Please help! My betta died

[eudielynn]

Walmart sells a heater for small tanks called the Jr. heater or something like that. I don't like it though cause the temps not adjustable and you still get temp fluctuations.

Yeah, I bought one of those and had to watch the temp like a hawk to keep from boiling Batista during the day. It just raises the temp 2-5 degrees from the room temp.

Before you get a heater, get the thermometer and check the water temp. If it is not too cold you may not need a heater. I have to use one in my house for my betta because my husband likes the house cool, but I don't use one in my office tank because the boss and I both like it a little warmer and Hunter's tank stays about 74 with no heater. He is by far the healthiest of all my fish.

Several of the members here who breed bettas don't recommend using heaters. They have found that their fish are hardier with a little temp fluctuation. So you might want to take that into consideration as well.

Hope I haven't made things more confusing.

 

[abstract]

you need to be careful to not pour any undissolved salt into the tank....keep stirring it in warm water in a cup, add that water to the tank leaving the crystals in the bottom of the cup - add more water and continue until all of the crystals are dissolved...if there are any undissolved crystals they can burn the betta

personally, i think the moss ball would be a great idea...although you are doing 100% changes, toxins will still build up and the moss ball can do nothing but help...i believe they don't require special lighting so im sure you'll be good with that

 

[lalabugu]

Im new too, but as for tthe gravel....I wouldnt. Its a pain to keep clean. Try river rocks, marbles, or even the flat glass decorative marbles. I personally like the way the rocks look.

Silk plants I keep hearing are better for bettas. Live plants can cause thier own bugs to occur.

You can improve the water quality by keeping it in a container with out a lid and letting it stand for a few days. The chemicals will release from the water naturally, therefor avoiding chemical additives.

Ive been reading that a little tiny bit, small due to the small tank, of sea salt or aquarium salt (NOT iodized) is also a great way to prevent the developement of may health issues that bettas tend to develope.

Try not to keep him in a cold (especially cold air conditioned) or drafty places. That makes the water temp lower and cold water causes its own health/ illnesses.

Pellets seem to be the best thing to give your betta. Its good to give them bloodworms every so often. Also, to prevent Swim Bladder you can feed them cooked veggies. They love this. Tiny bits of carrots, or peas are perfect. They love PEAS. Just warm a couple up, in warm water, take the shell off an cut into tiny bite sized peices. Stick on the end of a rounded toothpick and dangle the veggies at the surface. They will eat it right off the end. Its also a great way to earn trust with your betta when you hand feed themm this way. Eventually they will take food directly from your hand/ tips of your fingers, which I think is pretty cool. And kind of a good way to bond with your fishies.

I have also been told not to keep them in a lot of natural sunlight. To much can cause fungus and sickly stuff to affect your fishy.

If I learn anything else, I'll pass it on. Hope this helps.
Good Luck!

 

[Netty]

Sorry but this is a very old thread. Their Betta died back in 2005

 

[lalabugu]

Good job, mm_simb.

Here some of my addition.
Gravel is ok. It will decorating the tank. It just too much to clean later. LOL Make sure takeout extra food if there are left over by the betta. Don't let uneaten food flooding in the water or sink underneath the bottom gravel. This will create problems later especially toxicity like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that will kill your fish later.

Always have an empty bucket to aged water. Aged water mean fill up the pill of water, add conditional (declorinate the water and other metal element) don't cover the bucket and let it stand at least for a day or two. The longer the better. When you want to used it, there will be a film on the top like dusk or oil film. Just filter it out with a tissus paper towel or coffee filter.

Life plant are great because they will elliminating nitrate, nitrite and ammonia low. I can tell from the greenest of the plant.

Look at all my container. I just flood those plant and betta love it and sleep there too like a hammock.

You can throw away the filter. LOL As long as you change the water at least one a week. Feed the betta according. If you skip a meal sometimes, it wont hurt the betta anyway.

You can add a small amount of salt and it is better.

Put a small heater and the water temperature stay in 78 to 80 is the best.
Else turn up your home temperature to 80 degree F like me. LOL

Throw away freeze food. They just junk food by the way. Hikari betta gold is good. Feed some fresh or frozen food. Flys that don't know how to fly is good too. They reminds me like fleas. jumping around. LOL

You can used antibacterial dish soap to clean the plastic tank.

Your question always welcome. If you want some freebies, I got some. You just send the shipping cost.

Pm me if interested.

