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I came home to a dead betta..
- Thread starter Emmet
- Start date
The orange fish with the black tail is a platy; the other orange fish is hard to see clearly but is probably also a platy. They are not known as aggressive fish so I doubt they killed the betta.
The betta's fins look somewhat eroded - were they like this while he was alive or did this happen after he died?
Can you tell us please:
What size is the tank?
How long has it been running? New or running a few months/years?
Are any of the fish new additions?
What are the water conditions - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
What are the water parameters - hardness and pH. You should be able to find your tap water hardness somewhere on your water provider's website.
The betta's fins look somewhat eroded - were they like this while he was alive or did this happen after he died?
Can you tell us please:
What size is the tank?
How long has it been running? New or running a few months/years?
Are any of the fish new additions?
What are the water conditions - ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
What are the water parameters - hardness and pH. You should be able to find your tap water hardness somewhere on your water provider's website.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
He was perfect, I bought him yesterday.
Tank size: 75 Liter or 20 Gallons.
Running time: It has been running for nearly three weeks now.
New fish: The betta arrived yesterday. The platys are there for two weeks along with 4 of the remaining neon tetras, so 7 new neons came yesterday.
Water conditions:
- PH: Between 7.0 and 7.5.
- Nitrite: 5ppm.
- Nitrate: 80ppm.
- Hardness:
- Carbonate Hardness: 40ppm.
- General Hardness: 60ppm.
Thank you.
Tank size: 75 Liter or 20 Gallons.
Running time: It has been running for nearly three weeks now.
New fish: The betta arrived yesterday. The platys are there for two weeks along with 4 of the remaining neon tetras, so 7 new neons came yesterday.
Water conditions:
- PH: Between 7.0 and 7.5.
- Nitrite: 5ppm.
- Nitrate: 80ppm.
- Hardness:
- Carbonate Hardness: 40ppm.
- General Hardness: 60ppm.
Thank you.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
Also, the other orange one is a female I believe.
I was made to believe this would be an easy hobby by the salesman in the pet shop. My own fault. I've fixed a fungus issue, neon tetra disease, fin rot and, white spot disease now in this short space of time.
I am really dedicated and love animals so I want to do this properly without them dying.
I was made to believe this would be an easy hobby by the salesman in the pet shop. My own fault. I've fixed a fungus issue, neon tetra disease, fin rot and, white spot disease now in this short space of time.
I am really dedicated and love animals so I want to do this properly without them dying.
Your nitrite is truly 5ppm?
Or did you put this down wrong? What is ammonia?
Or did you put this down wrong? What is ammonia?
Never, ever believe anything a shop worker tells you, always research for yourself. Most shop workers haven't a clue and will make up any rubbish.
Nitrite at 5 ppm is high enough to kill fish, and could be the cause of the betta's death. You don't give an ammonia reading - are you using strips, they don't include ammonia - and that is probably high as well. Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish and must be kept at zero. The way to deal with this is by doing water changes - as many as necessary to get ammonia and nitrite down to zero, then as often as necessary to keep them there.
Feed the fish only a small amount every other day until you get ammonia and nitrite under control. Fish excrete ammonia, and fish poo and uneaten food are broken down to ammonia, and the less food that goes into the tank, the less ammonia is made. In a cycled tank, there is a colony of bacteria which 'eats' ammonia, but they turn it into nitrite. A second species of bacteria 'eats' nitrite and turns it into nitrate. It takes a few weeks for these bacteria to grow enough of them, and this process of growing them is called cycling.
The fact that you have a nitrite reading means that you already have a number of ammonia eating bacteria, but probably not enough yet. And the nitrite eaters also need to grow a lot more of them.
Fin rot is caused by poor water conditions - all that ammonia and nitrite. White spot will also infect stressed fish more easily, and ammonia and nitrite in the water stresses them. Getting those levels right down is very important.
The tank is suitable for the fish you have, but your hardness is soft. This is good for neons and rams but bad for platies which need hard water. Is there any chance of returning them to the shop? Fewer fish will also mean less ammonia made by the fish, and less nitrite made from that ammonia.
Once your ammonia and nitrite levels stay at zero by themselves, you'll probably be thinking of more fish. Please don't get another betta because they are not community fish. They are best kept in a tank on their own.
Nitrite at 5 ppm is high enough to kill fish, and could be the cause of the betta's death. You don't give an ammonia reading - are you using strips, they don't include ammonia - and that is probably high as well. Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish and must be kept at zero. The way to deal with this is by doing water changes - as many as necessary to get ammonia and nitrite down to zero, then as often as necessary to keep them there.
