I have 2 baby bettas I got from petco. No issues until recently. I went on vacation and put a dissolving feeder in the tank (one on each side of the divided tank). Dumbest idea ever. It would have been better to leave them unfed because the tank was filthy when I came back. I changed the water out completely and cleaned everything in the tank. I noticed that both of my babies have been acting strange and I’m pretty sure they got sick. Both of their fins seemed to be much smaller than before (almost like parts went missing). One fish lost some of his color and became smaller (the one that floats to the top which I will mention). One fish always sinks to the bottom and has very low energy. He doesn’t eat. So I quarantined him, lowered the water level so he can swim up to breathe, have been fasting him for two days, and added a few drops of bacterial medicine. The other fish is always floating to the top. This one eats and seems to have more energy than the other one, but still is much lower energy than usual. He is in his own tank as well with medicine. Since they have been quarantined, the one the floats to the top has seemed to be getting a little better. He moves around more and eats every time I feed him. His fins look like they’re growing back (white tips on the fins and his fins look a bit larger). The one that sinks to the bottom has made no progress. I’m super worried about both of them.
What else can I do to help them? Am I doing something wrong ?
Answers & Comments
Things I've learned when keeping Betta fish, don't feed them too often, once ever 2 to 3 days is fine. Cleaning the take to the point that is completely spotless is almost a death sentence.
Every time I cleaned the tank the fish would die over feeding fish causes what you saw, dark, murky water it's dangerous for the fish.
If you are lucky the fish making progress could come out of this, the other one will probably die. Betta fish are notoriously sensitive to environmental changes from my experience.
Now you no about those crappy vacation feeders, dont doo it again. Fish will be fine for a week without food.
You over cleaned the tank, probobly killed your cycle. Dont do that again !
You quarantteened the fish? why? they need to be in the main tank with their heater, filter, and the decorations that they are use to.
You added anti bacterial meds? meds are very hard on fish, NEVER ad meds without a clear diagnosis of an ilness.
You can add seachums stress gaurd anytime to help them grow a stong stress coat "fishy immune sytem"
You fishes fins seem smaller? They are brobobly clamped from stress.
get them back into their normal tank, stop handling them, add seachums stress gaurd, keep the lights in the tank off, keep activity and noise to a minimum. You can even cover the tank with a towel if you cant limit the room lights.
put a dissolving feeder in the tank .... Dumbest idea ever.
-Yep, those things suck.
It would have been better to leave them unfed.
-Yep
because the tank was filthy when I came back. I changed the water out completely and cleaned everything in the tank.
-That's bad too. Never overclean.
I noticed that both of my babies have been acting strange and I’m pretty sure they got sick.
-Yep, shock, stress from changing all the water.
So I quarantined him, lowered the water level so he can swim up to breathe
-What,? A healthy tank is a good place for fish. I don't know what quarantine means to you.
added a few drops of bacterial medicine.
-Why.? Do you have a bacterial disease.?
Edit:
Well my fish that swims to the top has been doing better since I used the medicine. Also, I have heaters in their quarantine tanks. The parameters are the same, they just aren’t together so they don’t infect each other if they do have a disease.
Raven · 15 hours ago
- A healthy tank is good for fish, a bowl is a bowl. I still don't know what quarantine means to you. If it's healthier than your tank then maybe it's better, but usually not.
- you probably do not have a disease, you may have shock and stress from the high ammonia level while the tank was filthy and then from the complete water change and overcleaning.
- the antibacterial might help prevent secondary bacterial infection on the ammonia damaged skin, but it also may depress the biology in your filter (if you had one) and you might have to make slight adjustments to your water change schedule.
I was recommended to lower the water level on my fish that’s at the bottom. He has trouble swimming to the top to breathe. I noticed signs of sickness before I cleaned the tank.
Raven · 15 hours ago
- yes, it is sometimes recommended to lower beta water in extreme cases, I've never heard of a healthy tank needing this.
- if you often overclean or if the tank was overfed regularly, the fish may be suffering from poor water chemistry or shock/stress regularly. It's hard to treat disease when there's other possible causes. Antibacterials don't stop ammonia or nitrite poisoning which may be occurring.
In conclusion, the main point I made (and repeated by @noseless in a different way)
is that a healthy tank is only better than a bowl when it is maintained correctly, never overcleaned. The filter has living biology and that biology and the fish, do not do as well when shocked by excessive water change or filter cleaning. It takes 6 weeks for a tank to get healthy and it will stay healthy as long as these mistakes aren't made.
Did you put males and females in together? Are they fighting bettas? Why dont you take them back to the fish store and ask for advice. Are they still alive? Perhaps you didnt put them in slowly so they could adjust to the temperature change of your tank. Perhaps they have not eaten.