Help! Puzzled by Betta failure

[iamnohs]

At the risk of being verbally crucified for ignorance....

I purchased a Betta for the family several days ago. For the first couple days we had him in one of those "Betta kits" that they sell at pet stores ... small, unfiltered, no light.

After doing some reading we decided to "do it right" and get a larger 2.5 gal tank with light and filter. Fifty bucks later....

We prepped the tank by treating the water with conditioner and then leaving the tank sit overnight before moving Thor (the fish). We made the transfer this morning and the fish seemed fine (no apparent disease or damage).

Come evening, Thor is dead. My wife and I are a bit confused and upset. :(

We've both been perusing Betta forums and can't figure out where we went definitively wrong. Perhaps the flow on the filter was too high and stressed the fish? I know the temperature of the water was not an issue, and we treated the water with conditioner before making the change.

I'd like to try again with another Betta, but we (especially my wife) is hesitant since we have nothing to "fix" to make sure it doesn't happen again. After all, the new fish would just go into the same tank.

Ditch the filter? Tweak something else? I'm at a loss.

Thanks in advance.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It sounds like you did everything right. I don't think the filter would have had anything to do with it. He may have had something wrong with him when you bought him. It may have been something internal. And no, you won't get verbally attacked here. We are a friendly forum and we like to help people. :)

[vaygirl]

I don't think anyone's ever been verbally crucified here. :) I don't have a definitive answer for you but if you don't mind my asking, how did you introduce him to the new tank water and how was he acting?

It's possible he might have been ill to begin with or just weak. But I'm not an expert really. Sorry you lost your guy. :(

[iamnohs]

Thank you very much for the quick reply, dramaqueen. That is reassuring. My wife says it's just difficult to reconcile because he seemed quite perky in the old bowl.

So, would you recommend we just move forward with a new Betta in the 2.5 gallon environment? We've got a silk plant in there ... seems nice. Should we at least do a 100% water replacement?

[SaylorKennedy]

Yeah, I would clean everything out, just in case Thor had something and you don't want it to get passed along.
But yeah, it sounds like your did everything right.
Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry about Thor.

[iamnohs]

Vaygirl -

Thank you for your reply. After treating the new tank with conditioner and leaving the water out overnight next to the old tank to ensure temperature equivalence, I pretty much just rounded him up in a cup and moved him from the first tank to the second. I didn't really think to do anything more gradual, because frankly that was a lot more gradual than the transition he had from his original pet store cup into his first tank a few days before.

[AngelicScars]

I'm sorry about your loss. It sounds like it was shock. It is best to acclimate them to their water for both temp. and the new water. Next time, float the cup/bag in the water for 15 mins and gradually add the tank water to the cup, continue doing this until the water over flows and you can release him into the tank.
If it was shock, then you won't have to worry about cleaning the whole tank, although as a precaution you can. Good luck with your new Betta!

[dramaqueen]

I would clean everything out, like SaylorKennedy said.

[iamnohs]

SaylorKennedy - Thanks for the reply as well. I will go clean the tank out now and let the new water sit for a day. Now ... to find a red Betta that my 3 and 5 year-olds will still recognize as Thor.

[vaygirl]

Well like everyone said, he coulda been weak to begin with or sick somehow. Don't feel bad about it. I don't think you did anything wrong. If your new tank was the same temp as the old one it wouldn't have been that big of a change. So I think you just had a guy who was on his way out so to speak. Sorry again.

But as said above, I'd give it a good cleaning before adding a new fish, just in case, add a heater (cause they really do need one) and float your new fish in his cup in the tank to equalize temps for like half an hour. Should be just fine. :D