No Luck With Bettas, Please Help.

Hi yall. I joined this website hoping that maybe someone might have some insight on what is going on.
Every betta fish I've owned usually dies after half a year, and I'm getting frustrated. I don't know what I could be doing wrong.
I have a betta in a 29 gal planted aquarium thats also stocked with blue shrimp and oto catfish, and was of course cycled as I got him in Oct and I started the tank in last April. He looks like he has become anemic as he has lost weight, but still will eat his food, and likes to hang out at the top now, and acts lethargic. The past two betta fish I've owned have also come to this fate and it seems to just happen out of the blue (and they where in a 5 gal tank before this one).
Nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia levels are usually at zero with the exception of my nitrates going to .5 before water changes sometimes. Temp is usually at 76 and PH is around 7.5-7.8. I feed him frozen blood worms and he sometimes would eat a shrimp if he could catch it.
I put API General Cure in the tank in hopes that might help since I think it might be parasites, but I would like to see if any of you guys might know whats happening and how I can prevent it since I really do not have any fish keeping friends.
Thank you
- Day

 

A possibility could be your Betta's diet. Bettas are carnivorous and mostly eat insect larvae and other small invertebrates in the wild; not just one particular food. If your tank and everything is normal maybe you should try alternating his/her diet. Maybe on somedays you feed the Betta Bloodworms, then the next or other day, you feed your Betta Hikari Bio-Gold. Then again it might not have anything to do with the food and could be something else.

 

I never thought about about that, I'll try your suggestion and see if he changes any. Thank you!

 

It could also be where you are sourcing your fish. Some of these fish are breed for numbers and not quality/ longevity.

 

We have found that our long finned bettas do not live nearly as long as their short finned counterparts. And they are much less active as they get older. If your bettas already have long long fins when you purchase them they could also be older already. For foods our bettas love bug bites, frozen foods, floating pellets. Some of them will eat flakes and others won’t.

 

It could also be where you are sourcing your fish. Some of these fish are breed for numbers and not quality/ longevity.

He came from my favorite fish store, but I'm unsure if he was some of the local bred betta's they do sell sometimes. I'll have to ask them to see where they also get their betta fish from. Thank you!

We have found that our long finned bettas do not live nearly as long as their short finned counterparts. And they are much less active as they get older. If your bettas already have long long fins when you purchase them they could also be older already. For foods our bettas love bug bites, frozen foods, floating pellets. Some of them will eat flakes and others won’t.

Hes a plakat betta, and I got him in hopes that he would live longer since I've heard longer fin bettas can struggle. He had a very spunky personality the first few months I've had him. Would even actively hunt or be very curious of the shrimp, but suddenly he doesn't wanna explore and just hangs at the top of the tank in the corner. Today I noticed hes struggling to eat too, doesn't even go for it if it starts to float down.
I'll be trying to give him a new diet in hopes that might help. Thank you for the suggestions!

 

Sounds like you offer your Bettas a beautiful tank environment.
How often do you change the water?
I learned over the past year that Bettas are soooo sensitive. If I don't change water all three days, my Betta develops holes in his fins and gets more lethargic (Red has only a 20gl tank). Do I change water at my higher frequency schedule, his lethargy is diminishing. There is more to water than just the parameters. So this may be an option.

 

Sounds like you offer your Bettas a beautiful tank environment.
How often do you change the water?
I learned over the past year that Bettas are soooo sensitive. If I don't change water all three days, my Betta develops holes in his fins and gets more lethargic (Red has only a 20gl tank). Do I change water at my higher frequency schedule, his lethargy is diminishing. There is more to water than just the parameters. So this may be an option.

Every Monday I do a 25% water change since its my scheduled day off from work. I can def try to do one every Thursday also and see if that helps. Thanks!

 

Update!

