# Betta Fish Gone Into Shock? Ever happen to you?



## Rynasaurus (Sep 4, 2010)

Okay, you can relax, RJ is still alive, but apparently came close to death yesterday.


So I went to wipe his tank down with these algae wiping-off wipes, and so the algae was coming off the tank walls and getting in the water, so I decided I'd get RJ into the cup he was bought in and fill it up with clean water while I clean his tank. So, (mind you, this isn't the first time I've done this -- this was just the first time it went wrong) I got my net and tried to get him out, but he kept hiding behind his plants, so I got my dad to get him out. We put him in the cup immediately, and RJ just sank to the bottom and turned over. I flipped out and my dad came upstairs and dumped him back into the tank. Then he took the net and was kind-of swishing RJ around "trying to give him oxygen" because he was just laying at the bottom, I don't remember if he was breathing. 

I quickly called Petsmart and they asked me:
"How cold was the water in the cup you put him in?"
"It was from the tap, I don't know."
"Did you put water conditioner in it?"
"No, because I thought he'd only be in there for a few minutes."
"He's probably gone into shock. If he passes away, that's why."

I was so scared, but RJ eventually was fine, I changed his filter, washed his biofilter a little and wiped off pretty much the whole tank with him in there. He's back to normal and acts like nothing ever happened, which is a good thing.

So my question is: Has this ever happened to you? And also, he did this before, but do your bettas like to lay on around their live plants? I swear RJ is like, obsessed with his haha. He'll lay there for a minute, then swim and lay there again unless he feels my movement in the room. "Food!" I'll bet he's thinking


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

That is scary! When I take my fish out for water changes I always just cup them in their tank water, that way I don't have to worry about temperature shock, conditioning tiny amounts of water, and the stress of suddenly being dropped in all new water. These sudden changes of water conditions can be very stressful and dangerous for fish. I'm glad he's ok!

Bettas can be a bit lazy and many of them definitely love to lie around on plants and decor. They often like to chill out on plants that are near the surface so they don't have to swim so far to get air. My silly male loves to rest on top of his thermometer. :lol:


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## karlhague (Aug 9, 2010)

LolaQuigs said:


> That is scary! When I take my fish out for water changes I always just cup them in their tank water, that way I don't have to worry about temperature shock, conditioning tiny amounts of water, and the stress of suddenly being dropped in all new water. These sudden changes of water conditions can be very stressful and dangerous for fish. I'm glad he's ok!
> 
> Bettas can be a bit lazy and many of them definitely love to lie around on plants and decor. They often like to chill out on plants that are near the surface so they don't have to swim so far to get air. My silly male loves to rest on top of his thermometer. :lol:



I never ever take my fish out of his tank when doing water changes..

If done correctly there is no need for extra stress caused by removing him.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I have had bad experiences with fish getting sucked into or almost sucked into the gravel vac. :-( So just to be safe, I always take fish out when I do water changes on the smaller tanks, where it can be hard to keep the fish away from the vac.


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## karlhague (Aug 9, 2010)

LolaQuigs said:


> I have had bad experiences with fish getting sucked into or almost sucked into the gravel vac. :-( So just to be safe, I always take fish out when I do water changes on the smaller tanks, where it can be hard to keep the fish away from the vac.



Ah Gravel Vac, Not something i doo often as my live plants use all the fish poo that drops to the bottem,


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## peachesxo (Jan 20, 2011)

Definatly shock...
He should ALWAYS be in conditioned water, next time keep the water you have removed in a bucket and run the tap to do the change, feeling the temp of both water (new and old) with your hand/ fingers, until it is the exact same temp!! I have never gone a degree off during water changes using this method, but some people just can't do it properly no matter how hard they try. Using the same hand helps, too.

You need to really pay close attention to the water temp when doing changes. If you don't have a thermometor for them (i don't) just maticulously feel out the temp of the new water vs. the old water until it is spot on. make sure you hands are CLEAN (using hot water, not soap) before doing this.

And yeah the bettas love laying/sleeping on live plants. if your leaves are an inch from the surface ish it is the best, and he'll sleep on it at night.
my betta sleeps on his anubias every night.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I like to fill up a bucket of water the day before water change day. I condition it and put in a small preset heater, and let it sit over night so the heater can adjust the temperature. The next day I perform the water change; because of the heater, the new water is never more than a few degrees different from the old water. This method works really well, but of course requires an extra heater.


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