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Today, my betta fish died. He was with us for 30 days only. Should we clean everything in the tank, remove the old disposable filter and start cycling again, because there may be bad bacteria already? Thanks.
My betta fish died
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sorry about your loss
to answer your question, no. you should not remove the filter or clean everything in the tank bc the beneficial bacteria lives in surfaces, and by removing the filter/cleaning the tank with soap youre killing that bacteria. the cycling process doesnt stop, ever. the bacteria always adjusts to the amount of ammonia thats being added in. this is why many times people will have an ammonia spike when they add more animals like fish that have a significant bioload, bc they "finished" cycling the tank, and they wait a few weeks before adding fish, so the bacteria adjusts to the amount ammonia being produced. wdym by bad bacteria?
what do you test your water with? do you know why he died? are there any other fish/animals in the tank?
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it not gonna kill it but your ph is alittle high. That may of added stress. Betas prefer water around 7 or 6.8
Also fill out the emergency template so we can get all the details of your tank
Also fill out the emergency template so we can get all the details of your tank
OP
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Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 2.5gallon (quarantine tank)
How long has the tank been running? 5 weeks
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? No bec i live in a tropical country
What is the water temperature? No idea because I dont have a thermometer
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) just one betta rosetail (it was housed in a 5 gallon for 1-2 weeks but was transferred to the quarantine tank because he has fin shredding
Maintenance
How often do you change the water?every other day
How much of the water do you change? 50% because of the fin shredding
What do you use to treat your water? Aqua care water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? It doesn’t have a substrate bec it is qt
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? Api freshwater kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:4
pH:7.6
Taken on june 3
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once or twice a day, sometimes i fast it for a day
How much do you feed your fish? 2 pellets or frozen daphnia
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Hikari
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?yes, frozen daphnia
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Added him to the tank may 25 so a month
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? The fin shredding started june 2 but is starting to show signs of recovery
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Fin shredding
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Melafix for 8 days starting on june 3, but useless. When I started using indian almond leaf and aquarium salt, his fins started to stop shredding and grew back.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No but there seems to be a liitle tiny bit of fin shredding. I bought it online
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Only the fin shredding
Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
What’s unusual was he slept in the afternoon yesterday which he never did. But when i moved the indian almond leaf, he swam and I thought he ws just okay. Today when I woke up, He is already dead. Im not sure with the cause of the death, but these are my suspicions. Please let me know which one is the most possible.
June 7
1. His fins seems to continue shredding
3. Removed sand and stone, change 100% water, added aquarium salt and melafix. Reason for this was because I tried a planted tank but found it hard to clean. Could it be because I had too much water change?
June 11
1. 25% water change, added aquarium salt
2. Continue melafix
June 14
1. Added indian almond leaf
2. Stopped melafix
June 14
1. Replaced disposable filter, because it was already a month. Im using aqueon aquarium kit
June 17
1. 25% water change, removed indian almond leaf, added salt.
June 18
1. Added indian almond leaf.
June 19
1. 50% water change
2. Jasper’s fins continue to improve. Getting a lot better
June 20
1. Create bubble nest
June 21
1. 50% water change
2. Added aquarium salt
3. Added plastic leaves
June 22
1. Repaced new indian almond leaf
2. No longer creating bubble nest, he wasn’t as happy when i added the plastic leaves, don’t lnow if it has harmful chemicals in it? I smoothened it using sandpaper before adding them to the tank
June 23
1. 50% water change
2. Didn’t add salt
3. Found him on the bottom of the tank having siesta which is unusual
June 25
1. Dead
I think as of now, I’d like to know what I did wrong so I won’t repeat it. And also what to do next. I haven’t check the water today yet.
What is the water volume of the tank? 2.5gallon (quarantine tank)
How long has the tank been running? 5 weeks
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? No bec i live in a tropical country
What is the water temperature? No idea because I dont have a thermometer
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) just one betta rosetail (it was housed in a 5 gallon for 1-2 weeks but was transferred to the quarantine tank because he has fin shredding
Maintenance
How often do you change the water?every other day
How much of the water do you change? 50% because of the fin shredding
What do you use to treat your water? Aqua care water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? It doesn’t have a substrate bec it is qt
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? Api freshwater kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:4
pH:7.6
Taken on june 3
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once or twice a day, sometimes i fast it for a day
How much do you feed your fish? 2 pellets or frozen daphnia
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Hikari
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?yes, frozen daphnia
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Added him to the tank may 25 so a month
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? The fin shredding started june 2 but is starting to show signs of recovery
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Fin shredding
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Melafix for 8 days starting on june 3, but useless. When I started using indian almond leaf and aquarium salt, his fins started to stop shredding and grew back.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No but there seems to be a liitle tiny bit of fin shredding. I bought it online
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Only the fin shredding
Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
What’s unusual was he slept in the afternoon yesterday which he never did. But when i moved the indian almond leaf, he swam and I thought he ws just okay. Today when I woke up, He is already dead. Im not sure with the cause of the death, but these are my suspicions. Please let me know which one is the most possible.
