Lexi B Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 So, water just to preface, water parameters are not ... Stable. This is going to be a long explanation. Skip to the end for a tl;dr My fish tanks were crushed by a tree yesterday, and I was able to save a very small group of my fish. One of which is my Betta Danny, who I really thought wasn't going to make it. Danny spent at least 40 minutes out of water, and was barely alive all last night. He had been laying on his side for several hours breathing hard, and then earlier today I went to check on him and he jumped to life for a brief moment. For a few seconds, he swam normally, came up to the surface for air, and has been alternating between laying on his side and sitting upright. I don't want to get too hopeful, since I really don't know what to think, but he seems to have a lot of fight left in him. He's not very mobile. He reacts to some stimuli, but I don't want to bother him much because he is very weak. I don't know what I can do, if anything, to help him improve. My nitrogen cycle is dead, and I'm having to hard start it with dirty fish water from the lfs and lots of fritzyme, so water is not perfect. My survivors are in a five gallon bucket with a filter and heater, and I'm trying to get a tank cycled so my Bettas can be separated without use of boxes. Tl;Dr: my Betta was out of water for at least 40 minutes, seems to be slowly coming back from deaths door. What can I do for him given the situation? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) On 11/17/2021 at 3:26 AM, Lexi B said: So, water just to preface, water parameters are not ... Stable. This is going to be a long explanation. Skip to the end for a tl;dr My fish tanks were crushed by a tree yesterday, and I was able to save a very small group of my fish. One of which is my Betta Danny, who I really thought wasn't going to make it. Danny spent at least 40 minutes out of water, and was barely alive all last night. He had been laying on his side for several hours breathing hard, and then earlier today I went to check on him and he jumped to life for a brief moment. For a few seconds, he swam normally, came up to the surface for air, and has been alternating between laying on his side and sitting upright. I don't want to get too hopeful, since I really don't know what to think, but he seems to have a lot of fight left in him. He's not very mobile. He reacts to some stimuli, but I don't want to bother him much because he is very weak. I don't know what I can do, if anything, to help him improve. My nitrogen cycle is dead, and I'm having to hard start it with dirty fish water from the lfs and lots of fritzyme, so water is not perfect. My survivors are in a five gallon bucket with a filter and heater, and I'm trying to get a tank cycled so my Bettas can be separated without use of boxes. Tl;Dr: my Betta was out of water for at least 40 minutes, seems to be slowly coming back from deaths door. What can I do for him given the situation? Take the filter Media from crushed tank and put in new tank to jump start cycle I'd watch for any sores to arise or damage to your fish it's self sorry about the situation Edited November 17, 2021 by Casual aquatics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexi B Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 On 11/17/2021 at 1:02 AM, Casual aquatics said: Take the filter Media from crushed tank and put in new tank to jump start cycle I'd watch for any sores to arise or damage to your fish it's self sorry about the situation Yeah, I did. Unfortunately by the time I got to the filter everything was dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) Did you toss any gravel/sand too? That will have beneficials on it also. QT happens without BB at times. If I were in your shoes I'd probably make sure Danny was super warm (there's something about humidity and Bettas that people keep mentioning here since the club's Betta talk too but I'm not sure how that's accomplished since I'm not able to view the talk). I might even consider salt treatment and API Stress Coat (or similar). I'm rooting for you and your fish @Lexi B Edited November 17, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX to clarify Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexi B Posted November 17, 2021 Author Share Posted November 17, 2021 On 11/17/2021 at 10:58 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said: Did you toss any gravel/sand too? That will have beneficials on it also. QT happens without BB at times. If I were in your shoes I'd probably make sure Danny was super warm (there's something about humidity and Bettas that people keep mentioning here since the club's Betta talk too but I'm not sure how that's accomplished since I'm not able to view the talk). I might even consider salt treatment and API Stress Coat (or similar). I'm rooting for you and your fish @Lexi BBBBBtheBBBBBtheBBBBBtBBBBBtheBBBBBthe I wish I had. We were so frazzled at them time that all I could think to do was look for the survivors before the roof collapsed at all. I do have some good news though. After the some water testing it appears that the fritzyme may have helped kickstart a cycle. It's not perfect, but it's improvement. Danny himself has also perked up. He is now swimming, though it's a bit awkward. I was able to feed him a very small portion of frozen brine and he hasn't laid on his side in hours 🙂 I'll continue to do frequent water tests and changes as necessary and added catalpa leaves for anti bacterial tannins. I think the heat is really helping. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Fantastic! I really hope he pulls through for you, sounds like you could really use the win right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 Personally I wouldn't have tried to save the gravel because of the broken glass that could be lurking. Well done on getting this far and fingers crossed for your survivers looks like they are doing their best for you. Hope you and your family are coping ok with what is a horrid situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexi B Posted November 21, 2021 Author Share Posted November 21, 2021 On 11/20/2021 at 3:26 PM, Flumpweesel said: Personally I wouldn't have tried to save the gravel because of the broken glass that could be lurking. Well done on getting this far and fingers crossed for your survivers looks like they are doing their best for you. Hope you and your family are coping ok with what is a horrid situation. Yeah my thoughts exactly. I have some good news! The Betta appears to be good as new! (amazing how much has happened to him) I was able to snag a tank on sale and will update when it's finished cycling and ready for him. He's too feisty to be let out of the breeder box in the bucket unfortunately 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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