eudielynn
Fish Addict
After taking advantage of BettaMomma's generous offer of 1 gal Aquaview tanks, I hit the road Friday evening looking for the "needy" betta I knew was out there waiting. First I went to Walmart. SURPRISE! There were 28 bettas in clean water that all looked healthy. The only thing I did there was to re-arrange the cups so that the air holes weren't covered. (Okay, I also explained to the salesclerk watching me that the air holes were for --- air. 
) There was a beautiful white boy there that I tried like crazy to find somethng wrong with because I wanted him so badly. Not a pimple on him. 
Next I went to Petsmart. Basically the same story. They had 34 bettas. The cups were tiny, but they were clean and all the fish looked healthy. I didn't even have to rearrange the cups there.
Last stop of the night was at my former LFS. I stopped going there when I went in one day and saw a dead clown loach laying on the floor with everyone just stepping over him. That day I also found at least 8 dead fish in different tanks. This time wasn't much different. I don't know what has happened to this store. They used to take such good care of their fish. Anyway, the first three rows of bettas were okay other than the water wasn't the cleanest. But on the last row, it was awful. Three boys with columnaris so bad you couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be. One was just hanging in the water with his mouth at the top and didn't even move when I picked up his cup. The second one had so much fungus on him that you couldn't see anything but gray patches, white stringy fuzz and eyes. The third had a good dose of it as well, but was a little more active and not quite as bad off as the other two, but he was close.
I called the manager over and told him I wanted to show him something. Although we are not on a first name basis he has definately seen me in the store enough to recognize me as a (former) regular customer. When I showed him the fish I told him I was taking the worst one home to try to save him, but that the other two needed help immediately. He rushed them off to quarantine and then came back up to me apologizing. I told him that wasn't going to do the fish any good and that they didn't get that way in one day. I won't go into the entire ten minute lecture I gave him, but ended that I would be checking back in a few days and if it wasn't any better I'd be calling to report him.
He just apologized again and when I got to the register, he didn't charge me for the betta (big deal, the fish was almost dead then.) I named the little fellow Fozzy. I took him home and was very careful to aclimate him over about an hours time into a 1 gal critter keeper where I had added blackwater extract, aquarium salt and maracyn to the water. He lived for about three hours, but I think the shock to his system was too much and he was just too sick.
The next morning I went back to the LFS and told them I wanted the other two sick bettas. One of the others, the one that was just hanging in the water, had died during the night just like Fozzy. The other one was doing a little better, and the manager gave him to me. He was in clean water at least and they hadn't flushed him.
That was on Saturday. This morning I could see definate improvement. He is still kind of lethargic, but the fungus is clearing up and the gray patches are smaller. I think he may turn out to have a white or light colored body with blue fins. It's still a little soon to tell for sure.
Sorry for the long post, but I had to vent a little. I knew when I took Fozzy home he wouldn't make it, but it still hurt that he died before I could really do anything to stop his suffering.
) There was a beautiful white boy there that I tried like crazy to find somethng wrong with because I wanted him so badly. Not a pimple on him. Next I went to Petsmart. Basically the same story. They had 34 bettas. The cups were tiny, but they were clean and all the fish looked healthy. I didn't even have to rearrange the cups there.
Last stop of the night was at my former LFS. I stopped going there when I went in one day and saw a dead clown loach laying on the floor with everyone just stepping over him. That day I also found at least 8 dead fish in different tanks. This time wasn't much different. I don't know what has happened to this store. They used to take such good care of their fish. Anyway, the first three rows of bettas were okay other than the water wasn't the cleanest. But on the last row, it was awful. Three boys with columnaris so bad you couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be. One was just hanging in the water with his mouth at the top and didn't even move when I picked up his cup. The second one had so much fungus on him that you couldn't see anything but gray patches, white stringy fuzz and eyes. The third had a good dose of it as well, but was a little more active and not quite as bad off as the other two, but he was close.
I called the manager over and told him I wanted to show him something. Although we are not on a first name basis he has definately seen me in the store enough to recognize me as a (former) regular customer. When I showed him the fish I told him I was taking the worst one home to try to save him, but that the other two needed help immediately. He rushed them off to quarantine and then came back up to me apologizing. I told him that wasn't going to do the fish any good and that they didn't get that way in one day. I won't go into the entire ten minute lecture I gave him, but ended that I would be checking back in a few days and if it wasn't any better I'd be calling to report him.
He just apologized again and when I got to the register, he didn't charge me for the betta (big deal, the fish was almost dead then.) I named the little fellow Fozzy. I took him home and was very careful to aclimate him over about an hours time into a 1 gal critter keeper where I had added blackwater extract, aquarium salt and maracyn to the water. He lived for about three hours, but I think the shock to his system was too much and he was just too sick.
The next morning I went back to the LFS and told them I wanted the other two sick bettas. One of the others, the one that was just hanging in the water, had died during the night just like Fozzy. The other one was doing a little better, and the manager gave him to me. He was in clean water at least and they hadn't flushed him.
That was on Saturday. This morning I could see definate improvement. He is still kind of lethargic, but the fungus is clearing up and the gray patches are smaller. I think he may turn out to have a white or light colored body with blue fins. It's still a little soon to tell for sure.
Sorry for the long post, but I had to vent a little. I knew when I took Fozzy home he wouldn't make it, but it still hurt that he died before I could really do anything to stop his suffering.
Congrats on your rescue, even thou fozzy didnt live, you made him comfortable and cared for him the best you could, which im positive he is eternally grateful for