FYI.... NEVER, I MEAN NEVER clean your tank, whether it be glass or plastic, with soap!!!! NO SOAP! Or anti bacterial anything. No cleaning products. This will surely kill your betta, or make them gravely ill!

Its the first thing I was told and have been reminded of by everyone that I have talked to.

The chemicals no matter how good you rinse it out, will be left on the surface. Therefore, in your tank water and on thier scales, in their gills, and thing else. It can burn their insides and does cause death. Or make them miserable.

 

[lalabugu]

Sorry but this is a very old thread. Their Betta died back in 2005

I actually did know that.

I was just adding to it for those of us, Like me, who read them just for the basic information that we can learn from others.
I myself am new but have had a hard time getting help with my issues on here.
Figured alot out by reading old posts.
Just trying to help others.

After all, Knowledge is power. Right?

 

[ibbledibble]

You can improve the water quality by keeping it in a container with out a lid and letting it stand for a few days. The chemicals will release from the water naturally, therefor avoiding chemical additives.

you really shouldn't recommend this method.

although this is true of chlorine, many water companies are now using chloramine (which i believe is chlorine bonded to amonia) and this will NEVER dissipate naturally. they are legally allowed to change the amount/type of additives used in tap water without any notification.

most if not all water conditioners will break the chloramine bond, and most varieties will lock the ammonia aspect too. also water conditioners remove heavy metals (such as copper from pipes) which may be in too small quantities to effect us, but could prove toxic to fish.

i personally would never not use water conditioner, the risk is too great, and i would rather be safe than sorry

 

[lalabugu]

You can improve the water quality by keeping it in a container with out a lid and letting it stand for a few days. The chemicals will release from the water naturally, therefor avoiding chemical additives.

you really shouldn't recommend this method.

although this is true of chlorine, many water companies are now using chloramine (which i believe is chlorine bonded to amonia) and this will NEVER dissipate naturally. they are legally allowed to change the amount/type of additives used in tap water without any notification.

most if not all water conditioners will break the chloramine bond, and most varieties will lock the ammonia aspect too. also water conditioners remove heavy metals (such as copper from pipes) which may be in too small quantities to effect us, but could prove toxic to fish.

i personally would never not use water conditioner, the risk is too great, and i would rather be safe than sorry

Actually, that method was taken from a book I bought on bettas. Free standing water was one of the things that stood out to me in the chapter on care and tank maintenance. I did however add the "therefore no chemical additives" myself. I prefer no chems in most everything in life. But the later was directly from the betta manual.
Some may dissagree, but I was just going from a researched informative source.

 

[ibbledibble]

You can improve the water quality by keeping it in a container with out a lid and letting it stand for a few days. The chemicals will release from the water naturally, therefor avoiding chemical additives.

you really shouldn't recommend this method.

although this is true of chlorine, many water companies are now using chloramine (which i believe is chlorine bonded to amonia) and this will NEVER dissipate naturally. they are legally allowed to change the amount/type of additives used in tap water without any notification.

most if not all water conditioners will break the chloramine bond, and most varieties will lock the ammonia aspect too. also water conditioners remove heavy metals (such as copper from pipes) which may be in too small quantities to effect us, but could prove toxic to fish.

i personally would never not use water conditioner, the risk is too great, and i would rather be safe than sorry

Actually, that method was taken from a book I bought on bettas. Free standing water was one of the things that stood out to me in the chapter on care and tank maintenance. I did however add the "therefore no chemical additives" myself. I prefer no chems in most everything in life. But the later was directly from the betta manual.
Some may dissagree, but I was just going from a researched informative source.

unfortunately books are not always correct, or are correct at time of going to print and then afterwards the basic information behind the recommendations changes.
thus my point, water companies used to all only use chlorine. this would be why the book recommends this method. more recently many companies have started using chloramine instead as a longer lasting anti-bacterial agent in the water. their responsibility is to keep the water quality good for the majority of their customers, fishkeeper preference is not an issue for them.
so while you say you prefer no chemicals, it is quite likely that by using the aged water method you are leaving chemicals in the water, and the chemicals you have in there are far more dangerous for your fish than the water conditioner chemicals

don't always trust a book to be correct on everything, all it takes is one person with some incorrect information to get a publishing deal. the publishing company probably knows nothing about fish, so they just trust that the author knows what they are talking about. and people buy the book and believe what the author wrote, and thus incorrect information becomes "common knowledge" even if its not really the correct approach.

thats the benefit of forums like these, you tend to get the benefit of the most peoples experience, and the most up to date knowledge and information.