r/Aquariums • u/Main_Initial_7118 • Jan 25 '24

Parents cleaned my tanks without asking :/ Betta

Came home today to this. First pic is what they put the fish in for god knows how long, last pic is my tank before they cleaned it. They told me it was bc my room looked “messy”. They are old so I don’t blame them…. But damn…

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u/Butterflyelle Jan 25 '24

Yeah OP this is right- sounds crazy but once you've got the tank set back up wash the filter media out in the main body of the tank- it'll help re-seed it (because a lot of the beneficial bacteria would have been in the gravel :( ) but they'll still be enough stuck to the sponge for it to re-seed the filter.

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u/natehinxman Jan 25 '24

unless it's soaking in chlorinated tap water that's conditioned to kill bacteria

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u/Butterflyelle Jan 25 '24

Ehhh yeah that won't help, hadn't thought about the fact it's probably untreated tap water- they'll still be some bacteria in it though. It's more resilient than people give it credit for

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u/acekoolus Jan 25 '24

If you are lucky it is untreated tap water. It could be bleach water.