My Bad luck & betta

??? ???
Yesterday I noticed Jewel my darker colored betta was really swollen in her belly. She has been full of eggs(or so I thought) since I got her a few months ago. She looks awful this morning! Her belly looks as tho it about to bust open. :'( She is just sitting on the bottom of her tank, very weak. From my experience when they have a swollen belly/bloat they don't survive.
All I have to say is I am NOT getting another betta. Especially from that lfs. > I have my male who has had continuous fin rot since I bought him.
I am really sick of losing my betta.
Needless to say I am pretty upset right now.

 

Sorry to hear that about your female.

With the male, I do not understand why it has continuous fin rot. Unless you aren't treating long enough to get rid of the bacteria that eats away at the fins, then you should be rid of it, unless it is something about your water conditions that could be causing it.

Happen to have a picture of the female?

 

HI Allie. I am sorry you are having so much trouble with your bettas. I hope she feels better soon.

Ross, you know, there are many cases of male bettas with recurring finrot, with perfect water conditions and while medicating long enough. It could also be down to bad stock, or the fish being irreversibly weakened by past bad conditions, couldn't it?

 

Sorry to hear that about your female.

With the male, I do not understand why it has continuous fin rot. Unless you aren't treating long enough to get rid of the bacteria that eats away at the fins, then you should be rid of it, unless it is something about your water conditions that could be causing it.

Happen to have a picture of the female?

I will try to get a picture later on. My bf is still in bed (worked late) and the betta tanks are in the bedroom.
I followed the instructions to a T with all the treatments (triple sulfa, em tablets, fungus cure0 I have tried. The only thing that seems to help with growth is the fin protection stuff & daily water changes and low flow filter or none at all.
Do you mean euthanize my male He really doesn't seem sick, just the fins get better than break off.

 

HI Allie. I am sorry you are having so much trouble with your bettas. I hope she feels better soon.

Ross, you know, there are many cases of male bettas with recurring finrot, with perfect water conditions and while medicating long enough. It could also be down to bad stock, or the fish being irreversibly weakened by past bad conditions, couldn't it?

Thanks. I hope she can make it thru this...but my hopes aren't high. :'(

 

No, I think Ross means rid of the finrot, not the male.

 

No, I think Ross means rid of the finrot, not the male.

Oh lol.

 

I will try to get a picture later on. My bf is still in bed (worked late) and the betta tanks are in the bedroom.
I followed the instructions to a T with all the treatments (triple sulfa, em tablets, fungus cure0 I have tried. The only thing that seems to help with growth is the fin protection stuff & daily water changes and low flow filter or none at all.
Do you mean euthanize my male He really doesn't seem sick, just the fins get better than break off.

Oh yeah...he has been in 3 different tank since I got him. Would that make a difference? I keep changing the 10gs so I can disinfect the ones he was in before.

 

I don't know. I mean it's really a rock and a hard place. Sure it's better for them to have stability, but then again, when do you disinfect the tanks, then.

 

Armadillo may be right. Low quality fish sometimes may = low immune system which would sometimes = increased disease. Perhaps that male just has a particular weakness to finrot.

Was just trying to understand, wasn't meaning to get rid of the male by any means.

 

Waah!!! you guys she is dying I can tell the way she is breathing. She looks like her fins frayed. My heart is breaking...I really have an attachment to her. This sucks!!!

Well the way they treat their betta at this lfs, definitely is a problem. I should tell them, that in the past 1.5 years I have had 7 betta who all died of some sort of disease.
Nigel I had for a year but he was my first betta...he had all kinds of problems which I treated him for many times. He must have been a stronger guy.

 

HI Allie
I am so sorry to hear about your betta. Its very sad to see them like that and not be able to help. We get so attached to our fish, especially the bettas with their wonderful personalities. I'm sure you have done everything you can for her, and now just keeping her in her tank where she is comfortable and secure is all you can do now.
~ kate

 

Thanks Kate. I don't think she'll make it thru the day.
I'd really like to know what I am doing wrong with betta? They are the only fish besides male angelfish we've had a lot of trouble keeping. I am thinking it's gotta be the lfs they came from to begin with.

