Darius Died

[Balthasar]

A few days ago Darius died. Now, I have never owned a fish before... but I shed a tear or two the day of. He had personality. He would always come close and check me out when I was near. He was my buddy. I'll not go on and on, but he was a character.

Well now lets lead up to this, and see what any of you may think. A few things out of the norm happened over time.

1: Alright, first off I fed him in the morning, 3 pellets. I noticed that his belly was very skinny, I know you guys say 3 pellets and they will over eat, but I figure he swam around a 10 gallon and the water was 78 degrees... figured he may need alittle more. Over a month ago I fed him 5. Later on that day, while I was sleeping, my sister was checking him out and asked if she could feed him. I was half asleep and said yes... turns out she fed him ~5 pellets... when I should have specified 1. If any. So that was 10 pellets in a day. He had a puffed up belly so the next day I fasted him. Anyway... weeks would pass and he still had a belly. I was going to get him a pea and peel it... I read here that it works as a laxative... but it slipped my mind.

2: Not long ago, I went to the petshop to buy a rock cleaning siphon thingy. I decided to buy a bottom feeder. I wanted to get one that didnt get big, so I got one that got to a max of 3". After speaking to an employee of course. I cannot remember the breed of the fish though.

3: At one petstore I noticed they fed their bottom feeders a slice of cucumber, So I bought one and sliced a chunk, tied it to a pebble, and placed it in the tank. The next day It was intact, but covered in a slimy film. Darius actually was swimming around it very curious... but the bottom feeder paid it absolutely no mind. I removed the cucumber.

Ok those are the 3 out of the norm circumstances. Other information is... I did change about 5 gallons a day after I introduced the new fish. A week or so later... a few days ago, I went to feed Darius, but he didnt eat. This is where I realy feel bad. I should have come here immediately. I figured something was definitely wrong... but took no measures. I have no excuse, I don't know what I was thinking. When a dog doesnt act normal, you just let him be unless it gets worse. Fish are different. If something is wrong... something is wrong. Anyway, I noticed just under his gills were kinda pail. I was looking at him with a magnifying glass to be certain. The next day... at the bottom of the tank dead. Is it normal for a beta to be at the bottom???

This is all I can recall right now. Any question or insight is appreciated.

Ok... crushing walls of text are over. Im frustrated. I feel I am to blame and I do not want this scenario to ever ever ever happen again. I will get another beta, just not yet.

I miss my Darius