My Betta just died at 5-6 years old; trying to figure out what I did wrong

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Hi! 1 mo. ago had just "hospitalized" beta in tank by self w/General Cure. Was in tank a few days but stiil looking very slluggish so thorough cleaned 10 gall tank (along w/6 other small fish, some kind of tropical about 1/7 size of female betta, 2 of them really dinky babies) and then, as previous times had put betta in hospital tank, after being in there a few days she wasn't looking that great, but revved up again after put in cleaned tank. It's a 10 gallon but wanted water level low at first so as not to stress fish, so h20 level only about 2-3 inches at first.

So bc it seems she has been blind for awhile. The last time I fed her she was kinda twisting in a bit of a weird way, but did eat off the spoon, I read somewhere that food is supposed to be 5% of body weight or size or somethig and the bloodworms I fed were less than that. I generally change h20 a bit every day but sometimes it's like every 1.75 days as in last few days. Then in last few days when I was just too tired to change h20 I put in some betta flake food. then next night I changed h20 and put in a smashed up pea, changed h20 but didn't see beta and assumed she was hiding as I'd turned light on suddenly and other fish were also hiding. But this a.m. she was dead. I did notice what kind of looked like a buff-colored blister on the underside of her mouth. I feel terrible. Perhaps if I had put her in the hospital tank again when she looked a little weird she would now be o.k.

But, then again, before -- a few different times -- she really didn't seem to rev up in the hospital tank per se, but only when I had her in there a few days and then put back in regular tank.

I have a small heater but frankly I hadn't been using it. I just got it a mo. ago when she was sick. I kind of figure that if the power goes out you don't want all the fish dying because they're so used to heated h20. I don't know what everyone else does about this, but she did manage to survive 5-6 years w/o a heater; we keep heat in house at 70 though it can dip to 68 occasionally.

Have never seen other fish bother her. What do you think i did wrong? Thanks!
 
Appears to me you‘ve done everything right & the betta’s journey has ended naturally.
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I’m sorry for your loss.
 
Hi! 1 mo. ago had just "hospitalized" beta in tank by self w/General Cure. Was in tank a few days but stiil looking very slluggish so thorough cleaned 10 gall tank (along w/6 other small fish, some kind of tropical about 1/7 size of female betta, 2 of them really dinky babies) and then, as previous times had put betta in hospital tank, after being in there a few days she wasn't looking that great, but revved up again after put in cleaned tank. It's a 10 gallon but wanted water level low at first so as not to stress fish, so h20 level only about 2-3 inches at first.

So bc it seems she has been blind for awhile. The last time I fed her she was kinda twisting in a bit of a weird way, but did eat off the spoon, I read somewhere that food is supposed to be 5% of body weight or size or somethig and the bloodworms I fed were less than that. I generally change h20 a bit every day but sometimes it's like every 1.75 days as in last few days. Then in last few days when I was just too tired to change h20 I put in some betta flake food. then next night I changed h20 and put in a smashed up pea, changed h20 but didn't see beta and assumed she was hiding as I'd turned light on suddenly and other fish were also hiding. But this a.m. she was dead. I did notice what kind of looked like a buff-colored blister on the underside of her mouth. I feel terrible. Perhaps if I had put her in the hospital tank again when she looked a little weird she would now be o.k.

But, then again, before -- a few different times -- she really didn't seem to rev up in the hospital tank per se, but only when I had her in there a few days and then put back in regular tank.

I have a small heater but frankly I hadn't been using it. I just got it a mo. ago when she was sick. I kind of figure that if the power goes out you don't want all the fish dying because they're so used to heated h20. I don't know what everyone else does about this, but she did manage to survive 5-6 years w/o a heater; we keep heat in house at 70 though it can dip to 68 occasionally.

