barnicle wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 12:01 am
Honestly, I'm no expert, but to me, it sounds like she might be bloated or something.
It's not just overstocking that's the issue here, the tank's also poorly stocked. Feline's right on the money about loaches needing to be in a group, and I'm struggling to think of any loach that'd thrive in a 10-gallon setup. As for the algae eater, we've got no idea what type it is - could be an otocinclus, a bristlenose or other plec, a Chinese algae eater or Siamese algae eater. None of these are suitable for a tank this size.
Going back to the betta, I've got concerns about her overall health. Do you know for sure she's eating the food you're putting in the tank, or are the other fish getting to it first?
barnicle wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 12:01 am
Honestly, I'm no expert, but to me, it sounds like she might be bloated or something.
I'm curious about the tankmates - what type of loach and algae eater are they? Generally, loaches are schooling fish and need to be in a group of at least 5. Not sure about algae eaters though, can you tell me more about them?
She eats all her food and always seems hungry for more. Thanks for letting me know about the loach, I had no idea. I was actually told by Petco that I was getting a clown loach to help with the snails, but it turned out to be a different type of loach, a small eel-like one. I'm still not sure what kind of algae eater I have, but I'll do some research. I was told it wasn't a pleco, but I'm not surprised if the info from Petco was wrong. I'll move the algae eater and loach to a bigger tank. I've had a snail problem since I accidentally bought a pregnant snail, so I was trying to find fish to help with that. I think the algae eater might be a sucking catfish, I'll look into it.
barnicle wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 12:01 am
Honestly, I'm no expert, but to me, it sounds like she might be bloated or something.
She does poop now and then - that's when I notice her getting thinner, but it's not consistent. Her scales look normal, no pineconing, and she swims just fine. I'm using Cobalt Ultra betta pellets and Omega One beta buffet flakes. I'm wondering if the water quality could be the reason she's not losing weight.
If the loach has those orange and black stripes, it sounds more like a kuhli loach to me, rather than a clown loach. Kuhlis are social creatures and they do better in a group, otherwise they tend to be quite shy. I'm not surprised Petco got it wrong though - if they said it was a clown loach, that's just not possible, those things can grow massive, at least 12 inches long, and they need to be in a group too.
barnicle wrote: ↑Thu Apr 24, 2025 12:01 am
Honestly, I'm no expert, but to me, it sounds like she might be bloated or something.
It's not just overstocking that's the issue here, the tank's also poorly stocked. Feline's right on the money about loaches needing to be in a group, and I'm struggling to think of any loach that'd thrive in a 10-gallon setup. As for the algae eater, we've got no idea what type it is - could be an otocinclus, a bristlenose or other plec, a Chinese algae eater or Siamese algae eater. None of these are suitable for a tank this size.
Going back to the betta, I've got concerns about her overall health. Do you know for sure she's eating the food you're putting in the tank, or are the other fish getting to it first?
I'm pretty sure I have a black Kuhli loach now, it's dark green, really small and eel-like. I get what you mean about not adding more to this tank, so I'll move it to a bigger one and get a few more. I actually thought they hid naturally, thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.
