Why did my fish die?

[Pyxis]

We have a well, so we use well water. We have had it tested at the pet store, and they said it was okay, we just needed to put in stress coat. Also, I did everything the same with the water in my 1 gallon, which he was in before, and also in another ten gallon, and we haven't had any problems.

I have well water too, and it always killed my fish, always. I had to switch to buying distilled water to use or the fish would just die in a few days. So you may want to try that.

It could also be something with the plants and gravel. It sounds like pieces of the gravel are flaking off, and goodness knows what's in there since it's cheap Walmart gravel that's probably made in China. They've put lead in baby toys, I can't imagine that they're overly concerned about what's in fish gravel.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hum. I wasn't a very good fish mom I guess. I've had betta fish that lived for years and I just used city tap water and added stress coat and plopped them right in lol.
Had lots of goldfish and an sucker fish and some kind of eel. . .in a 20 gallon tank. treated them the same way tap water stress coat and plop. Lol. I did try to make sure to let the water get to room temperature first. The reason mine finally died was I bought a new fish and didn't quarantine first and contaminated my whole tank with ick.
I know tropical fish require more than gold fish do though. .

 

[Kusanar]

Hum. I wasn't a very good fish mom I guess. I've had betta fish that lived for years and I just used city tap water and added stress coat and plopped them right in lol.
Had lots of goldfish and an sucker fish and some kind of eel. . .in a 20 gallon tank. treated them the same way tap water stress coat and plop. Lol. I did try to make sure to let the water get to room temperature first. The reason mine finally died was I bought a new fish and didn't quarantine first and contaminated my whole tank with ick.
I know tropical fish require more than gold fish do though. .

Goldfish like cold water, so room temp is fine for them, Bettas need heated water (around 80 if I remember correctly), and fish are fine if you do water changes frequently, but putting a fish in an uncycled aquarium and then not checking or changing the water out in around a month, not really surprising that the fish died.

I have 1 betta in a 20 gallon tank, he has a filter, heater, and plants to help keep the nitrates down. I cycled the tank fully before I got him, but it STILL shocked the tank when I put him in and I had to do partial water changes every day for a while before it leveled back out... that's 1 2 inch fish in 20 gallons! You wouldn't think it would throw it off that much but it did!

My pH is off on my tap water, so I have to do some adjusting for that, it's in the range that's ok for the fish, but I had to adjust before the water wouldn't kill plants... When I get my horses moved to my farm I will test the well water out there and see if it's better than my city water, if so, I will fill jugs up while I am there and transport it home for the fish.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

number one. for a beta you DONT HAVE TO CYCLE your tank.

number two. if the gravel is letting off paint, GET RID OF IT and buy unpainted gravel,

number three. betas are VERY AGGRESSIVE, and would most likely KILL any other fish (or living things) in tank

number four. betas don't always live very long, especially if you got it from Walmart. they almost always die.

Hope this helps! (this is from personal expirerence)

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Goldfish like cold water, so room temp is fine for them, Bettas need heated water (around 80 if I remember correctly), and fish are fine if you do water changes frequently, but putting a fish in an uncycled aquarium and then not checking or changing the water out in around a month, not really surprising that the fish died.

I have 1 betta in a 20 gallon tank, he has a filter, heater, and plants to help keep the nitrates down. I cycled the tank fully before I got him, but it STILL shocked the tank when I put him in and I had to do partial water changes every day for a while before it leveled back out... that's 1 2 inch fish in 20 gallons! You wouldn't think it would throw it off that much but it did!

My pH is off on my tap water, so I have to do some adjusting for that, it's in the range that's ok for the fish, but I had to adjust before the water wouldn't kill plants... When I get my horses moved to my farm I will test the well water out there and see if it's better than my city water, if so, I will fill jugs up while I am there and transport it home for the fish.

Did not know betta fish were supposed to have heated water. I had one in one of those little betta bowls that. Lived for five or six years.

 

[Pyxis]

Did not know betta fish were supposed to have heated water. I had one in one of those little betta bowls that. Lived for five or six years.

Yep, they're a tropical fish My boy lives in a five gallon tank with a filter, live plants, and a heater, and he's very happy. They CAN live in those tiny bowls in unheated water, but it's not good for them. Just like hens CAN live in factory egg farms, but it's definitely not good or ideal.

 

[theuglychick]

I agree with @Pyxis.

I have a little blue betta. I bought him as a little baby with hardly any fin development. The appeal being he was supposed to be a short-lived pet. I figured a year tops and no more fish duties. The new would have more than worn off by then. I was right, the new wore off after the first bowl cleaning. However, he is going on 4 years old!

