I just killed a fish...

[Mikper7]

My son's six month old betta, that is. I changed the water for him yesterday, filled his bowl with lukewarm water (probably 65 degrees or so). Then I fed him. My son said I gave him too much, but I thought nothing of it. Might I have given him too much? He's now lifeless and floating, awaiting his funeral. Also, some sediment got kicked up that was in the bottom of the bowl, from pebbles and want not.

[Luimeril]

how much did you feed him? did you float him before you put him in the water? did you add anything to the water?

[Mikper7]

Originally Posted by Luimeril

how much did you feed him? did you float him before you put him in the water? did you add anything to the water?

I fed him a decent amount (a teaspoonful maybe?), nothing too crazy, but I would say more than a dash. I did not float him, and I didn't treat the water or add anything to it.

[LittleBettaFish]

If he's living in a bowl (which I assume is unheated) he probably wasn't doing very well to begin with. 65 degrees fahrenheit is much too cold for a betta, they need something in the vicinity of 75-82 degrees to thrive.

Also, you need to treat any water going into the tank with a dechlorinator. Chlorine and chloramine are all found in domestic water supplies, and can kill or seriously harm your betta fish. I would suggest reading a few threads around here and taking the time to do some research before going out and purchasing another fish if that is your intention.

Forgot to add, in a bowl that is a gallon or less, you should be doing daily 100% water changes. Even if your water looks crystal clear, all the harmful things like ammonia and nitrite, are also invisible and so you can only tell through testing the water (I highly recommend purchasing the API liquid test kit) and observing your fish's general behaviour.

[Betta Slave]

Edit- LittleBettaFish beat me to it.

And a teaspoon is way too much. A pellet or three (or a few flakes) would be sufficient.

[SweetnSpicy]

Not acclimating correctly can lead to shock, which can kill your fish. Plus, if your water isn't the best, conditioning it would help a lot.

WHat size is the tank? Is it filtered? Heated?

[Abby]

Originally Posted by Betta Slave

Edit- LittleBettaFish beat me to it.

And a teaspoon is way too much. A pellet or three (or a few flakes) would be sufficient.

my lil dude only gets 4 pellets LOL

[Biomess]

Yeah, but it's not the food that did him in, unless of course you feed him that much every day since you've had him.
My guess is that it would be the low water temp which is a major shock if he was not acclimated to it before you dumped him in.
And it would most likely be the tap water, you must use a conditioner first before putting in the fish. I even add a couple of drops to bottled water just to be safe.

[dramaqueen]

A teaspoon of food? Holy mackerel!

[c4talys7]

Dang must have been a very fluffy Betta. But like mentioned above do research. I am finding things every day that I didn't know before and this fish that I thought would be simple to take care of (Like many people think) really isn't something you should brush off lightly. Betta are great fish and can only be that way given the right conditions. The little tiny cup that they hardly clean at Petco and stores of the like DO NOT do them justice. Poor things, I wanted to walk out with 4 off them but could only afford two.