[tayskeeper11]

On Jan. 1st I purchased a Twin Tail Half Moon male betta (Bryan) and a Crown Tail female (Cocoa) for my 3 yr. old daughter. Bryan was not aggressive at all. I kept a really close eye them to watch their behavior towards each other. Never showed aggression to each other so I know they were fighting. I made sure all my plants, gravel, and tank were washed properly. I also had my tank set up and filtering (under gravel filter) for 4 days before I even bought them. they were acclimated for 15minutes before being released into the tank. After the first few days I noticed Bryan was always at the top not really moving, wanted nothing to do with eating, and when he did move, moving very slowly. Well this morning I found him on the bottom dead. Well at the pectoral fin it looked like his heart was coming out of his chest per say. What could have happened so if I decide to get another one to replace it wont happen again.
The Twin Tail Half Moon male was the most gorgeous betta I had ever seen. Fins full and my daughters was white. She's very upset. Thank you in advanced!

 

[givemethatfish]

Well, a number of factors could be involved in why Bryan died, including being killed by Cocoa (you absolutely cannot keep two bettas together in one tank without a divider), the caretaking routine, or he was just plain sick from the store. My suspicion is he was killed by Cocoa and/or the stress of being kept in a tank with her.

Can you answer the questions in this post:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

 

[VivianKJean]

Agreed..... you can never keep to bettas together. Females are often more aggressive than males and can kill males.

 

[emptypockets]

As others have suggested, your female likely killed the male. When we first started with bettas, we got some bad advice from a box discount store that sells fish and put a boy and girl together in three gallon tank. They lasted about 15 minutes together before the female attacked. Luckily, we were right there to pull her out and return her to the store. The male CT lasted about a week after that, but eventually died.

Depending on where you bought the fish, it could've also been sick from the store or just too much stress with both bettas in the same tank. I'd strongly suggest not putting two bettas in the same tank again as the results will likely be the same.

 

[tayskeeper11]

they were never around each other. or had any contact or interaction.

 

[givemethatfish]

It sounded like from your initial post that they were in the same tank, as you mentioned them not being aggressive toward each other as well as writing "tank" instead of "tanks", so you see why we were confused.

If you can fill out the questionnaire in the sticky post I linked, maybe we can help you figure out what happened.

 

[tayskeeper11]

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 gallon
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? under gravel filter
Is your tank heated? no
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? another betta

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? color enhancing betta bits mini floating food pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? i didn't get a chance to before he died. but once a week. I did it today.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? none

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? n/a

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? it didn't
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? lethargic
When did you start noticing the symptoms?3 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? not thst I know of
How old is your fish (approximately)? I had him for a week

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

DX yup.
1gallon is too small for a single betta, in a tank that small the water should be changed 100% every other day! most people here say 2.5g is the minimum for a betta, others say 5g is the minimum
2 bettas should never be kept together. Females can Sometimes be kept in groups of 5 or more in large (15g or more) plants which have a ton of plants for cover, but never in any tank smaller or less jungley. Male bettas can never be kept with other betta.
From this I can tell you exactly what happened: you added two extremely agressive fish into a tank that was less than 1/2 the size needed for even one fish. The male was likely sick from the get-go. The male was docile and allowed the female to claim the entirety of the tank as her territory, but with no way to hide from her he was in constant stress (unable to eat and lethargic). Even if he wasn't sick from the getgo the stress and high levels of ammonia (from being in a tiny tank without water changes) would have made him sick. Bettas can and will die from stress.
In this case he did not die from stress, your female tore his heart out with her teeth. Double tails have more trouble swimming than normal betta, so he was weak, sick, and she just sunk her teeth in and killed him.
In the end it boils down to this: you can never keep two bettas in the same tank without a divider and hiding places, and you can never keep even a single betta in a one gallon tank. Sorry, but that's that.

 

[givemethatfish]

Okay so two questions: Are you conditioning the water (or do you have well water without chlorine added)? And were they in the same tank or not?

 

[Bikeridinguckgirl14]

Okay so two questions: Are you conditioning the water (or do you have well water without chlorine added)? And were they in the same tank or not?

What tank mates does your betta fish live with? another betta

They were living together

Regardless of whether or not she adds Dechlorinator she let it sit for a couple days, so chlorine would be mostly gone

 

[VivianKJean]

Actually nowadays, the chemicals they use do not evaporate out which is why it is even more important to use a water conditioner.