Fish tank checklist

[linky]

Hey ppl, this seemed like a great forum to join and so here i am. My poor betta passed away today, and am not sure why/how he got cotton/wooly disease that spread like crazy and eventually killed him...
Here's a checklist of things I have: Pls tell me what else I need before I buy any new fish- we dont want to mess up again!!!!


1 gallon tank

Wisteria live plants floating on top

Water conditioner, usually put in a few drops

We use bottled spring water and boiled water mix

Heater (this is a funny one. My betta never had a heater before and was doing fine. The fish store person suggested I buy one as my temp was about 68F. I brought it to about 75, and yikes... the cotton disease spread like crazy. Is this heat really necessary, as all it seems to do is make fungus grow more rapidly?)

Underground Filter/bubbler (one of those old school filters with the big tube)

Lamp above

Aquarium salt (a pinch)

lots of meds for just in case purposes.



Anything else that seems necessary? I've never checked the pH of my water before... and my fish seemed to do fine. They all live past a year or two. Water change- I do 25% every week, and change the whole thing once a month.

Any flaws here? Probably a lot, but pls tell me what's absolutely necessary, ie. what needs to be fixed. Thanks so much everyone! :dance:

 

[NeonFlux]

RIP to your betta and welcome to AC! Your betta was probably experiencing fungus. Those are good examples of stuff you may need on the come n go.

 

[krytan]

Yes the heater is necessary, when you first added it you might of raised the temp to quickly.
A liquid test kit to test ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates is essential to know what is going on in your tank and gives you an early warning if anything is going wrong.
Don't use the salt unless you are treating ick.

 

[Rbishop]

A larger tank, in the 5 to 10 gal range would be nice.

Changing all the water out really isn't necessary.

Have you been vacuuming the gravel regularly?

A larger tank would allow a small HOB filter to be used.

Straight tap water should be perfectly fine. Have you ever tested your tap water?

 

[linky]

Hmmm... im not sure waht you mean by "vacuuming" the gravel... @_@? Can't I just wash/rinse it all out when I do my cleaning?

 

[cam191919]

its much easier to use a siphon to "vacuum" your gravel and its better on your tank than rinsing the gravel


heres a pic of a siphon, the long tube at the end its the "vacuum attachment" while the tube itself sucks the water out. its an indispensable tool of aquarium maintenance

 

[sleepyskater]

The bigger the tank, the easier they are.
Because small tanks can have disease's spread faster than a 20+ tank.
I'd go with a 10 gallon if your just keeping a betta.
AND if you got a bigger tank, you could do some different fish, like guppies or neons