Sudden Betta Death

[reppy]

I also posted this message on another fish forum. I am brand new to all this and seeking a little help.
Came home today to find my betta dead at the bottom of the tank. He was fine yesterday, eating and swimming and blowing bubble nests. I have a 2.5 gallon tank, no filter or heater (was told I didn't need them)
I'm wondering if he could have gotten trapped at the bottom and suffocated? I changed the tank about a week ago and took out the gravel I was using and added large river rocks instead (the gravel kept going down my disposal whenever I cleaned the tank). Is it possible he swam into a crevice between the rocks and couldn't swim out? If he was sick then I'm worried about his tankmate (divided tank) getting sick too. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.

 

[DarkEntity]

You should definately have a filter and heater.

If you provide water stats it would help. Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, PH etc.

You never should change all the water and gravel in a tank.

 

[Taridan]

First off, sorry about your loss

Actually, on a 2.5 gallon you don't really need a filter, as the current might stress them out. The water temperatures should stay between 76-80 degrees farenheit, even in the middle of the night, so if your house / tanks get cold you'll want to get a 25 or 50 watt heater, depending on which you can find (25's are sometimes hard to find) I wouldn't think that he'd get himself stuck under a rock... anyone whose ever seen them slip through a space no bigger than a nickel knows they're slippery little buggers. I would recomend some live plant for the tank, either java moss, java fern, or whatever else you can get to grow... I found the bulbs sold at walmart have a 60% chance of budding and growing. As Dark said, water stats would help, and on a 2.5 IMO you should do a partial water change (50-75%) at least twice a week. I also try to do a 100% water change at least every other week. Is his tankmate showing any signs of stress or disease?

 

[jollysue]

Really, 100% water change did not kill the Betta (unless there was something wrong with the water--temp, contaminatesd, etc.) No filter did not kill the Betta. Some of these posts are personal opinion and highly debated between Betta keepers. The Betta will live at lower than 75 degrees, but he would prefer it warmer and will be more active. Large sudden, frequent fluctuations in temps can cause some fish great distress. It will kill some fish; it will slowly kill some fish; some fish will tolerate more. Corydoras will spawn.

Are you using a water conditioner to dechlorinate and dechloramine the water? How often do you change the water? With 2 fish (who can live in it) 2.5 usg will need frequent changes to keep the water healthy.

Sanadi's advise is reasonable.

It is difficult to guess what happened to the boy without more clues. It has happened to most of us that a fish has suddenly just died with no clues! And sometimes more than one in the tank within a short time.

Such a sudden and unexpected death w/o any symptoms (we assume that if there were any body abnormalities you would say) does point to water.

Do you use clean unlotioned hands? Were any arosols used? Is the water conditioned. Is it changed frequently? Did he show any differences in his fins? Was he new? Was something new added to the tank?

I am very sorry about your loss.

 

[reppy]

Thanks for your answers and your sympathy. "Munch" was a feisty little guy that we had really grown attached to. His tankmate currently seems fine so we added another fish today, "Munch v 1.2 (my son's idea). This morning when I checked on them I found one of the new Munch's fins trapped between a rock and the aquarium wall (the fin was detached). This is the same exact spot where I found the original Munch when he died. So now I'm really starting to think he did get trapped. I went out and bought some smaller river rocks that will fit together more tightly and eliminate this possibility. Now, onto the technical. Exactly how do I go about doing a 50% water change? I'm new to all this, so let me tell you what I've been doing and then you can tell me what all I'm doing wrong. I keep a 2.5 gallon jug with conditioned water in it by the tank. Whenever the tank level drops, I add more water. Then when I do a tank change, I scoop out some water from the tank with cups, put the fish into the cups, then dump out everything in the tank and scrub it good with just tap water. Then I add the conditioned water from the jug and put the fish back. I've been doing it this way for several months now and they seem fine. We originally had a filter but it did seem to bother the betta on the side with the bubbles, so we took it out. I have a thermometer and the temp stays around 75. (We live in Texas so it doesn't really ever get cold in our house) I did also buy a Live NH3 monitor, but ever since I put it in the tank it's not registering any reading so I can't tell if the water's ok or if the monitor is not working. Sorry this post is so long, I'm just want to make sure I'm doing all I should. Thanks!!!!

 

[jollysue]

Well, reppy, I have never heard from advanced Betta keepers that 100% water changes are bad. I have always heard that they are correct in unfiltered tanks. Although I just read something from Cracker about 30% changes.

I do 100% water changes in my Betta bowls about once a week to 1.5 weeks. Many would do more, but I am lazy. My filtered tanks are small (2.5 - 3 usg), and so I do 100% every couple or so weeks. Since I am not vacuming the substrate I want to try to get the bottom clean. Sometimes when I am being very lazy, I do top off the tanks in the summer, when there is lots of evaporation. Now that it is winter and the air conditioner is off, I don't have that option.

I can usually see from the Betta's behavior if he is getting stressed from his water.

It sounds like you have a good system for the water changes with the cups, etc. It's what I and others do.

The main problems I have had with my Bettas did undoubtedly result from not enough fresh clean water. If a Betta drowned it seems to me it would be because the water was not oxygenated.

Of course anything that can tear a Betta's delicate fins is a no no. I would add a little disolved aquarium salt

All in all, we do the best we know to do. We learn from our mistakes and work out our personal methods. But every old timer I ever got help from has said the same thing, "Clean water, clean water, clean water is the secret to good fish keeping!"

 

[fish_friend_101]

#1 never have a divided tank. this can couse stress and my shorten his life.

#2 i would get a tank heater.

 

[raeburter]

Large sudden, frequent fluctuations in temps can cause some fish great distress. It will kill some fish; it will slowly kill some fish; some fish will tolerate more. Corydoras will spawn.

The way u said it is veri funny....



I have a question, without using anti chlorine, the chlorine would evaporate from the water in 24 hrs....Using anti chlorine, how long does it take??Immediate effect???

 

[jollysue]

Large sudden, frequent fluctuations in temps can cause some fish great distress. It will kill some fish; it will slowly kill some fish; some fish will tolerate more. Corydoras will spawn.

The way u said it is veri funny....

I have a question, without using anti chlorine, the chlorine would evaporate from the water in 24 hrs....Using anti chlorine, how long does it take??Immediate effect???

It was suppose to be funny

Immediate. But as I have just recently been informed, chloramine another toxic substance added to tap water does not evaporate from denatured water and needs to be removed with a water conditioner.