I have 2 budgies, Helios (yellow) and Ares (blue). I'm not sure exactly how old they are since my mom got them from PetSmart, but I've had them since February 14th of this year. The last photo is a couple days after I got them.
I'm pretty sure Ares is a male since his cere is getting a much darker blue, but Helios's is still more of that pinkish purple/nude color so I'm not sure about him/her.
TLDR; My betta has really bad fins and I can't get them fixed, please help.
Okay, I'm at a loss. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of. I CAN NOT get rid of this fish's fin rot, or nipping, whichever it is (probably both). I honestly don't even know what kind of fin shape this betta is supposed to have, because I took him from my mom because he had almost pretty bad fins and she was going to either flush him or throw him out the window.
I've tried;
Maracyn oxy + salt baths. This got me the most progress towards fixing his fins.
Kanaplex. 2 rounds of this and if anything he got worse
Frequent water changes (every 1-3 days). There was no difference at all.
Less frequent water changes (once a week, this is my normal schedule). No difference at all.
I've changed his tank set up a few times, thinking something about the tank could have been stressing him out, but I've seen no change.
I also can't seem to keep plants alive in his tank and I'm not sure why. This was the main reason for the most recent change. This is also why the tank is cloudy in the most recent pics, I completely changed substrate so he's got a new bacterial bloom, despite the filter media not changing.
There isn't too much flow from the filter to stress him out, despite using an HOB filter, considering I had to add an air stone because of the biofilm that was forming.
I'm not sure what to do anymore and I'm honestly about to try and find someone to take him off my hands because it is majorly stressing me out. He eats like a champ, is pretty active, and doesn't really glass surf or flare at his reflection (he's a pretty aggressive betta, so I'm pretty sure if there was a reflection he'd be trying to fight it).
Both of my other bettas are perfectly healthy, and aside from his fins, he is too.
It may sound stupid or silly, but I kind of think he misses his old tank neighbor. I normally left the space between the 2 tanks empty, but upon someones suggestion I started putting a piece of cardboard between the tanks, but it looked to stress both of them out, and when I removed it they calmed down.
He's in a 5g heated and filtered tank with some (struggling) dwarf hair grass, an anubias, and either an Amazon sword or a rosette sword (I don't remember which). I'm trying to get more plants but I don't currently have the money, especially if they're just going to die like the last plants I got. (I can't even keep duckweed alive in this tank.) There's a piece of driftwood and a rock that I'm not too sure what it is, and the substrate is organic topsoil capped with about an inch of cleaned play sand. Previously I had fluval biostratum and aquarium sand (with the new substrate, this is the longest I've kept plants alive). He has no tank mates, and there's nothing for him to really tear his fins on.
The first two photos were taken just now (May 15th); the third was his second to last, all the plants died in this one (I can't find pics of his last setup); the fourth was before that; the 5th was his original set up; the 6th was the most progress I got with his fins, and the 7th is when I first took him from my mom.
Please, if you have any ideas or tips, they would be greatly appreciated.
This is my 20 gallon long, currently stocked with 1 female betta, 6 cherry barbs, 4 panda corydoras, and 1 nerite snail. I intend to get more plants, as well as replace my 2 corys that passed). As you can see in the corners, I have 2 sponge filters rated for 20 gallons each hooked up to an air pump rated for 30 gallons. I'm thinking about getting some oto cats to help with algae if I can find any near me, but I'm not sure if I should.
I have nowhere that's not in front of a window to keep the tank, so algae tends to get a bit out of hand. Do y'all think I can fit some otos or would that be too much for the tank? I'm trying to not overstock or crowd the tank so the betta doesn't start getting aggressive. So far she's pretty chill, aside from occasionally chasing the cherry barbs if she thinks they're getting to close to her.
And unfortunately, shrimp are not an option.... They're just a really expensive snack.... I've tried already.
I have 2 budgies at the moment, and a while ago (probably a month ago, give or take a little) I had at least one of them sitting on my glasses and being pretty friendly. However now they both seem more distant.
The only thing I can really think of that might have happened was my grandmother scared them or something? They don't seem to like her, and any time they're out of the cage and she comes into my room they freak out and start flying around, even when they were perfectly calm and falling asleep before. I've been letting them move at their own pace, trying not to stress them out or anything.
I know this is mostly a matter of time, but I feel like I've lost so much progress with them. Do y'all have any tips on gaining their trust?
*Side note, the yellow on their faces is staining from their chop. Of course, the one that's got white on him is the messy eater.*