atmmachine816

I'm starting to get tired of spending money on a fish then it dies in less then a week. First betta dies from stressing himself out and high nitrites. Second betta dies from possibly cotton mouth in one day. My very first betta died from old age and that was before I know anything and he lived for over a year and he lived in less than a gallon for half a year in unfiltered and unheated water and never got sick or died then lived in my 29 for another 7 months. Why are these bettas dieing in heated and filtered tanks. Is it possibly because of the heated water because the other betta did fine without heated water or at least lived longer. Should I try introducing them to the tank in room temperature and gradually raise it up? My mom's not going to let me keep the tank up much longer if I can't get a betta to live. Could it happen to do with the way the betta is kept at the store?

Austin

chickadee

Are you putting the fish into quarantine when you bring them home and using the quarantine tank to get them used to the water that they are going to be kept in? Yes, it could be the difference in the way they are kept at the store. You can see that they are kept in tiny little cups and the water may be not changed as often as you would do at home. Are you sure the tank is cycled? Austin, there are some fish that can handle a partially cycled tank and finish the cycle for you, but the betta is not one of them. They do not do well in ammonia even a little bit and nitrites are almost as bad. Those long fins are just begging to give in to finrot and the coolwater diseases of ICH and finrot are easily picked up by them for some reason. Maybe you are like Gwenz and the Betta just is not a fish that will do well for you. Have you considered just going to another type of fish or is there some reason why you must have a Betta?

If you decide to try another Betta I would make particular sure that you quarantine them in a seperate tank for at least 2 weeks and introduce them to their new water very slowly. Perhaps there is a big difference in the pH or hardness or some other parameter of the water. You may try testing the bag water and the tank water seperately before you take the fish out of the bag so you can see how much change he is going to have. Your LFS may be adding a pH altering agent to their water and your pH may be a lot different. I am NOT sure about any of this I am just throwing out possibilities but you need to know the parameters that the fish was in and what he is going into in your tank and then slowly add your water to his bag until it is about half your water and half his original bag water (I only add about 15cc at a time about every 3 minutes or so) it is a very long process I know but worth it if there is a big change we are talking about. Sometimes patience is the name of the game and it is very hard to practice.

Rather than giving up on keeping fish all together though, I would give up on Bettas and find a hardier fish. You are from the UK and so is Gwenz and she recently found out that Bettas were not able to be kept about her location and that may also be your problem. Check with the local pet shops and see if they have had a high number of Betta fish die lately. There could be a reason for it.

Rose

poefox

I had exactly the same experience you did, exactly. Don't be discouraged. You aren't a fish murderer; we're land mammals and its hard to keep fish alive. That's the blunt and honest truth. Sometimes they are disease bombs waiting to happen; that's what you need a quarantine tank for. I did that for just a short time with Rusty and did a gradual addition of water from the big tank to a small carry container I put him in. But some of those cups and jars bettas are in in stores are dirty. You have no idea what's been going on there. Don't blame yourself. You could either try other kinds of fish or try the quarantine thing.

atmmachine816

My mom doesn't understand the idea of a quarantine tank so I can't have one. I know I should have one my my mom and dad won't let me. No Rose there is no reason I must have a betta, it's just very limited to what I can do with the tank I have and my mom won't let me upgrade at all. Obviously it's not me so I might just give up on them. I would ask my lfs but there's no guarantee that they would even tell me the truth or know what they are talking about. I don't know

Boxermom

One of the main problems with small tanks is that there is very little room for error, and conditions can fluctuate very rapidly. With larger tanks, there's more room for error. Its hard to stabilize a small tank and keep it cycled. With my small tanks, I do water changes a minimum of twice a week, 90% changes on all of them.

Something you might want to consider instead of a betta are African Dwarf Frogs. They're tiny and you can have two in a 2.5 tank. No heater is required since they like cooler water, and they are air breathers. They are loads of fun to watch, clowns in tiny bodies. And they are pretty hardy. At least mine always have been.

SunnShadow

Yes! African Dwarf Frogs are totally awesome! Very clownish, as Boxermom said, and some of the positions they take are almost "zen"-like..... I often see Spot (my A.D.F.) in a pose where he seems to be totally relaxed, doing the "Ohhhmmmmm" thing.
Another thing you may want to consider: ghost shrimp. They are also easy to keep and fun to watch.

S.

Boxermom

I love the many zen positions the ADFs take. Standing on their back tippy toes, holding on to nothing, gently swaying in the current. One of the ones I have at work on my desk perched himself on top of a mystery snail, his nose just poking out of the water. That way he didn't have to keep going up for air. One of my new ones likes to float on the surface of the water. He stays there so long I have to poke it to make sure its still alive. :lol: And I just love watching the conniption fits they have when they molt, the freaky, jerky dance to remove the skin. First time I saw it, I thought "What the is wrong with my frog?!"

Gwenz

atmmachine, don't give up. Maybe try another type of fish. I tried keeping bettas a few times, but none of them survived longer than a few days.

Ask at your lfs if there have been many deaths with bettas recently. I asked at my lfs and they said that there is something in the water around where I live which you can't take out, that most fish will be fine in but for some reason, bettas just can't cope with it. Maybe it's the same for you.

