KiaraDavidoff Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hey guys, my boys have been conditioning with my girls for the past few days, they have been in the tank with the girls In an effort to breed, there has been no violence but this morning I notice my boys acting very lathargic and not doing much, the water was cold But I have increased the temperature, what else could it be, someone please help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 It would be the cold increasing the tempreture will help but it could also be unrevesable, it could also be water quality. Your best bet is to keep him warm and add a dose of aquarium salt (not table salt) to his water. You should try and prepare possibly for whitespot, dropsy or death. I have had fish go lethargic for no determinable reason at all unfortunetly. If he has a long distance to travel for air, get a shallow container and let him rest in that, keep lights off, remove any other fish, and cover the tank so things dont spook him and just let him rest. Unless he starts to shows any other signs dont throw a random bunch of meds at him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 remove him from other fish's vision too, we underestimate how stressful this is to fish that have just arrived from transit or purchase. Isolate, shallow water, stable temperature between 26-28, good water quality / stable ph, all of what Neffy has suggested. Photos (close up and detailed) would help us to help you. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiaraDavidoff Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 ive had both of the males who are acting the same, for one 2 weeks, only recently i moved them to another room and put a heater in the tanks to keep them warm, i have removed the girls from their tanks and checked the ph, i just took all light out the room and put the girls in my room away from them im getting worried! i dont know what to do:( i dont understand how it can be stress related because i havent done anything but changed the room they were inoh and i put a pinch of sea salt in their tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Are you able to test for ammonia? How many liters is their tanks? What type of filtration? plants &/or substrate? If you only just added the heater when you changed their rooms they would be stressed from not having it previously and that could only be starting to accumulate now, heat is a vital part of their requirements and not having it over time will be detrimental and bring on other conditions. I know its upsetting to watch them like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiaraDavidoff Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 one of the boys died and the other is struggling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Kiki, do you have test kits? When I first bought lots of half moons I have to admit I dissolved many of them, quite inelegantly. Learning a bit about water chemistry will help you no end - more often than not there's nothing wrong with the fish - there's something very wrong with the water. We can't really help you until you have results on the following: PH Ammonia Nitrate KHz Temperature Other additives Also photos would help - if it is the fish, we can help ID the disease/fungus/problem. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiaraDavidoff Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 They died but I don't understand because the girls are still doing amazing! And my boyfriend and I tested everything he thinks it could be my gap water still having chlorine in it cause his fins were dissolving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Velvet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Yah. or Fin Rot/Melt. Do a bit of research on this forum and online about how to set up water for a betta. There's lots of info around that will help you avoid this in the future. -Ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Theres not much else we can suggest untill you answer the questions asked, they may seem irrellevent but figuring out how your keeping the bettas will help us establish why they deteriorated. The results of your tests on the tank water and the tap water will help as well. It doesnt make sense that it was caused by chlorine from the tap because then your girls would be dead too, its more likely something to do with the setup & the lack of a heater for two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiaraDavidoff Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 ph is 7 the water temp was 28 the rest im not sure bout my boyfriend said it could be the stress from going from freezing water to warm water but it makes no sense cause surely the girls should react the same as the boys? ill test the rest tonightim not sure how mANY litres but the tank water is 12 cm high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 You said you tested everything but don't know anything but pH? How does that work? The first step would be to stop shuffling fish around, especially sick ones, and get the basics right. No unheated tanks. A stable temperature is one of the key elements of fish keeping. http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm You can plug your dimensions into this calculator to find out your tanks capacity. Only enter as high as the water is, not the total height of the glass. You can't do anything right in an aquarium if you don't know what water volume it holds. Going from one temperature to another suddenly will majority of the time cause parasites; ie white spot, velvet, other miscellaneous protozoans, all are treated with the same method of white spot medication which is usually a simple 3 day treatment. It's something everyone should have on hand at all times