New Betta Mom and already 1 dead and 1 sick HELP

[shakiigrrl]

HI all, EXTREMELY SORRY ABOUT MY FIRST POST...SO LONG I KNOW
I am a new mommy and after only 1 week one of my guys has died and the other is really not looking good. Now I have read a lot of the posts here and know my setup is not perfection (no 5 gallon tank, etc..) but here is my confusion...
I have 2 Marina tanks setup on my wall , about 1 gallon each. When I introduced my bettas in these tanks last weekend it was perfect. They seemed fine and swimming around, eating, colorful and beautiful tail. All they had in the tank was the included minimal gravel, a few larger black stones and a thermometer I had bought. As the temperature of the water was constant at about 70 degrees and all over the forum I saw it should be about 78 and with the winter months coming, I went out and bought a small heater. I also bought some nice blue aquarium gravel, a nice big smooth stone statue, and a few plants to make it nice and pretty for them.
So here is where my confusion starts: I removed my little guys and put them in their cups so I could clean their homes. I removed 100% of the water as well as everything in their... cleaned ALL the new products I was going to introduce in HOT HOT water (no soap of course) fixed the tanks up, filled back with water at around 75 degrees, secured the heaters and put it all back on the wall (added conditioner to the tap water as well). I waited 2-3 hours and them put my little guys back in. They swam around fine at first and ate and all seemed good. Then on Sunday one of them just stayed at the top in the corner and did not want to move and the other was just as slow but was still swimming somewhat. Now today I come home from work and find corner boy(Gordon) dead at the bottom and (Frank) simply EXTREMELY slow and his tail is all broken in the middle(attached a picture I found online with the same sort of tail but a lot worse).
I immediately removed him and put him in his cup and cleaned the tank about 50% add a little conditioner and REMOVED the heater(now I wonder if the little heater I bought -not adjustable, and not indicated safe for plastic aquariums might be the cause... After a few hours in the cup he was turning around and around and seemed more alert and I put him back in the cleaned tank. BUT I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO....I SO want him to survive and come back happy.... :( any clue as to what could have happened during my water decoration change?
I must say that at the moment a new tank will not be possible and as for paying 50$ for a "safe for acrylic tank" heater I don't think so as it seems a bit crazy.
A friend of mine has had her Betta in one of those small small bowls (seems cruel) and with no filter or heater and no variety of food...for 3 years and the little guy is all happy with nice bubbles at the top and she doesn't even take care of him days and days at a time.... I don't get it

[JKfish]

If your heater was a cheap preset one, it is possible it malfunctioned and practicaly cooked your bettas. Check to see what the temp of the water is. If it is above 80, it's too high. 100% water changes don't hurt fish unless there is something horrible in the water. What sort of dechlorinator did you use?

[purplemuffin]

Wait--aren't you not supposed to heat tanks smaller than two gallons? it might have been too powerful for the fish!

[shakiigrrl]

Thank you for your reply. The heater was on the less expensive side of things and preset but I constantly (new mom remember.. ;) ) was checking the temp in case it did go too high which believe me it did not...actually never hit 78...always around 75.
The conditioner I used is the one that came with the kit and which I used the first time I set the tank up... Nutrafin Betta Plus Tap Water conditioner which contains a little Tropical Almond Leaf Extract

[purplemuffin]

if you need a bigger tank(Which you will if you want to use your heater) you can buy a cheap little plastic tub from walmart, or at a petstore they sell those kritter carriers (in the reptile section, meant to hold insects) that are plastic and clear, and a 5 gallon is like 10 dollars! 7 dollars for a 3 gallon! The great thing about those is they can be safely heated

Interesting that it didn't overheat! Maybe it was the plastic! I am terribly sorry about all the trouble!

[shakiigrrl]

Originally Posted by purplemuffin

Wait--aren't you not supposed to heat tanks smaller than two gallons? it might have been too powerful for the fish!

Powerful in the sense of too much heat? Because it hardly heated the water anyways...

[TeenyTinyTofu]

How often were you changing the water? And how much at a time? Could be an ammonia problem, being such a small container.

[shakiigrrl]

Originally Posted by TeenyTinyTofu

How often were you changing the water? And how much at a time? Could be an ammonia problem, being such a small container.

Well I just got them and Set them up a Saturday ago....mid week I changed about 25% and all was good and this past Saturday I did the full 100% (with all the new deco and useless heaters I got).

[shakiigrrl]

If ever....and I am HOPING!!! my little Frank gets better and kicks it up a notch...will his tail come back gorgeous like it was a week ago or is he now doomed to have a raggedy tail?

[ashleyy]

after being moved to a bigger tank with a heater and proper water changes, you can add a pinch of aquarium salt to promote healing of his fins. also make sure you buy food made just for bettas that contain 40% or more crude protein.

His tail and fins will heal up and be pretty again :]