Have never seen other fish bother her. What do you think i did wrong? Thanks!
Well if it was 5-6 years old it was probably just old and its immune system was becoming weaker, which is why most humans die of old age(not because they're old, but because the immune system can't fight back anymore). It might be because you cleaned up the tank, but it's also because it was just old. I wouldn't worry about it too much and keep doing things the way you're doing

PS: DRAT! Jenny you got to it before me
 
I‘ve read here some people wrap the the 4 sides with some insulating material like a blanket. Never had to do so, but makes sense to me.
 
Could use foam if any’s around as well. I have an inverter that I’ve used in past outages for my parrots. . We used it more in California than here.
 
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I'm pretty sure you did nothing wrong. At all. I got mine 7 years but he was one of a kind, a real character.
4-5 years that's very good and uncommon ;)
 
Thank you again, Jenny, Avel, and Fishmanic -
I can't believe I didn't think of blankets or foam. But then again, the power didn't go out - I guess my reluctance to use a heater stemmed from an earlier heater I had used w/my African Dwarf Frog that I think may have led to its demise. It just seems like if you put something extra in the tank that chemicals might leach out or something.
One thing is that in lieu of a filter (don't think I really need as I do change about a 16 or 32-oz yogurt cup of h20 daily and to so to get any gunk on bottom w a turkey baster) -- at some points I had used a small net bag adn put in the charcoal adn other filter stuff adn then just changed bag every so often. Haven't used bag recently . .
The other thing is that maybe cleaning tank again? But I don't think it needs to be done once/mo. I mean, I cleaned the tank, put gravel in a glass container w/same new h20 I'd use in tank and microwaved for a minute or so, then stirred it around to get icky stuff off. And beta seemed to be happy! But I don't think that's req'd every mo. . . microwaved all tank decorations same way and rinsed plants in warm h20.
Had only live plants. Thank you so much for all your exp. not sure whetehr I'm going to get another betta or not. I love fish. People say bettas should be by themselves but don't they get bored? Thanks. Maybe would be good to know what kind of flake food or other food people feed their betas. I used frozen bloodworms, peas.
 
It just seems like if you put something extra in the tank that chemicals might leach out or something.
No risk at all, unless you use lower-end products.

The best way to know what's in your tank is to check water parameters, that should be :
pH 6-7
Hardness (GH) below 8
Alkalinity (KH) below 6
Ammonia zero
Nitrites zero
Nitrates zero
Temp. 22-25°C / 71.6-77°F
"Tons" of live plants including floatings.
People say bettas should be by themselves but don't they get bored?
Betta of any species IS a territorial fish that must live alone. Do not forget it is also called (siamese) fighting fish....

If you feed frozen/fresh peas it is better to peel them : a glass of water + a handfull of peas + 10 to 20 seconds in microwave, you'll peel them easily ;)

Also very good : Fluval Betta BugBites, OmegaOne Betta Buffet, small pieces of crab, shrimp, mussel.... not seasoned of course.
 
Betta of any species IS a territorial fish that must live alone. Do not forget it is also called (siamese) fighting fish....
Shrimp shouldn't be fine though, and if the betta isn't a shrimp fan, all they'll become is expensive food(which isn't good either but still).

Edit: Anything under 10 nitrates should be fine, you might want above 0 nitrates if you've got many, many plants in a massive tank and no CO2. Of course, this doesn't matter here though.
 
yes, bettas are best kept as solitary fish. Some keep “sororities“ which are groups of 5 or so females, but it’s risky & I’d never attempt it.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’ll get another betta when this one goes. He’s very beautiful & happy to be alone, but I’d prefer a group of fish.
 
Shrimp shouldn't be fine though, and if the betta isn't a shrimp fan, all they'll become is expensive food(which isn't good either but still).

Edit: Anything under 10 nitrates should be fine, you might want above 0 nitrates if you've got many, many plants in a massive tank and no CO2. Of course, this doesn't matter here though.
I think you wanted to respond to @my good little betta rather than to me :lol:
:lol:
 
It is very sad about the fish. I think you are good parent and he die of old age.
 

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