June 7
1. His fins seems to continue shredding
3. Removed sand and stone, change 100% water, added aquarium salt and melafix. Reason for this was because I tried a planted tank but found it hard to clean. Could it be because I had too much water change?
June 11
1. 25% water change, added aquarium salt
2. Continue melafix
June 14
1. Added indian almond leaf
2. Stopped melafix
June 14
1. Replaced disposable filter, because it was already a month. Im using aqueon aquarium kit
June 17
1. 25% water change, removed indian almond leaf, added salt.
June 18
1. Added indian almond leaf.
June 19
1. 50% water change
2. Jasper’s fins continue to improve. Getting a lot better
June 20
1. Create bubble nest
June 21
1. 50% water change
2. Added aquarium salt
3. Added plastic leaves
June 22
1. Repaced new indian almond leaf
2. No longer creating bubble nest, he wasn’t as happy when i added the plastic leaves, don’t lnow if it has harmful chemicals in it? I smoothened it using sandpaper before adding them to the tank
June 23
1. 50% water change
2. Didn’t add salt
3. Found him on the bottom of the tank having siesta which is unusual
June 25
1. Dead
I think as of now, I’d like to know what I did wrong so I won’t repeat it. And also what to do next. I haven’t check the water today yet.
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i think now would be the perfect time to look into getting some live plants, it looks like he got really stressed and contracted fin rot and possibly SBD? you definitely don't need to restart your tank, but like i said, consider getting live plants.
as for the pH, a stable pH is better than the right pH so i wouldn't worry too much. again, i'm very sorry for your loss, i had one of mine die mysteriously like yours, very similar case. he had fin rot, then he got better and then just died
as for the pH, a stable pH is better than the right pH so i wouldn't worry too much. again, i'm very sorry for your loss, i had one of mine die mysteriously like yours, very similar case. he had fin rot, then he got better and then just died
OP
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Assuming the Melafix killed him I think you’ll be able to get another betta without it dying too. In the future I would keep Indian almond leaves in there permanently, to prevent this from happening again. Also, Bettas with shorter fins tend to not get fin rot as easily.
OP
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Yes, I did add indian almond leaves and aquarium salt after the melafix treatment. The melafix did nothing but the IAL and salt made his fins stop shredding and that is when he started to recover.
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Hi,
I am so sorry for your loss! One thing that I read that you shouldn't do is replace your disposable filter cartridge (if that is what you meant by chaning the filter on June 14th). The filter companies have that in their instructions, but that is where a majority of your beneficial bacteria lives. When you do that, you lose the majority of your bb, and that can cause all kinds of issues with your tank water. I keep mine until they are completely falling apart. You may just need to rinse them out using old tank water every now and then.
The Indian almond leaves are a good thing to have in betta tanks. The tannins that tint the water brown are very good for them. It helps with stress and healing.
When you mention plastic leaves you are referring to betta beds, those are usually ok. I've had them in every one of my betta tanks, and all of my bettas have used them.
If you did not see any sign of injury to your betta's body that would indicate an infection, or fungus, then you are perhaps ok with keeping your tank in tact.
Rosetails can pretty hard to keep due to their fins, and lately, from what I have been reading, they are becoming more genetically weak. I, too, think that you might want to start with a betta that has shorter fins, like a plakat. There are some really beautiful fish out there!!!
I am really sorry for your loss! I have been there (too many times) myself.
I hope this helps!!!
OP
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Hang in there, and don't give up on the hobby.
I think that a lot of us have been where you are now. You don't realize how much research that you need to do before you start, so you jump in with both feet and trouble follows!
Just do a bit of reading, make sure your tank is cycled, and keep up with the water changes. Clean water is the best medicine and prevents a multitude of issues! I wish you luck with your next betta! They are my favorite fish; they have such beauty and such large personalities!!!
OP
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Sadly you are not the first, nor will you be the last, to use medications like Melafix on an unsuitable fish. It, and others like it, are marketed as a "fix all" type medication and like with most medications that promise everything they actually tend to do alot more harm than good.
Fishkeeping is not easy, there are many curveballs and disappointments...and bad advice to be had along the way.
As has been said already fresh clean water is the first way to go, medications are the last resort and only if you are 100% sure that the medication will not be harmful or make whatever the fish has worse.
Don't beat yourself up over this, we have all made mistakes with the best intentions....its a lesson you have learnt the tough way, we have all been there.
Keep going, educate yourself as much as you can before replacing the lost fish...these things happen sometimes sadly.
Fishkeeping is not easy, there are many curveballs and disappointments...and bad advice to be had along the way.
As has been said already fresh clean water is the first way to go, medications are the last resort and only if you are 100% sure that the medication will not be harmful or make whatever the fish has worse.
Don't beat yourself up over this, we have all made mistakes with the best intentions....its a lesson you have learnt the tough way, we have all been there.
Keep going, educate yourself as much as you can before replacing the lost fish...these things happen sometimes sadly.
Random Great Topic!
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