Betta very, very sick this morning

[daisyroo]

Thanks for the reassurance. I had no idea they were such social fish so it was weird that I got attached to him.

I'll probably even clean the talk well, let it set for a while until we get the water just right before we put a new "Bruce II" in there. Bruce is after the shark on Nemo by the way, LOL. The kids like that shark.

[LadyVictorian]

They are wonderful fish. Out of all the fish I have ever owned they have been the most loving I guess you could say. Their curiosity and intelligence makes them at least to me water dogs and I bet if a betta could live outside water it would be a total lap dog.

My male betta likes to lay in my hand when I cup it underwater and he enjoys watching me play video games or do raids on mmorpg's. He even watched movies with me and listens to music with me. Funny how much personality they show. My goldfish and sharks and guppies and tetra's were never even close to how amazing these fish are.

[Wendyjo]

I'd clean the tank, equipment and decor with bleach. There is no need to rinse it and then let it sit for days and days - just rinse it well, fill it back up with water (keep all the decor and equipment sitting inside it) toss in a mega dose of dechlorinator, empty, and the tank will be fine. Dechlorinator neutralizes chlorine, aka bleach.

[daisyroo]

Ahh thanks. Never thought about rinsing with the declor. Good idea. I'll do that tomorrow.

Oh and he did die. He didn't move at all when I removed him. Not sure what it was but leaning toward the heater theory of Lori's cause everything else seemed right.

[Coppermoon]

I would still rinse the bleach. Good idea about running dechlorinated water through afterwards. I still use vinegar to remove any residue from everything though.

The main thing daisyroo is to run it with out fish and make sure the water stays clear with the heater in the tank. CLEAN the heater with vinegar!!!

[Wendyjo]

Yes, I did say to rinse it well, THEN fill it back up with water and add the dechlor.

[Coppermoon]

Originally Posted by Wendyjo

There is no need to rinse it and then let it sit for days and days

Then I did see this "just rinse it well, fill it back up with water (keep all the decor and equipment sitting inside it) toss in a mega dose of dechlorinator, empty, and the tank will be fine. Dechlorinator neutralizes chlorine, aka bleach."

[daisyroo]

will do. We'll be very careful this time. Our inexperience might have just been too hard on him having the bowl, then tank change, etc. I mean we did save him I guess in a way because he was a walmart betta and my mom said she just went and looked yesterday and almost all the bettas were dead, probably 5+. Everyone talks like bettas are so easy and require little to no care. I've done A LOT of reading and that is not the case. But now that I have the equipment we'll probably try again. I'll also keep some first aid stuff. Had I had the right stuff this morning I might could have helped.