I didn't want to be the reason for more bettas dieing so I stopped trying to keep them. I am now thinking of getting a dwarf gourami instead as they are in the same family of fish, (Is this right? Correct me if I'm wrong), and have the same types of needs.

Don't give up.

Gwenz

chickadee

You are correct. Technically a Betta is in the same family as the Gourami.

Rose

Gwenz

I thought so. Thanks Rose.

Gwenz

ecnaj143

I found out the my skylar was happier in the 1/2gal hospital tank then in his 5gal tank. So, I'm keeping him in the 1/2gal. I change the water once a week, and everytime after I change it, the next day, theres a bubble nest. So, he's happy where he's at. You all can fuss and say I'm mean, but he skylar is happier in there, then I would rather have him in there.

Boxermom

I've found that my guys prefer to be in smaller tanks as well. Anything bigger than 3 gallons and they just lay around on the bottom of the tank. I think they feel more secure in their surroundings when its smaller.

atmmachine816

Can't adf's escape in not completly covered tanks, though if they can't then my only problem is convincing my mom on letting me get frogs. I live in the US though I see about bettas. I would have to keep the water heated slighty with adf's though since a mystery snail is in there. I'v thought about raising baby guppies in there again, I just leave them in there until they are too big then I move them to my big tank and once they are full grown I give them away so don't worry about them beinght too small.

Boxermom

Mine have never escaped or tried to. The tanks need to be covered, of course, but mine have feeding holes and the holes for the filter and I've not lost any. Never had one jump out. Just keep the water level about an inch or so lower than the top.

Mystery snails are fine in cooler water, too.

atmmachine816

ok well I have a small opening whether it would jump or not idk.

atmmachine816

Ok so I guess I have a few options.

1. take the tank down.
2. try one more time with a betta
3. adf's
4. baby guppies
5. shrimp
6. snails

I like 3 and 4 best though it all depends on my parents. What do you think. What would I have to feed the adf's?

Boxermom

Frozen bloodworms are best, they're carnivores.

atmmachine816

How do you go about feeding them the frozen bloodworms? What else can I feed them for variety?

Boxermom

Frozen bloodworms come in either cubes or a slab. I buy the slab, then chop them up into small pieces and put them in a ziplock bag and toss them back into the freezer. The cubes are too big and, for me at least, too hard to chop up. Easier to get the slab and I think they are cheaper and last longer. I haven't found anything else mine will eat. I've tried frozen mysis shrimp, frozen chopped clams, live bloodworms and a few other things. The problem is they are very near-sighted, so they rely on their sense of smell to find their food. The live worms dig their way into the gravel before the frogs even know they are there. So I just stick with the bloodworms. Once a day, I drop a chunk into the tank. I even tried the tadpole pellets - don't bother, they're about the size of a grain of sand and are far too small for the frogs - they just fall into the gravel never to be seen again.

atmmachine816

So just chop off a small piece then throw it in the tank and it becomes edible in there and defrosts in there? Can I do this with my other fish too.

Boxermom

Yup, I feed all of mine a variety of frozen foods. Just drop the pieces into the tank and they almost instantly thaw.

atmmachine816

My biggest problem with the adf's is that my mom doesn't want frogs in the house. I'm trying to convince her to let me get them so if I want to I can.

Boxermom

Explain that these aren't normal kinds of frogs that will get loose and run around the house. They are strictly water frogs and if they get out of the water, they'll die pretty fast.

atmmachine816

Ya that's what I'v been telling her, I think I'v convinced her but now she wants to try a betta from a fish store that takes really good care of their fish since she thinks it's the stores fault that the bettas have died.

Boxermom

Good luck! If you can tell that a fish store takes good care of their fish, you're off to a good start. There's an LFS that I won't buy fish from. They have a ton, especially different types of puffers, but almost all of the tanks have at least one dead fish in them, often more. The plants are absolutely covered in algae. And the fish are kept in inappropriate conditions (all of the puffers, for example, regardless of type, are throw into brackish water - there are a lot of deaths in that tank). The only thing we buy there is frozen food and live blackworms, because its cheaper than the other LFS. No livestock though.

atmmachine816

Yes there are two by me but I barely ever go because they are out of the way. I have completely stoped buying anything from petsupermarket but I still buy supplies from another store by me. I noticed today that they had a huge bottle full of nox-ich with directions on how to use it in bold letters. It was half gone too, I wonder if they use that as a preventive measure or if they have ich a lot. I fed some blood worms to my fish today my rasboras and guppies loved them but the angels didn't bother eating them and the sick neons didn't do anything.

atmmachine816

I won't be able to get any frogs anytime soon though because of the six neons.

SunnShadow

If you do get ADFs, and want to feed them something else for variety, I give mine ReptoMin floating food sticks. If the frog doesn't get to them before they sink, he can still eat them off the bottom. I've fed this to all my ADFs, along with frozen bloodworms, and never had a problem.
(Mystery snails like them too. They are good for the snails, since they have calcium in them.)

S.