unlucky :-(

[amberroonie]

I bought my son and i each a betta a couple weeks ago and put them each in a 1 gallon tank (i treated the water using Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban & Bowl Buddies Water Conditioner For Bettas And Goldfish) & my son's fish died within a few days. We bought him a new one and put it in the 1 gallon tank (after thoroughly cleaning it). I then did a yahoo search and found this site which said to go for a bigger tank, so i bought a 3 gallon for him (which was all i could find the room for in his bedroom) & a 10 gallon for my bedroom. I set both tanks up, added the water treatments (TetraAqua Aqua Safe & Tetra Easy Balance with Nitraban) and let them both filter for a bit then added the fish. My betta is doing fantastic. His betta died
Both of his bettas seemed a bit sluggish when we first bought them, but i figure that might be because they had been stuck at Wal-Mart for who knows how long in those sad little cups. I figured they'd perk up after a while. Both of the fish who died would lay on the rocks alot and then swim up to the surface for a second then dive back down to the bottom. They were slightly active. They swam through the pants and whatnot, but for the most part they just seemed sluggish.
Could they just have already been on their last limb when i bought them? I just think it's odd that they died and mine is still living but i treated their tanks and fed them all the same. ??? help?

[Arashi Takamine]

I'm sorry about your son's betta's. Did they look like someone sprinkled them with salt? Or did either of them seemed to have their scales stand up straight like a pinecone?

[Abby]

are the tanks heated? bettas need 76-86 temps
when buying fish i tend to look for VERY alert and active, most members steer clear of walmart, try a fish shop.

[amberroonie]

They looked healthy but they weren't very active and alert. I checked them to make sure nothing was growing on them or to see if they were injured in some way, but they looked perfectly fine. They didn't have heaters Maybe that's what killed them. Poor guys. That makes me feel awful that the lack of a heat source may have killed them. The one i picked out must just be resilient. The 10 gallon i transfered him into today does have a dual light in the lid that is supposed to produce heat, so hopefully this tank will be sufficient for a long lifespan.

[Abby]

Ok feeding, how much and what food?

[amberroonie]

i have flakes, they said for tetras and bettas? i don't remember what theyre called exactly. the bettas were eating them fine, the last one that died actually ate really well. i fed them a tiny pinch twice a day. i'm going to go tomorrow and buy the little betta balls (i know i'm bad with the terminology, my apologies) and maybe some dried bloodworms? i read to spice up their diet a couple times a week.

[Abby]

pellets lol. i feed two - three pellets each evening some people feed two 2-3 times a day. blood worms ive read are better as a treat or snack, i feed pellets, vegie flake, tropical flake and frozen brineshrimp.

[amberroonie]

so if i stick to flakes and pellets that will be okay?

[Abby]

no a variety is good, if you want to feed blood worms or brineshrip they do like it, i found my fish would probably prefer live Brine shrimp so they can chase them though.