You might not be doing anything wrong. Sometimes fish just are sick, especially from chain stores.

Make sure your info is right:

Bettas need 76(low)-78(ideal)-82' water, constant!
Needs high protien food, at least 40%. Pellets max 4 a day, dont feed all at once.
Acclimation requires: Taking the fish into a cup with the old water, setting it aside, getting rid of the old water/siphoning, etc. Replace water, condition it, and wait for it to get to a comfortable temp. Bob fish in the water in cup for 5 minutes, after 5 add a tsp-tbsp of new water, keep doing 3 more times, do not bob for less than 15 minutes. Once finished, do not allow too much or any of the old water back in the tank.
Bettas do not do well in anything under 1 gallon. Your betta should have at least 2 gallons to live comfortably.
(What size tank do you have?)
Anything under .5 gallons needs either a 50% change(minimum) or a 100% change each day. A 100% every other is pushing it.
One gallons needs either a 50% change one day, 100% the next (minimum) or a 100 each day.
2 gallon to 2.5 gallon needs a 50% every other with a 100% sometime at minimum.
And so on.

I hope things work out for the new guy.

 

pewpew i did all that. i never got to change barry's water since he died before i could even do more with him

i ditched the filter after lulu died and when i attempted to use with with barry and i realize that he didnt like it.

so currently i have :
*2 gallon tank
*water is 78degrees
*i have pellets to feed them along with dried worms for a treat but i haven't tried to feed jax yet since i want him to settle down before i feed him
* only thing in the tank now is the heater, thermometer, a plastic plant and gravel.
*the ph strips report that the water is safe

jax seems happy but so did barry.

 

It makes us feel terrible and responsible when we lose fish like that - in spite of doing everything right. I lost two bettas as well before Brooke, and I've had her now for two and a half months. Sometimes you just have to keep tryng, like you have - and not give up.

Lots of good luck with Jax. I hope you figure out what the issues were with the fish you lost, but very likely, they were sick to begin with...

 

Have you checked all of your other levels, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites? They will test your water for free at Petco and Petsmart.

Just knowing the pH isn't going to give you the whole picture. I know I had two ob peacocks die (all other fish were fine) before I found out that my ammonia was through the roof.

 

i have a test that checks all of those and the water is in the safe levels. i misspoke when i called them ph strips because they check 5 different things.

after i got barry out of the tank, i check the water using the strips and it was fine.

 

do you have test strips, or the liquid kind? i had ammonia strips, when i was having issues with my 10 gallon. the strips were saying the ammonia was just a little high, yet our fish kept dieing. when we took a water sample to the pet store, we found out our ammonia was LITERALLY, off the charts! it was so high, the test couldn't read it! if you have the strips, trash them and get at least the ammonia liquid test.

 

^True dat~

 

Scandali,

I had the exact same experience -- lost a betta on the second day and his replacement in hours...

I finally figured out my tank wasn't properly cycled. I thought it was, but... So I started over and cycled my tank again. My third betta is doing good in his 3rd week.

I'd suggest get liquid tests and confirm your tank is cycled. If not, start over ..

Good luck!

GB

 

You can buy Seachem Stability to help with cycling.

 

ok just a thought because ive nearly done this...check your surrounding invironment where you set up the tank where it is placed where you rinse the plants etc. I noticed thankfully before it was to late that while i was rinsing my plants and tank in the bathroom I sat them beside the sink to dry and NEVER thought about the automatic spray air freshener in my bathroom!! well lucky me I came back in the bathroom RIGHT AS it sprayed and realived that the mist was falling into and on all my newly washed stuff!! I would suggest if your next fish dies ( heaven forbid !!) break the tank down and boil your plants/hiding places even your gravel!! rinse the tank with HOT water you can even use white vinegar or bleach to clean the tank ( bleach one part per ten !!!!) and then RINSE RINSE RINSE RINSE until you cant smell a trace of anything inside the tank hopefully your new guy will be ok I had a tank once that was ( cursed ) and we ended up tossing it and starting from scratch GOOD LUCK!

 

Totally agree with YoshesMom but one person told me boiling gravel isn't reccomended because it could explode, especially glass marbles.

 

luimeril-i have the strips, not liquid. i will look into getting a liquid test today.

what would cause the ammonia levels to be high in clean water that has been conditioned?

yoshesmom-that is a great idea and i did think of that when i got lulu. the area i clean the fish tank and supplies in doesn't have anything that could contaminate the supplies. i also broke down the tank after each death by washing everything in hot water thoroughly and repeatedly before i put the next fish in the tank. i didn't use vinegar or bleach though and maybe it was a mistake not to. i figured extremely hot water could do the trick.

when barry died-i tossed the gravel and brought a new bag and took additional time to rewash everything and let the tank sit before i began setting it up again.

i feel really bad about this. with lulu i made a lot of mistakes out of ignorance but i tried to make it right. barry's demise caught me off caught 100% because he was fine one day and dead the next. i did everything by the book with him. i have jax and he seems happy and healthy but i am highly nervous about the whole situation.

i will reread the threads on cycling to ensure that i do that correctly and will keep a close eye on jax. i know he is probably sick of me bothering him and isn't use to me or my household yet.

