I’m fairly new to fish keeping. I’ve had my betta for about a year now and things have been going okay.
recently, i decided to upgrade him from a 5 gallon planted tank to a 10 gallon heavily planted tank. when i did the transfer, i kept all my decor, gravel, and filter media, but did change 100% of the water. i believe this was mistake #1.
additionally, i had recently obtained a nerite snail a few weeks ago. he was going into the tank too. i thought he may be lacking in algae in the new tank, so i tossed in an algae wafer (which was my first time trying those).
after 24 hours of being in the new tank, i noticed my betta rapidly decline. i had never seen him so clamped and lethargic. here’s where i made mistake number #2. i panicked and thought he was sick and needed meds. i dosed kanoplex and aquarium salt- correct doses for a 10 gallon.
after doing some research, I figured this was overkill and may actually make things worse. so i turned off the lights, skipped feeding for the day, and waited it out until i could do a small water change in the morning and begin diluting the salt and meds.
well, since i skipped feeding, my betta got hungry and decided to eat the entire algae wafer overnight (which was very large). this was mistake #3.
i found him the next morning puffed up like a ballon. i had never seen him so bloated before. and he was more clamped than ever. he looked awful. I felt so terrible.
I did a 20% water change and siphoned all the leftover algae wafer.
i genuinely believe he would’ve gotten better if it hadn’t been for the wafer. now he’s rapidly declining. he’s sinking as he’s swimming up to the surface. he’s stuck either at the surface or bottom of tank, gills moving rapidly.
i’m stuck. we are nearing 24 hours since the wafer incident and there is no progress. only decline.
i feel so stupid for all the of the mistakes i listed here above. please learn from me. i am devastated right now and at a loss.
i think i killed my fish.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1sqce2y
Posted by allymarene
5 Comments
Is he pineconing? Also just a heads up nerites usually won’t eat algae waters. They will typically starve before eating supplemental food. I’m sorry to hear all this happened. I’m no expert but I don’t immediately believe the water change is causing this. Although I don’t necessarily have a better idea about what happened. I’d give yourself a break.
We live and we learn. Don’t beat yourself up too badly. It does sound like your tank cycled- add prime or stability to help detoxify the ammonia and nitrite. Get a test kit for monitoring. The salt shouldn’t be an issue but do worry about the kanaplex in a technically new tank.
The take away here is that you cared a lot and tried to help to the best of your ability. I’m sorry this happened.
I’m so sorry that your fish has been struggling. Don’t be too hard on yourself 🙁 It’s good that you transferred your old filter media into the new tank to kickstart the cycle. On top of that, I’d continue doing 20% water changes and dosing with live aquarium bacteria daily. He’ll be okay if he misses another day or even two of food. Fasting will hopefully help reduce the bloating. Salt doesn’t hurt as long as it’s dosed correctly and is specifically meant for aquariums (which it sounds like yours is), and botanicals also don’t hurt. Since he’s sinking, adding a betta hammock or some sort of log/leaf that he can rest on near the surface would help him. If he does pass away, try not to blame yourself too much. We all live and learn.
OP this advice is not just for you but for everybody in this sub: so many times I see people skipping meals or fasting without really providing a reason why or understanding why they’re doing it.
Is your fish pooping? Does he have an appetite? If yes to both, then definitely don’t skip meals. Feed an appropriate serving twice a day. Additionally, you should never, ever fast when dosing with antibiotics (most of them are meant to be mixed into food and fed orally anyway because of internal absorption).
Do you have pictures of the bloating? An algae wafer can cause bloating and irritation but it shouldn’t cause so much that your fish dies. I don’t see any bloating in the pictures you posted, so was curious what you meant when you said he was swelled up like a balloon.
I agree with the other posters suggesting water changes along with regular water quality testing.
100% water changes are technically fine as long as parameters from old water too new water match. Algae wafers is bad you are right as nerites don’t usually transition to man made foods and need well established tanks. Food left sitting over night can spike the ammonia. Bettas can not process veggies and algae so yes it will bloat bad. Fast the betta for 3 days and do a 30% water change and test your water parameters. This is all you can really do for now.