Betta Tank 100°

Please please help. My 5 gallon betta tank overheated to 100°! My preset heater obviously didn't turn off. I am totally freaking out. He was at the bottom crashed & not breathing right.
Parameters 0, 0, 5
I've lowered the temp to 85 with water changes (rather rapidly. Probably stupid but I panicked) but my lovely boy is still laying on the bottom breathing quite heavily & rapidly.
what do I do?
Evil preset heaters!
Please - any advice is appreciated.
I'm so scared he'll die & I'm hoping to avoid that

 

I'm so sorry that happened.

You did the right thing with water changes to reduce the temp and add oxygen to the water. It wasn't a stupid move at all.

I don't know what else you can do but wait and see. I really hope he pulls through.

 

Thank you! I did also turn up the bubbles on his airstone for more oxygen. Added stressguard.
He's moving around a bit more. Not breathing as rapidly but still quite hard.
Gah. I'm so sad.

 

Remove the heater as soon as you can and get a manual one so you can make sure it doesn't heat beyond what you want (the temp may not match right off the dial, so a bucket test is best ).

 

I'm so so sorry this happened to you I hate preset heaters! I have one as an emergency backup heater, but I use a manual one with a dial and I love it. Not super accurate so you'll definitely want a thermometer cause my heater says the temp is like 5-6 degrees higher than it actually is.

Water changes are good. Regulate that temperature. Try to aI'm for like 75, but do it sloooooowly to not put him into shock.
I hope your little guy pulls through <3

 

emma How's he doing?

 

emma How's he doing?

He's not doing well my heart is breaking.
He's hardly swimming, preferring to lay at the bottom. Not eating. Breathing easier.
I'm definitely removing all my preset heaters & replacing them with dials.
This betta was awesome usually displaying beautifully. I pray he pulls through.
I'm clueless as to how to help him.

Thank you all for your help

 

I'm so, so sorry. I recently lost my beloved Betta, Billie Finn. He was the best boy.
He became very very ill before he passed with fin and body rot. Swim bladder so bad he could barely surface to breathe.
It got to the point where he was suffering so badly I needed to help him, cause he was just miserable.

I really hope it doesn't get to that point with your little guy. But if it does get to that point and he's obviously suffering, the option I utilized was clove oil. 4 drops per 2 cups (I believe) will put them to sleep. Once asleep, add 2 more drops. Wait a few minutes to make sure they're asleep. Then, slowly stir in some vodka and let him stay in the mixture for 10 minutes. That will help him pass over and end the suffering for him, if it gets to that point.

Again - I truly hope that doesn't happen with you and he will turn around. But if not, it's something to consider. It's so hard to do, but when you see your little friend suffering so terribly, it's the most loving thing you can do for him.

<3

 

Relax a bit . Bettas can typically handle fast temp change thanks to their habit in nature to jump from one pond to another . Now 100 degrees seems fairly high but Bettas can survive for brief periods at mid nineties . So he might just be fine after some rest

 

I'm hoping to avoid needing to euthanize - but know I may need to.

I'm planning on daily partial water changes & keeping his airstone flowing well.
I'll soak his food in garlic or try to bribe him with bloodworms tomorrow.

Relax a bit . Bettas can typically handle fast temp change thanks to their habit in nature to jump from one pond to another . Now 100 degrees seems fairly high but Bettas can survive for brief periods at mid nineties . So he might just be fine after some rest

I really, really hope he pulls through this. I have no idea how long he was in that high temp. I checked temps late morning. It could have been many hours.

I feel like I let him down.

 

It really wasn't your fault, Emma. You shouldn't even blame yourself for the heater. ANY heater can malfunction and overheat if the thermostat fails - preset or not.

I really hope he recovers. We're all rooting for him.

 

They are really hardy fish. Just give him time and try and get his water temp to between 78-80 and keep his water very clean. Others might have suggestions on other products you could use to help treat him but IMHO I would just make sure your water parameters are perfect. Zero ammonia and nitrites. I don’t know if that high of a temp would have negative effects on your beneficial bacteria, so you may need to add some nitrifying bacteria like Seachem Stability to your filter and tank in case your cycle crashed.

They are unfortunately and unintentionally mistreated all the time with inexperienced (not talking about you as this was an equipment malfunction, but just people in general who impulse buy and are not prepared to take care of the fish ) and they still survive.

I have a betta that should be dead because of some really stupid mistakes by my daughter and I and she is doing great!

They are a tough little fish with a pretty amazing ability to bounce back. So just go back to the basics of fish care and tank maintenance and hopefully he’ll be back to normal soon!

And lastly (and most obviously) get a heater with an adjustable temp feature. I also purchased a digital thermometer which can be suctioned to the outside of the tank so you can monitor frequently and easily. I think it cost me around $6 on Amazon.

Good luck and I hope he pulls through like a champ!!!

