a TERRIBLE accident, a DYING betta!

[small fry]

Hello. Today has been a sad, confusing day. I have a major problem...Tony is dying! It all started when I decided to move over my betta, Tony, into my empty, planted 2g hex.

I had a heater in Tony's 1.5g filtered tank. It was a submersable heater, so I had to wait at least 15 minutes before I could move over the heater. Last night a rare thing happened in Texas...it froze. Under 30*F!

I have a bedroom heater that I forgot to turn on, not for the fish (or that is what I thought) but for me (because I don't like freezing temps). My brother turned the heater on low, thank goodness! That, of course, wasn't enough to make the room warm (at all) on a freezing night.

I went into the bedroom this morning. It was very cold! I probably could have seen my breathe if I had thought about it. I went to check on my 10g QT/HT to see if the fish I was quarantining (is that a word?) were ok (one of my tetras died of a strange diesase last night). They were fine, and the temp on that tank was at 73*. A bit too cold for the heater to keep up with, that is for sure. I thought everything was fine, then. I checked on the cichlids and there temp was afew degrees lower than normal (even with there really good heater).

Next I checked on Tony. At first glance, I noticed that his fins were clamped, and he was sitting very inactive in the corner. He always greets me in the morning. Then, to my absolute and terrible horror, the temp was at 60*F!!! I tapped on the glass (I know I am not supposed to do that, it was an emergency!) and he barely moved. That is when I realized my fatal mistake...I forgot to plug the heater in! I was supposed to transfer him to the 2g hex but I forgot! I forgot and I feel like a terrible fish owner today!

I transfered him to the hex along with his heater. I waited 13 minutes, then I plugged in the heater. He was showing no signs of illness, but I knew he wasn't getting out of this mess without some kind of terrible illness. He has been in there about 2 hours. After an hour of being in the hex, he developed white on his face! It is only around his mouth and gills. The tank is planted with anacharis and hornwort with full spectrum lighting. I really don't want a med that will kill the plants that I just bought, but I will anything to save my first, favorite, and only betta!

As far as the form goes, no toxicity at all. That is it. Toxicity is not the issue, it is the temp. He lived in a 1.5g filtered heated tank with a regularly monitered temp that never gets out of a range from 72* to 76*, until last night. He is alone. There, I can fill out the real form later if that is not enough info.

Is there anything I can do to keep him from getting more sick? Boost slime coat? More plants? Less plants? Meds? Back to back water changes? Anything?

I can probably get a pic up later today.

Thanks!

[WashingtonCowgirl]

My betta was left in water colder then that one night when I did the exact same thing (it was winter as well, last year. It was below zero that night). His water tem[ had gone down to about 50 degrees. I just turned the heater on and gave him a little extra stress coat, and he was fine. Just let him warm up a bit.

[small fry]

That is encourageing! I didn't know they could live in temps so cold. Tony seems to be re-gaining his personality and energy, just very slowly. I thought he had white on his face, and he might very well had, but it is not there anymore. I am glad!

I will add some stress coat to the water and see if that helps. It took a while for the hex to heat up. I made sure it wasn't heating rapidly. It reached 76* in about 1 1/2 hours. He isn't acting like he usually does, but I will see if he is hungry later today.

Thanks for the quick response!

I will keep the thread updated!

[WashingtonCowgirl]

Glad to hear he is improving! :)

[Malvolti]

Betta have been know to bounce back from somne pretty extreme temperatures. There are even legends told of people freezing their Bettas in freezers and thawing them out and the Betta is fine.

You usually hear about it as a cautionary tale against using the freezer as a form of euthanasia so it's unclear if there is any validity to the claims but the point reamins, betta can survive a lot.

[small fry]

I think he is fine now.

His new (used) hex might be abit over-planted, though.