My Betta died

[Snoopydog2014]

Hi there
I’m new here and really looking for advice. I’m new to owning fish and we recently got one two weeks ago we’d had our tank up and running a week with aqua start and bacto start. We got the levels all checked on the day we got our Betta and it was all good. I acclimatised him to the tank gradually and added this solution we were given to help him settle. He spent a week sussing it all out sitting allot at the top of the tank and eating every other day so not to over fees him we adjusted the filter flow as it was abit fast and got our water checked again all good. Then we went into hiding for a few days and refused food. We had already done a water change with more of the prime and stuff we got on day one added and the temp was the same. But no avail he wouldn’t come out of hiding then he went down hill rapidly so we were advised to do daily water changes with the prime added to see if we could settle him. The levels were tested again and all good.
Went to do the water change today and the wee guy was floating and we’re totally gutted he was doing so well to begin with then this total change.
I don’t know what we did wrong. We only changed about 20-30% of the water.
I don’t know if we should get another one and what I do with his tank and everything in it.
really hoping for some advice to help us decide what to do.

 

[LillyTS97]

Do you have your water parameters? Any plants or decorations introduced?

 

[chloelmaoo]

Hi there
I’m new here and really looking for advice. I’m new to owning fish and we recently got one two weeks ago we’d had our tank up and running a week with aqua start and bacto start. We got the levels all checked on the day we got our Betta and it was all good. I acclimatised him to the tank gradually and added this solution we were given to help him settle. He spent a week sussing it all out sitting allot at the top of the tank and eating every other day so not to over fees him we adjusted the filter flow as it was abit fast and got our water checked again all good. Then we went into hiding for a few days and refused food. We had already done a water change with more of the prime and stuff we got on day one added and the temp was the same. But no avail he wouldn’t come out of hiding then he went down hill rapidly so we were advised to do daily water changes with the prime added to see if we could settle him. The levels were tested again and all good.
Went to do the water change today and the wee guy was floating and we’re totally gutted he was doing so well to begin with then this total change.
I don’t know what we did wrong. We only changed about 20-30% of the water.
I don’t know if we should get another one and what I do with his tank and everything in it.
really hoping for some advice to help us decide what to do.

If your tank was not completely cycled when you added him, then it could have completely thrown off the cycle and led to an ammonia spike. We’re you checking all of your parameters daily? I’m curious if it was a planted or regular gravel and silk plant tank? Before I did planted tanks, there would be a lot of ammonia build up inside of the gravel and plastic decor which would just perpetuate the ammonia going up. Did you continue adding bacteria while he was in the tank? Or did you stop adding beneficial bacteria one he was placed in?

 

[Lswims11]

You might’ve just got a sick one. Sadly most pet stores do not keep their bettas in good conditions and a lot of people struggle with this same problem. Did you do a regular cycle or a QuickStart because it might not be complete with QuickStart. Check temps too because they need pretty warm water.

 

[StarGirl]

Hello Im so sorry about your fish.

Welcome to Fishlore, we can help you with your new tank. What size tank do you have?

 

[Snoopydog2014]

Do you have your water parameters? Any plants or decorations introduced?

No parameters sorry I took a sample to the shop every few days tk be checked.
we had plastic plants we bought from shop and were washed in hot water.

If your tank was not completely cycled when you added him, then it could have completely thrown off the cycle and led to an ammonia spike. We’re you checking all of your parameters daily? I’m curious if it was a planted or regular gravel and silk plant tank? Before I did planted tanks, there would be a lot of ammonia build up inside of the gravel and plastic decor which would just perpetuate the ammonia going up. Did you continue adding bacteria while he was in the tank? Or did you stop adding beneficial bacteria one he was placed in?

I’m not sure what the diff is with plants sorry we added plastic ones from the shop.all washed but with no soap.
We had the tank a week and added bacto start aqua start. I didn’t add bacto start again. But did add the aqua start with every change. Then we switched to seachem prime and we added seachem stability when we got him and for 7 days then each water change.
I kept the tank at 26 degrees/80f and it’s an 8 gallon tank.
really gutted feel like we’ve met the wee guy down. So annoyed we couldn’t have saved him.
he didn’t see right from the start the first three days he just stayed at the top corner of the tank barely moving. We adjusted the filter at that point thinking the flow was too fast which seemed to help him for a few days then he was swinging about eating then he just went into hiding for days.

 

[IzabelB]

I’m so sorry to hear that What size tank? Do you have a heater?

A completed cycle takes six weeks to build up enough beneficial bacteria. I recommend you watch a YouTube video on the nitrogen cycle, it’s confusing but very necessary for fish owners to know.

I’m guessing that he died from an ammonia spike that started when you added the betta and there wasn’t enough beneficial bacteria to convert it. He also could have been sick to start with and bad water parameters made it worse. Safe water parameters should read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and around 5 nitrate.

