My Betta is in shock

[Asia]

I posted something yesterday about pH and KH.

I did a full water change and GH, KH and pH were all normal. Yay! (I do partials often).

About an hour ago I checked on her and the temp in her water was 76. She was in shock.. She's used to 80 or 81. I raced to get water in her tank to get it back up there.

I can tell she's dying of shock. My fish never recover from temperature shock..This will be the third Betta that has died on me in 2 months.

I'm done. I've put over a thousand dollars into this hobby over 3 months. I enjoy it so much, but I can't deal with the sadness and grief anymore.

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Asia

[Brandy]

Can't help with the tech support, but I can help with the fish emergency.

Step one, check every item in the tank for possible KH source--be especially suspicious of rocks, coral or shells, hardscape/decor that is not wood, plastic, or live plants, etc. Remove suspicious items. You can test them using an acid solution. 

Step two, use distilled water, unless your tap water is already very soft/low pH. Replace 50%/day until you get a gradual reduction in pH. Once the pH starts to move, shift to 25% every other day--These numbers are completely arbitrary. You want to aim for a slow shift not a sudden shock. Hopefully it will take about a week. If you want to test before the first exchange, take half a cup of tank water, half a cup of distilled, mix together and test that. You want to get to 8, then 7.8, then 7.6, etc.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Brandy

[Brandy]

Clearly I answered the old question, sorry.

76 is not that extreme. Your fish should recover from the temperature shift, but the rapid shift in temp coupled with dramatic swings in pH might be too much. I am sorry you have been having a hard time, but I think the first thing with fish is to slow down a little. What you think is killing them and what is actually killing them may not be the same thing. It is a learning process. If you decide to continue we will be happy to help you get set up in a more stable way. 

[Asia]

Thank you so much! 

Something isn't right with me, whatever it is. I get into this frantic mode when anything is wrong with my fish. 

I've done everything I can do. Hey, have you heard of some type of oxygen thing that you can use on a fish that's not breathing well? I just read about it online. 

[lefty o]

relax, take a breath. we all get a little worked up when the fish start acting strange.

[Asia]

Thank you so much!

🙂

[Brandy]

Why don't you start by giving us the long version.

Give us a pic of the fish, of the set up, list of possible symptoms, your test results (exact parameters for temp, pH, ammonia, nitrite, GH/KH, etc) Some people just post a pic of the test strip or whatever. 

Most of the time, if we don't slow down, we run the risk of making things worse, because fish symptoms can look alike and they can't talk. It takes a little detective work and often what seems like an emergency is not as big of a deal as it might seem.

[Asia]

I'll do that in the morning, no problem.

[Wesley]

Full water change? Did you replace all the water in the tank? That seems a bit extreme and should, in my opinion, be avoided.

And I agree with Brandy, post a picture of your aquarium / setup so we can give you some pointers.

[Asia]

My Betta made it through last night and she is doing better today! Hopeful.