*sniffle* Am I a bad mommy?

[3neko]

In the past, I have had four betta males die of bloat. None of them lived longer than a year and a half in my care. Now, two of those I had rescued from a friend of the family's that had kept them in tiny tiny glass jars in green slimy water. One of those died within the first week from, I assume, the stress of being moved to a bigger tank, even if it was clean(and he didn't seem very healthy to begin with). But the other three were fine one week and slowly blew up like balloons. And now Dacey is getting pinecone scales too!
Am I a bad mommy? What am I doing wrong? I don't want my beautiful babies I got from wuvmybetta to end up like that.

 

[BettaMomma]

You're not a bad mommy at all.
The fact that you're trying to figure out how to stop this from happening tells us all that.

There are a few things that could be going on. It is unusual, although not impossible, for all of one person's fish to die from dropsy. Some, yes, but probably not every single one of them.

The ones that are pineconing, yes that's definitely dropsy.
But, when you say "bloat"... did all of them pinecone, too? Or did they just have big fat bellies before they died?
A swollen belly can be a sign of several different problems, such as overfeeding (And therefore constipation), swim bladder problems, dropsy for example.

What size tanks do you keep your boys in?
How warm is the water, and how much and what brand/types of food do you feed them?

 

[3neko]

Every one of them pineconed before passing away.
The one that died within the week was in a 1 gal, but all the rest were in 2.5 minibows. My very first betta boy was in a 5 gal for the longest time(uncycled too, I didn't know to cycle it at the time), his belly swelled unnaturally a little, but he was still flaring and full of life so I didn't worry about it until a few months later he started geting lethargic. I put him in a 2.5 minibow and within 2 weeks he went downhill from there until it got to where I was hoping he'd die just to end his suffering.

2.5 minibows: Dacey's tank stays about 76 degrees, Saburo and Pooky's tanks are about 82 degrees.
1 gallon: Aka's stays about 75ish.

I feed all my babies Aquaculture betta food, and switch it around every few weeks with Tetramin tropical granules.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Thats very unusual. They died of dropsy, which is uncurable normally. You can sometimes stop it with salt dips, but not that often. Your not a bad mummy, you are very unlucky.

 

[3fsh]

No you're not a bad mommy... dropsy is usually a fatal disease. It could be that you accidentally spread it to the other tanks with a contaminated net or something. I'm disinfecting everything like crazy right now because of the stuff going on in my 10g. I even wash my hands between touching tanks. So far, no one else has caught it, so my only recommendation would be to completely nuke everything that touches the infected tanks/fish with bleach or boiling water.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Too much dry food will usually always lead to dropsy. Invest in some frozen Hikari bloodworms or Brine They don't cost much and it will last a very long time with only a few fish. It's a bit messier and harder to feed,but the benefits are well worth the trouble.

Get a flatpack, break off a tiny piece in a small cup,add dechlorinated water to allow them to defrost and use tweezers or an eyedropper to feed them.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yep, try some live. If you can't be doing with frozen, get tetra delica. Although my betta won't eat the bloodworms. But he is fussy, all he'll eat is live moths...

 

[Dakota Ice]

Dropsy can also be caused by poor water quality. How often do you change their water?

 

[3neko]

I have separate everything for each of my fishies so nothing gets passed between. Whenever one shows a hint of sickness, I always make sure I wash my hands in between tanks, and do the sick ones last.

Wuvmybetta, what's a flatpack, and where could I get it? I'm pretty much limited to walmart right now as far as 'petstores' go.

I change their water about every 7-9 days, and the one gallon usually sooner.

 

[Chrissy]

If any of your bettas show signs of dropsy now, try buying Maracyn 2 and treating them for it.

Your not a bad mommy!

 

[shadow]

Your not a bad mommy. I had the same problem with my three bettas. I was so upset over the last one that I have not gotten another one. He was great, a red crowntail and so funny. He would flare at anything yellow

Don't be upset. Sometimes you just have to sit back take a break and think long and hard about what you did with each of them and if that could be the cause of them passing on.

 

[3neko]

*sniff* Thanks everyone. I about cried when I saw beginning pinecone scales on Dacey, she was my second betta and only female.

I'll look for Maracyn 2 on the web cause I don't think the wamart here carries it.

Should I change the water more often than weekly?

 

[shadow]

I was changing the water every week and I also had a small filter running. Though there are some people who change the water once a week and the fish are fine. There is the possibility they are sick to begin with. I felt so horrible when I noticed it on my betta too. I felt I neglected him when I started working again

Maracyn 2 you can get at Petco. I don't think Wal Mart carries it.

 

[3neko]

*scratches head* Petco? I think the closest one is an hour away... Can you order Maracyn 2 on a fish website?

 

[transposia]

Here it is at PetsMart.com

http/www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...D=1111328885081