Sadly Jonan our betta passed away and for our daughter's sake (she's 3 and we aren't going to explain death to her just yet) we want to get a new betta asap. My question is, what do I need to do if anything before putting a new fish into the same tank Jonan lived in? Jonan was sick, I think from the poor water conditions of the smaller bowl we used to have him in. I'm honestly not sure what he had wrong with him. The tank is a 5 gallon with one live plant and silk plants. We do have a filter in there and heater. I have recently used coppersafe and maracyn in the tank. Any advice on what I need to do to make sure the tank is clean is much appreciated. Thank you!
Can you elaborate on something for me?
You had a small tank, then upgraded? If this is so, how long has the larger tank been up and running.
Can you describe how the other fish died? Symptoms?
I only ask because some things are contagious, some aren't. If you don't have a test kit you can take about a cup full of water to a local fish store and they can water test for you for free. It'll take them roughly 5 minutes. They can tell you if the water is ok. They can't see or test for parasites or things of that nature. Only Ammonia/Nitrate/Nitrite/PH etc
We initally had him in a 1.5 gal unfiltered tank and I changed his water every 1-2 weeks (not enough I now know) The new tank has been up and running for about 2-3 weeks I would say.
As far as symptoms, I thought he might have had velvet, but now I'm not sure. He seemed to have swim bladder disease as he was floating on the top on his side. He had popeye as well. His fins were not what they used to be, not sure if it was fin rot or not. He was turning pale on his face/chest area. He was very lethargic and at the end really wouldn't eat.
I don't have a test kit yet, but we do plan on getting one. I can get our water tested at the pet store this week.
At any time did your fish's scales pop out like a pinecone that let out it's seeds? That's dropsy, I'd clean the tank for that. It never hurts to take out decorations and sanitize them and what I did between having gold fish and other fish was take out the gravel gently, I put it in a strainer and gave it a gentle wash in warm water. I didn't vigorously shake it or anything, just wanted to get crud off. The good bacteria wouldn't get hurt that way. While I was doing that my husband washed out the tank in the tub and used a clean magic eraser on the glass and got any crud off.. if something survived that, it was meant to be. My goldfish didn't die of dropsy or parasites or anything bad. He was just old. I had my water tested and they said it was fine (a highly reputible fish store) and I have never had problems since.
Maybe someone can chime in. In the mean time to keep it cycling, maybe find a nerite snail or something to keep ammonia in the tank for the good bacteria to eat.
Hope this helps. It might not, but it's just my own experience
Sorry for the crappy spelling - I'm on my phone
Aurie
PS - Look for the API Master test kit online. I got one from bigals website for like $20 when at petsmart they want 35+
Thanks for the response Aurie. I appreciate it. He definitely didn't have dropsy. We will go ahead and clean the tank like you suggested. I'm really curious about maybe trying tetra safestart to help get a cycle going in our tank.
Did he die in the 5 gallon? if so, i would boil everything that can be boiled for an hour, and others i would pour boiling water into and soak a few times.
If its acrylic, then mix some cold water into the boiling water, and soak it with hot water.
But if he didn't die in it, then its unnecessary to sanitize it, just scrub it clean and cycle it. If you want to speed it up, either get safestart to borrow some "dirty" gravel from a friend with a cycled tank
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
What to do before getting a new fish?
