I Have Absolutely No Luck With Bettas!

[tangokitty]

I'm sorry about your bettas. Have you gotten them all from the same place? Maybe you need to bleach out the tank and get new gravel and start over with bettas from a different source. Sounds like you have a good set up for them though.

 

[Amunet]

Yeah I've been getting them all from Petsmart.
I don't think it's b/c of them though. Has to be something I'm doing, or maybe not doing (whatever that may be) on my part that keeps causing them all to get sick.

I suspect that w/ this, 1 fish got sick and it spread to the others. That's the only thing I can think of and it makes sense.

 

[sunpirate2u]

oh i know im having troubles with my bettas too!

 

[Amunet]

We went to Petsmart today to get some fish meds and of course I had to look at the bettas. GOD there were some pretty ones there. Some pure yellow, some pure orange. And a few that were a very pretty shade of purple, and even one w/ clear fins (although he looked a bit sick, poor thing).

I gotta resist the urge to eventually get more though.


Anywho..... Rex is still hanging in there. He's eating the medicated food which I'm thankful for. I've tryed feeding the medicated food to other sick fish before and they always spat it out, so it's a VERY good thing that he's eating it. I just hope I didn't wait too long and it helps him.

I probably shouldn't be feeding him as much as I have been since he developed dropsy. I mean I'm not overfeeding or anything, just feeding him as I normally would if he was healthy, but I just can't resist his little wiggles for food. If it's gonna make him happy, then I'm gonna continue feeding him, b/c never know if it's going to be his last meal.

 

[Kudoo]

What's your water conditions / quality like? Is your filtration system effective? I've always thought most dropsy is caused by poor water conditions or linked to another form of stress in some shape or form? Are you conducting regular water changes?

Apologise if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs here just trying to help as I know how disheartening it is when a fish gets dropsy. Very unusual as well to be able to treat dropsy effectively - I recall reading something stupid like only 5% - 10% chance of treating the disease effectively.

 

[Amunet]

Water quality is where it should be. I haven't tested the water in forever, but unless something changed w/ the filter for some reason to kill the beneficial bacteria, then water stats should be fine.
I do weekly water changes w/ every other week gravel vacs.
Filter is what came with the tank. I had to rig something up for the water flow, but it doesn't hamper the intake of the water or the output of it, just reduces the current.


Anywho..... I had to euthanize him last night. He hadn't eaten in a few days and had lost alot of color. The pineconing also got ALOT worse. He was still aware.. still followed my finger w/ his eyes.... but his poor lil body was slowly shutting down, so did what I thought was best.


RIP my beefy sockpuppet Rex
some pics of him..... he was such a pretty boy

 

[FishAddict99]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Rex was a fighter, he refused to give up. I'm sure he knew you were doing all you could to save him. At least you got to spend some extra time with him than if he'd died suddenly.

 

[ReMz]

i've had to euthanize 2 bettas. one to old age and one after he got beat up when a CT slipped through the divider.

It REALLLY sucks. Even for a guy that totally started with the attitude that it is just a fish, i wanted to cry both times. Bettas are certainly personal to there owners.

I can relate and sorry he didnt make it. He was gorgeous.

Something that made me feel better about it. I went to a health food store (very small) to buy clove oil...... when the girl asked what i was purchasing it for, i told her. She paused and while ringing me up said "Thank you for being to kind to your fish...... that's amazing".

That made me feel a lot better. so on that note, you love your fish and would not have them suffer.

 

[Gold-Fisher]

Feeding them live worms is said to be the cause of dropsy due to bacterian so dont feed them live food again http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

 

[AquaticAngel]

Are all of the fish getting sick in the same tank? If so then maybe its something in the tank? I mean there are things that even bleaching wont kill all of. Why not just throw out the tank and everything in it and start completely over with a new one?

 

[Amunet]

I don't feed them live food, only frozen and betta pellets.
But these last ones that got sick were all in the same tank which leads me to believe that one got sick and it spread to the others.
The tank has been cleaned out and is now housing a killifish and pond snails w/ no problem.

 

[ReMz]

Feeding them live worms is said to be the cause of dropsy due to bacterian so dont feed them live food again [URL="http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm"]http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm[/URL]

Gold-fisher..... why do i keep seeing these kinds of posts from you?

Even when you cite a source, you are incorrect.

Quoting the site:
"oftentimes linked to the feeding of live foods, especially black worms". Black worms. Feeding live food does not cause dropsy. Feeding live food that is not healthy can result in all kinds of internal bacterial infections. Additionally dropsy can manifest itself due to several other factors.

get your facts straight. no-where did Amunet say the bettas got live food either

I'm down to 1 guy now too Amunet.... it's really discouraging.

 

[Jaded12]

Awww poor little ones, sorry for your losses, does sound like it might be something in the tank though, since dropy can be caused by bacterial infection.

 

[metromyers]

I am so sorry for your loss. But you did the right thing. To me it is much better to end their suffering then to try to hold on when all hope is gone. That doesn't make things any easier but it is never easy to lose something you love. (HUG)

 

[Amunet]

Yeah, when I euthanized him, I could tell he was ready to go. He didn't struggle at all and died rather peacefully. Poor little bettas.
Hopefully this last one doesn't go down like that and lives and eventually dies of old age.