I give up

[rollntider]

how do you introduce the bettas to the tanks? they might be overwhelmed with decent-good water conditions

I float those little cups in the water for about 45 minutes about every 10 minutes in that time i add a little of my tank water after the 45 minutes I dip them out

How long after loosing the first did you buy your second one and from loosing your second to getting your 3rd

From Feb to early may to this past weekend.

1. water is dechlorinated and clean.
2. temperature is where it needs to be.
3. betta has ample space.
4. betta is well fed.

Check always use decholrinated water stress coact is my friend, i let it get to room temp before adding to the 5.5 in my sig, 10 % changed in all of my tanks weekly (tonight is my water night) only one has made it to a water change though.
heater set on 76~78
5.5 gallon only shares it with pygmie corys
fed every day about 4 pellets of betta bio gold (hikari)

 

[Inchworm]

Hi rollntider

I'm sorry to learn about all the trouble you seem to be having with your bettas. They are such lovely fish to keep with corys, too.

IMHO, I think that most bettas are more of less sickly when they are purchased from a lfs, unless those bettas have been freely swimming in their tanks for a period of time. Of course, with this kind of thought, all of the most attractive bettas in a shipment will have been sold before you get a healthy one.

What I think happens is that they become infected with the Columnaris bacteria during shipping. Even the best lfs often gets their delivery of bettas packaged in tiny little individual packets. These have barely enough water to cover the fish and the rest is air. This makes for a light shipment which is important to them to keep the costs down.

So, by the time the fish arrives at the lfs, they have been under extreme stress and their immune systems have been compromised, leaving them susceptible to this bacteria. From this, they may show symptoms of finrot, "fungus," or just a general shabby look. On the other hand they could be infected and still appear fine. Then the lfs unpacks them and puts them into different water. I doubt if many of them are slowly acclimated to the local water like the fish that come in larger bags do. This is another shock to their systems. Then, when a customer buys them they are moved into still another environment, and by that time they are sick. Symptomatic or not, they often seem to die within the first few days of purchase. I see this all too often on the forum.

Many bettas go to their new homes and live in tanks of their own that can easily be given good and frequent water changes which will sometimes be enough to get the fish through their difficulties with no other treatment. IMHO, even if a betta is destined to live in a community tank it's a good idea to isolate them for a period of observation and/or medication both for their own good and for the good of the other occupants of your tank.

BettaMax is a good product to use at this time to heal them and rebuild their immune systems. (Unfortunately, it seems to be disappearing as Aquatronics products are being sold out of many lfs.) MelaFix might work well at this time, and I'm sure there are other products as well. A temperature of no more than 75 degrees F. and good oxygenation will also aid healing. A good nutritious diet is also a must.

Personally, I think a lot of getting a good, strong and healthy betta at an lfs is just dependent on luck!

 

[rollntider]

Inch you are the best, I have been thinking i am a crack head or something and stressing about it. Do you think on the next one i get let them stay in the cup for a few days before i acclimate them? like maybe make the process go for 2 to 3 days?

 

[rollntider]

thanks to everyone who responded i appreciatte your help. I will give it a shot next week at another betta.

 

[rollntider]

Just an update for everyone, my new betta I bought earlier this week lived longer the the others that passed on me and she was very active this morning. THe only thing I did different was that i acclimated her over 5 hours by floating her cup for about an hour and then adding a teapsoon of the tank water about every 15 or so minutes to make the ph close and then I put her in and she has been great.

 

[schzaam]

dont give up your going through bad luck patch at the time

 

[tekknocolor]

His little white baby betta is adorable. When he brought her in to work she was even active in her stupid little too-cramped cup! Wish you guys could see the cute white crown tail he got today!

 

[BeccaBlain]

It sounds like you might have a winner this time

My Betta is new, possibly come with a slight case of velvet, so I'm making it a habit to treat the tank the fish will be in regardless of whether it appears sick or not. From my experience with other breeds of fish, this helps promote their life spans since they are introduced and treated with a: Stress relieving medicine b: fungus medicine c: ich/velvet medicine and their ph/nitrate/etc levels are watched.

I have never lost a fish to doing this, and they've been healthier for it. Kinda like vaccinating little baby humans. if theres any sign of the problem, the vaccine can help kick it, and if there isn't, then no harm done.

I like killing the problems before they are a problem. Once the tanks treated, then its really easy to maintain and promote good health in the fish after.

Becca

 

[rollntider]

thanks everyone

 

[SConrad]

hows that new girl doin?

 

[jacblades]

rollntider-i am from birmingham too and every betta i have bought from pet supermarket (the vestavia one) has died from fungus. my friend who keeps bettas also has had deaths of bettas from pet supermarket due to fungus. they have bad betta stock. i would say petsmart has good betta stock and they seem to keep the water clean. they use methylene blue too. also dont buy bettas from petco or superpetz. when you get a new betta, treat it with bettamax. they have it at petco and aquarium imports (but since petco is evil, get it from aquarium imports-i think it might actually be cheaper there too)

also make sure the water is conditioned (you probably know that though-but i have to make sure) i use amquel and novaqua.