A Question About Cleaning

I'm new to fishkeeping, although I've been on Fishlore since I got my betta in April. My questions are from my perspective as a beginner, as I've never been through this aspect of fishkeeping.

My betta, Fishy Boris Karloff, died last Friday. I euthanized him because I didn't want him to suffer. RIP, sweet Boris. He had dropsy and fin rot, which I believe are bacterial.

I'm going to get a new betta, and would like to keep equipment costs down as much as possible. That means cleaning, I hope, but probably throwing some things away.

Can you tell me what I should get rid of? I have live plants, fine gravel, a floating log, a feeding ring, a heater (with suction cups), the probe of an electronic thermometer, and a sponge filter. (I also have a piece of driftwood and a coconut hut, although I removed these long before he got sick.)

Can I clean my five-gallon acrylic aquarium, or do I have to discard it, too, since Boris was sick? If I can reuse it, how do I clean it?

Any advice you care to offer would be welcome.

Mods: please move this if it's wrong for this forum.

 

I'm new to fishkeeping, although I've been on Fishlore since I got my betta in April. My questions are from my perspective as a beginner, as I've never been through this aspect of fishkeeping.

My betta, Fishy Boris Karloff, died last Friday. I euthanized him because I didn't want him to suffer. RIP, sweet Boris. He had dropsy and fin rot, which I believe are bacterial.

I'm going to get a new betta, and would like to keep equipment costs down as much as possible. That means cleaning, I hope, but probably throwing some things away.

Can you tell me what I should get rid of? I have live plants, fine gravel, a floating log, a feeding ring, a heater (with suction cups), the probe of an electronic thermometer, and a sponge filter. (I also have a piece of driftwood and a coconut hut, although I removed these long before he got sick.)

Can I clean my five-gallon acrylic aquarium, or do I have to discard it, too, since Boris was sick? If I can reuse it, how do I clean it?

Any advice you care to offer would be welcome.

Mods: please move this if it's wrong for this forum.View attachment 459019

I don't know much about the tank, but all the decorations and such you could probably boil for a little bit to kill anything. heater I'm not so sure about though. same with the tank.

 

I’m curious if you had a API MASTER TEST KIT?

I am no expert but I have 7 tanks since I started this hobby again in November, last year. No dieases at all. I attribute this to regular testing and huge water changes.

To answer your question, either boil, or soak in a 10% bleach solution overnight. Then set in the sun for a couple of days.

When you fill, don’t add fish for a few days.

Test water regularly. Do water changes regularly.

Get a healthy fish.

Good luck!

 

I’m curious if you had a API MASTER TEST KIT?

I am no expert but I have 7 tanks since I started this hobby again in November, last year. No dieases at all. I attribute this to regular testing and huge water changes.

To answer your question, either boil, or soak in a 10% bleach solution overnight. Then set in the sun for a couple of days.

When you fill, don’t add fish for a few days.

Test water regularly. Do water changes regularly.

Get a healthy fish.

Good luck!

Yes, Hunter, I have a test kit. About a month after I got Boris I realized I was totally messing up the nitrates test. I do believe I contributed to Boris's demise, although I had the nitrates under control long before he became ill.

I did test regularly, and did regular water changes/gravel vac.

PS Why did you shout the name of the test kit? Just curious. Caps lock get stuck?

I don't know much about the tank, but all the decorations and such you could probably boil for a little bit to kill anything. heater I'm not so sure about though. same with the tank.

Thank you, baldegale.

 

From my understanding, diluted bleach is your best cleaner before repopulating a tank. About to have to try this myself on my quarantine tank. The lonely little fish I had in there died.

 

Bettas are known for fin bacteria and hole in the head. Make sure there are no sharp objects in the tank where they can do damage to themselves. Also low flow filtration is important. Moss balls are great for them to lay on. Smaller tank can be difficult to care for. Keep up with your water changes and maybe add some bottom dwellers like panda corys or rosey loaches.

 

The lonely little fish I had in there died.

I'm sorry, JLeeM.

Bettas are known for fin bacteria and hole in the head. Make sure there are no sharp objects in the tank where they can do damage to themselves. Also low flow filtration is important. Moss balls are great for them to lay on. Smaller tank can be difficult to care for. Keep up with your water changes and maybe add some bottom dwellers like panda corys or rosey loaches.

Thank you, poppinpinto. I'll be very careful with things s/he could hurt him- or herself on. No sharp edges, no spiky fake plants. I'm thinking of getting a Nano 10 canister filter; I believe the return is low flow.

But I've been told that a five-gallon tank is too small for a betta plus even one bottom dweller (because I want one!), that all I should get is a snail. Now that you know it's just five gallons, does it change your suggestion of adding a loach or a cory?

 

Thank you, poppinpinto. I'll be very careful with things s/he could hurt him- or herself on. No sharp edges, no spiky fake plants. I'm thinking of getting a Nano 10 canister filter; I believe the return is low flow.

But I've been told that a five-gallon tank is too small for a betta plus even one bottom dweller (because I want one!), that all I should get is a snail. Now that you know it's just five gallons, does it change your suggestion of adding a loach or a cory?

I think you should be fine to add a cory. ive heard some people use aquaclear 20s on 5 gals. not sure if for bettas though. I can send you a video of the flows (semI adjustable) tomorrow morning.

heres an older thread on the same problem. Filtration for a 5.5g betta tank

also, the nice thing with the Aquaclear is that if you plan on setting up another tank in the future you could use some of the media to cycle the new tanks

also, I was looking into it and I do see where a lot of people say not to use cories. what I think would be cool would be a couple african dwarf frogs and a betta together but I don't know if theyd work together or not

thank you for this thread cause I just remembered african dwarf frogs and now I think I'm gonna get a couple to stock in my tank

 

Cories are a shoaling fish so they are recommended to be kept 6 minimum. That's why they were recommended against having in that size tank. Same thing with the loaches. I have nuked tanks with hydrogen peroxide. It's very effective again bacterial issues.

