Temperature shock or illness from sick fish?

Hi all,

I was away from home for about 6 hours and came back to find my tank at a chilling 69 °. My room gets fairly cold in the winter time without an additional space heater and we just had the first snowstorm of the year. The heater in the tank wasnt keeping the set temperature of 80° how it always is unfortunately. I came back to find my betta tucked between the glass and heater, motionless with clamped fins. I did turn off the light to not stress her out more.

I did do a 50% water change after getting the tank up to 78°, mainly because I had fish waste and uneaten food from a school of 7 ember tetras that were in the tank for 3 days. The embers came from petco and seemed pretty fine (acclimated accordingly and quickly colored up as well). By the second day I noticed one of the embers acting strange (not with the group/swimming in small circles and breathing heavy) and then dead by the third day. Quickly removed the dead fish, and had noticed another one of the remaining embers beginning to show the same symptoms. I returned them that day because I was scared they might have introduced an illness to my tank and my betta. I added a few small IAL and some of the brew water as I've done before when doing a water change this large.

Right now my betta is resting right below the waterline on an anubias leaf, not moving except for her pec fins and coming up very frequently for air. Shes still clamped up but fins are clear of tears or rot and no visible illness on her body. Please let me know what I should do/what she might have Apologies in advance for not being able to get a good picture, I dont want to make her move and stress even more.

Parameters for 10g tank checked an hour ago:
pH 6.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm (the tank is pretty heavily planted and I have only gotten 0ppm in over 10 testings using API master kit)
Temperature raised to 82°

I've gotten great advice and help from this forum, I just feel like a new parent: a lot of things are new and unfortunately its gone wrong so fast!

 

Hi,

So sorry about your betta baby!

How long ago did this happen? I mean, did it just happen today, and you had to raise the temp from 60 to 78 recently? How long did you take to raise the temp?

Just trying to figure out if she is still recovering from the temp problem, or if it might be something else.

 

Hi,

So sorry about your betta baby!

How long ago did this happen? I mean, did it just happen today, and you had to raise the temp from 60 to 78 recently? How long did you take to raise the temp?

Just trying to figure out if she is still recovering from the temp problem, or if it might be something else.

Yup just happened today. I got back home around 1pm when I found the temp to be at 69°, so I slowly upped the temp by 3 degrees every 45 or so minutes until it was at 78°, it took almost 3 hours. I put her in a temporary container kept at 76-77° while I did the big water change (looking back now it was closer to 70% wc, I wanted to clean as much waste as possible) then floated it for about 10min before placing her back in. I set the tank to 82° then, is that too high for her?

Right now it's just after 6pm here and she's been in the same spot for about an hour, no interest in moving.

Thanks for helping!

 

Hi,
Is the ph of your tap and tank the same? would you test them?

How long ago did you have those sick tetra’s in there? Was that this week? Was she acting fine before the temperature drop? Or was she already showing signs of not feeling well? They probably have brought a disease into the tank. In the future always have a separate quarantine tank for new fish.

How is her breathing? Her coloring? Is she eating?

 

That does sound like she is still recovering from the temp change. Give her some time. Turn out her lights for the night. As long as she can rasie her head for air by laying near the top of the tank, she should be able to rest.

82 is on the higher side; maybe 79-80 would be a little better.

Edit: And just keep an eye out for other symptoms, too.

 

Hi,
Is the ph of your tap and tank the same? would you test them?

How long ago did you have those sick tetra’s in there? Was that this week? Was she acting fine before the temperature drop? Or was she already showing signs of not feeling well? They probably have brought a disease into the tank. In the future always have a separate quarantine tank for new fish.

How is her breathing? Her coloring? Is she eating?

My tap water is about 7.6, but that was tested straight from the faucet and not from water that sat out for long. I'm just assuming the IAL and brew altered the pH in the tank? I've been using Stresscoat as a dechlorinator but used Prime when first battling ammonia levels.

The tetras were introduced on Wednesday of this week and returned yesterday. So in addition to the temperature change, I think it stressed out my betta way too much. I don't plan on adding any more fish to her tank after this, but I do regret not quarantining the tetras.