Feed the fish only a small amount every other day until you get ammonia and nitrite under control. Fish excrete ammonia, and fish poo and uneaten food are broken down to ammonia, and the less food that goes into the tank, the less ammonia is made. In a cycled tank, there is a colony of bacteria which 'eats' ammonia, but they turn it into nitrite. A second species of bacteria 'eats' nitrite and turns it into nitrate. It takes a few weeks for these bacteria to grow enough of them, and this process of growing them is called cycling.
The fact that you have a nitrite reading means that you already have a number of ammonia eating bacteria, but probably not enough yet. And the nitrite eaters also need to grow a lot more of them.
Fin rot is caused by poor water conditions - all that ammonia and nitrite. White spot will also infect stressed fish more easily, and ammonia and nitrite in the water stresses them. Getting those levels right down is very important.
The tank is suitable for the fish you have, but your hardness is soft. This is good for neons and rams but bad for platies which need hard water. Is there any chance of returning them to the shop? Fewer fish will also mean less ammonia made by the fish, and less nitrite made from that ammonia.
Once your ammonia and nitrite levels stay at zero by themselves, you'll probably be thinking of more fish. Please don't get another betta because they are not community fish. They are best kept in a tank on their own.
I agree with above, but would also add that I would include salt in water changes to counteract any damage nitrite levels have contributed to Brown Blood disease in exposed fish.
https://agrilifecdn.tamu.edu/fisher...Brown-Blood-Disease-A-Preventable-Problem.pdf
https://agrilifecdn.tamu.edu/fisher...Brown-Blood-Disease-A-Preventable-Problem.pdf
There is a sticky here https://www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/ which explains how much salt to use.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
It was foolish of me indeed to jump into this as I did. I've raised dogs since I was a child and never took the advice from people who don't know anything about dogs, which I won't be doing for fish again.
I'm living in Ireland and all the shops are closed at the moment so I can't go to any shops to get an ammonia testing kit. Also, I only have the API 5 in 1 testing strips.
I've also completed quite a few water changes recently in the past few days. I've done two 50% water changes in the past five days as instructed to do so from the pet shop after using eSHa Exit and eSHa 2000. Is it okay to do more or is there another way to drop these levels?
I'm not sure if they will take the platys back but I will ring them tomorrow and ask if they can.
I'm living in Ireland and all the shops are closed at the moment so I can't go to any shops to get an ammonia testing kit. Also, I only have the API 5 in 1 testing strips.
I've also completed quite a few water changes recently in the past few days. I've done two 50% water changes in the past five days as instructed to do so from the pet shop after using eSHa Exit and eSHa 2000. Is it okay to do more or is there another way to drop these levels?
I'm not sure if they will take the platys back but I will ring them tomorrow and ask if they can.
Have a look at the link I gave you. Salt blocks the fish's blood from taking up nitrite. The amount of salt won't harm the neons and rams in the short term. But removing them with water changes are the best solution.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
Alright, thank you very much for the help! I'll send feedback.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
Is the salt discussed in that document table salt?
The author of the article says that
"Plain old table salt is just fine for use here. Do not worry if it says Iodized or if it says it contains Anti-caking agents. The amount of either of these in the salt is so minimal one would pickle their fish long before these ingredients would be doing any harm."
So yes, it's OK.
"Plain old table salt is just fine for use here. Do not worry if it says Iodized or if it says it contains Anti-caking agents. The amount of either of these in the salt is so minimal one would pickle their fish long before these ingredients would be doing any harm."
So yes, it's OK.
OP
OP
Emmet
New Member
Sorry, I'm in quite a panic right now so I brushed by it. I can't find out my ammonia level until tomorrow afternoon. Is there another solution to how much salt I can use with just NO2 and NO3?
If you are able to do a 75% water change daily do so, do one now if you can. The water needs to be de-chlorinated. No need to get the temperature perfect, anywhere close to the tank temperature (even room temp) is good enough. Also get as many fast growing floating plants as you can and put them into the tank. Water sprite and frogbit are good choices as they are fairly substantial. These will use ammonia (without converting it to nitrite) which will help while the filter is establishing.Make the changes as bog as possible - if you change 50% it means you are leaving 50% of the bad stuff behind.
The plants in your pics are fairly slow growing and won't help much in this regard.
The plants in your pics are fairly slow growing and won't help much in this regard.
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