This is a double memorial as I couldn't write Leland's memorial at the time he died.
Leland- He was a big eater. Sometimes he would eat until his belly was round. The inconvenience of having a beta in a community tank. Well one day he didn't feel like eating. I knew then that something was wrong. His belly didn't go down and his scales raised up. I knew dropsy was hard to treat, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I put him in a holding container in a separate heated tank with beta cups full of espom/tannin water to be heated. I changed his water twice a day and vacuumed the bottom with a glass turkey baster each time. He was at the top mostly and didn't move much. The scales never went down. Eating wasn't going to happen as something else happened. His digestive tract had literally prolapsed. :( So I made sure to keep clean water in hope maybe it was go back in. It got worse and he wasn't coming up to the top anymore. So I decided to euthanize him to save him any more suffering. I was too upset to post about it. He died on 1/31/12
Walter- He died on his own early this morning. Last night he was struggling to breathe for some reason. I was assuming heart trouble because he looked healthy with clear scales and fins. The day before, he was eating and doing his crazy little dance. So I was really puzzled and sad to loose him so suddenly. I put him in a cup during the night, so he could reach air. I wish I had knew what was happening, but it could have been defective genes. I'm not sure. I hope he and Lee died peacefully. 2/24/12
Sorry guys, I wish I could have saved you.
They are both preserved in little jars <3 Thanks for reading :)