My betta had only shown these symptoms today when I saw her this afternoon. This morning she was still waking up and a bit sassy as she is every morning when I turned on the tank light (usually 7am). She ate 3 pellets the night before but refuses to eat anything now which worries me since she is a pig when it comes to food. She's very dark and dull in color now but no heavy breathing, just coming up for air every minute or so. I positioned the filter spray bar to agitate the surface for air but it hasn't made a difference.

Thank you!

That does sound like she is still recovering from the temp change. Give her some time. Turn out her lights for the night. As long as she can rasie her head for air by laying near the top of the tank, she should be able to rest.

82 is on the higher side; maybe 79-80 would be a little better.

Edit: And just keep an eye out for other symptoms, too.

Thanks sm! I've turned it down to 80° now. Would she take long to recover? I'm not sure when I should get seriously worried, like if she didn't bounce back in a few days.

 

From my experience, it can take a good 12 hours or so for them to bounce back. I had the opposite issue - extremely high temps that I had to lower, and about 12 hours later, my bettas were looking and acting a lot better.

If you see other symptoms, however, it may be due to what was affecting the embers. Be on the look out for bloat, lack of appetite, lethargy, trouble breathing, issues with her gills, lesions, off color patches...things like that.

The fact that she was ok this morning, and only showing symptoms after the drop in temp leads me to think it is temperature-related.

 

From my experience, it can take a good 12 hours or so for them to bounce back. I had the opposite issue - extremely high temps that I had to lower, and about 12 hours later, my bettas were looking and acting a lot better.

If you see other symptoms, however, it may be due to what was affecting the embers. Be on the look out for bloat, lack of appetite, lethargy, trouble breathing, issues with her gills, lesions, off color patches...things like that.

The fact that she was ok this morning, and only showing symptoms after the drop in temp leads me to think it is temperature-related.

Gotcha, I'll just have to play the waiting game and see how she does tomorrow, hopefully better!

She's refusing food right now, she did have the energy to swim away when I offered her some (not very far but I'll take any movement as a good sign right now). I'll try again tomorrow and see if she eats though. Thanks again for the advice!!

 

My tap water is about 7.6, but that was tested straight from the faucet and not from water that sat out for long. I'm just assuming the IAL and brew altered the pH in the tank? I've been using Stresscoat as a dechlorinator but used Prime when first battling ammonia levels.

The tetras were introduced on Wednesday of this week and returned yesterday. So in addition to the temperature change, I think it stressed out my betta way too much. I don't plan on adding any more fish to her tank after this, but I do regret not quarantining the tetras.

My betta had only shown these symptoms today when I saw her this afternoon. This morning she was still waking up and a bit sassy as she is every morning when I turned on the tank light (usually 7am). She ate 3 pellets the night before but refuses to eat anything now which worries me since she is a pig when it comes to food.

Just keep an eye on her and hopefully she’ll be back to herself by tomorrow. Hopefully it was just the drop in temperature. Watch her for signs of sickness since the tetras were in there.
I wouldn’t worry if she doesn’t eat right away after the shock.

Fyi That’s a big difference between your tap and tank regarding PH. Does the ph change after it has sat out for a bit? Do you know what your alkalinity level is?

 

Just keep an eye on her and hopefully she’ll be back to herself by tomorrow. Hopefully it was just the drop in temperature. Watch her for signs of sickness since the tetras were in there.
I wouldn’t worry if she doesn’t eat right away after the shock.

Fyi That’s a big difference between your tap and tank regarding PH. Does the ph change after it has sat out for a bit? Do you know what your alkalinity level is?

Ty!

And I just let a glass of water sit for half an hour and it read 7.2 now. Unfortunately I don't know the alkalinity level or anything other than pH. Is this difference something I should be worried about? Again, I assume that the IAL are changing the pH but I haven't tested the tank water after dechlorinating, but before adding in the leaves.

 

Not necessarily but it would be good to know the alkalinity of your tap water. An alkalinity level of 5 or 100pm or so keeps your tank from experiencing a ph crash which is very dangerous for the fish. Just keep your water changes to about 50% at any one time since you have that difference. That will keep the net ph change to about .3-.4 and that is ok.