because it can kill very fast, especially if you aren't knowledgeable to pick up on it right away. As I stated before, from the information you have provided I believe it was velvet which in later stages or particularly aggressive cases can cause the fins to rot. Just as as a side note of personal opinion, all of this is basics stuff and if you don't know it that well then you aren't ready to be breeding fish and trying to raise hundreds of fry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 If you can provide the width and length of the tank as well we can figure out how many liters you have, the smaller the tank the harder water quality is to keep stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 he thinks it could be my gap water still having chlorine in it cause his fins were dissolving Kiara, chlorine shouldn't make fins dissolve. Chlorine will upset the balance of microorganisms that are normally present that help keep the fish happy and healthy. It's the fin melt/fin rot that ensues that makes the fins dissolve. Fin rot/melt requires medication, and can quickly kill your betta. Not all your fish will get sick at the same time, and the girls seems to be resistant to it, whereas the boys seem to be annoyingly susceptible to it. Can you describe exactly what was wrong with the fins and the fish? Frayed edges, red blotchy edges where the fin looks like its dissolving. Curled up and stuck together/did coloured fin tips etc etc etc??? It seems cruel, but it's all part of the learning curve of being a fish keeper. Learn what's wrong when it happens (and get the fiagnosis right) and maybe you then prevent it from happening again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiaraDavidoff Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 You said you tested everything but don't know anything but pH? How does that work? The first step would be to stop shuffling fish around, especially sick ones, and get the basics right. No unheated tanks. A stable temperature is one of the key elements of fish keeping. http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm You can plug your dimensions into this calculator to find out your tanks capacity. Only enter as high as the water is, not the total height of the glass. You can't do anything right in an aquarium if you don't know what water volume it holds. Going from one temperature to another suddenly will majority of the time cause parasites; ie white spot, velvet, other miscellaneous protozoans, all are treated with the same method of white spot medication which is usually a simple 3 day treatment. It's something everyone should have on hand at all times because it can kill very fast, especially if you aren't knowledgeable to pick up on it right away. As I stated before, from the information you have provided I believe it was velvet which in later stages or particularly aggressive cases can cause the fins to rot. Just as as a side note of personal opinion, all of this is basics stuff and if you don't know it that well then you aren't ready to be breeding fish and trying to raise hundreds of fry. i dont look after the fry my boyfriend does he already has over 100 he is looking after at the moment they are growing beautifully Kiara, chlorine shouldn't make fins dissolve. Chlorine will upset the balance of microorganisms that are normally present that help keep the fish happy and healthy. It's the fin melt/fin rot that ensues that makes the fins dissolve. Fin rot/melt requires medication, and can quickly kill your betta. Not all your fish will get sick at the same time, and the girls seems to be resistant to it, whereas the boys seem to be annoyingly susceptible to it. Can you describe exactly what was wrong with the fins and the fish? Frayed edges, red blotchy edges where the fin looks like its dissolving. Curled up and stuck together/did coloured fin tips etc etc etc??? It seems cruel, but it's all part of the learning curve of being a fish keeper. Learn what's wrong when it happens (and get the fiagnosis right) and maybe you then prevent it from happening again. Their fins looks like they had been nipped but more like yeah frayed edges no red blotchy parts but one of them actully did have stucktogether fins!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Hi, Kiki, without repeating what has already been said above, frayed edges sounds like fin rot, and the stuck together fins like fin melt. I'm going to say both would be due to environmental conditions - so water quality and temperature. I think going without the heater definitely would have played a roll in this. Remember Bettas are from Thailand, where it is tropical weather - so they do need heated tanks, especially with Winter starting to roll in now. They MUST have heated water. Also, if you have sick fish, moving them around would just make it worse. I'm sorry you lost your fish, but am agreeing with the other posts - we do need your water parameters, so getting the water tested is best. It might be good to know for your girls, too. In my experience the males seem a little more fragile, but not sure if it's just me. Your females may be more resistant, but I definitely urge you to get your water tested. Not to be harsh, either, but I would definitely wait and get used to caring for adult bettas, before going and attempting to spawn them. Fry are pretty hard - plus a single spawn could produce more than a hundred! Live food cultures are needed, lots of water changes, and then once older all males need their own quarters. OK, so your boyfriend looks after the fry - well he DOES already have a hundred... could be a good idea just to wait a bit, and focus caring for the adults you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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