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My Fish Died Mysteriously - What To Do With Tank?

516 views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  Warhawk 
#1 ·
Andy, my pineapple betta, died last night. The details may be found here: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=557178

I'm not sure what to do with his tank. I worry he had a serious illness, but I've read as much as I can find and he didn't really have a lot of symptoms. Even this morning, after he passed, he was still a brilliant orange/red color with his beautiful fins spread around him.

He had a snail tankmate for a while - months at least. The snail is fine.

This is a great tank and in my home office, where I interacted with Andy every day. I'd love to keep it, but am not sure what to do with it given the circumstances.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Also - Because this is so strange to me, I did take pictures of Andy's body. I don't want to post these unless someone here feels it is necessary to help diagnose. There's a good picture of him yesterday on the thread above, however.
 
#3 ·
Hi Sharkettelaw1 - thank you for checking. I appreciate the assessment but am skeptical. I used recommendations here and on aquariumadvisor.com to determine the frequency and % pwc. I test the parameters with an API Master kit weekly, to be safe, and keep logs. I have the same tank in half the size in another room and those fish are doing very well. Plus, the snail is great - wouldn't a water parameter issue hit him, too?

To be safe, I plan to take a sample somewhere for additional tests... Gotta figure out where. I had dealt with a low level brown algae so I thought I'd see about silicates or other things I normally don't test.

I've also considered maybe the two decorations could be leaching something.

I guess there's also the possibility of a genetic or internal issue?
 
#4 ·
I retested parameters with a sample I took from the bottom of the tank.

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate <10ppm

My API Master kit was purchased in October 2014 and the bottles list the expiration as 5/2019. The tank was fully cycled at the end of November (took about 4-5 weeks).

Just as a reminder - this is a 12 gallon tank (45L) and it was a mansion for my betta and his snail friend. Andy loved it.

There's still a very happy snail and a healthy anubias plant, plus silk plants.

I'm leaning toward something genetic or an issue with the non-silk decorations (bridge and cave). He went from happy, eating, blowing bubbles to deceased in two days.

While I'm not a newbie, I'm also not an expert and interested in opinions.
 
#5 ·
From what I saw I didn't see a filter listed on the tank, what type of filter are you using (sponge, HOB or what)? If there isn't a filter I will agree with sharkettelaw1 and I would bet on ammonia or Nitrite spiked and got him.

Also to me the 10-20% water change sounds way low. With a good filter system I would do 20-25% water change every week. With out a filter I would do 25% water change 3 times a week. Water changes are the single most important thing you can do to keep a fish healthy.


I did have a female that acted very similar to what you described and I'm sure it was a blockage that caused her to pass. I did all the things you should do but it didn't help her.


Moving forward I let the tank run for a week or so and watch the snail. I don't know what stuff will transfer to the snail or make them sick but after a few weeks if he doesn't show any signs I would feel safe adding another fish. Now in that time you should still be doing water changes and normal tank maintenance.

On the decorations leeching something if they are aquarium stuff it should be fine but there is always a chances. Again water changes would keep those level lower so not to cause any issues.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for weighing in, Warhawk. I do appreciate the thoughts.

The tank has a Fluval Edge HOB filter on it. Here are the specs from aqadvisor.com (I incorrectly wrote aquariumadvisor.com before), with one male betta and one apple snail for my tank (this doesn't include the live plants):

You have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.

Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 366%.
Recommended water change schedule: 5% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 63%.


I thought I was being pretty conservative overall. To be honest, I'm pretty stunned to hear the water change recommendations for this setup. And, is it possible to have an ammonia or nitrite spike in my tank and I don't see it on my master test kit ?? I measured last Sunday, yesterday, and today. I had changed his water a week a go.

I know we see a lot of folks on this forum who are keeping bettas in little unheated glass jars with zero filtration and not testing or changing the water. I'm not that person.

I'm sorry for the loss of your female fish, Warhawk. Thanks for the thoughts on decorations and such, too.
 
#8 ·
With the HOB that does make a ammonia or nitrite spike less likely. My next thought would be a blockage. I have feed Peas at least once a week some times twice so I wasn't worried about blockages but they can happen. I do miss my girl I was hoping to breed her but I thought there would be time later.

Honestly I have never used the online tank calculators, so I don't know how accurate they can be. What I do is watch my Ammoina, Nitrite and Nitrate, mainly the Nitrate level when it starts to raise to 10ppm after a 25% water changes I start doing more water changes and look to reduce my stock level. It's one of those things that become second nature after you have done it a while. But I do way more water changes then most so I don't test my water every week. I do 30-40% water changes on Tuesday and Thursday plus a 50% water change on Saturday, all my tanks are understocked so there is no chance for anything to really build up.

I didn't mean to sound like I was lumping you in with the average betta keeper. The facts that you are here and using a 12g tank means your have it more together then most. Just asking about the filter because I did see it listed but I could have over looked it.
 
#7 ·
as far as I know, water parameters don't affect snails unless you add medications, they don't like that or salt. The only reason I'm thinking it could be ammonia poisoning is because in the past, my melano behaved exactly the same way except he went deathly pale so I'm not really sure
 
#9 ·
Thanks to both of you. I appreciate the thoughts. I'm extra sensitive, too, because I will probably never know what happened... and I don't like not knowing. This is the first time I've lost a fish so quickly and not been able to pinpoint anything, so it is sad and frustrating. He was my fave, too.

To err on the side of caution, I think I'm going to completely tear down and clean the tank. I'll move the snail and plants to something small and let him live out his days by himself. I can't necessarily rule out that he isn't a host. It's unlikely, since I have another snail I got at the same time in a separate, still healthy tank. Still...

Warhawk, blockage is at the top of my list of suspects, too - and such a sad thing to lose a fish due to that.
 
#10 ·
I fully understand how bad it feels to lose a fish and not know why.

A little over a year ago I set up a 48" long, x 12" wide x12" deep tank with dividers for Male bettas. I had 8 sections each had it's own cave, plants, and I had filters in ever other section, it looked great. I bought the males and QT each one for 2 months before putting them into their sections. 48 hours after I put the last one in something hit my tank and I lost every fish with in 24 hours.

I don't know what killed them but it killed with in 12 hours of showing symptoms and was 100% deadly. There are only a few things that kill that fast and it scared me a lot. I didn't know if my other tanks where going to get the same thing or even where it came from. I almost walked away from the hobby all together I couldn't understand what I did wrong. I took down the tank put it in my basement. Good news is I didn't give up on fish but I did tank it slow for a while, about 4 months ago I got that tank back out and it's stocked as a community tanks and I love it.

Some times we will never know why just have to do the best we can.
 
#11 ·
Warhawk - That sounds so awful. I certainly understand. Clearly you have a knack for this hobby and I'm glad you didn't walk away.

Thanks again for the thoughts, advice, and knowledge. I'm going to tear the tank down and think through what I'd like to do with it. It can easily be re-seeded by my other tank, and maybe that community would enjoy the extra space. I'll think it over.

Again - thanks.
 
#12 ·
Your very welcome and thanks for the kind words.

I do enjoy the hobby and I'm always learning new stuff, that's one of the cool things about this you never know it all. There is nothing wrong with taking a tank down for a while and catching your breath. You might find another betta that you fall in love with or maybe you Killifish. So many options so little time.
 
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