Ok. I my 1st betta fish, Luke, was a crown tail that i owned for about a month till he died (due to constipation, otherwise he was as fit a a fiddle)
So i bought myself a new one, Skywalker.
My mom didn't know i'd just bought a new fish that day and got me a new one too , a veil tail named Hansolo, and i had him for a week before mom went off and bought my baby bro a veil tail, Starsceen, and me a female , Princess Lea.
(please note i did not want her to buy me more fish. i was only planning to have one betta...)
So to my problem. I'm very new to owning bettas and currently have 3 fish i look after (though star screen is my bro's , he's too little to care for it on his own)
My 4th one, Skywalker, just died recently for no apparent reason. He'd been very active and healthy for the month i had him. I changed 50% of his water every week with 100% every month. and he lived in a .5 gal tank with a little rock formation to hide in and he seemed healthy. Then, over night, he grew 'depressed' acting and wouldn't eat or move much. he just hid in the tank all day and died within a week.
Now my only living male , Hansolo, has been acting just like Skywalker did before he died. Perfectly happy up till a week ago and suddenly grew 'depressed'. He's in .5 gal of water same water changing schedule but i haven't done 100% change this month cause i'm worried i'd stress him more. he nibbled at food then won't touch it and hide. he either floats at the top, or lays on the bottom and will remain still for hours. I'm very worried he's about to die and i don't understand why this is happening.
today i notice my female, Lea, and my baby bro's male, Star screen, started to grow very inactive. Starscreen refused to eat and though lea will eat, she hides a bit more. Normally she's a very active fishy.
****PLease remember i'm not a fish hoarder. my mother bought most of them even when i told her to stop. i only have 3 fish right now (including my brother's) and they are all wallmart bout fish. ****
Because Hansolo is the worst off anf they all seem to be following his example, i'll just answer the following about him
Housing
What size is your tank? .5 gal (only thing i could get at the time)
What temperature is your tank? no idea. not regulated but it's been in the 90s outside around here and our house stays about 74F
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? pellet and freeze dried blood worms about once a week. only one per fish when i do give them a worm
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets daily. once or twice a month 1 pellet and 1 freeze dried blood worm
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 50% weekly, 100% monthly (minus this month's 100% because i'm worried of stressing him out more)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? answer is above...
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? a little tablet i got from walmart, says it regulates the levels or the water up to 5 gals or water and to ad one per water changing. I add about a 3rd of a tablet when i do 50% changings.
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
N/A
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he's always had a bit grey tint to him.. his (and the other's) bellies might be a tad greyer? and today a couple tiny tips of his tail curled up and fell off!!!
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? yes, 'depressed' won't eat but can swim fine when he chooses to (which is not very much at all)
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about a week ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? i added a little bit of Mella Fix 1st aid today after seeing the bits of tail fall off. (I used the same stuff on star screen to save him from fin rot when we first got him about 3 weeks ago)
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no idea. walmart bought
How old is your fish (approximately)? no idea walmart bought
___________________________________________________
I read a few articles and since winter is coming, i got a 5 gal tank and just split it into 3 sections. (so each fish will get about 1.7 gals instead of 0.5 gal) and it came with a filter, light, and i bought a heater for it. i just got doen gluging in the sections of fiberglass like material (small holes drilled in for circulation) with waterproof glueing and plan on trying to move all three living fish into them tomorrow. (after the water heats up to the right level)
i did all this because i read they can go into shocka nd survival shut down to try and stay warm. it hasn't gotten cold here yet but i don't want to take chances. especially with them already getting worse.
i plan on putting the heater on one side and the filet on the other in hopes the filter, sucking in water , would draw the heated water throughout the whole tank. would that work?
thank you so much for reading the HUGE article and for the help.
So i bought myself a new one, Skywalker.
My mom didn't know i'd just bought a new fish that day and got me a new one too , a veil tail named Hansolo, and i had him for a week before mom went off and bought my baby bro a veil tail, Starsceen, and me a female , Princess Lea.
(please note i did not want her to buy me more fish. i was only planning to have one betta...)
So to my problem. I'm very new to owning bettas and currently have 3 fish i look after (though star screen is my bro's , he's too little to care for it on his own)
My 4th one, Skywalker, just died recently for no apparent reason. He'd been very active and healthy for the month i had him. I changed 50% of his water every week with 100% every month. and he lived in a .5 gal tank with a little rock formation to hide in and he seemed healthy. Then, over night, he grew 'depressed' acting and wouldn't eat or move much. he just hid in the tank all day and died within a week.
Now my only living male , Hansolo, has been acting just like Skywalker did before he died. Perfectly happy up till a week ago and suddenly grew 'depressed'. He's in .5 gal of water same water changing schedule but i haven't done 100% change this month cause i'm worried i'd stress him more. he nibbled at food then won't touch it and hide. he either floats at the top, or lays on the bottom and will remain still for hours. I'm very worried he's about to die and i don't understand why this is happening.
today i notice my female, Lea, and my baby bro's male, Star screen, started to grow very inactive. Starscreen refused to eat and though lea will eat, she hides a bit more. Normally she's a very active fishy.
****PLease remember i'm not a fish hoarder. my mother bought most of them even when i told her to stop. i only have 3 fish right now (including my brother's) and they are all wallmart bout fish. ****
Because Hansolo is the worst off anf they all seem to be following his example, i'll just answer the following about him
Housing
What size is your tank? .5 gal (only thing i could get at the time)
What temperature is your tank? no idea. not regulated but it's been in the 90s outside around here and our house stays about 74F
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none
Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? pellet and freeze dried blood worms about once a week. only one per fish when i do give them a worm
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets daily. once or twice a month 1 pellet and 1 freeze dried blood worm
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? 50% weekly, 100% monthly (minus this month's 100% because i'm worried of stressing him out more)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? answer is above...
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? a little tablet i got from walmart, says it regulates the levels or the water up to 5 gals or water and to ad one per water changing. I add about a 3rd of a tablet when i do 50% changings.
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
N/A
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he's always had a bit grey tint to him.. his (and the other's) bellies might be a tad greyer? and today a couple tiny tips of his tail curled up and fell off!!!
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? yes, 'depressed' won't eat but can swim fine when he chooses to (which is not very much at all)
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about a week ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? i added a little bit of Mella Fix 1st aid today after seeing the bits of tail fall off. (I used the same stuff on star screen to save him from fin rot when we first got him about 3 weeks ago)
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no idea. walmart bought
How old is your fish (approximately)? no idea walmart bought
___________________________________________________
I read a few articles and since winter is coming, i got a 5 gal tank and just split it into 3 sections. (so each fish will get about 1.7 gals instead of 0.5 gal) and it came with a filter, light, and i bought a heater for it. i just got doen gluging in the sections of fiberglass like material (small holes drilled in for circulation) with waterproof glueing and plan on trying to move all three living fish into them tomorrow. (after the water heats up to the right level)
i did all this because i read they can go into shocka nd survival shut down to try and stay warm. it hasn't gotten cold here yet but i don't want to take chances. especially with them already getting worse.
i plan on putting the heater on one side and the filet on the other in hopes the filter, sucking in water , would draw the heated water throughout the whole tank. would that work?
thank you so much for reading the HUGE article and for the help.