 

what is your water source?well water can be bad.

if this one dies I would not get another right away

 

if something happens to this one i will not be getting another at all. this is too stressful and depressing

my water source isn't well water. i run the water from the tap and let it sit for 2-3days and then add water conditioner to the tank when i fill it up. in barry's case i brought betta water from the store and he still didn't make it.

bettas forever-i didn't run the gravel under boiling water. i used warm water, but with jax i brought new gravel altogether since 2 fish already died with the old gravel. i ran the new gravel under cold water as the directions instructed.

i check on him today and he seems ok.

 

You could try using bottled water. ( I know not ideal) But..It may help rule out if it is something in your tap water source.They may be adding something to your water that is safe for human consumption...but..it may be bad for fish?
Or, maybe the tank was made with silicone that is not aquarium safe...I recently bought an acrylic tank used...Turns out something in that tank almost killed 2 of my fish! The first one had a seizure and bit his back fin off...I put him in QT. figured something toxic must have fell into the tank..or maybe he was just a spazz I really wasn't sure..? Put another fish in that tank after cleaning it thoroughly about a month later...and that fish too had seizures and almost died! so..It may be the tank itself.
You could also try another tank..

 

i was using bottled water only for lulu.

barry had mostly betta water and a small percentage of aged tap water since i ran out of the betta water and that didn't help

jax is in aged tap water. friday night and all day saturday jax was very playful and was doing was having a blast in his tank. well today he is just hanging in the corner. if i bug him enough he will leave, do a few laps around the tank and then go back his his corner. i'm not sure if this is good or bad. i will try to feed him tonight and see if he wants to eat.

maybe the tank is the problem . i got it from petco http://www.petco.com/product/113933/PETCO-Hex-Freshwater-Aquarium.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch but i am not sure what type of plastic it is made of. maybe i will move jax out of the tank tonight and see if he improves. the only problem is the only tank i have now is a half gallon tank and i can't use the heater in there.

 

Scandalicious i also using aged water but a little differently. I put the drops and then let it sit for about 24 hrs.

 

Have you gotten all your fish from the same source? If it's a chain store, maybe they are all sick and not cared for properly. You could always try getting one from a breeder, although I know that comes with a whole new set of risks. I hope this all works out for you! Also, I did not know it was ill advised to boil substrate. I just recommended it to another member for cleaning sand, as I have done it in the past. Good to know!

 

yes all the bettas came from petco. i could look into a breeder and maybe that is the better idea. who knows, but that is something to consider

 

so lets just say something is wrong with jax. if he's still hiding in the corner in the evening, what should i do? move him to another tank and monitor him?

 

It can't be tank. I am afraid that if other betta had bacterial infection and u just washed the tank with hot water the bacteria still can be present in the tank. Usually tank need to be disinfected. I asked the doctor i am working with he told me that. And i think if his behaviour change like u say ,,he was playful and active '' he might get that bacterial infection? Because i think if he will hang in the corner and not as playful is before u need to monitor him i think it a change. If he would continue to do that like Barry did i would treat him. Barry get lethargic and died. I think if fish would be treated it a chance to survive. Barry died withing 2 days. I think if jax behaviour really change u need to treat him. It look like the same happened to Barry.

If u don't want to use medications u can start 1tsp/gall of aquarium salt with 100% water change every day.That i think OFL recommendation.

Aquarium salt have antibacterial/antifungal effect.

Or if u want to use medications , there is antibacterial medications which treats bacterial positive and bacteria negative.

I still think u don't do anything wrong and it not because of the water. I think he might have some infection,especially if his behaviour changed.

 

unfortunately jax died today...so my journey with betta fish is on a indefinite hiatus. thanks to everyone on this site that helped me and encouraged me throughout this frustrating and disappointing ordeal.

i did learn a lot of betta fish through the process, unfortunately the knowledge i gained wasn't enough to save any of the fish. thanks again guys!

 

I am sorry about jax.:-(

 

I'm so sorry.

 

Don't lose hope, Scandalicious. You sound like a very responsible, caring, conscientious fish owner!

Also, I would suggest conditioning the water, then aging it as opposed to using the conditioner directly into the tank.

 

thanks everyone! pekemom, i did try that trick too