 

It could be Allie, its so hard to tell. Are you getting healthy ones from the LFS or are you getting rescues that you are trying to save? I have four bettas and started out with five so only lost one in the last 8 months. They have to be one of the easiest fish to keep, other than the fin rot and that can take a toll on them. I also have angel fish, bought two in july and still have them.
Its the other fish that I have lost repeatedly, the playties, mollies, tiger barbs ... the list can go on and on.... And I thought THEY were supposed to be the easiest fish to keep!
Other than the LFS selling sick or weak ones, its possible that where you are getting them, they just are not changing water etc etc ...and producing sick/weak fish. And if its not that, maybe its time to review what your routine is with the Bettas? And try to figure out if there is something missing? I know that you are a great fish mommy by all your posts and do great with the cichlids..
So what can it be? Temp*? feeding routine ?... water changes...? PH?
I can understand your frustration, like I mentioned, I have lost so many fish it does get discouraging....
~ kate

 

It could be Allie, its so hard to tell. Are you getting healthy ones from the LFS or are you getting rescues that you are trying to save? I have four bettas and started out with five so only lost one in the last 8 months. They have to be one of the easiest fish to keep, other than the fin rot and that can take a toll on them. I also have angel fish, bought two in july and still have them.
Its the other fish that I have lost repeatedly, the playties, mollies, tiger barbs ... the list can go on and on.... And I thought THEY were supposed to be the easiest fish to keep!
Other than the LFS selling sick or weak ones, its possible that where you are getting them, they just are not changing water etc etc ...and producing sick/weak fish. And if its not that, maybe its time to review what your routine is with the Bettas? And try to figure out if there is something missing? I know that you are a great fish mommy by all your posts and do great with the cichlids..
So what can it be? Temp*? feeding routine ?... water changes...? PH?
I can understand your frustration, like I mentioned, I have lost so many fish it does get discouraging....
~ kate

The temp, ph and water are always consistent. 80-81, 7.4 and we do a lot of water changes on all of our tanks. Feeding usually about 3-4 pellets twice a day or a few flakes.
I do know that this lfs gets all their fish orders in from China...the same place every time.
It also seems like this particular store treats it's more expensive fish a tad better. They bring in a lot of great quality oddities & Africans...but their angelfish & betta quality is terrible. To keep one black angelfish I went thru 2 others who died within the time to get a refund. It's ridiculous.
It's one of the reasons we/my boyfriend are/is opening a fish store in 2 years. We will have our own breeding facility...and get wild caught fish to breed with. My boyfriend has his "plan" for the fish business...as soon as he is finished with business school....it will all come into place.

 

HI Allie
thinking that those poor betta's are shipped all the way from China and the conditions in transit in those tiny bags is just awful. No wonder so many get sick, fin rot and are weak. I assumed that your water conditions were great and I know you take great care of your fish and have the knowledge as well for the upkeep of them. Good luck with the plans on opening a fish store. It sounds like a great business plan! ;D

~ kate

 

I think it's definitely possible the reason for the sickness is the place you get your Bettas at. since starting tropical fishkeeping I have bought a group of livebearers 4 times. Once from Petco, twice from Petsmart, and once from my good lfs. The Gups I got from Petsmart were fine for a while and then came down with tuberculosis. The Platys from Petco were constantly sickly, and finally died when they caught TB from the Gups. I recently bought some variatus from Petsmart. They came down with gill flukes and I've tried a number of different things, but the flukes won't go away. Now one of them is dying of either TB or whirling disease and I suspect another to have the beginnings of whichever disease it is. The Platys I got from my lfs also came with a slight fluke infection. However, they recovered from it very quickly--most of them I didn't even have to medicate, just needed a couple salt baths. They are now healthy and thriving. My lfs is the only place that takes good care of their fish and gets better quality stock, so it is obvious to me that health and disease resistance has a very direct relationship to what kind of store you get the fish at.

I am very sorry to hear about your female. Is she still bloated? You could try giving her an epsom bath, which helps to draw out the fluids.

I bet your fish store will be great. I wish more hobbiests would open their own stores so I wouldn't be forced to shop at places like Petco/smart.

 

I think it's definitely possible the reason for the sickness is the place you get your Bettas at. since starting tropical fishkeeping I have bought a group of livebearers 4 times. Once from Petco, twice from Petsmart, and once from my good lfs. The Gups I got from Petsmart were fine for a while and then came down with tuberculosis. The Platys from Petco were constantly sickly, and finally died when they caught TB from the Gups. I recently bought some variatus from Petsmart. They came down with gill flukes and I've tried a number of different things, but the flukes won't go away. Now one of them is dying of either TB or whirling disease and I suspect another to have the beginnings of whichever disease it is. The Platys I got from my lfs also came with a slight fluke infection. However, they recovered from it very quickly--most of them I didn't even have to medicate, just needed a couple salt baths. They are now healthy and thriving. My lfs is the only place that takes good care of their fish and gets better quality stock, so it is obvious to me that health and disease resistance has a very direct relationship to what kind of store you get the fish at.

I am very sorry to hear about your female. Is she still bloated? You could try giving her an epsom bath, which helps to draw out the fluids.

I bet your fish store will be great. I wish more hobbiests would open their own stores so I wouldn't be forced to shop at places like Petco/smart.

She is bloated and has been pretty much the whole time I have had her. I was looking thru my new betta book...they showed a betta with a tumor. It looks exactly like poor Jewel. :'( I had male betta who had the same problem last year.

