We had a Betta fish since Christmas and he passed away yesterday. I am not telling our son, he really wouldn't understand and will tell him that fishy went bye bye. My question is we would like to get a new fish and I don't know what I need to do to clean the tank, same tank, and I don't want the new fish to get sick. So how should I clean it and with what?
*edit* I don't know how the fish died, it really hadn't been eating much in the last 2 weeks, our apartment was extreamly cold yesterday. Do I soak the rocks as well and the (fake) plant? It is just a regular small tank, no hoses or anything, plastic.
Thank you all for the advice. We cleaned the tank with vinagar, and washed it out really good. We also got a new fish last weekend, another betta, female this time and named her Sami. She is so much more active than our last fish. :0)
Betta fish only need to be in a very small bowl and they are happy. Maybe down sizing to just small bowl. Cleaning would be easier. The rocks just need to be washed with soapy water like you do the bowl. Let the water clean water get back to room temp. before putting the Betta back in the bowl. That is how I clean the bowl.
Best of luck
one little dab of dish soap, just to get the "scum" off the bowl....rinse well.
If your apartment was cold this may be the reason the fish died. However, my home has temps that fluctuate so I have 2 nice sized goldfish that I have had for 2 yrs., that live in a fish tank without a heater but I do have a filter to keep the water clean. My grandson takes care ofaquariums so I consulted him and he said to take half of the water out, leave the rest in because fish need a certain amount of bacteria in the water and if you take it all out it will create a problem and the new fish may die. So, you can get some goldfish which will withstand the cold water and things should be okay. Have the child go with you and pick out the new fish, give them names and it should help him forget about the Betta. I bought my goldfish at Wal-Mart 2 yrs. ago and they're still alive. Don't overfeed them. let me know your results. GOOD LUCK!
Hi, our last one, George made it from birthday #2 to #3. He died while on vacation and our friend was stopping by to feed him. Our daughter was told that he went to fishy heaven. If someone asked her what happened to her fish she would point up to the sky and say, "he went up there". Just a few weeks before her last bday we got another fish. Since it was the night of the oscars, we named him Oscar. He is the neatest fish. He swims to the front of the bowl when you walk up. This time I just got a bowl a little bigger than the small betta bowl. I found a hand blown crystal bowl for 1.99 from the Goodwill. I went and got rocks and fake plant. I was told that you need to clean them once a week and that they are happy in a bowl. We feed him once per day and no more. Just three of the little beta food bites each day. One of my friends had two bettas for several years - she actually had these really cool small bowls that hang from the wall - like sconses. Each betta has to have there own bowl - but what ever she did, she did it right because each one lived for so long. All she did was clean them every week and feed them every day. We use super hot water and a small amount of dish soap and rinse thouroughly.
Bettas are the best pets - not like goldfish - they are much more difficult to keep alive.
I would be very careful using bleach in your tank. If you do use no more than a capful!!! The safest way to do it is to use Vinegar. Clean and scrub it with Vinegar and then let it sit over night with about 1/2 a cup of vinegar in it and the rest water.....rinse well the next day and then let it air dry. You can use Vinegar on your other things as well....tubes, filter as well as filter sponges e.t.c....Good luck.