 

Thank you everyone . My guy is still at the bottom. Temp at 80 (I'm checking all tanks temps obsessively). Parameters still at 0,0,5. Stressguard daily.
I didn't even think about my beneficial bacteria being affected - thank you The Rover ! Stability added.
I have a dialed heater.
And a stickie thermometer, a glass one & 3 different digital ones (didn't know which one to get) They ALL say different temps. Even the digital ones have a 6 degree difference between them... ?
yes, I'm getting a bit OCD & nutty over here in the midwest.

 

You should drop the temperature about 2 degrees an hour, until reached 76 - 78.
Sorry about the heater malfunction.

I never got my betta's tank hotter than 86 before.

 

You should drop the temperature about 2 degrees an hour, until reached 76 - 78.
Sorry about the heater malfunction.

I never got my betta's tank hotter than 86 before.

What's the point of further lowering the temp if it's already in the ideal range?

 

Thank you everyone . My guy is still at the bottom. Temp at 80 (I'm checking all tanks temps obsessively). Parameters still at 0,0,5. Stressguard daily.
I didn't even think about my beneficial bacteria being affected - thank you The Rover ! Stability added.
I have a dialed heater.
And a stickie thermometer, a glass one & 3 different digital ones (didn't know which one to get) They ALL say different temps. Even the digital ones have a 6 degree difference between them... ?
yes, I'm getting a bit OCD & nutty over here in the midwest.

Just give it time. With my little female, she was lethargic for a couple of weeks and didn’t eat much at all and then slowly but surely just as I was getting ready to give up on her, she rallied and is doing great! She is an awesome fish and just to give you an idea of how unfit I was to be her owner, I didn’t even know she was a female betta at the beginning so her name is Zach! So I have a betta named Zach, but she’s a girl...

Just keep up on your maintenance and hope that he rallies like Zach!

 

I hope he pulls through!

 

Thank you everyone . My guy is still at the bottom. Temp at 80 (I'm checking all tanks temps obsessively). Parameters still at 0,0,5. Stressguard daily.
I didn't even think about my beneficial bacteria being affected - thank you The Rover ! Stability added.
I have a dialed heater.
And a stickie thermometer, a glass one & 3 different digital ones (didn't know which one to get) They ALL say different temps. Even the digital ones have a 6 degree difference between them... ?
yes, I'm getting a bit OCD & nutty over here in the midwest.

Fingers crossed your cycle is okay. Dr. TI'm indicates a day over 110 F or prolonged exposure over 95 F may kill bacteria. I can't confirm but if that's true then your bacteria may be fine.

Suction thermometers may be affected by the ambient room temp (being so close to it on the glass) so if your tank is much hotter or colder than the room it's in that might account for some variance. If it was me, I'd put all the thermometers together in the middle of the tank, wait ten minutes, compare the results, and stop using the ones whose readings varied the most from the others.

If you're paranoid about overheating now (which would be understandable given what happened) you might consider adding a thermostat controller/kill switch. Its probe is submerged, the heater plugs into it, and it shuts off power to the heater when the probe's temp exceeds your set limit. Here's an example:

 

Fingers crossed your cycle is okay. Dr. TI'm indicates a day over 110 F or prolonged exposure over 95 F may kill bacteria. I can't confirm but if that's true then your bacteria may be fine.

Suction thermometers may be affected by the ambient room temp (being so close to it on the glass) so if your tank is much hotter or colder than the room it's in that might account for some variance. If it was me, I'd put all the thermometers together in the middle of the tank, wait ten minutes, compare the results, and stop using the ones whose readings varied the most from the others.

If you're paranoid about overheating now (which would be understandable given what happened) you might consider adding a thermostat controller/kill switch. Its probe is submerged, the heater plugs into it, and it shuts off power to the heater when the probe's temp exceeds your set limit. Here's an example:

Was I wrong to recommend adding some Stability? My reasoning was that with everything he was dealing with if the BB did die then he would have to deal with a cycle on top of everything else. It wouldn't hurt anything to add it just to be safe right?

 

Was I wrong to recommend adding some Stability? My reasoning was that with everything he was dealing with if the BB did die then he would have to deal with a cycle on top of everything else. It wouldn't hurt anything to add it just to be safe right?

Oh no, not at all. I agree it can't hurt. Was just trying to be positive and hoping for the best.

 

Oh no, not at all. I agree it can't hurt. Was just trying to be positive and hoping for the best.

Ok good. I would have felt horrible if I gave bad advice to the OP. Then thanks for reinforcing my great advice LOL!!!

 

My beautiful boy died. I am so very sad. His name was Bleeding Heart
I miss him already...

 

I'm so sorry.

RIP Bleeding Heart.

 

I'm really sorry to hear that...

 

Darn I know they can survive times in mid nineties but o guess over is completely lethal