New female being eaten and one in heaven

[Tikibirds]

Things to have on hand:

PLAIN EPSOM - for internal things like constipation, internal parasites
AQUARIUM SALT - Fin rot and canhelp the gills somehow
FURAN 2, TRIPLE SULFA OR KANNAPLEX- one of these antibiotics. There are others but these I am familiar with. You may need to order online. I usually use Furan 2 as I can find it locally and its cheaper then Triple Sulfa at my lps.

It may also help to have a gallon jug on hand, to premix the salts since the normal dosage given on here is 1 teaspoon per gallon.

[callistra]

I'm sorry you lost her :(

To disinfect with bleach fill a 10 percent solution (ratio of 10 parts to one part) all the way to the top of the tank and soak 10-15minutes.

Rinse extremely well until there is zero bleach smell left. Then I would fill with regular water and super dose dechlorinator and let that sit. Finally rinse that crazy well and then let sit out dry at least 24 hours before reusing.

[Roemgie]

Originally Posted by callistra

I'm sorry you lost her :(

To disinfect with bleach fill a 10 percent solution (ratio of 10 parts to one part) all the way to the top of the tank and soak 10-15minutes.

Rinse extremely well until there is zero bleach smell left. Then I would fill with regular water and super dose dechlorinator and let that sit. Finally rinse that crazy well and then let sit out dry at least 24 hours before reusing.

Yeah I wish I could have actually saved her but when I saw her this morning, the gray had moved some and so I assume she just let go.

I ended up just throwing everything away, I was going to keep the tank but the garbage people had already gone through our dorm hallway and it was gone so I figured buying a plain 5 gallon tank isn't that expensive and the heater wasn't the best quality. It was only all the silk plants that I was upset to throw away :/ but I would rather her enjoy the plants than to have left her feeling exposed.

Also now that I don't have the five I may be able to bring the 10 with me :) but I wouldn't adopt more females until this summer when I have more time to focus on them and making sure they're quarantined and so on. I MAY adopt a girl on Monday but I need to do a huge water change on my tank and see what happens before (I have a 2.5 that I would keep her in). But we'll see, and although I'm drawn to any animal that is in need I may try to find a girl who isn't full on sick but also isn't the pretties either. Because I've always taken on the sick bettas and so far I've lost almost every one of them. So I would love to have a betta actually live a good while :)

P.S. I promise I try my hardest to make them happy but 3 passed away because I wasn't careful enough with quarantine, my almost blind boy jumped, lived, and then I panicked and I over did it and I think that's what killed him. I had one with a tumor and my last one (who lived in a bowl and had maybe once a month water changes??) managed to jump out even when I made sure that the top of his tank was secure. BUT I have great successes with the bettas I've adopted out :) both are alive and healthy and my boy at home is very much alive!

[Sakura8]

Please don't be hard on yourself, Roemgie. Keeping fish is an ongoing learning process and no matter what we do, sometimes fish die of illness or accidents. I like to think I take excellent care of my fish but still, I have had two girls jump out and die from what I thought was an adequately covered tank. Sadly, it happens and even more sadly, with fish, sometimes the only and best way to learn is from the deaths of our pets. :(

[AyalaCookiejar]

A lot of those sick bettas require some type of treatment... I've read up on a lot of diseases and if I see a sick one in a store I now can almost immediately tell what it is and know how to treat it. Unfortunately, even some of the healthy looking ones pass away shortly after being brought home.

I've noticed that usually, they all look pretty sad, especially if you go to a store that sells them in cups. I consider pretty much all of them rescues because I would be rescuing them from tiny, cold, dirty cups. They all normally look sad and a little dull.

[Roemgie]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Please don't be hard on yourself, Roemgie. Keeping fish is an ongoing learning process and no matter what we do, sometimes fish die of illness or accidents. I like to think I take excellent care of my fish but still, I have had two girls jump out and die from what I thought was an adequately covered tank. Sadly, it happens and even more sadly, with fish, sometimes the only and best way to learn is from the deaths of our pets. :(

I know I just hate that I can be so clueless sometimes (and other people as well). But I do know that as long as I have a nice clean good sized tank I should continue to at least take in the ones who need homes because stopping on means that there's a betta out there that will lose his/her chance of going home with someone.

I have to admit with Yogi, I didn't have a top and being almost completely blind I didn't think he would have the courage to jump but of course I was ignorant. And even more so when I thought I should change him from clean tank to clean tank until I realized I had done to much and should have just let him recover :( BUT I do learn from my mistakes and I finally have a cycled tank (although I am defiantly still needing lots of help with it) and plan on adopting very soon :)

I really do appreciate you taking the time and helping me with everything! It's very nice to know there are people out there who care just as much about these little guys :) and cat people are always awesome! And you are very right, live and learn seems to be how I have gotten bettas healthier and healthier :) (My friend's betta thrived in my care so that defiantly made me very happy!)

[Roemgie]

Originally Posted by AyalaCookiejar

A lot of those sick bettas require some type of treatment... I've read up on a lot of diseases and if I see a sick one in a store I now can almost immediately tell what it is and know how to treat it. Unfortunately, even some of the healthy looking ones pass away shortly after being brought home.

I've noticed that usually, they all look pretty sad, especially if you go to a store that sells them in cups. I consider pretty much all of them rescues because I would be rescuing them from tiny, cold, dirty cups. They all normally look sad and a little dull.

I have to admit on the serious diseases I'm not as knowledgable but I also am a beta hands on learner so unless I deal with them myself I usually cannot tell. But I did see my first ever dropsy case at petco but there was no one in the fish department available so I never showed anyone. But Yogi had serious pop eye and it never actually went down but I get him swimming correctly and he was a very sweet boy :)

And yeah I have to admit even the healthiest looking ones are very depressed looking so it is hard for me to just pick one. Which is why I want to start a sorority tank so that I can rescue several at once instead of just one (although i won't be able to start that until this summer). And I have to admit, I already know how (if I ever did) to steal bettas from the walmart here. Fortunately they don't sell females but some boys are just so horrible and I don't want to pay for them so I've already got a game plan if I ever really needed to. But I doubt I would.

And sorry for talking so much! I just love talking about all my boys and experience and usually people are just like 'They're just fish?'