Betta Dead After 7 Weeks

[themeparkfreak17]

Ok so I really don't know what I could've done about this death. When I first got him he was in a little cup from Petsmart in blue water with left over food and waste. He looked in perfect condition. Then after about 3-4 weeks his tails curled really badly, and got black at the ends. After about a week of that his tails went almost back to normal with just the very ends bunched together, still black in color. He also had red gills through out those weeks. He also only went to the bathroom once every week if that's normal or not. So in the last few weeks he became nothing but worse. All of his symptoms came back and he would stay in one spot. He also lost appetite quite frequently throughout the weeks. Yesterday his eyes turned into a white blur, and today he was at the bottom of the tank motionless, and covered in goo. I fed him twice daily for the recommended amount, and he never became bloated. He was in a 2 gallon aquarium with a heater that kept the water at 79 degrees. I changed the 75% of the water once a week, siphoning all waste. I added betta water conditioner after every water change. So I don't know what I did wrong.

[themeparkfreak17]

I also want to know how to clean the tank, and remove the dead fish properly before adding a new fish.

[themeparkfreak17]

I FOUND THE PROBLEM! In that tank there was apparently a fungus because I forgot to wash everything before I put it in there. That was what was all over my fish when he died. And it was all over the gravel, water line, and sides of the tank. Wow I'm mad at myself. Time to start over.

[Romad]

Sorry to hear that. I would use hot water with a little bleach added to clean everything. Then rinse it like 100 times and rinse it some more in water with dechlorinator added.

Good luck if you decide to get a new buddy. I can't have empty tank syndrome for very long.

[themeparkfreak17]

Ok I will do that I will be heading to the store tomorrow. Also is the betta water conditioners...which are very diluted...a waste to buy compared to one where a drop covers a gallon instead of 5mL like Top Fin's betta conditioner that I have. Or is there a reason to buy one with betta on it or is it a scam. Also I read that adding melafix and aquarium salt after every water change helps keep them healthy. Is that true, and a good investment. Oh and will this fungus be okay to touch. I'm sure it is since its most likely been there since the beginning. I just want to know if I need gloves before doing all this cleaning. Ahhhhh! One more thing. lol. Will it be okay to clean all this in a bathtub. Or will the fungus spread in there. I can always clean the tub with chemicals if needed.

[themeparkfreak17]

Oh and that whole thing with the Melafix and Aquarium salt was that I should use a dose of Melafix every other day, and a dose of salt after every water change.

[Romad]

Skip the Melafix. I've heard not so good things about it. It is a medication and not a water conditioner. Your best bet for a water conditioner is Seachem Prime. One drop per gallon is all you need. It does't remove ammonia from your tap water if any exists but it renders it harmless to your fish.

I add a very small amount of Aquarium salt to my betta tanks with every other water change. It helps with their electrolytes but if you're not doing 100% water changes (my tanks are all cycled so I don't have to), then over time, you're adding too much salt because it doesn't dissipate into the air. So I guess the short answer is yes you can but only proportionate to the amount of water you're changing and not the tank size.

[themeparkfreak17]

Ok so I'll get some salt and do some research on it...I'll also do some research on melafix and pimafix before i get them. But on the other note I just finished cleaning out EVERYTHING related to my dead betta. I used painfully hot water and spent about an hour cleaning it all to make sure I really got rid of the fungus. I'm pretty sure it came from that bowl because I was given it and a few shells(which were VERY dirty on the inside) by a family memeber, and I have reason to believe that it was being used as a 2 gallon flower bowl full of fungus. So I'm ready for a new start. R.I.P. little unnamed betta.