Hey everyone, im new here but before i came to this site to research the fish, i had a betta for about 2 weeks in a small 1 gallon square tank with no heater, no filter, or anything; only a light. He was full of life and ate, alot. Then i came to this site and saw that i should get a bigger tank with a heater and some other stuff for him, so i bought a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater, low power filter, little soft cave, silky soft plants, with black gravel on the bottom and my fish just hovered on the bottom and never ate until he was found dead 2 days later. So i thought maybe it was just the shock of change so i went to get another fish and he seemed full of life for the first night, but i just woke up and saw him dead in the plants. This last fish did seem to have some problems i found late last night such as possible grey spots on rear body and trouble swimming. So it seems my tank is perfect for this fish but since ive upgrades ive lost 2 beautiful bettas, i dont want to get anymore without help. Please and Thank You.
2 Fish dead in a new tank
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
Joined
·
2,918 Posts
That sounds like a fungus or some illness that got to your fish...
did you make sure to rinse the tank, heater, decor, and gravel in hot water prior to setting up the tank? Are there any metal bits in anything inside your tank? Did you rinse your tank down in hot water before getting your new fish? oh, and did you dechlorinate the water?
did you make sure to rinse the tank, heater, decor, and gravel in hot water prior to setting up the tank? Are there any metal bits in anything inside your tank? Did you rinse your tank down in hot water before getting your new fish? oh, and did you dechlorinate the water?
yes i used the declhorlinator and amonia/nitrite eliminator that the tank came with, i did rinse the gravel before puting them in, and rinsed out all the new items with warm water before filling and recently did 40% water change before puting the second fish in.
Joined
·
118 Posts
im not that experience but i think you should change the water 100% and clean everything with hot water before putting the new fish in...so the disease that the dead fish left behind are gone
Joined
·
6,718 Posts
The same thing happened to me when I first got into bettas. 4 of them died in less then 24 hours. I never did figure out what, exactly was killing my fish but I suspect something was very wrong with my water.
Its possible they were sick when you got them. Even if they looked OK, the ammonia in their cups was probably high or they may have had other symptoms that you didn't notice.
Also, you said you have a filter? Is the tank fully cycled or did you just add in the filter? If you just added it, the tank will cycle and you will need to monitor the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels. If any of those get to high, it is deadly for the fish. Somewhere on this site is a sticky on how the nitrogen cycle works.
Its possible they were sick when you got them. Even if they looked OK, the ammonia in their cups was probably high or they may have had other symptoms that you didn't notice.
Also, you said you have a filter? Is the tank fully cycled or did you just add in the filter? If you just added it, the tank will cycle and you will need to monitor the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels. If any of those get to high, it is deadly for the fish. Somewhere on this site is a sticky on how the nitrogen cycle works.
Joined
·
59 Posts
you should rinse out your tank completly. then add supliments and then cycle for about a day or 2. i did this and my betta is fine!!!
Joined
·
137 Posts
it could be your fish were very stressed out and that is why.
both of my fish got very stressed when i put them in larger tanks.
i had a white dragonscale in a 1gal tank until i could afford a 5 gal, and when i got the 5 gal he hid for about 2 weeks. some mornings he refused to eat. now he has came out of his shell and he's happy now.
my red one that you see in my avatar went from a 4gal biorb to a 10gal and he acted upset for quite some time. now he's doing better and blowing a bubble nest, which he has not done in several months.
fish are emotional
The same thing happened to me except with 1 betta, and I only had him 2 days! I could tell something was wrong with him so I did some research and found this website. I read until 1am and went to my local pet store as soon as they opened for all the same upgrades, although I got blue gravel lol. I did EVERYTHING as instructed and he died.
I honestly think he was sick before I even left the store now that I look back. When I returned him today I almost cried when nearly 90% of the bettas they had were dead. On display. I'm going back Wednesday when they get their shipment in hopes of a more healthy batch.
Not really advice, just wanted to share my story and let you know you're not alone. My so-so swanky beginners tank is very depressing when there are no fish to occupy it. Good luck!
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
