[Purple-Hops]

Yesterday I went and picked up 4 ghost shrimp, a hornwort and a java fern. I bought a real heater, black gravel and a floating therm.
(sure sign my new student loan came through:tonguerol )

Lakitu was flaring and haunting the shrimp before they were released but he got pre-occupied and forgot about them when I released him from floating. The 4 shrimp were fine :") I thought transparent shrimp would gross me out but they're really cool looking! Anyway, I know sometimes Betta's can be sensitive to change and I selfishly turned his whole world around last night by changing the gravel to all black and putting the (well soaked and rinsed) plants in.... To suit my preference for the tank... I woke up this morning, tank was a perfect stable temperature (I'm used to fluctuations with the betta therm) Laki was there looking mopey.
I pointed to him (our good morning routine) and he didn't puff up like he ALWAYS has done since May when we got him.. I have never seen him so down and sooky. He was down in the plants sooking for a while, he literally just came up but he's apathetic. What do I do?
He's been in the one position now for a while... I don't want Laki to die!!! Does he just need an adjustment period?
Paramters have not been tested but with live plants I assume there's no ammonia.

<<This is him today

<<Lil pond bugs!! Sitting on a nano moss ball!!

<<He bit his tail the morning after we came back from Halifax :/

<<He was really energetic last night and hunting the shrimp through their bag, though he don't know where they are in the tank bc of the hornwort and driftwood.

 

[Purple-Hops]

:/

The temp was steady 75F all day. The shrimp were fine today, went to work, came home 5 hours later ALL the shrimp are dead. Lakitu's barely hanging on in a Q tank. :/

I'm the worst.
Waters getting tested Monday when I return the dead shrimp and maybe the plants.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Thanks Sasami,
Nope, no cleaners around the tank. I barely use cleaners around the house other than soap and water. But I didn't clean anything belonging to the fish or around his stuff. And I always wash my hands before and after handling his water and food (bc I use hand cream, I'm conscious of that)
oh no, the shrimp are as dead as the moon. As soon as I came home, I saw them. They were white and stiff. I only have a 3g and two of them died in the "shrimp corner" where they liked to hang out. (they quickly settled in after a day and favored a corner where Lakitu couldn't fit. So I don't know if he was chasing them prior)
The carbon and the filter and the water test have to wait until tomorrow. There is just no way to get to a pet store before then, I work today and buses stop running shortly thereafter. For some reason the mall I live close to closed down the pet store (the owner of the mall doesn't like the idea of crickets and mice and small birds being sold there which could potentially escape -_-" and instead of changing their sales, they just closed). So now I don't live anywhere close to a store that sells anything other than cat and dog food.
Yep, his tank was due for a clean and as I do when I clean it whole, I dumped the water and scrubbed everything clean with hot water and a sponge. I do this weekly (mid-week I change some water off the top). I never though there could be anything in his old gravel which might benefit him, but I'll set up the 1g with some new gravel and old gravel and the bettatherm heater.
I don't have an aquarium light, I aim a desk lamp over it for light every day (the black top of the KK filters the harsh light)
I only ever wanted a small tank with little maintenance. When we got Lakitu he lived in a .8 g which was cleaned everyday and from there to a 1g and now the 3. Never had a problem until now :< I guess I was just ignorant to the complexity of small tanks. I simply do not want a glass tank because I don't want to clean it often, I have severe chronic lower back pain and chronic stiffness in my upper back.
The shrimp were in a freshwater tank and there was nothing on the label that said brackish. I read they were but I also read they could be kept freshwater. I keep IAL in my betta tank which creates a blackwater effect but it hadn't set in overnight with the tank cleaning.
Anyways, tomorrow I will have the water tested and see what's going on. I'll keep the plants, is there any way I can keep them but rinse them of the water they're in now? Will it harm the tank when I clean it to add the plants again? How can I keep the shrimp to return them? Just stick then in a bag with water? And finally, the water sample... Can I just bag that up today for tomorrw? How should I store it? (fridge, left room temp..)
Thanks Sasami for your help. Lakitu is pulling through today, his colors are vibrant and he's floating around but he's still clamped. - I'd say that's from the tiny .8g he slept in. (I kept him in that small thing overnight bc it was just too late for me to be cleaning the big one and fussing over that at 11pm after work)

 

[Purple-Hops]

Thanks I'm going to the LPS today after school. I'm mostly grossed out by dead shrimp I realise :/ They remind me of bugs when they're dead and stiff.. I'll get over it. Still don't know if I'll replace them or get my money back. - there is another LFS down the road from PetSmart who sells cherry shrimp but they won't have any until Thrs. I doubt I'll be able to come up this week again but we'll see what happens!
Lakitu is merely surviving. I have never seen him this way. After I post this I'll straighten up the 3g (still, yesterday I worked and was tired and had homework..) He slept on his IAL all night with part of his head out of water.
The plants will be okay for him right? I plan on picking up some sort of water testing kit as well today, so I can do that at home. What should I look for?
As for the 5g acrylic, I'm going to wait on getting on to see if Mr. Laki pulls through! I don't want to put him through another severe change. I'm just wondering why he was so okay with the last couple of tank upgrades?
Thanks again! I'll keep you posted

 

[Purple-Hops]

The water was tested at the store and it was totally fine. Nothing wrong with it. When I came home (with another betta instead of shrimp) I found that the hornwort was tied together at the bottom with a metal clamp. I'm thinking that either the metal caused the spike or 1/4 of the shrimp did. One shrimp died the night I got it, except I didn't know bc I couldn't see it. I noticed only 3 were active in the bag when I broght them home. The smallest one was injured, I think, by the employee when she was catching them.
Anyway. I got him to eat a couple bloodworms yesterday but today he wouldn't touch peas (I prepared peas for Bowser's mild bloat) nor would he fully eat garlic soaked pellets. I did a water change again, this time adding a small bit of aq salt. Heater is still reading at 25-6C.
I had him floating in the cup Bowser came in (it was cleaned, I was only using it to float him rather than use a baggie) and he was swimming in that, now he's in the large tank again. Not really swimming but I think time will tell.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hm, well Bowser is smaller than Lakitu was when we got him.. I don't know how old he was when we got him but Matt picked out the biggest one -L-
I had him since May 2011 (*calculates in head*) so I've had him for 8 months. And how old are fry when they're shipped for sale?

 

[Purple-Hops]

Excellent to hear! I just hope he eats tonight when I take out more bloodworms! Maybe I'll do that tomorrow so as not to upset Bowser's bloat :/
There's nothing now in the tank with Lakitu except the heater and 2 cappa leaves. He's sleeping on one near the top now.