Dead Betta, what went wrong? Help.

[peachesxo]

I had my Betta, General Mao, for only about 5 days, and woke up to find him dead this morning. I am going to go into as much detail as I possibly can in hopes that someone knows what happened and can help me avoid it from happening again with my next betta (when I will get him, I don't know..)

SO. I brought General Mao home on Monday night. He was the prettiest Betta in the whole store and the most active. He was living temporarily in a half gallon Marina Betta home, but once Wdnesday rolled around I was feeling pretty bad about how small it was. He had started rufusing to eat his food and would just sit at the bottom laying against a rock. The water even seemed cold, so the next day after work I went to the store I had bought him and got him a 10 gallon Marinaland LED aquarium with a filter and heater.

The new tank set up had 3 big plants for him, one large rock hiding cavern, and one small rock cavern. When I first put him in he seemed a bit in shock but soon grew used to it and loved swimming around and playing with everything,
He immediatly began to show signs of being MUCH MUCH BETTER.
On Friday (yesterday) when I came home from work I had even found he had made a bubble nest.
I was looking around the forums more by this time and had found out about cycling, something I unfourtunatly had not done because was compleatly unaware until after he was in his tank, and didn't think too much of it because he seemed to be doing well (besides not eating really still..) but just in case yesterday I did a 25% water change (treated the water, yes) of his 10 gallon tank.

After this water change things got bad when I checked up on him a few hours later. All the sudden (and I mean ALL THE SUDDEN) it looked like his fins were disintegrating, they were thinner then they had been and would get thicker at the tips, like they were slowly peeling off. He was laying at the bottom of the tank, flopping onto his side, he was flaring his cheeks alot more than usual, and he was staying in the same place (or at least trying to) but just floppin about sticking his face down into the rocks everywhere. He was also having little twitches or spazzes quite often in between flopping over.

I was really worried, mostly about how his fins were all the sudden looking so bad, but i really didn't know what to do anymore after that, so i went to bed hoping for the best and that he would be better in the morning.

I woke up this morning and he was dead, discoloured, and on his back at the bottom of the tank. I removed him with a net, noticed bits of fin around him in the net, and put him in the toilet (yes he was FOR SURE dead)
When i did this I noticed he was leaving red liquid marking on the toilet bowl (he was dark blue and dark red) but the color was literally coming off of him. He also seemed to have some white slimey stuff on him that was floating in the tank falling off of him as i removed him.

Next I am going to answer the questions for when asking for help:

Housing
What size is your tank? 10 gallons
What temperature is your tank? about 81 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? just the filter
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? betta pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? would try giving one pellet 2-3 times daily since he is young but he refused even that

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? tank was brand new, changed 25% water yesterday before he died
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water treater for fish

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No, i don't have a test kit, this is probably where i really went wrong :(

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? loss of fins very suddenly it looked like...
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? hanging out at bottom of tank, tremors, flopping on his side, loss of appetite
When did you start noticing the symptoms? last night they became obvious (besides the food issue)



Any help is much appreciated.
I have an empty 10 gallon tank and would like to get another betta soon but not if the same thing is going to happen...

[Feral]

This is a shot in the dark, but it sounds like either

1) the water- was it ordinary drinking water from the faucet?
2) the conditioner- appropriate amount for the 2 1/2 gallon water change?
3) The container (or something residual IN the container)

Perhaps something will come to your mind, but the problem seems to me to be related to the water change alright.

Sorry about your little pal, really stinks to lose a critter like that.

[Maryrox247]

Hm....Im not completely sure of his killer but i will say what i am completely sure of: All of my tanks (except for the 1 gallon) have been cycled with the fish IN the tank! And all of them were just fine! However, i did not use my bettas to cycle the tank. I used fish that tend to be hardy such as platies and neon tetras. Now from this knowledge i will say that what may have happened was simply he was poisoned from something in the water MOST LIKELY (im not completely sure so someone correct me if im wrong on that one thanks) and all you did wrong was put him in the tank as a starter fish when from my knowledge bettas are not exactly the perfect choice for that job. So what i would do is make sure there is no more um, as you described bits of fin or slimy stuff, left over in the tank because that slimy stuff is fungus and that will spread to fin bits and that will spread to the rest of the tank then boom new fish will be dead. So clear that out and do as large of a water change as you feel is needed. (I would recommend about a 50% change) and then buy about 2 platies or 3 if you really want and pop em' in the tank for about 2 weeks then PRESTO! You have a happy safe cycled fish tank! (Yay!) Just be sure to get your water tested at this point to be sure. Sorry about your betta and i hope this helps!

