Is This Possible?

[happyannie]

I've talked to two people in the last few days who have Bettas they say they've had for 4 years or so. The most unbelievable part is that they don't do anything to treat the water--and I mean ANYTHING. One lady says she changes the water everyday and even changes the container. She said sometimes the fish is in a glass coffeepot, a vase or whatever is available. I did see the coffeepot and she proceeded to demonstrate how used to her the Betta was by picking it up in her hands. The second person also says she's had her Betta for four years and just adds in untreated water as it evaporates. Neither has a heater or a cover on the container. I know our city water has floride in it and chlorine I would assume. I also know someone else from the next town over who put hers into untreated water and they both died one hour later so....where does this leave us? NEITHER of them has a purifier on their tap by the way. I worry about mine and am trying to treat him for a tumor or swim bladder disorder (or whatever it is)and both of these ladies say the mistake I made was in using all those chemicals..WEIRD. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Both of them bought theirs from Wal-Mart and the one I saw is not a long-finned one like I have. STRANGE!!!!!!!!

 

[Synirr]

I probably don't have to add dechlor to my water either, but I do for the bettas just incase because they get such large water changes. Some water supplies don't add enough chemical to their water for it to be a serious threat, and mine is one of them . I never dechlor when I do partial water changes on my larger tanks.

Was the fish that wasn't long-finned a female, by any chance? Female bettas don't have long fins like the males do.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi happyannie

Welcome to the forum!

There are several ways to keep bettas and I will move your thread into the Betta section where you will probably get more information about them.

 

[Kara101584]

I don't need to use declor my water either, but I do just to be on the safe side. I have a betta who is 5+ years old, I had him before I joined this forum and "knew what I was doing." I hardly did water changes and he lived in a 10 gallon with Goldfish (still does!) He's happy, and healthy. Sometimes I think it's dependant on the fish, he likes living with the Goldfish and back in the day, was fine without water changes. He is a Wal*Mart special too!

 

[JoLtNbolt]

When I add water to my tanks to replace evaporated water, I don't add any chemicals, but I do when i do big water changes. I doubt that the chemicals caused your fish to get get a tumor. That probably would have happened regardless. I think swim bladder disorder is caused by over feeding.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Depends on the chlorine level of the water really, if the tap water is in a storage thingy before it reaches the taps, the chlorine can evaporate. And it's take fairly high levels to kill a fish.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

(swim bladder disorders can be caused by numerous things, either from fish living in water that has water quality issues, internal bacterial infections or constipation can all be causes of swimbladder disorders- fish that have poor breeding and are badly inbred can also suffer from genetic swimbladder disorders, unfortunatly when its a genetic thing though its uncurable).
The 2 main reasons why people use dechlorinator are;
a. Chlorine kills off bacteria, this is fine if you like your drinking water clean and uncontaminated, but bad if you are trying to cycle your community tank so you can stock it with a fair amount of fish. Dechlorinator removes chlorine so you can build up your beneficial bacterial ecosystem.
b. Tap water contains more than just chlorine, it contains a whole load of irretants, dechlorinator can also remove these- this is vital that if you want to have happy fish as these irretants are bad for fish's skin, the stress of these irretants can ultimatly kill fish somtimes.

Bettas are notorius for being very hardy fish, like goldfish, they have been known to live and survive in some absolutely appalling conditions. Not all bettas are miracle fish though, most just have normal fish abilitys.
When you keep fish, you shouldn't just aim for them to survive for a certain period of time, but for them to be happy- i completely support and advise the use of dechlorinator on all fish as it has many benefets for their health .

 

[happyannie]

Tanks for all the info. I couldn't believe it and here I'm staying home taking extra special care of Mr Wu!! I think I'm going to try a more concentrated course of antibiotics this time with him. the fish in question here get ignored. I asked if they build bubblenests at all and both ladies just looked at me like they had no idea what I was talking about. So yes, fussing about your Betta's quality of life is important. They are so intelligent and I believe they have emotions as all intelligent beings do....so....they do experience the love you have for them. You're the one who's cheated if you choose to push them off to the side. !!!