Xqwizit1

Help! I am the ulitmate betta killer. The harder I try to take better care of my fish the worse it gets. I have had a betta for several years. unfortunately I have not taken the best care of them. I have always loved them and thought I was taking care of them but have just had them in a vase, not heated or anything. My sweet little Gunther got sick and suffered terribly with something so I started to do some research and found out that I was not the best mother. He had an awful long death...poor baby. So When I got a new betta...Frankie I vowed to do better. I bought a Baby Biorb for my new friend. I did as the instruction told me, put the water in with conditioner..set for 24 hrs. Put in the other stress reducer stuff set for 24 hrs. heater on 80 etc... Put Frankie in He was so happy he couldn't stand himself. But then he got a fingus I treated with quick cure for ick. He was doing better still happy he was in there for 1 week and died overnight. I did introduce 2 little guppies and put some of the water they came in into the tank with them. I'm sure the water probably killed him because it was fast. One of my guppies died too. What do I do with the tank do I do a full water change before adding new fish? nitrite level is good. nitrate level is good Alkaline is about 7.8. The water smells funny....Help I don't wwant to kill anything else.

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore

I'm really sorry about Gunther, I have no doubt that you loved him very much.

It sounds like he might have succumbed to an uncycled tank.
ammonia builds up from fish waste and left over food.

Also, as cute as they are, the Baby Biorb's aren't really suited for a betta.
Something else to remember is most bettas don't make good community fish.

I'm going to give you a couple of links to read.
One is about cycling your tank and the other about proper betta care.
NitrogenCycle
Welcome and Betta Care Guide - Please Read First!!!

Good luck with your next betta.

Amanda

Welcome!
What exactly are you water parameters, it sounds like the tank wasn't cycled.
How many gallons was the tank? Bettas do best alone.

agabr123

i'm very sorry to hear that the links that lucy gave you are great and will probably give you a much better idea of what happened to your fish. what kind of test kit do you have? if you have the paper strips i'd recommend buying the API freshwater master kit, although it's more expensive it will last you a LOT longer and is much more accurate. it also includes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH which are all very important, especially the ammonia tester.

Xqwizit1

Would a different kind of fish be better for my biorb? It is a 4 gal tank.

Amanda

There really isn't much that can be kept in a tank that small.
Maybe 5 neons, or some shrimp.

Xqwizit1

Also I'm using Jungle Quick dip testing strips

I keep it at my office so it can't be a big tank. Maybe I'll just get a couple of guppies or something. Thanks for the great links. I just love Bettas but I don't want to be a bad parent to one either.

Amanda

Only 2 -3 guppies could live in a tank that small.