My nephews betta fish keep dying

For some time, I’ve owned fish, more specifically bettas and goldfish. Of course, when I was younger, I didn’t realize what was necessary for their general care. It took me growing into an adult to realize a lot of what goes into caring for animals as I have not had any since childhood. Now that I can understand it better, I want to learn how to truly maintain a healthy tank.

A few months ago, my nephew ( 9 y/o ) and I went to the pet store for one of those “first pet” moments. He chose two betta fish ( Nightmare and Dream) and a split tank to keep them in. I then chose to get myself a betta ( Dexter )that seemed to have gill hyperplasia. Even after treatment, which I read only this week that the majority of people do not suggest things like Pima/melafix for the bettas. Unfortunately, that’s what the pet store recommended to me. Anyways, his fish keep dying. I’ve gotten betta fish from here before . The last one ( Patrick ) I had for three years and this one ( Dexter ) I’ve had for months with no problems other than the gill damage he had from the store.

Since that day, I’ve had to replace my nephews fish twice now. The first time was within the first two weeks, with only one ( Dream ) passing and this second time, the one that survived ( Nightmare ) the last time stopped floating and swimming and was at the bottom of the tank. He didn’t appear to be breathing heavily or in any sort of distress so we tried to clean out the tank and treat him. I spent hours upon hours searching forums exactly like this to try to find out what went wrong. The second fish ( Dream 2.0, ) who was a replacement already and seemed perfectly healthy, passed shortly after that and then the one that was not floating was gone the next day. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what happened and where we went wrong. I’m not sure if it was the treatment because I didn’t know it was not ideal for bettas until after their death or if it was something else but here’s the information that I have on it.

My nephew is very young and he’s already going through a lot of hardships. He’s a gentle soul but tends to act out very rashly when upset. We are trying to shield him from the loss of a pet for a little longer. He often forgets he has them as he is an active child with severe ADHD, but when he occasionally remembers that he has the fish (my mom takes care of them regularly) he tends to over feed which leaves us cleaning the tank quite often. We test the water and try to, for the most part, use well water. The second fish ( Dream 2.0 ) who was no I’ll at first had no prior visible symptoms of anything occurring to end it’s life. Which leads me to believe that it was the treatment. Especially after reading many stories about it killing otherwise seemingly healthy bettas. However, I still don’t know what got the first one sick in the first place. When he died, I put him in a cup of water. The water turned black (the fish was a black crowntail ) and there was black bits floating around him. Nothing like anything seen in his tank. When I eventually got around to burying him, the paper towel I laid him on was also stained black. I looked through forums and images and videos and everything I could find about swim bladder, ick, fungal and bacterial infections, parasites, fin rot, etc. Everything I could think of. I have tried to put in keywords to figure out what was going on that had him so sick in the first place because it was so instant. He went from happily swimming in his tank to it floating but scooching around the bottom.

So I went to the pet store today to replace both fish. I spent hours sanitizing the tank to make sure nothing that could get them sick as well would be in it. But now I’m worried about if anything will happen. I’m not sure of what to look for or what to treat them with. And I’m even growing concern for my own fish and his well-being, especially with his gill damage. Do you guys know what could have happened ?

I apologize for the length of this, but I’ve really been stressing it for the last few days. And I really don’t want to spend another 60 bucks on those expensive fish he picked I need to keep Dream 3.0 and Nightmare 2.0 alive as long as possible.

important questions I also have:
What is a safe treatment options for bettas ?
What are warning signs to look out for in order to safe the betta if something happens again ?
How often should I change the water for my betta with gill damage, and should I do a complete water change or a partial ? If partial, should it be more like 20-30% or 50-60% ?
Here’s Dream3 (orangey yellow,) Nightmare2 (black,) and Dexter ( red and yellow ) for reference

 

Hi dextersmom Welcome to fishlore.

I read all of your post and the key word that stuck out very strongly to me are .

Quote
”I went to the pet store today to replace both fish. I spent hours sanitizing the tank”

These words are enough for me to say you do not understand the nitrogen cycle?

