[Sasami]

I would definitely get the water tested, that should always be the first step when a fish seems "off". Changing the gravel all at once might have messed with your beneficial bacteria colonies a bit, causing a slight ammonia spike. By now it might even be gone because of the plants but I'd test anyway.

What's the temperature in the tank?

Otherwise, yeah, he might just need to adjust.

 

[Sasami]

Hmm, has anything been sprayed in the house recently? Maybe a cleaner was used near the tank? Here's what I would do:

-Do a large water change on the main tank and get him back in asap. A quarantine tank isn't necessary when he's the only fish (it could have been used to quarantine new shrimp or something but I wouldn't put a fish in there) and it will only stress him out more. I'd also guess that the quarantine tank is smaller and possibly not heated which isn't good.

-Check the main tank carefully as at least some of the dead shrimp could have been molts. Molts tend to look just like dead shrimp.

-Buy a bag of activated carbon and run it in the filter. If you don't have one, consider getting a cheap HOB just for running it. Or at least drop it in the tank (after rinsing). If the tank was contaminated in some way, the carbon will absorb the chemical. Carbon works best when water flows through it but it'll still help a bit even sitting on the bottom.

-If there's any way to test the water sooner then Monday, do it and report back. Even if you can just grab cheap test strips somewhere.

-Don't return the plants right now, they may be your best hope for absorbing ammonia at the moment.

When you added the new gravel, how did you do it? Did you drain the whole tank? Do you normally do full water changes like that? I'm thinking that a lot of your denitrifying bacteria were killed. One way to help get a population going again is to add some gravel or filter media from a mature aquarium. Another is the product Tetra SafeStart, formally called BioSpira.

Do you have a light over the tank?

Unfortunately, sudden "crashes" like this are why I don't like bettas in tanks smaller than 5 gallons. There's not enough water volume to deal with ammonia spikes, contamination, sudden changes, etc.

I hope he pulls through, please keep me updated! And please get him back into the heated tank asap (but match temperature first by floating him or something).

Edit: Were the ghost shrimp "feeders"? Sometimes brackish species are sold as feeder shrimp and they're hard to tell apart. They won't survive very long in freshwater and it would explain the deaths. Cherry shrimp may be a better choice if you try shrimp again, they're freshwater and are hardier.

 

[Sasami]

I'm glad he's doing OK . As for glass tanks, none of my current 5-gallons are glass...they're all acrylic, which is very light and easy to lift. A 5-gallon wouldn't need full water changes, though, so you wouldn't be doing any lifting. See, bigger tanks can be cycled easily (I made a sticky a while back in this section) which means you'd only be doing partial water changes (scooping out some water and replacing it...maybe occasionally gravel vacuuming unless you get good plant growth).

Don't move him to a 1-gallon, either, just do a water change on the 3-gallon and move him there. If there was anything toxic in the 3-gallon, it's probably gone by now and if not, will be removed when you change the water. Don't bother changing the gravel, either, any beneficial bacteria in the old gravel are dead so just keep the new stuff .

I'm definitely thinking those shrimp were the brackish ones. They can survive in freshwater for a bit (like at the store) but not for long. Some can be acclimated to freshwater but it has to be done slowly. Look into cherry shrimp, there's no guessing with those. You can even get them on eBay, haha. That's where I got my first batch. They love live plants, especially those marimo balls you have.

Keep the plants and don't worry about rinsing them. Ammonia is easily removed by just changing the water in the tank. By now the plants probably absorbed it, anyway . So you should hopefully get a reading of 0 with your water tests. If not, we'll figure it out!

The water sample could be collected tonight, yeah, just store at room temperature. As for the shrimp, that kind of depends on your store's policy but I would put them in a bag and store them in the freezer.

That sucks about your local pet store, by the way . I get almost everything online but I know shipping to Canada is insane sometimes (and I ship stuff to Canada and some online prices are NOT justified!).

 

[Sasami]

How old is Lakitu? Is he eating? Yeah, definitely get him into the bigger tank so he has better water quality .

Definitely keep the java fern, they're easy to care for. Hornwort can be touchier, especially in warm temperatures. It's so cheap (or at least I hope it was, it's one of the cheapest plants here) that I'd probably try it to see what happens but if you return any plants, return that one. If you can find Anubias or Water Sprite, get one of those in exchange . Both are hardier. And water sprite can be left floating, which bettas love.

You want at least an ammonia and nitrite test. Get chemical tests, not test strips. If you get a kit, other good tests are nitrate, pH, and alkalinity (maybe in that order as far as usefulness with freshwater tanks). You don't need tests for things like Magnesium . Just the basics to check up on your nitrogen cycle and make sure nothing's wrong.

 

[Sasami]

As for why it hasn't happened with past upgrades, there are a few possibilities.

-Maybe last time you used old gravel.
-The shrimp dying caused an ammonia spike and there were no beneficial bacteria to break it down.
-He might just be older and more sensitive to ammonia.

 

[Sasami]

The metal shouldn't harm fish (although in my experience, hornwort prefers floating). I think it was probably the death of the shrimp.

It's great that the water tested OK. I have a feeling there was an ammonia spike but the plants soaked it up. That's the beauty of live plants.

Another betta? :lol: I hope you post pics soon .

Ah, yeah, the shrimp can be fragile. I've seen pet store employees injure them on many occasions.

It's good that he's eating something. He's kind of sounding like an older fish, though...do you know how old he is?

 

[Sasami]

Male veil tail bettas in the pet store are usually 6-8 months when they arrive, I believe. So he's getting older but isn't ancient or anything . I've had a few live to be 4 or 5.