He Didn't Make It :(

[danifacetastic]

I posted last night about my fish laying on his side and breathing real heavily and I put him in a cup and floated him at the top of the tank. Well this morning I went to check on him and he was dead :( I just don't understand what could have happened. Yesterday morning he was swimming around all happy like normal. When I came from work he was dying, and now he's dead.

[Sakura8]

I'm really really sorry, danifacetastic. :( I had hoped he was just maybe shocked by something and would pull through. My best advice now is to do a pretty big water change and keep an eye on everyone else. So sorry.

[danifacetastic]

I just did another big water change. I did one last night and the night before and I just did another although he wasn't in the water since last night. I put my bloated boy that was QT'D back into the tank. He's still bloated but it's gone down a lot and I stopped using epsom salt cause I read you're only supposed to for 10 days so if I keep up with water changes it should be okay right?

Also I got a new boy today. Just to be safe I cleaned out the QT tank and I have him set up in there for now. How long should I wait before putting him in the divided tank?

[Tikibirds]

I wait about a week and a half to two weeks before adding to tanks with other fish.

[danifacetastic]

Alright thanks! One more quick question so I don't have to make another thread. The new guy won't eat. I put the pellets in his tank and he can see them but just ignores them. Is this normal?

[Enbarr]

In my experience, it is due to the fact that he is either stressed or is not used to eating that kind of food. I first make sure that there is nothing to stress him out (i.e. cold water, other fish etc). Being that those are probably unlikely, it could be that he is just adjusting to his new home. Some bettas will eat right away, others might take a little time. If you are still worried about him, you could also buy different types of food. My bettas are used to eating tropical flakes, but they also enjoy blood worms (their favorite). Congrats on your new boy!

[danifacetastic]

Thank you! He made a huge bubble nest so I assume he's okay in his little tank and the water is heated fine so I'll try diff types of food.

[Sakura8]

Danifacetastic, for epsom salt, you can leave them in it as long as they need. For AQ salt, that's only 14 days maximum. I know, it's confusing with so many salts around. Congrats on your new boy and feel free to put your bloated boy back in epsom salt if he needs it.

[danifacetastic]

I guess if my bloated boy is still this bloated and isn't getting better in 2 weeks when I put the new boy in the tank I'll QT the bloated one again. I have enough tanks to QT both but I only have 2 heaters.

[Sakura8]

Heaters are the hard part all right. I know the feeling of not having enough heaters well. Hang in there, you're doing fine. :)