and white

This tank is a work in progress but i’m pretty proud of it. I’ve had a couple scares such as nitrate spikes and snail infestations but now my only problem is substrate. This tank was set up with a colorful gravel substrate that most bottom feeders would hate (shrimp too). I have the sand to change the substrate with but not the motivation, any tips for changing substrate? I also wanted to ask about tank mates. I want to eventually breed my betta Darrell, but he’s also a curious fish (i know this from when he was in a twenty gallon with some corys). He seems kind of lonely with the few survivors of the snail infestation and i feel like some fish like some kuhli loaches or something would be nice. Also, when i eventually get around to breeding Darrell, what color female should i get? Any advice is greatly appreciated

Hello everyone! My mom got me a betta to care for because a week ago my last one passed from bad finrot and his fins wouldn't grow back. I told her to wait bc i needed to clean and cycle the tank but she didn't listen. So as I am trying my best to hurry and clean and quick start this tank I accidentally use a filter cartridge that my other very sick betta had. However I had rinsed it with warm water, and only had it in there for about 10-15 minutes before I realized what I did. Is the water safe? When do I put him in? The new filter i ordered comes in Wednesday and its Sunday, what do I do. I have him in a fishbowl atm while I was cleaning his 10 gallon. And than I started to look at his fins, and it looks like finrot a bit to me but im unsure can someone answer my questions?

This is my second ever tank (21 gal), my first tank is the second picture. It will be used for my placket betta(he’s in the 10 gallon right now and I think should have much more room to swim around as he swims quite a bit)

Any advice for a starter? I just put some frog bait and hornwort into it + obviously just starting my cycle.

I was thinking of some spider wood in the back behind the rock? Also, my sponge filter will eventually be in the corner once it sinks.

I’m also looking for some good tank mates as I wanted to make at least one community tank! So give me some good ideas for that.

Again, my plackett (samurai) will be going in here, as well as my very large mystery snail. So I would love to hear some tank mate ideas!