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What happened?

918 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  xmasfosho 
#1 ·
I got a betta fish yesterday, and I was told to prepare for it by filling the tank with tap water and putting water conditioner in. I did, I brought the fish home, and I put him in the tank. The water temperature was 78 degrees, the tank is 2.5 gallons, and I gave him 3 pellets - I planned on feeding him once in the morning and once in the evening. He seemed content at first, swimming around a lot. However, a couple of hours later I saw him laying on top of the filter (which was underwater) and saw that his tailfin was inside of a hole at the top. It didn't seem stuck.
Does anyone know why he was just lying there?
I wanted to make sure he wasn't stuck so I gently pushed him with the edge of my fishnet, and the tail came out effortlessly.

After that, he layed on the bottom of the tank for hours, barely moving, and when he swam it was lopsided. He died later. When I checked him out, nothing seemed wrong, but checking for red streaks or spots would be hard (he was a handsome deep red and purple), but I did check for tail rips or tangles and I didn't find any.

Can anyone tell me what really happened?
 
#4 ·
Too much current by the filter killed my betta before, check yours.
Also, please detail how and what happened when you got home after buying your betta. Before treating the water, it should have aged first. Also, you should acclimatize him to his new environment. You must let your betta's plastic bag(from the store) float in the tank for a good 30 minutes to keep the temperature equal(in the tank and in the bag). After this, pour some of the tank water inside the bag and let it float again for a while(10-15 minutes). Pour some more of the tank water inside and let it float for the last time. after this, pour the betta onto a fish net and put him in the tank. Avoid putting the water from the plastic bag into the tank, it would most probably be dirty water from the pet shop.
 
#5 ·
I let the conditioned water sit for about half an hour.
The filter current was on it's lowest strength but the betta couldn't swim right in front of it.
I was told that because my water and the stores water were the same temperature and type, and so I did.

I guess all of those factors contributed in killing.
I asked to be told everything I would need to do for this fish to live, and I was told basically nothing important.

But now I know, and I bought a betta fish book.

I'm trying again today, hopefully things will work out better.
 
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