All that being said, I too have well water. I have always used jugged water in his bowl, but the one time (about 2 years ago) I got tired of his fancy taste in jugged water, so I used tap from the well he got really sick.

He normally would make a little bubble nest soon after I changed his water, but this time he didn't. He almost looked belly-up. He wasn't in there br for a few hours before I took him out and put him back in jugged distilled water and it took him a few weeks to get mostly back normal, but he hasn't made an actual bubble-nest since

I would not use the well water.

 

[perchie.girl]

My 02 cents in there.... cycling the tank is essential.... I used to put in a sacrifical fish a molly or guppy to aid in that process. Water will turn cloudy then clear up... This is a microbial bloom and goes toward getting the filter started as well as adjusting the PH. Mollies are pretty tough and good for that job.

flakes in the gravel may be extra food... too much food will kill fish as well. Causing another bloom an anerobic bloom displaces oxygen not good.

Best to keep fish that have the same environmental requirements together.... Betas are brackish water fish so ar mollies platys guppies... The only consideration with betas is not to put in other betas even females. They nip fins of guppies or fish that have long fins.

Gold fish can handle a wide range of temperatures but do best in an un heated tank.

Remember For all fish the general rule of thumb is... an inch of fish per Gallon of tank. Has to do with Oxygen exchange.... If you add bubblers in you can increase that some but not a lot.

Ideal fish tank shape is as long as it is deep. surface area for oxygen exchange.

MY 110 gallon tank got a partial change of 25 percent about twice a year. I raised angel fish from quarter sized to the size of your palm and they were breeding. I did an undergravel filter along with a canister filter because the tank was deeper than normal. Along with a bubbler.

I also didnt feed but once every two days sometimes three.

Technology and husbandry has changed quite a bit since I started out but I had good instruction. Hung around an Ichthyologist at work Where we had two hundred aquariums fresh water on one side and salt on the other.

deb

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I agree with @Pyxis.

I have a little blue betta. I bought him as a little baby with hardly any fin development. The appeal being he was supposed to be a short-lived pet. I figured a year tops and no more fish duties. The new would have more than worn off by then. I was right, the new wore off after the first bowl cleaning. However, he is going on 4 years old!

All that being said, I too have well water. I have always used jugged water in his bowl, but the one time (about 2 years ago) I got tired of his fancy taste in jugged water, so I used tap from the well he got really sick.

He normally would make a little bubble nest soon after I changed his water, but this time he didn't. He almost looked belly-up. He wasn't in there br for a few hours before I took him out and put him back in jugged distilled water and it took him a few weeks to get mostly back normal, but he hasn't made an actual bubble-nest since

I would not use the well water.

That is so strange. I would never have guessed well water to be bad for fish. I would have thought it would be better. Come to think of it seems like my one bettas I had died during the time I rented a house that had well water. I've had several over the years but got tired of having fish after the ick incident and got rid of all my fish stuff.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

My 02 cents in there.... cycling the tank is essential.... I used to put in a sacrifical fish a molly or guppy to aid in that process. Water will turn cloudy then clear up... This is a microbial bloom and goes toward getting the filter started as well as adjusting the PH. Mollies are pretty tough and good for that job.

flakes in the gravel may be extra food... too much food will kill fish as well. Causing another bloom an anerobic bloom displaces oxygen not good.

Best to keep fish that have the same environmental requirements together.... Betas are brackish water fish so ar mollies platys guppies... The only consideration with betas is not to put in other betas even females. They nip fins of guppies or fish that have long fins.

Gold fish can handle a wide range of temperatures but do best in an un heated tank.

Remember For all fish the general rule of thumb is... an inch of fish per Gallon of tank. Has to do with Oxygen exchange.... If you add bubblers in you can increase that some but not a lot.

Ideal fish tank shape is as long as it is deep. surface area for oxygen exchange.

MY 110 gallon tank got a partial change of 25 percent about twice a year. I raised angel fish from quarter sized to the size of your palm and they were breeding. I did an undergravel filter along with a canister filter because the tank was deeper than normal. Along with a bubbler.

I also didnt feed but once every two days sometimes three.

Technology and husbandry has changed quite a bit since I started out but I had good instruction. Hung around an Ichthyologist at work Where we had two hundred aquariums fresh water on one side and salt on the other.

deb

The tank I used to have was an unusual shape. It was 20 gallon tall instead of wide. I just had the goldfish and suckers in there. And that eel type thing whatever it was. I did add a bubbler bar cause they seemed to be going to the top a lot for air. It was a beautiful tank but not practical at all. Such a pain to reach all the way down there to the bottom to vacuum the gravel.