Hello, its been over a week since I tried yalls suggestions and am happy to let you guys know he is finally starting to act like himself again!
He is no longer hanging out at the top of the tank in one corner and has seemed to started to gain back his weight since I changed his diet, give bi weekly water changes, and gave a parasite treatment. He's even going after his food when it starts to skin again. The only thing thats happened is that he caught a case of fin rot after I posted, but thankfully that is fairly easy to cure and is already starting to recover from it.
Thank you all again for your suggestions, I appreciate it so much.
-Day

 

The other detail that caught my eye was your tank temperature. I fully admit that I’m a new betta owner but everything I researched suggested a higher temperature than 76 for bettas.
But so glad to hear he is doing better!

 

The other detail that caught my eye was your tank temperature. I fully admit that I’m a new betta owner but everything I researched suggested a higher temperature than 76 for bettas.
But so glad to hear he is doing better!

My mistake! I thought it was above 75, but I can definitely turn it up a notch. Thank you!

 

I actually keep one of my plakats at 76 and he's perfectly happy and healthy despite people suggesting bettas live at warmer Temps. I never keep mine above 78 anymore and don't have any more issues with fungal/bacterial fin rot which if feel like becomes a more prevalent issue with higher temperatures because it creates a better growth environment for bacteria. I've been in the hobby for a good couple of years now, over that time I've kept a lot of species of fish, most considered much more intermediate fish than bettas. But for some reason, I've always had problems with bettas in the past despite good water quality, religious weekly water changes, and good diet and proper tank setup. Unfortunately I feel that like dwarf gouramis, bettas are just becoming very over farmed and as they continue to breed heavily to pull new colors and fin types, the trade is left with most fish having weak immune systems. Or at least that's my thought on it which is why i stayed away from bettas for a few years until earlier this year when I got back into them again. I would never get another long finned variety again, and I haven't had nearly as many health issues with plakats. All my long finned bettas were constant struggles with random fin rot over the years I had them.

 

I actually keep one of my plakats at 76 and he's perfectly happy and healthy despite people suggesting bettas live at warmer Temps. I never keep mine above 78 anymore and don't have any more issues with fungal/bacterial fin rot which if feel like becomes a more prevalent issue with higher temperatures because it creates a better growth environment for bacteria. I've been in the hobby for a good couple of years now, over that time I've kept a lot of species of fish, most considered much more intermediate fish than bettas. But for some reason, I've always had problems with bettas in the past despite good water quality, religious weekly water changes, and good diet and proper tank setup. Unfortunately I feel that like dwarf gouramis, bettas are just becoming very over farmed and as they continue to breed heavily to pull new colors and fin types, the trade is left with most fish having weak immune systems. Or at least that's my thought on it which is why i stayed away from bettas for a few years until earlier this year when I got back into them again. I would never get another long finned variety again, and I haven't had nearly as many health issues with plakats. All my long finned bettas were constant struggles with random fin rot over the years I had them.

I totally totally agree. Don't get me wrong, bettas are nice and all but it's like 60% of the time a long-finned variety betta always gets fin rot. Like its just baffling but then again what do you expect from an overbred species. That's why when I do get a betta I'll do a koi plakat. (They're my favorite.) Bettas are really nice fishies but they're very fragile imo.

 

I totally totally agree. Don't get me wrong, bettas are nice and all but it's like 60% of the time a long-finned variety betta always gets fin rot. Like its just baffling but then again what do you expect from an overbred species. That's why when I do get a betta I'll do a koi plakat. (They're my favorite.) Bettas are really nice fishies but they're very fragile imo.

Gotta agree, unfortunately. I've been running a Betta rescue for 7 years and over that time I've actually noticed an increase in health problems - especially with long-fins, although I have plenty of them in foster homes right now without problems. A few of them in particular, though, have had what I call "Chronic Fin-Biting" which is where a Betta will chronically nip edges off of their fins to find relief. It's sad but true.

