Please Help My Dudley.

[Ami]

If any of you are betta guys you'll see that I had a major emergency with my one and only betta tank - the heater somehow melted the plastic safety guard, despite only being at 26c. I'm very angry about that and will be complaining to the manufacturer - as soon as I'm sure it's not my fault. )

I only noticed something was wrong because my betta, Dudley, was sitting in a corner on the sand and not moving. I lifted the lid and he had a swim around, so I decided it would be best to do a water change just in case. I'd only just done a 50% water change the day before (the tank is 2.5g, heated and has a sponge filter so I only do 50% twice a week), but thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I use ammo-lock and wash the filter sponge in tank water.

So, I turned off the electric to the tank and started to slowly remove water, when I heard a hissing noise and from the heater and noticed the plastic was melted to it.

I had to do an emergency fish retraction from the tank, then clean the whole thing and put it back together. Couldn't wash the filter in the tank for obvious reasons and was worried about toxins from melted plastic, so chucked it out and am now using a replacement that's not been seeded. Have added cycle to help it along a bit. The stats are now NH3 0, N02 less than 0.1 and N03 less than 12.5mg/l.

Dudley's still sitting on the sand, although he occassionally gets up and has a little swim. I've never kept bettas before, but I read that although they can cope with worse water conditions than other fish might, that they're quite sensitive nonetheless.

I'm dreading coming in to check on him in the morning and finding him dead.

Is there anything else I can do to make sure he'll be okay or do I just need to wait and see?

Thanks for your help,
Ami

 

[karlp]

Hi Ami

Did you by any chance empty the water during the water change without turning the heater off ? The heater only maintains 24C if it is fully in contact with the water. If you expose the thermostat in the heater to air, it will just go full on and could cause the plastic to melt.

In any case it sounds like you've done all you can. Dudley should be fine if you just let him have a good nights sleep.

Since you've lost the filter, you'll need to do daily water tests and whenever the ammonia or nitrite levels rise, do a 50% water change. This will be more beneficial than using Ammonia lock, because it will alow the filter to cycle.

Also, try to feed Dudley a little less until the tank is cycled.

Hope it all works out.

Karl.

 

[Ami]

Hi Ami

Did you by any chance empty the water during the water change without turning the heater off ? The heater only maintains 24C if it is fully in contact with the water. If you expose the thermostat in the heater to air, it will just go full on and could cause the plastic to melt.

In any case it sounds like you've done all you can. Dudley should be fine if you just let him have a good nights sleep.

Since you've lost the filter, you'll need to do daily water tests and whenever the ammonia or nitrite levels rise, do a 50% water change. This will be more beneficial than using Ammonia lock, because it will alow the filter to cycle.

Also, try to feed Dudley a little less until the tank is cycled.

Hope it all works out.

Karl.

Thanks for replying Karl - I'm glad someone did!

I always turn the electrics off when I do water changes or any fiddling inside the tanks. I didn't let it sit for a few minutes though, which the instructions said I should have (read them afterwards - doh!), before removing any water. Supposed to do the same on the way back in too apparently. )

I barely feed him as it is - I've only had him for a fortnight and when I first got him I didn't have the heater. I had to wait almost 2 weeks for it to be delivered and now it's broken. Most expensive heater I've ever purchased!


I'll leave Dudley too it and see how he is first thing.

Thanks for your advice and assurances!

Ami


Edit: Just double-checked the adaptor that my plugs are in. It has switches so you can turn them off independantly and I'm pretty sure now that I actually turned off my clock as I just went to check the time, and it's at 4.20am! I knew it was my fault. )

 

[karlp]

I barely feed him as it is - I've only had him for a fortnight and when I first got him I didn't have the heater. I had to wait almost 2 weeks for it to be delivered and now it's broken. Most expensive heater I've ever purchased!

Actually I didn't reallise it's your only heater. Better get one back in there quickly and it's worth keeping one on hand as a spare in case anything goes wrong again.

In the mean time, if you've got an empty pop bottle, you can use it like a hot water bottle. Fill it with hot water and float it in the top. Just keep an eye on the temperature to keep it within the right range. Alternatively do partial water changes with slightly warmer water every few hours. Incidentally it hopefully goes without saying, never put hot water directly into the tank!

Good luck!