BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Help with betta tank (long)

Hi everyone.

Recently I decided to get myself a betta setup, however this has met with very poor results so far.

Originally I had a 4 gallon tank with some gravel, a hut ornament with a cave underneath and a couple of violet plants. I used tap water and added a chlorine/cholramine/ammonia and pH formula.

After a couple of days the water was getting a layer of cloudy sludge on the top so I purchased a lamp and a hang off the back filter with mechanical, chemical and bio filtration which I would leave on for an hour or two a day while my betta would happily take cover behind the plants due to the current.

My betta did well for the first few days but I think I overfed him on pellets due to him spending most of his day floating on the top, so I starved him for a few days. A couple more days days later he started swimming very quicky in short burst at times which I read was a sign something was wrong with the water. He then started swiming slightly on his side or lay lifeless on the bottom on the tank, which I know is a really bad sign.

I changed his water twice but alas he died the following morning. His gills were black, I am not sure if that is normal or a sign of something.

Checking the water I noticed the temperature was too low(about 70degrees) and the pH was also too low (around 6). For my next betta I decided to get a heater (which I would leave on for about 2 hours a day until the water was heated). My new betta was very healthy looking with a long, full, flowing tail. I changed the water in the tank completely, filtered and heated it to 82 and put him in. He was very happy and explorative. He was fed 1 pellet twice a day.

He began to loose color very quickly and he clamped his tail and fins up (which I read was due to cold water, but the water temp was 82 all around and the pH was about 7.5).

Fearing the worst I took him out of the tank and put him in a smaller jar where he seemed quite happy and moved around more. I noticed that the plants in the tank were not doing too well (I assume through lack of sunlight) so I took them out because I think he may have been eating to smaller fragments of the soft leaves. I changed all the water and set the temperature to 85 and slowly introduced him into the tank once again. He would swim to the top but when he stopped swimming his body would sink directly downward to the gravel. His gills were turning darker.

This morning he was moving very slowly but floated at the top on a 45degree vertical angle for a few hours and died. I have a picture if it helps but I wasn't sure if it is exactly appropriate to post.

I want to get a new one but I definately don't want to until I figure out what is wrong with my tank. Is it too big? It sounds like something in the water is wrong, perhaps I am not adding something I should be?

Sorry for the long post, I really want to be thorough in what I've done so I can fix it properly once and for all.

Cheers

What material is the tank made out of? The only thing I can think is that something might be leaking out of the plastic or whatever material your tank is made out of. Did you clean the tank with soap? Any residual soap in a tank can also cause major problems. For that matter, residual anything can cause a problem, so go over what you did to clean and prepare the tank and see if there is a problem there. I don't know if you're adjusting your pH or not, but it's best to just leave that alone. Most fish will adjust to a reasonable pH, and adding chemicals to adjust it will only cause more problems. Um...oh yeah, also, leaving the heater on for a few hours a day might not be the best solution, if the water fluctuates a lot, because bettas can be all right at lower temperatures, as long as the temperature is constant. So if you can keep your tank within about 3 degrees or so constantly, you'll have a much happier and healthier betta.

Thanks for the quick reply. The tank is a square plastic one with a clear sealant on the edges. I did not use soap to clean it with, just scrubed it with hot water, could this be my problem?

I was told by the fish store clerk that I shouldn't leave the heater on all day, just until it warms up all around. But the temperature definately drops about 5-6 degrees overnight which could be an issue. Any suggestions on keeping the heat up?

Cheers.

I am just popping in to the forum for a second, but this sounds like you have a toxic waetr situation. my guess is from messing with the ph - please chuck that bottle of stuff! Bettas do better adapting to whatever water you have. Emg, I know you had a ph burn - any thoughts?

The black gills has me worried about toxicity and ph burn.

And Elise is right about the heat. 85 is too hot for regular betta maintentance - those temps are best for dealing with ick and other parasitical disease, or to prep for breeding.

Don't worry, we will help you get this all figured out! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

85 degrees is probably too hot for a plastic tank... it may make the plastic leach into the water and cause major problems. I never recommend a plastic aquarium... plastic can be very toxic. It would be much better to get something that is glass.. even if you have to get a large goldfish bowl.

I have had 5 gal. plastic tanks complete with hood, light , heater, and very slight filtration with no problems. it does sound llike a sort of burn, so that would be water conditions. However, some folk find that some decorations cause caustic leaching. Are they designed for aquariums?? Remove them, and trythem in a separate water container ne by one (declorinated water). See if they sloud the water. i had a bad case of Blue Green Algae(slime algae) because of too much light. Also dust and air polutants can cause a slime on the top of the water..
Very frequent partial water changes are a must for small tanks. Ageing water for a couple days can help also. The more benificial bacteria in the tank the better. These build up on the filter media, filter, gravel, and rocks. because the betta breathes the air, well stuff is there.... i have found the whisper submersable Micro filter to work very well. You can adjust the water flow to very low, put some silk or real plants in front, and the current is imperseptable, but still moves and filters the water. Just some thoughts and keep us posted!!!!! It is very hard to keep small tanks stable...(bummer) But youare trying to keep your litlefriend healthy and happy, KUDOS !!

Thanks for all the advice.

I have taken out the live plants and will opt for silk ones, plus I have switched to a non pH modifying water treatment. Currently I have cleaned out the tank and everything in it and am letting the new treated water sit for a few days.

I am thinking about leaving the heater on at a constant 82, it cuts in and out when needed and testing the temperature the water immediately around the heater doesn't rise above 82. Otherwise I could set it for 78? I am not sure if it is designed to stay on all the time but it doesn't say otherwise.

Hopefully in a couple of days I can find a playful betta who will appreciate his new home. I am planning on making a spare tank in a large glass vase just in case he shows any signs of getting sick again.

Cheers

78 might be more appropriate if it's easier to maintain. 82 is more in the range for treating illness, and it may encourage other kinds of growth in the aquarium (such as harmful bacteria that like warmer temperatures). I hope you find a great new betta, these fish really are something else <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I agree that 78 is a better temp to go for continually. Many of us had lots of fin rot problems until we lowered the temps to the mid to high 70s.

Live plants are not a problem; you don't have to replace. Plastic plants sometimes cut fins which is why we don't like them. LIve or silk are both fine. Bettas do not eat plants.

partial water changes are good if you are cycling your aqarium, but most of us don't do that with bettas. Bettas don't need filters, although there are ways to use them if you wish. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> A betta in a larger space, like 10 gallons, would do well in a cycled tank. For those 1 gallon, 2.5 gallon jobs and even 5 galls, we mostly do 75% - 100% changes, and frequently. We just take the bettas out and then remove most of the water. Getting a small aquarium to cycle and stay safe is just very difficult, and the beauty of bettas is that you don't have to bother if you keep the water very clean through frequent changes and not overfeeding. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Good on ya for getting rid of the ph chemicals. They really do nore harm than good unless you have very sensitive, advanced level fish species like Discus.

Like Acadialover said, kudos, you are doing a great job by asking and caring about your little friends.