 

I really have an attachment to her.

Of course you do! So sorry to hear this.

I doubt if you're doing anything wrong. I think it's just a combination of bad lucky, crappy breeding and conditions the fish are kept in.

I know of people taking meticulous care of their bettas, yet have ongoing problems with finrot and other things.

Just last week I had to euthanize a Walmart betta. I think she had some genetic problem and nothing I did could cure her.

Bettas are little heartbreakers. We get so attached to them.

 

Hey.. we're really sorry that your little female betta is sick. they are so easy to love I hope that it's not a tumor and we can find a way to help her out.

Honestly, a tumor does sound likely, but she could be egg-bound now, severely constipated or it might be early stages of dropsy or even an internal thing like parasites or a bacterial infection.

What is her usual diet?
She's been bloated the whole time you've had her but did she have a sudden increase to her current bloating or has it been gradual with no sudden changes?
Do her scales stick out any on the sides?
Have you tried small pieces of pea or daphnia & did she eat anything in the last day?
Can she get up & down to the surface or do you think she would do better to be in a floating container to be closer to the surface?

 

Hey.. we're really sorry that your little female betta is sick. they are so easy to love I hope that it's not a tumor and we can find a way to help her out.

Honestly, a tumor does sound likely, but she could be egg-bound now, severely constipated or it might be early stages of dropsy or even an internal thing like parasites or a bacterial infection.

What is her usual diet?
She's been bloated the whole time you've had her but did she have a sudden increase to her current bloating or has it been gradual with no sudden changes?
Do her scales stick out any on the sides?
Have you tried small pieces of pea or daphnia & did she eat anything in the last day?
Can she get up & down to the surface or do you think she would do better to be in a floating container to be closer to the surface?

:'''( Found her dead before we went to sleep earlier.
She/the betta usually have Omega One Betta pellets and Tetra tropical medley. 3-4 pellets or a tiny bit of flakes 2 times a day.
She looked egg bound/fat since I got her she got extra bloated over night it seemed. Her belly was white & tight looking. No scales sticking out, and no she hadn't eaten in 2 days....guess we know why now.
RIP Pretty Jewel. :;a

 

:'''( I'm so sorry that she didn't make it. I would really guess that she had a tumor and there wasn't anything that could have been done to get rid of it, but what you did do was give her a good home where she was happy for the time that she had.

 

:'''( I'm so sorry that she didn't make it. I would really guess that she had a tumor and there wasn't anything that could have been done to get rid of it, but what you did do was give her a good home where she was happy for the time that she had.

Thanks...but all these betta deaths are turning me off betta. I know it's not the betta it the quality of betta I was getting. I got all 6 betta in a 2 weeks span a few months ago. All came from the same shipment. Now I have 2 left.
Hopefully I won't lose them too.

 

:'( It is discouraging to lose them, I still miss the 3 that we've lost, especially my little blue-eyed Sora. :'( The bettas at the big LPSs are culls from breeders usually but I think the way they're treated at the store (and in some cases by the breeders) is what makes them get like that. I think that a lot of breeders supplying the big chains maximize profit with bad breeding practices.

I hope that your 2 Bettas will do well and that you'll find Bettas much happier when you get to having your own shop. I know that the conditions at the pet stores make us wish we could open a Betta store in denver.

Thanks...but all these betta deaths are turning me off betta. I know it's not the betta it the quality of betta I was getting. I got all 6 betta in a 2 weeks span a few months ago. All came from the same shipment. Now I have 2 left.
Hopefully I won't lose them too.

 

:'( It is discouraging to lose them, I still miss the 3 that we've lost, especially my little blue-eyed Sora. :'( The bettas at the big LPSs are culls from breeders usually but I think the way they're treated at the store (and in some cases by the breeders) is what makes them get like that. I think that a lot of breeders supplying the big chains maximize profit with bad breeding practices.

I hope that your 2 Bettas will do well and that you'll find Bettas much happier when you get to having your own shop. I know that the conditions at the pet stores make us wish we could open a Betta store in denver.

Well I know for a fact that these betta aren't treated right at all. I got Jasper when the shipment came in. A bunch of little bags with betta in a bigger bag. I looked thru 30-40 betta. I figured getting the fish when the shipment came in was a good thing. They weren't sitting around long. Tho the do come all the way from China.

My bf made a good point. How can we take a fish from a rice paddy field and put them in a filtered tank and expect them to thrive in conditions different from the fields?

 

That's the thing about aquariums, they're not natural so we have to do what we can to compensate.

 

That's the thing about aquariums, they're not natural so we have to do what we can to compensate.

How do you replicate a rice patty field?

 

So sorry to hear about your girlie.

Tetra tropical medley. 3-4 pellets or a tiny bit of flakes 2 times a day.

