My 30-gallon community tank is only 2 weeks old (cycled using old filter sponge squeeze method). It already had Endler guppies (with fry) and golden tetras.
Monday I added a blue Betta and 4 celestial pearl danio from my LFS.
Thursday morning Betta had damaged top fins (thought he got stuck in driftwood). By 8 pm his skin turned graphite gray and fins were shredded worse, so I quarantined him in a hospital tank with salt + methylene blue.
Around midnight I smelled strong ammonia in the main tank. Found one CPD and several guppies dead. Did a 50 % water change; ammonia test still showed 0.5–1 ppm even after that. Did another 30 % change around 3 am.
Woke up to the Betta dead, 2 CPDs dead, and 1 Endler guppy dead. Did another 40 % water change because the ammonia smell is still there.
Could bacteria/disease from the sick Betta have spread? Or is this just the tank not being fully cycled yet?
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1s4v2ow
Posted by Kinkylicious-
2 Comments
Based on how much ammonia it seems like it had, i personally would assume most of this was probably due to lack of fully cycling. It’s probably what caused the betta to be ill, or it could’ve been bought already mildly ill(sometimes it’s not noticeable, or they have underlying health issues) and the water quality made him rapidly decline. I’m sorry about your fish :((
Bacteria live on the sponge media and the surfaces in your tank. Putting dirty water or media run off from your filter into the tank will not establish the colony properly.
If you did not put the actual sponge or media into the tank to carry your bacteria colonies with it, your tank is likely not cycled