Cross Contamination

nerdyguy83

nerdyguy83

AC Members
May 11, 2006
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Erie, PA, US
Third post on this subject. My betta suddenly got very ill in a tank where the only major change had been an older plastic ornament that I added after dipping in it boiling water for a minute or two. I had put my otocinclus in the tank with him the night before just to try out the pair, and they seemed to get along well. When my betta was hiding this morning I figured maybe the oto was bothering him, so I put him back in my community tank. I transferred him over in a little cup (he is spunky and thrashes quite a bit in a net). Thinking that there was nothing actually wrong with the smaller tank, I dumped the whole cup into the 10 gallon tank. The betta is now dead, and my best guess is heavy metal toxicity from the ornament (don't know how that is possible, but it struck too fast to be a disease and my levels are all normal). The oto never seemed affected which is another reason why I thought everything was normal (I added the ornament the same time that I added the oto, so he was in the tank with it for the same amount of time).

My question is if it is heavy metals, will adding a cup of water contaminated with it affect a 10 gallon?
 
I did a 80% change. I hope that does it. The oto is showing the same symptoms as the betta before he died. Can anyone name anything other than heavy metal toxicity or ammonia/nirtrite poisoning that could kill a fish in about 24 hours without any visible markings on the fish (i.e. ich spots, etc.)?
 
Was there any copper in the ornament by any chance? If there was, water changes will not remove it and it can kill that fast. Copper poisoning often resembles that of high nitrites and ammonia.

If you suspect copper, get the fish out of the tank ASAP and throw the tank and all the stuff in it away -- including the filter. Seriously. THere is no way to remove copper.

Roan
 
The ornament was in the smaller betta tank, not the 10 gallon community. I was just worried that the water that I transferred before I knew there was a problem would harm the fish in the 10 gallon. The offending ornament is now in the garbage. It was a plastic ornament with no metal as far as I know, so I'm not sure what about it killed the betta, but judging by how much he loved it at first and how much he avoided it the next morning, I am guessing that it was the culprit.
 
If you suspect heavy metals, you could give your aquarium an extra dose of Prime. It binds heavy metals.
 
Almost 24 hours after potential cross contamination, and everyone is doing fine. The oto still has a limp dorsal fin, but he is looking marginally better. Since heavy metals doesn't really make any sense, I am wondering if boiling the plastic ornament released something toxic from it. It was a pretty cheap ornament.
 
About the oto, I'm not so sure that a limp dorsal fin is a sign of illness or stress as much as just a characteristic of the species. Just a hypothesis, if otos come from faster moving streams, keeping the dorsal fin compressed might help from being carried away. Most pictures I've seen show otherwise healthy otocinclus with their dorsal fins compressed. Mine generally keep them flat unless swimming, they seem to be doing fine.
-Rob
 
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