I am a first time betta owner and already feel like a horrible fish mommy. I have had my fish for about a year and a half. When I got him, he was rather active. Lately, he had seemed a bit lethargic and would either float on the top of his tank or lay on the bottom. Right before he died, his tail fin looked matted together (rather than being fanned out.)This morning, I found him nestled in his substrate at the bottom, pale and gills still. Upon further inspection, I could see what looked like a thin layer of clearish mucus at the tail (almost invisible, unless you're looking very closely for it.)
1. I had just put him in a new tank the day before he died-a Petco dual betta bowl with divider, but he was the only one in the tank- filled with betta water. The tank held 46 fl oz (1.36 L) of water.
2. He ate Top Fin brand color enhancing betta bits
3.There were no plants in the tank, and no filter or heater
4. I did not treat him with anything or put anything in his tank (besides new water) since I could not figure out a diagnosis
5.I just measured the water temperature, and it read about 72-73 degrees
Did I inadvertently kill my dear fish? What happened, and what course of action should have been taken? I just recieved a half-moon double tail male, and have not introduced him to the new tank yet, just in case. Any advice? I am upset the loss of my fish
I agree with the above diagnosis. The lower 70's are way cold for a betta. The cool temperature slowed down his immune system and made him susceptible to a parasite.
I just recieved a half-moon double tail male, and have not introduced him to the new tank yet, just in case. Any advice? I am upset the loss of my fish
If I were you I would thoroughly clean the tank before introducing your new fish. if your last fish died of fin rot or another disease then the last thing you want is your new fish to get it.
Also, I would get a heater for the tank, like the others said the temp of your tank was fairly cold for your betta and as these are tropical fish so they prefer warmer temps, if you were to put your betta in a tank of a constant 80 degrees I can assure you, you will see a difference in his colour, activity and overall happiness that is my opinion and others may disagree with it but I personally can't rest easy unless my fish have heaters and filters, even my snails and shrimp have heaters lol
Alright, I will make sure to do that for my (still unnamed) Halfmoon betta. Also the tip about the water temp, My original sources led me to believe that the low-mid 70's was an ideal temp. I am just surprised because this whole deal with the tail was a sudden thing.
:'-(
bettas that you get at pet stores are sometimes more than a year old. he may have died of old age. I'm sorry about your fish. i would be upset, too, if one of mine died.
i am a first time betta owner and already feel like a horrible fish mommy. I have had my fish for about a year and a half. When i got him, he was rather active. Lately, he had seemed a bit lethargic and would either float on the top of his tank or lay on the bottom. Right before he died, his tail fin looked matted together (rather than being fanned out.)this morning, i found him nestled in his substrate at the bottom, pale and gills still. Upon further inspection, i could see what looked like a thin layer of clearish mucus at the tail (almost invisible, unless you're looking very closely for it.)
1. I had just put him in a new tank the day before he died-a petco dual betta bowl with divider, but he was the only one in the tank- filled with betta water. The tank held 46 fl oz (1.36 l) of water.
2. He ate top fin brand color enhancing betta bits
3.there were no plants in the tank, and no filter or heater
4. I did not treat him with anything or put anything in his tank (besides new water) since i could not figure out a diagnosis
5.i just measured the water temperature, and it read about 72-73 degrees
did i inadvertently kill my dear fish? What happened, and what course of action should have been taken? I just recieved a half-moon double tail male, and have not introduced him to the new tank yet, just in case. Any advice? I am upset the loss of my fish
the only advice i can give u would be about medication.i am betta lover and i hate whan they die. Sorry for my grammar i came from russia . So i have 5 bettas and 7-9 people i know have 2-3 betta and about 5 got sick
one i treat 9 mo ago with fin and tail rot;another wiht columnaris;another one symptoms like u'r fish had;another we broght from store he did't eat or sweem for 4 days and medication helped him completely
if u want to know more details about medication please write me .i wish everyone know about that medication.the medication i know i found out from fish gay at lockal patstore
I think the problem is that the container you kept him in was horrifically tiny. 1.36 liters is .36 gallons--you kept him in something smaller than a half gallon? No wonder! A half gallon container must be changed 100% every day in order to stay clean. Fish constantly excrete ammonia through their gills--kind of like the fish version of urine. In a closed system, this ammonia builds up extremely quickly, so even though the water looks clean, it's actually a horrible death soup for your fish.
In addition to the fact that the fish had to live in its own waste, when animals are confined in this way they develop neurotic behaviors like glass surfing and tail biting, and become obese from lack of exercise. Also, the container is way too small to be safely heated. Even if the water were pristinely clean all the time, this container is still completely unacceptable.
Please don't ever put another living thing in that container. If you want to get another fish, you should get a container that is at least two gallons. Most heaters are designed for tanks that are two gallons or larger, so this is the absolute minimum size for your fish to remain healthy. However, bigger is better. Larger tanks will be less maintenance for you, believe it or not.
I highly recommend the Marineland Eclipse tank kits, the three gallon, five gallon, and six gallon ones make excellent betta homes, and come with a good fluorescent light and filter. You will need to add a 25watt adjustable heater. There are cheaper similar aquariums, but they usually come with a crappy incandescent bulb, and are not as well designed.
You should also switch to using regular tap water with a dechlorinating product, like Prime. The bottle betta water is overpriced and may lack valuable minerals that are lost when water is overpurified/distilled.
I'm very sorry if I sound harsh, but the way pet stores market and sell these tiny tanks infuriates me. They trick people into believing they are doing the right thing for their fish, when they're actually unknowingly torturing them. These small tanks are cheaply made and don't take up much space in the store, so they actually make more profit from selling tons of these than they do on bigger tanks that have a higher cost, but a much lower profit margin.
I am very sorry you lost your fish, but hopefully through this experience you have learned that most products that have a big picture of a betta on them are marketing pitfalls--hopefully you can give another betta a better life.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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RIP Fish :( Help on what happened, please?
I have had my fish for about a year and a half. When I got him, he was rather active. Lately, he had seemed a bit lethargic and would either float on the top of his tank or lay on the bottom. Right before he died, his tail fin looked matted together (rather than being fanned out.)This morning, I found him nestled in his substrate at the bottom, pale and gills still. Upon further inspection, I could see what looked like a thin layer of clearish mucus at the tail (almost invisible, unless you're looking very closely for it.)
