Help with bettas?... 2 Gallon Tank

[cinderellaA]

Hi! I had a 2" crowntail betta named Chizuru; after I cleaned his tank before I went to my lab today he looked a bit sluggish and sat at the bottom of the tank. I went to class as he usually did this after I cleaned his tank so I thought nothing of it (he was an odd fish), and when I came back 3 hours later he was dead where I left him. He had gone from a vibrant indigo color to a pale blue with his fins turned white? He was a very healthy fish and his tank was always between 76-80 degrees (silly thermometer is hard to read). I have had him since January in an established tank.

Does anyone have any ideas what might have happened? I used a tank cleansing tablet by Jungle called "Bowl Buddies". I used those the whole time I had him.

Plus my friends in sympathy bought me a new crowntail, but should I wait to put him in the tank? I bought some Tetra Aquasafe at Wal-mart and put a 3 drops in the tank 10 minutes ago.(although I had forgotten to shake the bottle)
I would hate to leave my new boy in that stupid little cup though, but should I let the tank sit for a few days?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Furallicah]

Hello and Welcome to fishlore. I have a little info for you....

1. Important Betta Topics - Read First!
With getting a new betta I always suggest reading those forms first they will help you greatly.

2. Some people get confused about the differently made betta water conditioners. They arent all that special just a small amount of additives that can help. But using Prime is perfectly fine. Using Prime,Though the conditioner you are using is just fine.

3. Bettas didnt come from puddles so make sure your tank is at least a 2.5 filtered and heated to around 78-80 degrees is the best tempature. Not saying get that tank just and idea on what to work with lol.

4. Love your betta, as they are agressive they cant be housed with other fish and usually form strong bonds to their owners. They love to be loved so love them bunches which you'll find hard not to do lol.

5. https://www.fishlore.com/Articles/betta-fish-care-guide.htm

6. I might not be able to explain what happened to your little friend and I am very sorry you lost him. Its hard to say, was there anything else wrong with him?

I hope this info helps you. Best of Luck

 

[cinderellaA]

Thanks Furallicah!! No, Chizuru was healthy, I have read all the links you posted so thank you. Unfortunately the apartments I am currently living in do not allow more than a gallon tank so I am squeezing by with my one and a half. :0

 

[Furallicah]

Ah, Sorry to hear....What substrate do you have in the tank?
*Edit, what were you feeding him?*

One more thing. This might help with adding the new betta in the tank. https://www.fishlore.com/acclimating-tropicalfish.htm

 

[cinderellaA]

I have some gravel from PetCo with glass marbles covering most of it.
I had been feeding him fish flakes (ugh just read about that), and some days I gave him freeze dried bloodworms instead, usually about 5, and once every 2 weeks a pea because he liked them.

 

[Furallicah]

I would change to pellets Omega One Betta Buffet in pellet form if you can find it is good. Or just any Pellet that has its two main ingreidents some type of fish meal. Ok I asked about the substrate just thinking it could of been a nitrate spike from bubble build up but that wont usually happen with gravels. Peas are good. Freeze Dried bloodworms are ok if you soak them in water for a minute before feeding to reconstitue them. Or else they will swell up in your betta and make him constipated.

 

[cinderellaA]

Ah ok...I'll see if the next time I'm in town I can find those pellets.I didn't think about that with the freeze dried hm..I'll have to soak them then, although the more I think about it it makes sense. Thank you! I've since named my new betta Louis the 14

 

[Furallicah]

Lol good name. If I where you soaking his freeze dried bloodworms in Garlic Guard will help keep him healthy.

 

[cinderellaA]

Garlic guard? okies, I'll set about finding that as well. Yeah he just reminded me of a king for some reason, and I was looking up names and then BAM! the perfect one just hit me.

 

[Furallicah]

Lol I love it. All my Betta names are in my signature. I have some pretty odd ones. You can also use garlic juice from a minced can of garlic. Just make sure it has no oils in it.

 

[fishtroy]

I'm sorry to hear about your little friend, how sad and sudden.

Welcome to Louis though, I like the King idea, they are such noble looking creatures!
And welcome to you to the forum!

 

[Tigerfishy]

Welcome Cinderella, sorry about your boy .
I'm sorry but I may have misread, were you using only the tablets to clean the tank? They do need to have an actual water change to remove anything in there, I personally wouldn't use tablets in place of a good water change (as boring as I find them!)

Again I'm very sorry if I misunderstood, but if he acted badly every time you put the tablet in, then it may have been doing him some harm? Water change of about 25% a week with Prime as the conditioner will be perfect for the new boy when he gets into his nice tank!

 

[haedra]

What percentage of water was being changed? Was the replacement water aged? The pH of water straight out of the tap tends to be alot different than that in a tank. If the new water wasn't aged, it is possible he was being stressed a bit from the different water conditions every time his tank was cleaned. While most fish can adapt to a different pH, one that is out of their norm; they all can become easily stressed when it changes to drastically for them to acclimate to. This will depend on how much water you were changing at these times, however.

While every fish is different, I don't think they should be sluggish after a water change.

 

[cinderellaA]

Lets see, every week I changed his water at least 30% and every month I did a total water change, I emptied out all the water, washed the gravel and marbles and the castle I have in there with warm water. After each change I added a tablet and waited 15 minutes before I put him back in. He was always an odd acting fish. After he acted weird with the first water change I did I flipped and put him back in the small container I used to keep him in for cleaning and waited an hour. But he just kind of did the same and after working his way around the tank settled back down.

 

[Furallicah]

Really I dont like the bowl fizzy things. IMO I've used them before and ended up losing fish that should of lived a long time. With the new betta I would just do water changes every three days which is two times a week. It'll keep things nice and clan. Does that 1.5gal have a filter on it? If not I would try seeing if a 3iwhisper would fit onto it with out taking up to much room it will help keep the tank clean.

 

[Tigerfishy]

Thanks for clarifying Cinderella, was just looking at another theory for you with that one!

Hmm, odd acting, that just about sums up the bettas!! You'll see...

 

[cinderellaA]

It does have a filter, a tetra whisper. and he has a live bamboo shoot with a castle. but I'm thinking of removing the castle until I can get a bigger tank and putting some anubias in there for him to hide in.

 

[Furallicah]

You can get a small tera cotta pot to put in there to replace the castle. Tera Cotta pots come in all sizes. I have used them well in 1gals before. And most of my larger tanks have the pots in them too. They are cheap and make for great hidding places.