oooh no!

[andyt_uk]

at the weekend i came home to find my male betta was 'trapped' behind a plant that had floated free, it was on the surface and he appeared trapped between it and the glass.
last night i got home and he looked like he was dead at the bottom, face down between 2 small stones, thought he had managed to trap himself there - stuck a net in and he darted away but seemed to be hiding all night - which is unlike him.

this morning he was lying very still at the bottom again and i was concerned again, then on closer inspection of the tank i noticed my female platty was also lying still at the bottom.

she was dead - i couldnt believe it, she had seemed fine - if anything i expected the betta may have gone but not my girl.

all water params are fine and have been for ages - tank cycling finished quite quickly with no obvious spikes in anything and i tested at least once each day

last night:
ammonia=0
nitrite=0
nitrate=5mg/l
pH=6-7

which is how it has been for ages

guess it may have just been one of those things - although i did suspect she had ich a short while ago - just one single spot that went after i upped the temp to 28C
temp has remained at 28 since

she didnt have any signs of a fight, no obvious disease - to my misty eyes this morning anyway

and i was about to add more fish - i have some protozin (?) that i bought for the ich but didnt use - do you think it worth adding some to the water now just in case?

no-one told me losing a fish was this hard

 

[wuvmybetta]

so sorry andy,it is hard to lose a beloved fish

it MAY have been just one of those things but judging by your bettas behaviour I doubt it, something's going on in there , I don't use meds so I can't offer any advice on the protozin

I'd hold off on adding fish for a couple of weeks and just closely watch everybody. Hopefully someone will offer some better advice

 

[Alien Anna]

Hold off on the meds unless you are absolutely sure you know what's wrong, except maybe some Melafix, which can help prevent illness.

It is possible there was a dominance fight between your betta and plattie, or your plattie had some kind of internal infection that didn't show.

I'd do a large water change and keep a really close eye on your tank for a while. Don't add any new fish until you are sure things are stable.

 

[andyt_uk]

after observing the behaviour of the betta for the past couple of days i am now almost certain he must have attacked my female platty - although she did show no signs of attack - but he has been very aggressive towards his surviving tank mate - i am wondering if i should risk adding more fish in the hope he will calm down a little