Am I a Bad Mother?

[Ravenstar]

So my betta (Hoshi) and swordtail (Vega) passed recently. They were the ones in my room in their respective 2.5G tanks on my desk...I don't know what happened. They were fine, then next thing I knew they were dead at the bottom of the tank.

Well...I figure I'm going to throw out Vega's tank, as he's the 3rd fish to die in it. As for Hoshi's, it's acrylic, and so I don't know if bleach is an option for sterilization. Suggestions? And for the rocks and decorations, boiling them for a time should kill anything that was on them, yes? Is it okay to keep using filter media from Hoshi's tank to keep the tank running, or should I scrap it and start over?

Again, this is all to err on the side of caution, since I don't know the cause of death.

 

[sombunya]

I don't think the tank itself is to blame, except maybe it is so small. The smaller the tank the less stable it will be.

Bleach s a great way to sterilize it. 2 1/2 gallons, use a shot glass full, fill it with water and let it sit overnight. Put your rocks and decorations in too.

Do you test the water using a good, drop test kit? It's hard to say what killed them. I'm a water-change fanatic myself. About 50% per week. That's on all of my tanks.

 

[Monoxide]

Id say its the fish as well and not the tanks that killed them(unless something you know and havn't asked about). Also yes that is good way to clean them or boiling.. but remember to make sure there is 0 "none" what so ever chemicals are left on the edges of the tank for when you re add water to it.. It could kill the fish..

 

[homebunnyj]

If you didn't test the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, your water conditions probably killed them. Whenever you have a fishkeeping problem, you should do the water testsn at least weekly to see what's going on.

I'm sure it isn't the tank. Without testing your water, you'll never be able to get to the bottom of what's wrong with your fish. If you want to keep fish successfully, you have to do the water tests so you can figure out your mistakes.

You might as well scrap the media. Without fish in the tank for more than a day or two, the bacteria will die of starvation anyway.

Also, bleaching the tank is a very good idea. when you get done rinsing it, be sure to use a big dose of dechlorinator, which will neutralize any remaining chlorine.

 

[Ravenstar]

Thanks everyone. I've just read that some rocks (particularly natural ones) will absorb the bleach and leach it into the tank afterwards, no matter how much you rinse.

As for water parameters, they were fine. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates were never more than 15 ppm between weekly 25% water changes. I use API dropper kits to test everything.

I'm wondering if it really was just a case of where I got my fish? The swordtail came from my super-local FS, whose fish reputation isn't fabulous. The betta that was in before him was also from there, and the betta before that was from some guy that was selling bettas and orchids in the campus center. o.0 As for Hoshi, I'd had him for about a year after I brought him home from Petco, and he did great until he just croaked suddenly. The swordtail was also the biggest in the tank, and was swimming around like crazy when I bought him. I thought it was that he was excited, but perhaps he had something? I don't know...

Either way, I'm going to clean out everything and start over. The sorority is still doing well, although the water is embarrassingly cold! I'm about to go put in the heater though, and the girls should perk up.

>.<