Not sure I can do this anymore

[Andie]

Well I just about broke down- I woke up the other morning to find my brand new lil Snapdragon coated with fluff and perfectly still at the bottom of his tank. I'd had him for just two and a half weeks!

I've lost bettas to fungus before but never on such short notice AFTER I'd had them home for a while. I never even had the chance to dose him or anything- fine one day, gone the next. My fault for being such a sucker for the last runty little VT in the pet store, I guess, but he actually did look very healthy and I wasn't looking for a breeder atm, just a pet, so he seemed perfect. Lots of snap to him- hence the name

I'm getting so I'm almost ready to switch species altogether- a friend had her convict cichlids spawn a couple months ago, and I'm thinking of switching over. I love all my bettas but I think I'm getting so attached I might do well with a change for a bit!

Has anybody here "crossed over" to other fish and then come back to bettas later on? Or has anybody branched out to cichlids or something else but still kept up the betta habit too? I'd be interested to hear how it worked out.

~Andie

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Don't give up! It sounds like there was nothing you could do anyways, it may be an idea though to always have a little bit of aquarium salt in the tanks every now and then even if the fish are healthy, if you get fungus on a regular basis as this will help lower the levels back to safe amounts- you can also use a med called Liquisel by Interpet that also helps lower dangerous desease levels in the tank back to safe levels.

 

[Bettabelieveit]

While I haven't been doing the fish thing long enough to make a drastic move, nor have I had the reason to (luckily) I am quite interested in Puffer fish, they're quite the interesting little fish

And I'm sorry to hear about your boys don't give up just yet -- maybe if you find a LFS that has some decent fish in your area.

 

[feralcelt2]

there is nothing saying we have to stick to one breed of fishy, most of us gravitate to one particular breed and hope to one day breed a particular strain or house them as naturally as possible, everyone has their different goal!!

there is nothing wrong with having betta babies and starting a small community tank or another tank that focuses on a different fish. we all have our moments of boredom or frusteration with a hobby and sometimes changing our approach makes things fun again.

dont give up!!!!!! just try and find out what will put that spark back into the enjoyment and those little setbacks will be no big deal!

 

[Andie]

Thanks so much to everyone for the replies I probably shouldn't have posted at the peak of my frustration, but I'm really grateful for the feedback. It's not just this incident that's gotten me restless but it's the one that's actually gotten me on the phone asking my friend feeding/water/tank questions about her convicts, lol.

I wouldn't throw my betta hobby off without some careful thought; I've always enjoyed my boys and I may still pick out another mutt for my nightstand when I go back to university in the fall, just to keep up tradition (my 2.5 gal also serves as my reading lamp, and has seen many little guys come and go in its time!) but I'm not sure I want to get back into multiples right now. If I did take a convict from my friend I think I'd only get one, so that way I guess with the betta I'd be a two-fish household, which is really all I need when I'm studying at the same time.

Thanks again for the replies- I was just really frustrated when I posted that lol, and I do appreciate the feedback

~Andie
sans Snapdragon

 

[jols]

Several years ago I got into my own betta craze. I lost them all, one by one, I didn't really know of any forum at the moment, so I had a lot of questions that never got answered. I know one commited suicide *jumped out of his half-gallon home* one died because of dropsy, and the rest I'm not sure of.
My mum had awful luck, both of her boys *first one died, then she got another* died from dropsy. She decided to get goldfish....2 of them, in her barely 2 gal. home. They've lived quite a long time, chubby, fat, nice tails, etc.
I thought 'gee' I want a 5 gal. and will get more than 2 goldfish and live happily ever after!
Not so. I, being so smart, ok, uneducated, did get my 5 gal for Christmas, and then went and got 6 goldfish, 2 orandas, 2 black moors, and 2 fantails from Walmart. One by one they all died from one thing or another, except Eddie, my lonely fantail. I did get him a couple friends: Nemo and SeaBiskit The Great, but Nemo passed for some reason unknown by me, and SeaB, I think, is now doing the same.
Since I had so many goldfish deaths, and then found this forum, I thought I'd get some bettas again. Fatima is my betta girl, very good girl, has not stressed me too much, and about 3 almost 4 weeks ago I got Fabio, who has now graced me with the stress of fin-rot.
I seem to have a VERY unlucky hand at keeping fish as pets, and sadly it's the only pet I can have in a shoebox apartment. I've wanted to give up MANY times, tho, if for some reason Fabio dies, I think I will stick with just female bettas, and if SeaB dies, no more goldfish friends for Eddie, and whenever Eddie leaves me, I'm retiring goldfish for awhile, and just try to keep the fish I have alive.

 

[fishmom]

I really love the Betta--the males are really pretty with all of their "plummage".
I know what you mean about getting a new one and then finding fin/tail rot. Apollo has the stuff in the tail and I do not know if he is getting better or not. Sometimes I think he is still losing more tail even with the melafix and salt in the water. I am frustrated to say the least. Although if Apollo does die I will still get another one. The tank would be just too empty without one.