Basically we have living bacteria in our tanks that consume toxic ammonia and turn In into bacteria poop called nitrates. Having colonies of this living bacteria in a tank means we say the tank is cycled. Short for has a full working nitrogen cycle.
It takes weeks to build these colonies and we do not sanitise tanks or filters.

We all keep fish and will all answer questions.
As you have your own tanks it’s imperative you research the nitrogen cycle today.

To answer some of your questions in your first post.
#1
Fresh water is the best medicine.
#2
Any change in behaviour even if still eating is the warning sign.
#3
When a tank has a full working nitrogen cycle we can change 45% once a week ( in a five gallon or bigger tank ) As they tank/ tanks have no working nitrogen cycle changing some water every 48 hours will keep the toxic ammonia at a minimum level. There is no safe level for ammonia.
#4
Never change more than 50% at one time.

I could write multiple lines trying to help with fish husbandry but without your understanding of the nitrogen cycle nothing else is important.

 

Hi dextersmom Welcome to fishlore.

I read all of your post and the key word that stuck out very strongly to me are .

Quote
”I went to the pet store today to replace both fish. I spent hours sanitizing the tank”

These words are enough for me to say you do not understand the nitrogen cycle?

Basically we have living bacteria in our tanks that consume toxic ammonia and turn In into bacteria poop called nitrates. Having colonies of this living bacteria in a tank means we say the tank is cycled. Short for has a full working nitrogen cycle.
It takes weeks to build these colonies and we do not sanitise tanks or filters.

We all keep fish and will all answer questions.
As you have your own tanks it’s imperative you research the nitrogen cycle today.

To answer some of your questions in your first post.
#1
Fresh water is the best medicine.
#2
Any change in behaviour even if still eating is the warning sign.
#3
When a tank has a full working nitrogen cycle we can change 45% once a week ( in a five gallon or bigger tank ) As they tank/ tanks have no working nitrogen cycle changing some water every 48 hours will keep the toxic ammonia at a minimum level. There is no safe level for ammonia.
#4
Never change more than 50% at one time.

I could write multiple lines trying to help with fish husbandry but without your understanding of the nitrogen cycle nothing else is important.
View attachment 853928

Ive done my research on the nitrogen cycle. I understand it, but the fish that were previously in the tank fell ill and I did not want to introduce the new fish into a tank where they would potentially get the same sickness that the others died from. I still haven’t figured out what got him sick in the first place, but I had concerns that it would effect the new fish. I bought the bacteria starter that was suggested for the tank and I check ammonia levels frequently

 

You said you use well water. Please be advised that well water is often low in oxygen and will kill fish. Aeration for 24 hours will make it fish ready. With low oxygen water, fish are lethargic and stressed and their defenses are down. Consider aerating your well water vigorously before using in aquarium.

 

I stand corrected. I am sorry dextersmom you did research the nitrogen cycle.

Good luck with bacteria in a bottle.

 

Hi dextersmom,

They are all beautiful bettas!!!!

Perhaps if we had some more info about your nephew's tank, it would help.

Have you tested the well water (source water) to get the water parameters? Frank the Fish guy is right about well water being low oxygen...

Please fill out the emergency template, and hopefully something might pop out. Just copy and paste the questions into a post and answer them as best as you can.

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Weekly water changes - at least 40 to 50%, to keep water pristine, is the main treatment/preventative.

For treatment, I guess it depends on what is going on with the betta. I recommend aquarium salt for helping with breathing issues, body injuries, fin issues - a lot of things. Follow the directions on the package. Don't use it for more then 10 days in a row, or two weeks at the most, as over usage will make it ineffective, like over using antibiotics.

Bettas like tannins, so using Indian almond leaves in the tank is very helpful. The leaves will tint the water brown, and the tannins provide slight anitbacterial and antifungal properties. Some drift wood will also release tannins, but if you have a smaller aquarium, the Indian almond leaves work well, so another preventative.

The temp needs to be 78 to 80 degrees. Colder temps will stress them out and cause stress.

I have read that for divided tanks, it is helpful to have a small filter for each side, so a sponge filter for each betta would be really good.

Just a fyi, the bettas will know that there is another betta in the tank, even though they can't see one another. This could cause some stress.

I hate to suggest it, but would it be possible to get another small tank for one of the two fish (5 gallon)? Just a thought...