[Oldfishlady]

My first thought was either pH shock and/or chlorine/chloramin poison or some other contaminate...either from the water itself or from your hand, air, items in the tanks...it hard to say.....

How did you acclimate the fish to the new setups when you first got him

Brand of dechlorinater you used and amount you used

How did you clean everything before you set the tanks up anything added to the tank that was not intended for use in aquariums like a clay pot

Did you let the tap water run for a few minutes before you used it for the aquarium

Any items used for the tank...like buckets, hose, cup that was used to clean and/or fill the tank with water

Did you wash your hands before working with the aquarium

Heater-was the heater ever out of the water and if so was it unplugged and/or allowed to cool first...check the heater for cracks

Any sprays or poison used in the house lately

Cycling had nothing to do with this IMO-you didn't have him long enough and I don't think a test kit would have made a difference either, however, testing the chlorine and pH level would be great information to have for the next Betta....to make sure it is not a chlorine issue and pH will help with acclimation

Sorry for your loss....but don't get discouraged....stuff happens......

[peachesxo]

I washed off all the substrate and plants in hot water before setting up the aquarium.
I did probably put my hand in there a few times without washing them right away before, the heater was bugging me out at first and i kept lowering and raising it and moved his big rock cavern closer to the front.

I used a stainless steel kettle to fill up the aquarium when i set it up....
and then a bowl of simillar material to remove water when i did the 25% water change..

The heater is fine i think, i never took it out of the water..

No posion in the house that i know of, it's an apartment and I myself have only been here about 3 weeks..

I used the amount of dechlorinator instructed on the package, don't recall the brand name as it was in an un-resealable pouch so i had to put the leftovers into a different container after and then threw out the original packaging..

Aaaaah.

[Wildcat]

My lil Wildcat is still alive his eve, but showing some of the same signs. Is not flopping or tremors or does not have fins peeling off or anything. He is not eating, but is swimming around more today. I put Betta Fix in there and my heater has slowly brought the temp from 74 to 79.
I have done all that was mentioned above, should I do another 25-35% water change today? Should I use distilled water or bottled water instead of tap water for this change? Looking for any help please.

[peachesxo]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

My lil Wildcat is still alive his eve, but showing some of the same signs. Is not flopping or tremors or does not have fins peeling off or anything. He is not eating, but is swimming around more today. I put Betta Fix in there and my heater has slowly brought the temp from 74 to 79.
I have done all that was mentioned above, should I do another 25-35% water change today? Should I use distilled water or bottled water instead of tap water for this change? Looking for any help please.

I really don't know -_-
But when i did the water change yesterday it seemed he just got worse afterwards...

[Oldfishlady]

The stainless steel pot...maybe....lotion or other personal body product if you just put them on...antibacterial lotions and soap if fresh on your hands....dechlorinator expired......depending on that product it may not have covered chloramine or heavy metals.....find a good dechlorinator...like prime or API has a good one and several others now days that cover...chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals is what you want....the other additive in some that say they help with slim coat or aloe vera....you don't need this and too much can even be harmful especially on the gills...just another selling point....get some test strips 5 in1 or 6 in 1 type that will test the chlorine levels

It sounds like you rinsed everything correctly with running water and that is all you need to do
I would find a vacuum hose made for aquariums and get a plastic bucket too....and use this for fish only for your water change needs

I would make a complete tear down of the 10g and rinse everything and refill using some extra dechlorinator-let the tap run for a minute to clear your pipes too especially if you have soft water

When you acclimate the Betta-do this slow over 30min-1hr:
If the Betta come in a cup-pour half this water out and toss...(never put pet shop water in your tank)
Add small amount of the tank water to the Betta over 30 min-1hr...pour out the water as needed and repeat until the Betta is in 100% your tank water...watch for tolerance......then net the Betta and place in the tank and toss that water he was in (save the cup/lid he came in-great to use for QT later if needed).....top off the tank with fresh dechlorinated water....I would have the light on the tank off and leave it off until the next day and then offer small amount of food

Good luck with your next wet-pet....we want pic too......

[peachesxo]

Ok, what if he comes in a bag?

[Oldfishlady]

I would find a small tuperware or plastic bowl/container of some type and dump him and the water in it from the bag... this will make it easier to acclimate....this will acclimate to both temp and chemistry by adding water from the main tank over 30min or so........this container can be anything that is fish safe....once acclimated...use a net and dip him out and place him in the tank....