Totally Confused And Sad

[disasterfullife]

A couple of months ago I lost my first betta. I never figured out what had happened just over night he became very sick and just died. I got a new little buddy and when I got him he looked to be in very bad shape, after a couple of weeks his condition did not improve. But after the third week he was starting to come around. His color was looking great but his fins has always looked strange to me, they looked ragged and discolored and they never got any better, I don't know what the deal was. But he came back to life and was doing great. This is hard to type because as I am doing so my second buddy is dying and can't even get to the top for air. He was developed a small wound or hole behind his eye and I have treated with Melafix and water changes. I can't take losing these wonderful fish anymore. What am I doing wrong? I am doing 25-35% water changes once to twice a week in a 4 gallon tank. Cleaning the gravel once a week and adding water treatment with every water change. I feed him bloodworms once or twice a day, suplemented his diet with a pea once a week and loved to watch him carry it around in his mouth like it was his trophey. What is going wrong, I know people who have kept their betta's in such awful conditions that it's a miracle that they lived as long as they did. The LFS keeps their bettas in little cups and so does Petsmart and every time I go in they look like they are in good shape, I don't know if they are though. Please is anyone can tell me what I am doing wrong or offer some advice I would love to hear it, I love these fish so much and they make me feel tons better. I don't want to buy another one in fear of killing it, I don't feel like I am making any mistakes but if anyone could help me out I would be very greatful. I would love to have another betta but am scared to end another life if this does turn out to be my fault and doing.

Sorry for the extremely long post, thanks for any help.

Tina (my male betta, if you have seen the movie Napoleon Dynamite then you will giggle about that too) has now passed away. Hope he is in a better place.

Thanks again

 

[ECH2005]

I'm so sorry for your loss... I feel like I'm about to lose one of my bettas as well...

 

[Danno]

They look so good in Petsmart (rawr i want to destroy that evil nazi store of death ) is because they have a special chemical that the blue stuff you see. Try buying some, its an anti-bacterial med. Thats all i could really say would help.

 

[cynsheis]

So sorry to hear about your Betta...They really are wonderful little fish arent they?
Dont beat yourself up, I am sure you took very good care of him while he was with you, you didnt have control over genetics and a less than optimum environment the first 6-12 months of his life...

Sometimes it is difficult to treat a Betta with medications, sometimes they have been treated with them before you even purchased them and have become immune to normal dosing...melafix wont treat an infection like you described, or at least I have never seen it do so...Not alone..IMHO

If you want to try again with a Betta, I would suggest you look for a local club or organization who are into Bettas...Now, not everyone keeps their Bettas in great condition even if they are in a club, but chances are they do! Most folks will who breed for a hobby Love showing off their babies and usually have one or two for sale very reasonalble, and no shipping!...I am speaking about personal experiance....I just joined a Betta club that has meetings..not on line, in person!...LOL
And have really seen some wonderful Pet Bettas, and show Bettas too!

Some pet stores really do try to provide a good environment for their Bettas, but most are not there long enough to really condition and care for....If you want to purchase from a LFS for another Betta, pick the healthiest one you see, in the cleanest water possible...

Again, I am so sorry bout your little buddy....

cindy/cyn

 

[jkun17]

The first betta I bought was a Petco betta. It died 6 hours after I brought it home. I never bought bettas there again. All of mine are bought from a LFS who breeds them personally. I don't trust Petco anymore.

My suggestion is to use sand instead of gravel. It's a bit more work to clean up, but it's easier to find waste and take it out before it has a chance to decompose and pollute your water.

 

[shrks1fan]

I take it a step further Jkun, I don't use any substrate at all, then its VERY easy to clean up the poop

As for your fish, it could just be they were sickly fish to begin with (definetly sounds that way with your 2nd one). Some of these fish that come from poor conditions (such as petsmart, petco, Wal-Mart and many LFS's) are just sickly and never do/can recover properly. Have you tried adding salt to his water? If not and you get another, try keeping salt in his tank to the amount of about 1-2 tsp per gallon. The salt helps to keep many sicknesses away, and is a great medicinal for most illnesses they already have.

The suggestion of trying to find a club or breeder near you that you can get your next Betta from is an excellent idea. You'll get a much healthier and higher quality Betta that way, and probably younger too as the fish you find at the above mentioned bad places are usually about a year old already. You may even be able to find someone on this board who could sell/ship you a Betta, as there are many of us who breed here Just try to find someone who is somewhat close to you (same side of the country), so you can use Priority shipping for the cheaper shipping cost.

Good luck

Linda

 

[betazigzag]

awwww, i feel as if i lost a betta too you might want to also see if any of the people in here have a website to see pictures of what a healthy betta will look like. you can also do searches online to see pictures. these two sites might help you because they show what many diseases actually look like on a fish http/www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm and http/www.gpavlineris.com/fishdiseases/ when you go into a store and see them in the cups you'll be a little bit better at telling if they are already sick or not. they are right, a club or member would be a great place to get a healthy betta

 

[White Whale]

It could be your tap water. Have you had that checked? Not all tap water is the same.

 

[disasterfullife]

Thank you all so much for all the support. It makes me feel a whole lot better. If I do get another betta what kinda salt do I add, is it the aquarium salt I see at Petsmart and LFS? I think I will try to contact someone about getting another betta, it's so depressing and discouraging to see these little guys suffer. Thank you all agian for all the great advice and support.

 

[wuvmybetta]

sorry to hear that dfl What kind of bloodworms do you feed...frozen or dried?

 

[fourplayfishy]

think of it this way... atleast they had someone who loved them when they died

 

[wuvmybetta]

think of it this way... atleast they had someone who loved them when they died

That's more than most bettas get,unfortunately