 

Agreed, don't keep just one cory, they need to be in groups of their own kind. A snail would be a fine bottom feeder for your tank. I suggest a nerite snail. Many snail species will reproduce, and could easily lead to an infestation, but nerite snails, although they will lay eggs in your tank, those eggs will never hatch, because they need salty brackish water to incubate and hatch. So if you just buy 1 or 2 snails, that's all you'll get.

As someone who has now kept a betta and an African Dwarf Frog together, I do not recommend it. I am working on separating them into different tanks now. It didn't work for me.

Shrimp would be a good bottom feeder, as well. You can get ghost shrimp from the pet store, they're usually too big for a betta to eat. Don't get a small shrimp, like neo shrimp, because bettas *will* eat those.

Also, a trick about things that could hurt a betta, think of it this way: if it will snag nylon pantyhose, it will rip your betta's fins. This includes every surface of every item. Your betta will rest its fins against everything in the tank. Take some pantyhose and drag it across every surface of every item in the tank. If it snags, you need to sand it down or not use it.

 

thank you for this thread cause I just remembered african dwarf frogs and now I think I'm gonna get a couple to stock in my tank

Why, you're welcome! All part of our friendly service.

Be sure to post pics of your !

I have nuked tanks with hydrogen peroxide. It's very effective again bacterial issues.

Hi, David. Thanks for the info about cories and loaches.

What's the ratio of peroxide to water? Also, is this what I should wash everything in?

Also, since I have your attention (I've been meaning to ask this of someone), will it be ok to use my sponge filter to propagate bacteria once the tank's put back together? Or should I consider it useless? Thanks.

Shrimp would be a good bottom feeder, as well. You can get ghost shrimp from the pet store, they're usually too big for a betta to eat. Don't get a small shrimp, like neo shrimp, because bettas *will* eat those.

Thanks! My wife and I were just discussing shrimp as bottom feeders for my betta. She thought I was kidding.

Also, a trick about things that could hurt a betta, think of it this way: if it will snag nylon pantyhose, it will rip your betta's fins. This includes every surface of every item. Your betta will rest its fins against everything in the tank. Take some pantyhose and drag it across every surface of every item in the tank. If it snags, you need to sand it down or not use it.

I'll do it. I had live plants, but I think now that I'll use silk for a while. (The upkeep on a planted tank was more than I bargained for.) I hope I can find silk plants that are soft enough. I'd never use plastic plants.

 

Typically to fight fin rot its used 1ml of 3% peroxide per gallon. When I do my qt tank that fish died in I typically use half a bottle and just leave everything in the tank with the filter running which kills off the good bacteria as well so you wouldn't have a cycle left in your filter and would essecially be starting over.

 

man, i'm so sorry about boris. he was very cute and pretty. you did all you could. I hope you find another amazing betta!

petco has a really good selection of silk plants! they look nice and aren't too expensive. I used them for my adfs. I ordered them online frompetco via amazon when they were doing a free shipping sale.

I agree with using a 10% bleach and water solution. just make sure it's pure bleach without any added scents or sulfates or anything. when my adfs died from dropsy and bacterial infections, I used the bleach solution on everything, let it soak for maybe 30 minutes, and rinsed it out thoroughly with hot tap water until I couldn't smell bleach anymore. I was able to do it for the heater and suction cups as well, which is now in my betta's tank. I threw out the gravel. I let the tank sit out in the sun for a few days, then I filled it back up with water and overdosed prime to get rid of any lingering chlorine and let that + all the equipment and ornaments soak overnight. rinsed again, let air dry, then everything was ready to go.

bettas can still try to eat ghost shrimp, but they might choke on them since they're big and that's a lot of food if they try to eat the entire shrimp. i've also heard of ghost shrimp carrying parasites and being mixed in with more dangerous predator shrimp like whisker shrimp. I think a nerite is honestly the safest choice.

your sponge filter should be fine to use again if you sanitize it like everything else. just make sure to rinse and squeeze the heck out of it, then let it fully dry.

 

I'm sorry, JLeeM.

Thank you, poppinpinto. I'll be very careful with things s/he could hurt him- or herself on. No sharp edges, no spiky fake plants. I'm thinking of getting a Nano 10 canister filter; I believe the return is low flow.

But I've been told that a five-gallon tank is too small for a betta plus even one bottom dweller (because I want one!), that all I should get is a snail. Now that you know it's just five gallons, does it change your suggestion of adding a loach or a cory?

I have a 5 gallon tank with 6 dwarf emerald rasboras and 3 panda corys planted. They are doing wonderful. That's what filter I use. Just keep a good water change schedule and u should be fine.

 

Yes, Hunter, I have a test kit. About a month after I got Boris I realized I was totally messing up the nitrates test. I do believe I contributed to Boris's demise, although I had the nitrates under control long before he became ill.

I did test regularly, and did regular water changes/gravel vac.

PS Why did you shout the name of the test kit? Just curious. Caps lock get stuck?

So when I put API in on my IPhone, API MASTER TEST KIT pops up automatically. Most times I take the caps off and then I get “master” then when I hit that, “test kit” pops up. So it was a matter of expediency.

 

So when I put API in on my IPhone, API MASTER TEST KIT pops up automatically. Most times I take the caps off and then I get “master” then when I hit that, “test kit” pops up. So it was a matter of expediency.

I wasn’t yelling, really.