If you do decide to get another, maybe you could substitute bloodworms for the flakes, which are not good for bettas and can swell in their stomachs causing bloat and constipation.

For pellets, it's best to stick with those made especially for bettas, like HikarI Bio betta Gold.

 

So sorry to hear about your girlie.



If you do decide to get another, maybe you could substitute bloodworms for the flakes, which are not good for bettas and can swell in their stomachs causing bloat and constipation.

For pellets, it's best to stick with those made especially for bettas, like HikarI Bio betta Gold.

I use Omega One betta pellets nad the tropical medley for bettas

 

They tend to like mild current, water about a foot deep and tannins in the water. But the Betta Splendens we get in the store are pretty far removed from wild ones and so many generations of breeding them into the long finned, colorful Bettas makes aquariums almost their "natural" environment.

How do you replicate a rice patty field?

 

They tend to like mild current, water about a foot deep and tannins in the water. But the Betta Splendens we get in the store are pretty far removed from wild ones and so many generations of breeding them into the long finned, colorful Bettas makes aquariums almost their "natural" environment.

True....IF I do get betta sp again I am ordering them from a good breeder or get some wild caught ones of a different betta species.

 

There are so many beautiful wild species of Betta.. Although they're timid, I have enjoyed having MahachaI since they can share a tank. It's too bad we lost our adult male on the trip here though. Smaragdina can also be kept more than 1 to a tank and do look similiar to MahachaI in some respects. I love the coloring of the Rutilans and the Albimarginatas the most of the wild species.

True....IF I do get betta sp again I am ordering them from a good breeder or get some wild caught ones of a different betta species.

 

If you want a wild, easy to find, and inexpensive betta, you might want to look at Imbellis. They're beautiful and relatively peaceful too so you could have more than one in a larger tank with lots of plants etc!

https://www.ibc-smp.org/species/imbellis.html

My local Big Al's often has them for 3.99 each.

p.s. I would still not feed flakes to bettas, no matter what it says on the package.

 

If you want a wild, easy to find, and inexpensive betta, you might want to look at Imbellis. They're beautiful and relatively peaceful too so you could have more than one in a larger tank with lots of plants etc!

https://www.ibc-smp.org/species/imbellis.html

My local Big Al's often has them for 3.99 each.

p.s. I would still not feed flakes to bettas, no matter what it says on the package.

Thanks I will give the flakes to the angels...there is a bits of dried krill and shrimp pieces in there too. I try to pick them out for the betta.
I just got a Betta book, it was suppose to be a xmas gift but my bf decided to give it to me now...considering all the betta drama that ha been going on here. There is a huge chapter on the different betta species...I think I shall start researching wild types asap...then maybe once we move I can order some in.

 

Wow the Imbellis is gorgeous!!

 

Yes, they're gorgeous - very beautiful in person with deep electric colours!

They were in a 20 gallon tank at the petstore, and I think there were about 8 of them, both males and females together. They were very active, and came flying up to me immediately, hoping for food no doubt. I was drooling over them and really wanted a couple, but had no room.

There were some ripped fins of course, and the males flared at each other but there were no serious injuries or real fighting. The tank had no plants or cover of any kind, so I bet there would be even less damage in a nice planted tank.

Just one warning about wild type bettas - they JUMP!

I'm glad you're giving up the dry food for your bettas. It just bloats and constipates them. Not to mention they go ballistic over bloodworms!

 

Just one warning about wild type bettas - they JUMP!

I'm glad you're giving up the dry food for your bettas. It just bloats and constipates them. Not to mention they go ballistic over bloodworms!

*Note to self* Make sure to get canopies for 10gs if I get any wild betta. The more I read the more I want, lol.
We have frozen blood worm cubes here for our Datnoids so I'll steal a few worms from their cubes for the betta. How many frozen worms should a betta have? Not much, eh?
At this point when it comes to betta sp, I will listen to all advice from now on.

 

I feed 3 - 4 worms each, depending on size of betta and worms. My small sized girl gets 3 medium sized, and my large boys get 4 each. I feed by hand to make sure they get each worm. They seem to love it when you drag the worms around in the water, so they can "catch" them.

The worms should be completely thawed, preferably in tank water.

 

I feed 3 - 4 worms each, depending on size of betta and worms. My small sized girl gets 3 medium sized, and my large boys get 4 each. I feed by hand to make sure they get each worm. They seem to love it when you drag the worms around in the water, so they can "catch" them.

The worms should be completely thawed, preferably in tank water.

Thanks. I'll give them a little treat before bed tonight.

 

I thaw mine in Garlic Guard for extra taste.

I feed 3 - 4 worms each, depending on size of betta and worms. My small sized girl gets 3 medium sized, and my large boys get 4 each. I feed by hand to make sure they get each worm. They seem to love it when you drag the worms around in the water, so they can "catch" them.

The worms should be completely thawed, preferably in tank water.