# tried to upgrade



## denise86 (Nov 13, 2006)

last week i "adopted" a male betta from a friend who had it in a little 1/2 gallon bowl for a year, i decided it looked too unhappy as it was just hanging out at the top of the bowl so i went out and bought a 2 1/2 gallon acrylic set up with a small filter and i bought a small heater. i put the fish in with some of it's original water and new water, that was properly treated beforehand, and i added 2 neon tetras for company. The water levels, nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity, ph.. were fine, but the betta became even lessactive, woudn't eat and died 4 days later, any ideas on what went wrong?


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## Crayola105 (Mar 3, 2007)

Maybe the 1/2 gallon bowl weakened him and the stress of moving was the final blow.......I'm sorry for your loss. Matbe something to do with the tetras?


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## Sue Gremlin (Jan 16, 2007)

Did you test for ammonia?


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

He might have just been old. 


RC


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## denise86 (Nov 13, 2006)

yeah i tested for amonias, chlorine, ph, nitrate, nitrite, everything, the tetras are doing fine, 
thanks tho.


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## AquaGirl (Feb 17, 2007)

How old was the water you treated? Did you put it in the tank right after treating it?


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## denise86 (Nov 13, 2006)

i set up the tank before i got the betta, cycled it for 4 or 5 days and added the tetras first for about 3 days before the betta.


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## Sue Gremlin (Jan 16, 2007)

Your tank wasn't cycled. 4-5 days is not nearly enough time, and letting the filter run with no fish in it (or without adding a constant ammonia source) will not do anything to make your tank ready for fish. Adding some tank water is one way to get a culture started, but it's not going to make your tank cycle much faster. It takes up to about 40 days unless you use Bio-Spira. 
I am not sure why your tests were all "fine", because that is not what normally happens in a brand new tank that's fully stocked. If that's what they said, I'd get new test kits. 
Sorry about your fish. How are those neons doing?


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## Guest (Mar 12, 2007)

Its my experience that Neons can be nippy at times towards Bettas. It could be that they were nipping the betta and that, along with the uncycled tank stressed him too much.

A 2.5g is too small for Neons, so I'd atleast get them to a 10g in the near future and add more (since they are schooling fish).


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## bettaboy691 (Nov 25, 2006)

yeah adding tetras probally wasnt a good idea, doubt it killed the betta though. good on you for getting a bigger tank.hope if you try again, more luck will come your way


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## jdwoodschild (Jan 22, 2007)

How strong was your filter set up? Bettas do NOT like strong currents, it stresses them out, and it takes alot of effort to swim against the current, and that stresses them out. Remember, bettas have to come to the surface to get air. Bettas really don't NEED filters, what they need is regular water changes and the water kept clean. They don't need their tanks cycled, they need their water aged 24-48 hours, and depending on your water, possably treated (high clorine). Have the water in a spot where it is out of the sun, maybe in a spare tank used just for aging water (I don't know how other people do it, we use 2 50L plastic bin that we fill a 29G tank that we use to fill our barrack system, so the water that gets to our fish is atleast 2 days old). If you have the spare tank, just pop in a heater to keep the water between 72-80 degrees (they prefer 78-80, but are happy enough with as low as 72, but I wouldn't go any lower) (if you use a plastic tub, have the heater suspended from the top and make sure it doesn't touch any of the sides and that it doesn'trun too hot). 

That and how deep did you keep your tank? Your fish might have had swim bladder disorder, and being in a 1/2 gallon might have been easier for it because it was easier to get to the surface to breath. Having it in deeper water would have made it even more difficult to get to the air, and the effort exerted to do so might have exerted it to the point that it would have weakened it and made it lethargic, and not interested in food.

Ooh, and if you ever are interested in getting bettas again, they are happy on their own. If you want to get it a buddy, by a divider tank or make yourself a divider tank (not the easiest thing to do, but can be done), and get a betta for each side, but don't let them mingle!


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## denise86 (Nov 13, 2006)

the tetras went into my 40 gal freshwater, and theyre doing very well. i cycled the 2 1/2, with biozyme, and used part of the bettas original water. 
i asked my friend about the way she kept the betta before i got it, and she said it's health had deteriorated a lot in the past couple of months anyway.


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## Sue Gremlin (Jan 16, 2007)

I don't think biozyme will do the job.


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