It's because of too much selective breeding, I feel as if Bettas are getting weaker like Neons. My very first Betta was Bluestar who was a long-finned Turquoise Roundtail female and lived to be 4 years old (she would've lived longer but a malfunctioned heater shortened her lifespan). Soon after I received Ghast who was a Blue Grizzle Combtail and lived to be over 6 years old. An ex-friend a few years back had her boy, Steven, live to the ripe old age of 8! Sadly though, over the years I've noticed a drastic decrease in life expectancy. Long-finned females like Bluestar are now living 6 months instead of several years. Deformities are becoming more prevalent, too, with x-factor scales, hunchbacks, spoonheads, and tumors becoming more common. It's sad, really, and is the main reason why I would like to switch over to wild Betta species instead (especially albimarginata!)

 

I actually keep one of my plakats at 76 and he's perfectly happy and healthy despite people suggesting bettas live at warmer Temps. I never keep mine above 78 anymore and don't have any more issues with fungal/bacterial fin rot which if feel like becomes a more prevalent issue with higher temperatures because it creates a better growth environment for bacteria. I've been in the hobby for a good couple of years now, over that time I've kept a lot of species of fish, most considered much more intermediate fish than bettas. But for some reason, I've always had problems with bettas in the past despite good water quality, religious weekly water changes, and good diet and proper tank setup. Unfortunately I feel that like dwarf gouramis, bettas are just becoming very over farmed and as they continue to breed heavily to pull new colors and fin types, the trade is left with most fish having weak immune systems. Or at least that's my thought on it which is why i stayed away from bettas for a few years until earlier this year when I got back into them again. I would never get another long finned variety again, and I haven't had nearly as many health issues with plakats. All my long finned bettas were constant struggles with random fin rot over the years I had them.

Interesting, I will keep that in mind. Thank you!
And agreed, thats why I did go with a plakat this time after hearing a few concerning things. As much as I think a rosetail is gorgeous, I don't think a betta should be bred to have bigger fins as it just seems to weigh them down as they get older and causes more problems in the long run.
Despite what has happened recently, this is honestly the one that has given me the least issues so far which is one of the reasons it was so disheartening to see him suddenly decline in health.

 

Interesting, I will keep that in mind. Thank you!
And agreed, thats why I did go with a plakat this time after hearing a few concerning things. As much as I think a rosetail is gorgeous, I don't think a betta should be bred to have bigger fins as it just seems to weigh them down as they get older and causes more problems in the long run.
Despite what has happened recently, this is honestly the one that has given me the least issues so far which is one of the reasons it was so disheartening to see him suddenly decline in health.

Try not to get too discouraged. I've been there, so I know the feeling. Sometimes you can do everything right and then some fluke issue happens with your betta ):

 

To add to this btw, the easiest way to avoid having consistent health issues from your bettas is to go with a private breeder via ebay or aquabid. Even then, i have a galaxy koi from one eBay breeder who developed hole in head, came down with dropsy, and I nursed him back to health from the brink of death, but he is kind of a runt and has a small body. Another samurai plakat I got from a different ebay breeder is extremely stocky, he's an absolute unit for a standard (not king) sized betta and has perfect fin shape and he has had zero health issues since I've gotten him. I feel that with bettas, less is more in regards to setup. For some reason mine always do better with just a heater and sponge filter than an actual filtration system like a canister or HOB, not sure if it has any relevance, just my personal observation over the years.

 

To add to this btw, the easiest way to avoid having consistent health issues from your bettas is to go with a private breeder via ebay or aquabid. Even then, i have a galaxy koi from one eBay breeder who developed hole in head, came down with dropsy, and I nursed him back to health from the brink of death, but he is kind of a runt and has a small body. Another samurai plakat I got from a different ebay breeder is extremely stocky, he's an absolute unit for a standard (not king) sized betta and has perfect fin shape and he has had zero health issues since I've gotten him. I feel that with bettas, less is more in regards to setup. For some reason mine always do better with just a heater and sponge filter than an actual filtration system like a canister or HOB, not sure if it has any relevance, just my personal observation over the years.

In conclusion, I feel like the best way to try and ensure a good life for your Betta is to keep up with your tank maintenance. Whether koi, halfmoon, plakat, etc. All Bettas are still the same in essence.