Your water could have been safe before you added your fish but because it wasn’t fully cycled it wouldn’t be consistently safe.

I think you should get your own test kit, research the nitrogen cycle and then try again after your tank is fully cycled.

Edit: I just saw your post above this, no need to answer my first two questions.

 

[Snoopydog2014]

I’m so sorry to hear that What size tank? Do you have a heater?

A completed cycle takes six weeks to build up enough beneficial bacteria. I recommend you watch a YouTube video on the nitrogen cycle, it’s confusing but very necessary for fish owners to know.

I’m guessing that he died from an ammonia spike that started when you added the betta and there wasn’t enough beneficial bacteria to convert it. He also could have been sick to start with and bad water parameters made it worse. Safe water parameters should read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and around 5 nitrate.

Your water could have been safe before you added your fish but because it wasn’t fully cycled it wouldn’t be consistently safe.

I think you should get your own test kit, research the nitrogen cycle and then try again after your tank is fully cycled.

Thanks for this. I thought as the water was checked on day 3 of having him and day 10 it was ok but I didn’t realise the water levels would fluctuate to not give consistent readings.
we have an 8 gallon tank and a heater set at 80f.
do you think I should get rid of everything in the tank and buy all new gravel decor etc and clean the tank before we start again?

 

[IzabelB]

Thanks for this. I thought as the water was checked on day 3 of having him and day 10 it was ok but I didn’t realise the water levels would fluctuate to not give consistent readings.
we have an 8 gallon tank and a heater set at 80f.
do you think I should get rid of everything in the tank and buy all new gravel decor etc and clean the tank before we start again?

I don‘t see any need to do that, as long as he didn’t die of any parasites or infectious diseases you shouldn’t have to replace everything in the tank.
Good luck, and please don’t be too hard on yourself. If this is your first betta I think you did a pretty good job getting an 8 gallon tank with a heater and filter.
Lots of people in the hobby started out with bowls or vases before realizing how unhealthy that is for their fish.

 

[Snoopydog2014]

I don‘t see any need to do that, as long as he didn’t die of any parasites or infectious diseases you shouldn’t have to replace everything in the tank.
Good luck, and please don’t be too hard on yourself. If this is your first betta I think you did a pretty good job getting an 8 gallon tank with a heater and filter.
Lots of people in the hobby started out with bowls or vases before realizing how unhealthy that is for their fish.

Thank you. We sure spent allot getting it all ready and I felt I’d did a good bit of research tho perhaps didn’t wait as long as I needed to ch me the tank.

I’m not sure if he did if diseases he didn’t seem to have any signs like velvet etc and I took a pic of him to the fish shop they agreed he didn’t look like he had any diseases.

I’m not sure if I’m cut out for the lows of keeping fish so will have some time to think it over before I decide.

thank you

 

[Fisch]

Thank you. We sure spent allot getting it all ready and I felt I’d did a good bit of research tho perhaps didn’t wait as long as I needed to ch me the tank.

I’m not sure if he did if diseases he didn’t seem to have any signs like velvet etc and I took a pic of him to the fish shop they agreed he didn’t look like he had any diseases.

I’m not sure if I’m cut out for the lows of keeping fish so will have some time to think it over before I decide.

thank you

So sorry for your loss. There will be the lows, but the highs are so rewarding, and a tank with a Betta is mesmerizing and relaxing.
You have a nice tank size, and before you decide to ditch it all or try it again, take the time to get the tank really ready and through the fishless cycle. Nothing lost, a lot gained.

 

[Snoopydog2014]

So sorry for your loss. There will be the lows, but the highs are so rewarding, and a tank with a Betta is mesmerizing and relaxing.
You have a nice tank size, and before you decide to ditch it all or try it again, take the time to get the tank really ready and through the fishless cycle. Nothing lost, a lot gained.

Thank you.
I’ll see how I feel in days tk come. I’ve left it alll running still.
Shall I clean everything out and start a fresh with full new water and cleaned gravel etc?

 

[MasterPython]

Totally tearing down the tank is not nessesary if you don't suspect something infectious. The bennificial bacteria live on your gravel and decorations as well as the filter and cleaning them sets you back in terms of processing capacity.

You should probably start testing water until you get a good water change routine down. If you don't want to get the full test kit just the nitrate one is good enough. When it gets above 40ppm change the water. You can test after to see that the level goes down. The ammonia, nitrite and PH tests are mostly for setup and diagnosing disasters.

 

[Fisch]

As I understand the tank is not cycled, there is nothing really to lose. The scary thing is that we assume it was ammonia poisoning, but we are not sure.
I personally would take the tank apart, clean it thoroughly, assemble it again and start a fishless cycle either with fishfood or ammonia. It will take several weeks, enough time to think and contemplate.
If you decide to leave the tank running as is, same thing as you have to feed bacteria or keep the cycle going.