 

update: shes not looking so great. i went to check on her and i saw that she pooped (round, light brown but had a black spot right in the middle). she now has this white piece hanging, im not sure what it is or if it means she has parasites. its right next to her egg spot, but this is slightly longer and larger than the egg spot.

i turned on the tank light just for a minute to get a better look at it and shes swimming at a 45° angle now. im not sure what illness this is if it is one?

edit: shes gotten much paler and has started twitching/swimming strangely. much like the ember that died. i dont know what illness could be causing this despite research, i just dont want to treat for something and not be sure. i could use some advice with this please, i just really dont want to lose her

 

Hi uzivur,

Sorry, we have had horrible storms all night and lost power for a while. I am only just able to log on now.

The poop sounds normal, but that white thing - is it alive? A worm? (I can't tell from the pics)

Is she rubbing, scratching, flashing against the glass? Is she having trouble breathing?

Twitching can be a sign of anything from parasites to water issues (should be ok since you are doing water changes - as long as you are using a water conditioner/dechlorinator) to stress.

Do you have anything to treat parasites? Prazipro will treat external and some internal parasites.

It could be an internal parasite, based on what you are seeing hanging from her. Maybe this was brought in by those embers from Petco. (I know that this is after the fact, but it is always a good idea to quarantine new fish for a few weeks before adding to your tank. And feeding them with a dewormer, like levamisole, too, before you add them is a good idea.)

If you see an actual worm hanging from her anus, that could be camallanus worms. Treatment for that would be to use something like fenbendazole or levamisole hydrochloride.

 

Hi uzivur,

Sorry, we have had horrible storms all night and lost power for a while. I am only just able to log on now.

The poop sounds normal, but that white thing - is it alive? A worm? (I can't tell from the pics)

Is she rubbing, scratching, flashing against the glass? Is she having trouble breathing?

Twitching can be a sign of anything from parasites to water issues (should be ok since you are doing water changes - as long as you are using a water conditioner/dechlorinator) to stress.

Do you have anything to treat parasites? Prazipro will treat external and some internal parasites.

It could be an internal parasite, based on what you are seeing hanging from her. Maybe this was brought in by those embers from Petco. (I know that this is after the fact, but it is always a good idea to quarantine new fish for a few weeks before adding to your tank. And feeding them with a dewormer, like levamisole, too, before you add them is a good idea.)

If you see an actual worm hanging from her anus, that could be camallanus worms. Treatment for that would be to use something like fenbendazole or levamisole hydrochloride.

thanks for getting back, hope u guys are safe and sound!

this morning there was more movement and less lethargy; fins unclamped except her dorsal fin and shes colored back up almost fully. but shes now darting/swimming frantically and has started going nose down here and there. the white poop has formed into a thin and inconsistent string thats still hanging onto her now.

edit: it looks like she is struggling very hard to stay upright or have any control now, im heartbroken watching her, im not sure if euthanasia is whats best for her right now or if she has a chance to bounce back at all.

**i did find round fuzzy balls floating in the water when she kicked up the sand. i did vacuum the sand yesterday with the wc but these seemed to have appeared in that spot overnight. i attached a few pictures, of the fuzz and of her current state.

 

Great input from the above members.

I will just add that you may want consider a quarantine aquarium for new fish. 4 weeks minimum. Keep in mind that pet shops have a high turn over in stock. An infected fish may not have been sick long enough for symptoms to show when you purchase it.

I hope this all works out ok for you.

 

update, she has sadly passed. thank you guys for the help and advice i really do appreciate it.

Great input from the above members.

I will just add that you may want consider a quarantine aquarium for new fish. 4 weeks minimum. Keep in mind that pet shops have a high turn over in stock. An infected fish may not have been sick long enough for symptoms to show when you purchase it.

I hope this all works out ok for you.

yes definitely. it all happened so fast and unfortunately ended up with my betta passing. i will learn from my mistakes and will do so in the if i choose to set up for another down the road. thank you again

 

update, she has sadly passed. thank you guys for the help and advice i really do appreciate it.

yes definitely. it all happened so fast and unfortunately ended up with my betta passing. i will learn from my mistakes and will do so in the if i choose to set up for another down the road. thank you again

Condolences for your loss

 

So sorry that you lost her

 

uzivur, I am so sorry that she passed!!!!

But I am glad that you did not have to euthanize her. That is a hard thing to do.

Poor little girl!