Starting again

[tierneynel]

I sadly lost my betta earlier this month. He had been struggling with severe fin rot which was improving and his behaviour was back to normal and we had good regrowth. I went on holiday for 5 days and had a family member to come in and care for him, sadly one of our shrimps passed and had gone unnoticed which lead to him becoming very poorly again.

This leads me to my next question, I’ve left the empty tank running but (if I’m being honest) have nothing kept up with water quality since it’s empty. I will be buying another betta but will also be purchasing a tanks worth of water from the aquatics store. I’m just wondering whether I would still need to cycle this water and whether or not I should replace the old filter as I don’t want to risk infecting the new betta.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[itiwhetu]

You have had a shrimp and the Betta die in this tank, I would strip it down and start again.

 

[Colin_T]

Wash the tank out and start again. You can keep the gravel and filter, just give it all a good clean.

Any half decent pet shop should not charge you for some tank water, especially if it's only a small amount and your getting a fish at the same time. If it's reverse osmosis water that is clean and hasn't been in a tank, that is different, but if it's from an aquarium with fish in, it should be free.

You don't cycle the water, but the filter might need to be cycled. However, you can do a fish in cycle if you have some live plants in the tank. And you can add some liquid filter bacteria to help speed things up.

 

[TheFishMan2021]

Oh that stinks man.....I had a similar experience once and it's very discouraging, but I'm sure you'll bounce back and have a great tank...good luck!!!

 

[tierneynel]

Oh that stinks man.....I had a similar experience once and it's very discouraging, but I'm sure you'll bounce back and have a great tank...good luck!!!

Thank you for your kind response - I’m always worried about posting as I find some people on here quite judgemental. A lot of people are telling me to get ‘more resilient’ fish and give up but my berra’s personality couldn’t be best so I’m taking some time out and excited to start again, I just want to get it right.

I just had such a series of bad luck as looking back I think my betta had fin rot when I got him but as a somewhat beginner I didn’t notice until late stages but I’ve learnt SOOOO much I can’t wait to keep going!

 

[tierneynel]

Wash the tank out and start again. You can keep the gravel and filter, just give it all a good clean.

Any half decent pet shop should not charge you for some tank water, especially if it's only a small amount and your getting a fish at the same time. If it's reverse osmosis water that is clean and hasn't been in a tank, that is different, but if it's from an aquarium with fish in, it should be free.

You don't cycle the water, but the filter might need to be cycled. However, you can do a fish in cycle if you have some live plants in the tank. And you can add some liquid filter bacteria to help speed things up.

Thank you for the advice! I don’t think they charge much for the water but I don’t mind either way as Id like to make the transition as seamless as possible for my future betta. I will definitely clean it all well and would never keep a betta without live plants! I’ll look into the liquid bacteria, thanks you

 

[tierneynel]

You have had a shrimp and the Betta die in this tank, I would strip it down and start again.

Understood, I just wasn’t sure as I kept a close eye on water parameters etc. just wished I had spotted the shrimp sooner

 

[itiwhetu]

Understood, I just wasn’t sure as I kept a close eye on water parameters etc. just wished I had spotted the shrimp sooner

This sort of thing happens to all of us from time to time, the best thing to do is just bite the bullet and move on. It has nothing to do with you, these things just happen