Can my Betta fish die from shock?

Question

I have a betta (siamese fighting fish), and he is my baby. I clean out his tank about every week and when I do, I put him in a plastic container with his dirty water. I just got done cleaning his tank, and then I used a large spoon to transfer him to the tank. I do the cleaning in my bathroom and when I was putting him in his tank, he fell into my bathroom sink drain, I got him out and put him back in his tank and now he is swimming around. He is natural, so he is white except when he is excited. He has a pinkish tint now, so I know he is excited. Is there any chance he could die from shock?

Answer 1

no. But when you clean the tank you should not take him out. It will stress him a lot. Yuo should also change only 25% of the water weekly, never100% or it will start over the cycling proccess!

Answer 2

It's definitely possible.  The biggest danger would be in placing him suddently in new, untreated water with quite a different water temp.  

My female had jumped out of her container one night and was out for several hours.  I figure that because she was pretty dry.  I placed her back in the water, and she's still doing great.  This happened several months ago.

When placing him back in the tank, you should put him in a small plastic bag with some of his old water, and then do the acclimation procedure.  Don't pour the bag water in the tank though, just use your spoon method for that.

Oh yeah,  depending on the tank size only do 25-30% water change 1-2 times a week.  The smaller the tank, the more often it needs changed/cleaned.

Answer 3

The one thing that concerns me is this.  Are you using aged water when you are changing the water over the sink?  Always use the same water when you are changing.  ie. don't use aged tap water 90% of the time and think you are doing your fish a favor by putting him in distilled water without properly acclimating him.  Keep a gallon jug (distilled water dumped out or drank by you) filled with the normal fish water you use, aged 24 to 48 hours at all times.  Pore a splash into the fish container to get the c**p moving and dump all but the fish out and refill with the clean aged water.    

Answer 4

yes, there is a chance, but it would be from stress, not shock. but he most likely wont. betta fish have kind of like a lung on top of their heads that allow them to breathe for a cpl minutes out of water. some bettas stress easily, some dont, just like people. i know that has happened a cpl times to me too while changing my betta's water and they are still alive. theyve even jumped out the bowls and i didnt realize it by the time they were dry, but i put them back in and still survived. i would just put a little extra water conditioner in there like stress coat.

Answer 5

no he wil get over it soon. one time i accidently put my fish in ice cold water because i forgot to let it comet o room temp and he survived

Answer 6

One thing i do know about beta fish (I have 2 of them) is that those things are durable.....Seriously, i've heard stories of people actually trying to kill them and weren't able to. So i dont think you'll have too many problems, these guys are tough.

Answer 7

P.Dinh is short, sweet, and to the point with his response!  I add a ditto to that response!

Just watch him for a couple of days.

Answer 8

Shock can lead to stress and stress leaves your betta more vulnerable to disease