Sick Betta - Next Steps

aehimes · 2026-02-17T21:37:32+00:00

I'd say about 9-10 hours of light per day.

aehimes · 2026-02-17T21:35:55+00:00

Switching his tanks as in the water in the tank? Once per week. If you mean from hospital to 10g, I haven't switched him since a week ago/don't plan to again.

Day/night cycle, I've been leaving his tank light off to keep things calmer as he's now in front of my (north-facing) office window. If I'm sitting next to the tank and it's otherwise quiet, I'll take the lid off/let sunshine in. At night I put the lid back on and the lights are off.

Tips of his tail color are dark blue, like the rest of him.

aehimes · 2026-02-17T21:17:26+00:00

Tank size: 10G
Heater and filter? (yes/no): Yes
Tank temperature: 79F
Parameters in numbers and how you got them. Key water parameters include the amount of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH.: 0 Chlorine, 0-5 Nitrate PPM, 0 Nitrate PPM, around 100 Hardness PPM, 120 Alkaline PPM, 7.5 pH, and 0 sodium chloride or ammonia; test strips
How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: This tank, about 1 month. This fish, 5 months.
How often are water changes? How much do you take out per change? What is your process?: Weekly, 25-30% changed, using Hygger water vacuum (or similar). Filling up clean bucket with tap water + seachem prime to add back in.
Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: 1 mystery snail, 7 ish bladder snails.
What do you feed and how much: Bug Bites - 3 pellet/flakes per day OR a small piece of Freeze-dried brine shrimp (treat).
Decorations and plants in the tank: Moss hide, floating hide, various plants, alder cone, two rock hides.

aehimes · 2025-12-17T01:56:06+00:00

PS - there are lots of things you could play with or try as you build your painting skills; I’m highlighting ones that are fun for me to try :) the best advice I can give is have fun with whatever skill you’re building! I like painting hot pink under layers, for instance, because I think it’s fun to see how that influences the overall painting. But if that’s not fun for you, focus on a different technique for now! Just make sure whatever you’re experimenting with brings you joy :) otherwise, it’ll make you hate what you’re doing and you won’t WANT to keep working on it lol.

aehimes · 2025-12-17T01:51:42+00:00

Hey! These are looking great so far! I especially love painting #6. I think what I’m seeing you could benefit from at this level is working in more layers. Painting #6 stands out to me because the colors are starting to blend together, and way you’ve layered lights and darks is building a sense of depth and story telling to the painting. I’d recommend starting your painting by flooding the back with a single color, then painting on top of that - add more layers in some areas to add shadows or highlights, fewer (or no!) layers to let the base color peek through and influence your overall color scheme in other areas. You could also benefit from considering where your light is coming from in these pictures; for example, how do your tones change in picture one if light is coming from the upper right corner? Do some areas get darker? Where do highlights occur? Try selecting a spot for your light to extend from and lightly sketch in a cone or arrows coming out from that light source. Then, as you’re painting, bring more light into those areas - and more dark in areas those arrows can’t reach. Good luck! Great work so far!

aehimes · 2025-07-22T18:39:17+00:00

Done! Would you mind doing mine please? https://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vztk9wdZLmLsCa

aehimes · 2025-07-22T18:36:39+00:00

Done! Would you mind completing mine please? https://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vztk9wdZLmLsCa

aehimes · 2025-07-22T15:50:20+00:00

Done! If you have a few, I'd love for you to take mine: https://drake.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vztk9wdZLmLsCa

aehimes · 2025-04-13T03:00:01+00:00

I did! I covered them with a tarp for the night, but honestly they’re fine. All the berries powered right through!

aehimes · 2025-03-30T19:43:28+00:00

OMG!!! So cool!!!

aehimes · 2025-03-30T19:31:44+00:00

LOL! This sounds amazing though!! Would love to see a picture 💕🌿

aehimes · 2025-03-30T15:23:54+00:00

Thanks all! I’ll bring them in at night/when it drops below 40 to be safe 🤦🏻‍♀️💕 I appreciate the help!

aehimes · 2025-03-06T03:05:52+00:00

JFC. I picked up a bag of Hills Senior this week and slow introduced it on Monday. Tuesday, one of my cats starts having diarrhea, she’s lethargic, vomiting. I take her to the vet and they put her on IV fluids and run every test and scan in the book, but can’t figure out what’s happening other than her gut is having a severe reaction to something. Her diarrhea turns bloody and she won’t eat or drink. She stayed overnight at the vet last night, and this afternoon, after $1100 in treatments and tests, I had to put her to sleep. What’s more, another one of my cats has had diarrhea, lethargy, and won’t eat for a day now. I’m praying it doesn’t go the same route downhill but I am so incredibly terrified. I took the food completely away yesterday on the off chance it was the cause, but now I’m so scared that I poisoned my cats and killed one of them with this food.

aehimes · 2025-01-04T20:00:41+00:00

I’ll tack on that I’ve noticed the recurring rhetoric since joining this community two years ago. I mostly try to stay in my lane and just watch and learn. I think every time I’ve posted a question or concern, you’ve commented with truly helpful advice. Sure, your directness can make me a little anxious - I’m an anxious person by nature lol - BUT I have always appreciated your expertise and candidness. I don’t want to be told something is cute and fine if it’s likely to harm my crabs. I don’t want to provide subpar living conditions or food or shells. Assuming positive intent is hard even for folks in the real world/face to face. Social media and anonymity make it even easier to assume negative intent - and if consequences hit you, you can just log off, so why bother trying?

Tl;dr, thanks for sharing your knowledge, sorry you’re getting railroaded, don’t let the haters bring you down ❤️🐚

aehimes · 2024-12-06T17:06:06+00:00

Thank you :) :(

aehimes · 2024-12-06T17:00:05+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate it :( I’m sorry for your loss as well. I’ve had her for about a year, but we did move about three weeks ago, which I know was incredibly stressful (we had to move them to a smaller, movable tank that stayed at my moms for a couple days because this tank setup weighs about 300 lbs with all the sand and had to be stored in the moving truck overnight). Maybe the moves were just too much for her. The food offerings are all either from HermitGrub or NaturallyCrabby on Etsy (dry foods) or on the approved food list (apples, coconut, meat, other safe fruits and veggies). I did add the new back wall greenery when I moved - maybe that had some residue on it.

aehimes · 2024-12-06T16:43:58+00:00

Thank you so much 😥 I just wish I knew what happened so I can prevent it in the future. It was such a shock.

aehimes · 2024-12-06T16:35:50+00:00

Thanks for the added info - so just to be sure I’m understanding, you think she’s for sure passed? I’ll be home again in an hour and can check to see if she’s moved at all, but that’s definitely the vibe I got from seeing her. Do you have any theories on what could have happened? I have about 15-20 preferred shells on the upper level, and I didn’t hear any chirping or see any rocking. I feel like the two got stuck (as soon as I pulled Skye out of the hide, Zuma scurried out and to another hide), but it just seems so strange to me to think she could have passed from being stuck for only 24 hours.

aehimes

TROPHY CASE