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Hm. I've got one of those stands for my 60 gallon that has room underneath for 2 10 gallon tanks. And I had 2(both divided in half) with a betta on each side. Well. In one of them BOTH guys died this week I dunno why. My test kit shows 0 ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. Ooor at least this after I bought a second one(the first fish died last weekend, the second Tuesday, I couldn't find the kit so I went out and got another last night and had done a 5 gal. water change a few hours after the second guy died.) The other tank has still had the 2 guys in it and is reading the same and is on the same lighting/feeding/maintenance schedule. So I really don't get it. . . But I've got a fancy finned boy who I'd like to have more room for and was wondering if I could put him in the tank or if there's likely something in there that killed the other guys? The one was pretty old and was getting raggedy and not so interested in food for a few days before he went(not diseased, just old. I'd had him for a few years) and the other guy seemed fine until a couple days after the other one died(I was thinking ammonia, but unless in that time with just the 5 gal. water change and my plants it sucked out the ammonia?)

If I put my other guy in there am I likely to lose him too, or should he be okay?

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

What concerns me is that you have 0 Nitrates. In a cycled tank you should have some kind of Nitrate Reading. If I were you I would try cycling the tank and watch the tests for a few days because I think you bacteria has died off. That could explain the loss of both fish.

Nice Dragon btw. I'm trying to get my first egg now.....

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My Tanks at Photobucket

What is the temperature of the tank? I know that many betta keepers don't use heaters in their tanks. And my concern is that your tanks are closer to the floor than most (being on the bottom of the stand). And if this is on a concrete floor, then even more concern is felt. Heat rises, and in most all rooms, at our upper levels we are comfortable, but down on the floor it can be a couple to several degrees colder than the upper levels of the room.

Another concern is that both guys died from injury cause to each other. Even with a divider, they could have pounded themselves against the divider trying to attack one another. No injuries may be noticable, as it could have been just stress injuries to each other.

And it could have also been something else in the water, such as disease or parasite.

Also, how new was the tank at the time of this? As newly set up tanks, can have other problems as well. If new as in same day, this could very well have been the cause.

In any way, just be on the more cautious side, I would definitely take the tank down, clean it thouroughly with bleach, rinse it well, and set it up again waiting for a few days to a week before adding any addition fish.

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There is always a bigger fish...

When did you buy the second (not old) fish? Was he quarantined?

Whenever you share water with bettas, disease is my first thought. They are fairly heavily inbred and badly treated in transit in comparison to other common aquarium fish. Their immune systems take one big beating before they reach your tank. All it takes is for one dodgy fish to be carrying something and you wipe out your whole system.

Myself, I'd sterilise the 10 gal before you add a fancy finned fellow. They are usually treated better, but the fancier they are, the more babied they are and the less chance they get to be exposed to things and build an immunity. They are also generally more inbred to get the better traits/colours/tails and those tails are just asking for minor grazes and infections.

The 50% change and the plants could have done it, but (depending on the timeline) I wouldn't be risking it myself.


Do you share nets/syphons/food with the 2nd 10g? How are they looking? And of those new in the last month?


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Last time I used my net was when I tore down my 60 gallon tank to move everything around. Tank had been set up with other bettas in it when we moved here(7-8 months ago?) and they died BECAUSE of the move and then I planted it and ended up getting the others. The other guy was qt'd before he was put in.

How should I clean that tank with bleach though? It's got flurorite substrate and plants and thats really all of the decor(I'm not going to use the divider anymore since I want the fancier finned guy to have a bigger tank)

Btw, my other tank next to it doesn't have any ammonia/nitrate in it either, though it has fish living in it currently. I just assumed it was the plants "fault" I had no nitrate. Both tanks are well planted, and I almost never change the water out. Seriously I think it's been about 4 months since I have. And I know the test kit works because right after I tested both of those it picked up 10 ppm nitrate in my 29.

Food is shared and given at the same time and the siphon is used for all of the tanks(though I'm looking for a bigger one for my 60) The other guys look fine. So does the 29 with community fish. So does my oscar/the guppies the spoiled brat refuses to eat(lol, the fry from my community tank that the local stores wouldn't take. They're all fully grown and he's 4.5" long and he ignores them unless they go near his food and then all he does is shoo them away ) so I dunno. . .

[url=http://dragcave.ath.cx/viewdragon/bNFR][/url]

Yes, it would not be recommended to use bleach with that substrate. But you can remove the plants, do a salt water dip on them, and soak the substrate in salt water as well. This will kill most paracites and bacteria living in the tank.

As for the nitrate thing, I did not think being at 0 was a problem. After all, you only had 2 small fish in the 10gal tank anyway. And the bioload would be considered to be extremely low, especially with the plants in there.

You might try to treat the tank before placing other fish into it. Treat it for paracites and for bacterial infections. Then after the treatment, just do a few large water changes, then try adding fish back to it. It will take a couple weeks to complete the treatments, and cost some money for the medications, but its something I have done myself in situations like yours, where it is not on option to dissenfect/bleach the tank and its decor.

When you can bleach it all out though, you just use a 10% bleach to water solution in the tank, leave it set for a couple hours, then rinse very well and fill with water. Use some de-clor and let stand for a day or two, then empty rinse and fill again. Then start the cycle process and you are ready.

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There is always a bigger fish...