DON'T USE SEA GLASS IN FISH TANKS!!

[Aziara]

I learned this the hard way. I bought a new betta yesterday, and I thought that sea glass would be ok for the bottom of his tank since the edges were dulled. When I checked on him before bed last night, I couldn't find him in the tank. I eventually found him--wedged under a big piece of glass. I freed him and removed all the glass from the tank, but I think the damage was done. He didn't make it through the night. I hadn't even had him long enough to think of a name yet.

[ShyMer]

That's horrible! I'm sorry you lost your new friend.

[Lucinda]

Poor fishy. :cry: I'm sorry to hear this.

[Mermaid Galene]

I'm so sorry for this traumatic loss, Aziara. Even very advanced aquarists lose fish to unforeseeable mistakes; it's one of the hardest things about fishkeeping. I've had 6-7 tanks and about 30 fish over the years, and I still make mistakes, so don't feel bad! The important thing is to learn from our mistakes. Thank you for posting this so others can avoid the mistake you made.

[BayouMermaid]

Thank you for sharing. This is something I have never thought of before, though it makes sense because the sea glass chunks tend to be very large (verses like marbles or something). I will pass this info on to customers. Sorry for your loss. I know how sad it is to lose a fish.

[Mardoll_Star]

I'm so sorry about your fish. It's always hard to lose an animal in your care.

[Coradion]

Sea glass shouldn't be a problem if it's rounded unless you picked it up from the beach and didn't wash it properly. A fish will only be stuck under something like that if a piece was loose and fell on top of them. Like Galene I have had lots of tanks, like in the hundreds and literally hundreds of thousands of fishes. Your fish may have also been dying and sought an area to hide under cause it was in pain/sick. The first thing you should do anytime a fish dies or looks sick is check your water quality. The majority of the time a water quality issue is to blame, freak accidents do happen but are very rare compared to husbandry mistakes. Like did you use enough dechlor what kind of source water do you have? Well or city? It can make very real differences.

[Aziara]

I used city water, but I used water conditioner and let it sit out for a week. He may have been sick as well, I did notice a bit of white fuzz alone his back when I removed him from the tank

[Mermaid Galene]

Ah. Yes, he could have had parasites or fungus.

[BayouMermaid]

I know that the seaglass chunks that we sell at my store are rather large. Theoretically, having only sea glass in the tank would cause large spaces between the chunks which a fish could get lodged in. Same goes for large rocks.

[Coradion]

I know that the seaglass chunks that we sell at my store are rather large. Theoretically, having only sea glass in the tank would cause large spaces between the chunks which a fish could get lodged in. Same goes for large rocks.


While this is possible and I've seen some fishes get stuck in weirder things, if they're under a rock it's usually cause they chose to go in and they can usually get back out.

[Coradion]

I used city water, but I used water conditioner and let it sit out for a week. He may have been sick as well, I did notice a bit of white fuzz alone his back when I removed him from the tank

If your water sits too long in an unfiltered tank you're probably growing bacteria and opening it up to pathogens. While fishes like b. splendens can do well in bowl they do much better in a filtered and planted tank. If you're keeping them in a bowl make sure you have a live plant or two in there. Plants cycle and remove some of the harmful nutrients before they accumulate.