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BETTA TANK EMERGENCY!?
So I am a student in college and I have a small semi-planted 5 gallon hex tank that has a beta and two ghost shrimp in it. Last night my roommate had some friends over and long story short one of them decided to pour beer into my fish tank. I wasnt there at the time and just found out about it this morning. Im not sure how much beer was poured into the tank (by the looks and smell of it a lot) but what do I do?
My two shrimp didnt make it but my beta is still alive. I instantly took him out, put him in a jar, and have been doing small water changed ever 20 minutes or so trying to get him clean water. I did about a 50% water change but my tank is still very cloudy and smells. What should I do? Are the plants okay? Is it okay to put the beta back in even if the water is a little cloudy?
4 Answers
- Anonymous7 years ago
100% wate change.
Yes I know it's drastic, and you should only do it in an emergency, but this qualifies as that. Part water changes wont fix the problem as there is still a % of the contaminant in there, until you eventually get 99.5% of the water changed anyway. So just bite the bullet and change it all in the beginning.
Luckily beer is water soluable, so you can just rinse the tank, gravel and filter etc with fresh de-chlorinated water and it should be OK
Clean water is about the only useful thing you can do for the fish right now. Then hope he makes it.
Ian
- 7 years ago
Robert already covered everything. i just want to say your roommate's friend is an idiot and should be kicked in the !@#$. anyway yes 100% water change and rinse it out too. don't scrub, don't use soap. if the bio balls were half submerged, that might be enough. but you should test the water after couple days, and do 25% water changes 2-3 times per week til it gets back to normal. the plants will most likely live.
- Anonymous7 years ago
I would say to get a new fish tank or disinfect for the tank to kill the left over beer residue
Source(s): I had alot of fish funerals - ?Lv 77 years ago
The alcohol is the only problem.Inverts are very sensiitve as it gets right into their body cavities. Exposure to bit of barley, malt and hops wont kill your Betta or plants and long as it's removed before it makes him comatose.
Note: It takes at least 10% alcohol to euthanize a sick fish (1 part Vodka to 4 parts water).. It very unlikely that your tank received their much from some beer.
You are basically doing the right thing. your Betta was drunk and probably a bit nauseated and and should recover. If it were my tank I'd change all the water, rinse and wash the gravel and plants and add part of small bottle of Bio Spira to recharge your filter. Many of the nitrfying bacteria that keep your cycle going were probably killed by the alcohol. If you don't have a filter and do water changes only, change all the water and add conditioned water and put the Betta back. QNA.es discusses a similar situation and recommends a100% water change.
I'm not sure if you have a filter from your question, but once a tank reaches 5 gallons, it should have a small filter and not rely solely on water changes to keep your water chemistry good.
Source(s): Robert Price, Phd ,Ichthyology, Brooklyn Aquarium Society Board Member. Bettafish.com. Help! Fish TanK- Questions and answers.es Euthanizing a Termainally Ill fish.
