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I dont no what happened but about 1 hour ago my male and femail both died. 5 min ago i thought they looked good. What could be the cause of this i didnt do a water change for about a week and 3 days but i only had one femail betta fish in my 5g for about 5 day. then i got a mail and femail gup and they had kids because i picked the fat one in the pet store. My water temp was at 77F. My bubler took a dump and didnt work at all so i took it out that was about 3 days ago so then i just took some water from my tank and poured it in from 5" abouve the tank i did that 3 time or more dayly. my water was good and fairly clear. I just want to know how come they died i dont think it was overfeeding but i dont no.I did a 100% water change and i juat put my fry back into the tank. please help

Was there any filter at all on the tank? If not, then maybe the oxygen just wasn't adequate with the cup trick.

Also, do you have test kits to test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

Those are the first things we check when something goes wrong - sickness, behavioral issues, physical things, etc.

If you don't have those test kits, then take a bag of your water to a fish store and ask them to test it. Take a pen and paper and get the numbers from them to bring back for us to look at.

Tanks really need filters. Fish can die within hours if there is nothing moving the water so it can pick up oxygen. Those toxins above can kill them too.

For both fish to die at the same time, my guess is that their oxygen ran out. It must be something environmental as even fish with sickness won't all die at the same time. But if ammonia or nitrite were out of whack, or pH was crashing, then that could do it to.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 01-Mar-2005 22:32

No filter. I didnt test nothing it was probly the oxygen

I'm not wishing your fish bad health but next time you have a concern please dont do a 100% water change. That is a big stress on your fish and wont help their cause, it could also send your tank into another cycle.

The first thing you need to do when you think there is a problem with the tank is to test the water. I would make test kits a priority to save up for and buy as they are important. If you dont have test kits then take a sample of the water to your lfs for testing.

Since there is no water to test for high nitrates or other problems we can only speculate what happened.

What was your feeding regime?
How long had the tank been established with fish?
Do you have any water testkits at all?

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

fishrock, is there a reason why the tank had no filter? Are you able to buy our own stuff, or are you younger where mom or dad has to spend money? If it is the latter, are they pretty flexible if you need stuff to make the aquarium the right way? We can try to keep the cost down, but it does take .

Also, do you know about the NItrogen Cycle? This is something all new tanks go through and established tanks rely on. If it is not well understood, it can kill. If you are unsure let me know and we can really simplify it so you can understand why we would want to test for ammonia and nitrite, and why 100% water changes can really stress the fish.

If you like keeping fish, we can help you to do it properly with very simple scientific methods. You'll have far fewer losses. For now, lets not get anymore fish and concentrate on getting some other necessities with whatever available there is. Sound ok?

Last edited by Cory_Di at 02-Mar-2005 10:26

I need filter and a lot more stuff. And it was a older tank and it was used about 2 years ago

Can you answer my question about the nitrogen cycle?

The best thing you can do is to save money towards a filter, a master test kit like this one further down for $14.99. The only thing that would need to be added eventually, is a kH test kit, which is another 5 bucks or so.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441776772&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030152&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1109807897857

This way, when you put fish into a brand new tank, you can watch the cycle take place. I'm going to take a chance and explain the nitrogen cycle clean and simple, just in case, so please don't get put out, if you already know about it. Just ignore.

The fish will pee and poo and the rotting food will creat ammonia, which is toxic to fish. A good bacteria grows that eats the ammonia and we want this. But that bacteria creates another toxin called nitrite. A second good bacteria grows that eats that. When both colonies of bacteria eat ammonia and nitrite as fast as it is made, the tester should read zero. But, during the new tank cycling, you can get really high numbers before the bacteria make their home in your tank. Ammonia and nitrite can kill. By having a test kit during the cycle, you can measure those two things to see if you need to do a partial water change to bring the numbers down. Or, you can add things like BioSpira, New and Improved Cycle, Fritz Zyme-7, Stress Zyme, among other good bacterial starters. You can also add things like Prime or Amquel Plus when you see the numbers up high and the fish are stressing.

Now, the when the second bacterial colony is eating the nitrites, it makes a third chemical called nitrate. Nitrates are ok to have in the tank below 40 ppm and 20ppm or lower is optimal. Your tester will tell you where you are at. When you get close to 20 ppm, then it is time to do a 20% water change or so, using same temp water. Some tanks can be done every other week, but if they are max stocked, you'll find that you need to do a 20% change every week to keep up. On my 20 gallon, I gravel vac out 4 gallons of water every week and on my 10 gallon, I do 2 gallons. This keeps my nitrates below 20.

It's good science.

When you look for a filter, try to get one that is at least 10x the number of gallons in gph (gallons per hour). 15x is even better. If I have a 10 gallon tank, then I want a filter capable of at least 100 gph, and preferrably 150 gph.

Money is best spent on things that will support the hobby, before the fish are even purchased. This way, when they come, you are all set.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 02-Mar-2005 21:53

Last edited by Cory_Di at 02-Mar-2005 21:54