few questions about dead fish and cycling?
okay, so we live in an old house. really old. and it's not too well maintained, either. so our furnace broke and I left my tank, albeit with heater, alone while we scampered off to my aunt's to get away from our freezing house.
Now, I stocked this tank before I knew a single thing about fish, though I know full well now how much I screwed up with this setup. I also (regrettably) have a betta in a bowl, and that will come in later.
So I came back after a few days on water change day, and I merrily began changing the murky water, thinking that the filter must have come unplugged while I was gone.
until I saw my multiple dead fish, well rotted after a few days of cold too fierce to combat with the tank's heater.
after my initial shock, I scooped the live ones out, dumped out all the water, dead fish, and substrate (needed because the fish had rotted into it quite badly((quite a task))), and scrubbed the decorations well with hot water. I put the live ones back in the now clean tank, note I used no soap, filled it up with clean water, conditioned it, and set the filter on again.....until I realized, thinking of filters, did I just crash the cycle??
so I'm still quite new at this and have no test strips or anything like that...and I'm not sure if I have crashed it or not. Have I?
I expect the molly and the rose(?) tetra to die, as the molly appears to have severe swim bladder issues, practically irreversible, and I don't think they can survive the cycle well anyway, and the tetra seems to be a bit lethargic, with labored breathing.
Now, if these die like I expect, I will be left with only two (so sorry) zebra danios in a five gallon tank. One bullies the other badly, and I have few hiding spots. Is the bullied one better off dead if alone with his aggressor? and is the aggressor better off dead if he has no one to agress?
and if they all are killed off, how can I make the tank betta safe? is it already?
tl;dr: dead rotting fish. got them out, got substrate dumped, scrubbed the decor. did I crash the cycle?
if I did, and the fish die like I expect them to, and I'm left with two danios, or even if they all live, what do I do with them?
and after all this, is the tank even safe for fish, and if not, how can I make it safe for a betta?
additional details:
the furnace is fixed, no more trouble
the betta is taken care of in his bowl, stressed but with twice daily changed water and plenty of cover. his fins aren't even frayed or clamped.
I might think of more, ask if you have questions.....
thank you!!