Reddit reviews API AMMONIA 130-Test Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Water Test Kit

I'm sorry you're getting a terrible reaction here. It seems like you had good intentions and tried to deal with the situation you were handed the best you could.

That said, there are steps you can take to improve the life of your next fish, and seeking answers in a betta forum is a good thing to do. It shows that you want to do the right thing and want to learn.

Yes, a bowl as big as you can handle is a good thing. If you can get at least a 2.5 gallon, that would help a lot. It doesn't sound like the friend who gave you the fish was very responsible at all, especially if they made fun of you for (doing the right thing) and getting a bigger bowl than they had.

For conditioning water, try Seachem Prime. It's the water conditioner I've used and been happy with for almost two years for my 10 gallon. It likely addresses more issues than just the betta conditioner, including a slime coat, ammonia, chlorine/chloramine, and nitrates/nitrites. It's also great because I only have to use 5-6 drops per gallon, so it ends up really cheap in the long run.

Did your betta have a heater? Bettas need heaters because they are tropical fish. Most tiny bowls and flower vases don't have a heater, and that's part of why they're so bad. Think of how lizards and snakes like to bask under heat lamps and on warm, sunny rocks. If your betta was slowing down and not moving, that's a sign of being too cold.

A filter should keep the water clear, and I suggest not doing 100% water changes. Little, frequent changes are much easier for a betta to handle, especially if the tank is not cycled (by cycled, I mean a tank that has established colonies of bacteria to break down waste). Small tanks usually can't maintain a cycle, so those small, frequent water changes are important.

How did you clean the decorations? I don't recommend cleaning those because there and in the gravel are where your good bacteria live that help break down waste. A small tank might not be able to maintain a full cycle, but you don't want to keep rinsing away whatever bacteria you do get.

Water testing kits like this and this would be a good way to monitor your tank. They help you know when your water is good for your betta, and having test results help with diagnosing a problem, especially if you ask in a sub like this one.

Do you have any live plants in your tank? A moss ball is really, really easy to care for and works well in a betta tank. It just sits there on the gravel, improving water quality, making your fish happy, and looking neat.

Good luck with your next betta! Learning over time what works and doesn't work is a part of being a betta keeper.

If your ammonia is above 0 that's a problem. Imo strips can give you a good enough reading for the rest of them but ammonia should really be precise. I'd get the liquid test for ammonia. Never let kids (or anyone for that matter) feed your fish without close supervision. Overfeeding is, I believe, the easiest way to kill them

I also saw that you turned off his heater? A temp change could make him feel a little grouchy.

Check out this link:
http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm

Tanks or bowls, cycling should be applied to anything you are keeping your fish or other aquatic life in. I'm not sure how familiar you are with cycling but I'll just start from the very basics, just in case.

All fish produce waste which breaks down into Ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to fish but is actually food for certain types of bacteria. These bacteria will turn Ammonia into NitrIte. Nitrite is still toxic, but you have other types of bacteria to turn Nitrite into NitrAte. Nitrate is what you what you want to end up with - unfortunately nitrate is still toxic to fish but only in large quantities.

The idea of cycling a tank is to build up your bacteria colonies so the fish poop is converted very fast - so that your tank has basically zero ammonia, zero nitrite, and very low nitrate at all times. Here's where water changes come in, you want to do water changes regularly so that the nitrates in your tank do not get too high. Around 25% water change every week should do it.

To build up your colony, you need to put in fish poop, or anything that can decay and release ammonia so you can jump start your cycle. Fish flakes are good, any decaying matter really. Some people even put in cooked cocktail shrimp. Other people buy pure ammonia from your local grocery store/home depot/whatever. Obviously you don't want to put in any chemicals or foods that would stick around after you finished cycling that is harmful to fish, so don't get the ammonia cleaners - you need pure ammonia. Fish food is a safe bet if you are unsure of what to get, but it is a little slower because you have to wait for it to break down and release ammonia. I recommend grinding up fish flakes to a fine dust for fastest breakdown.

You can just drop in your fish food/or other ammonia source once every day - pretend you are feeding imaginary fish, and wait. Cycling usually takes 3-4 weeks.

Also, you should get an ammonia testing kit such as from [API](http://www.amazon.com/API-LR8600-Ammonia-Test-Kit /dp/B0002566TC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348514328&sr=8-1&keywords=ammonia+test). I linked you only to an ammonia kit but a lot of people opt for the API Masters kit which tests for Ammonia as well as a slew of other parameters, such as pH.

If you have a water test kit, you can test the ammonia levels to be sure if you're concerned.

In the same places that sell API Master kits, smaller box.

I'm getting all my tests separately, only what I need.

This and this is what I have, but for about the same price you can get the gold standard. I honestly wouldn't be using the strips, except I got them to test my water for hardness before I had any tanks (it's liquid rock) and the Walstad setups I have have a different ecology than a traditional tank.

Oh, you'll probably need to pick up a fresh water test kit when you can. You really only need an ammonia test kit for the moment.

Thx for the suggestions. Would this be a good test kit to get?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002566TC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497297758&sr=8-1&keywords=ammonia+test+kit

You will have to switch from betta keeping as shown on TV and ads, to betta as a live pet with a lot of requirements, they get frequently get sick in not optimal setting, and even in optimal, see this later, but before buying fish. And get healthy fish first time, before you will be able to medicate them without problems.

It should be possible to keep it as breeders do that, but this is not a comfortable long time living.

You will need:

• 5 gal tank
  
  
• sponge filter, air pump, check valve, dual air valve, flexible airline tubing; or Azoo Mignon 60 power filter on lowest settings, with sponge intake protector,
  
  
• heater 50W, any thermometer,
  
  
• small sized substrate is optional, tank could have bare bottom,
  
  
• live plants or silk plants (have no idea what it is and where to get them, live plants are simple), a lot of hiding places and complex environment, or betta could either racing relentlessly along the wall, sit still depressed, or start biting chunks from tail, some do that. I use driftwood and plants for that, still looking for hiding cave,
  
  
• light for live plants and seeing betta, not bright, desktop lamp is ugly, but it works well,
  
  
• clean water (not distilled or RO water without remineralizing it), if tap water, use water conditioner like Seachem Prime,
  
  
• maintenance tools (hose, bucket, glass scraper could be DIY, some fish net just in case if yuy would need it),
  
  
• variety of fish food for bettas, pellets, not flakes,
  
  
• now main part: tank should be prepared ~4 weeks in advance, by dosing ammonia in finished planted tank setup, to feed bacterial population that will be dealing with ammonia, produced by fish, this allows grow nitrifying bacteria in large enough numbers. This saves fish from gill burn, ammonia and nitrite poisoning and lifetime consequences of it. How to do it, what is needed, together with ammonia dose calculator is here. Emergency procedures when dealing with ammonia in tank are here. As a minimum, you will need ammonia test kit, preferably liquid, you will use it first when something is not right, this is a first thing to check.
  
  Pricing for all of this, even roughly, depends on where you are, what is available to you, knowing where you can get for less, unless you are ready to pay whatever closest to you store charges for it. I am using Amazon and Walmart for some things, and specialized aquarium store for tank and plants, this way it's cheaper and better.