bcfishtanks
- #1
Hi, everyone,
I'm not asking about recent problems here. This is just out of curiosity. I'm wondering if, without pictures and parameters, we can solve some mysterious deaths of some bettas I had several years ago before I learned a lot about betta-keeping aside from feeding schedules and to condition the water. Of my four past bettas, two I know the cause of death (old age for my first one and complications after overfeeding for my third), but two still allude me. Let's see if we can crack the code.
Mystery #1: Bowie (Second)
The fact that Bowie died is not surprising. He was a 1 gallon bowl betta without a filter or heater. I did 100% water changes once a week. He liked no food that I got for him, and I tried 3 different brands. He started to get lethargic about 3 months into owning him. I got him a small heater, but it didn't help his lethargy. One day, I woke up and his dorsal fin looked completely knotted up. Not ripped. It had a literal knot/lump in it, and he was completely clamped. I did a lot of intense betta research (and there was more widely available at this time, 5 years after I had kept my first betta) and realized "Wow, bettas need a filter!" So, I got a two gallon tank - uncycled, of course - with no decor to get caught on and PimaFix (which had helped my first betta with cotton wool fungus several years earlier). It did nothing (obviously, since I didn't know what was wrong with him and PimaFix isn't good for bettas). Red lesions started appearing on his head, would scab over while he was asleep, and then would open again if he swam. I started doing daily water changes, which didn't help, and after two weeks since the knots in his tail started, he died literally right before my eyes.
I understand that poor water quality was the initial issue, but... doesn anyone know why he got knots in his tail and red lesions on his head?
Mystery #2: Oscar (Fourth)
At this point, I knew all about cycling and water testing. I had researched good pet stores, understood what meds were and were not good to use, had a filter and heater running... everything was great. I bought this beautiful marble koi plakat from my LFS (that had barracks for their bettas instead of cups... so cool). He had a massive head, and was friendly, beautiful, and healthy. His silver scales had started jumping, and I was really excited about this fish. And then he promptly got lethargic two weeks later and was dead within 12 hours. I had absolutely no idea what happened and was devastated. I nearly quit fishkeeping forever after that.
Obviously, I didn't, since I have a very successful 5g betta tank and 30g community tank now. But those two deaths still plague me. Any ideas on what could have happened to either of those bettas?
Thanks!
I'm not asking about recent problems here. This is just out of curiosity. I'm wondering if, without pictures and parameters, we can solve some mysterious deaths of some bettas I had several years ago before I learned a lot about betta-keeping aside from feeding schedules and to condition the water. Of my four past bettas, two I know the cause of death (old age for my first one and complications after overfeeding for my third), but two still allude me. Let's see if we can crack the code.
Mystery #1: Bowie (Second)
The fact that Bowie died is not surprising. He was a 1 gallon bowl betta without a filter or heater. I did 100% water changes once a week. He liked no food that I got for him, and I tried 3 different brands. He started to get lethargic about 3 months into owning him. I got him a small heater, but it didn't help his lethargy. One day, I woke up and his dorsal fin looked completely knotted up. Not ripped. It had a literal knot/lump in it, and he was completely clamped. I did a lot of intense betta research (and there was more widely available at this time, 5 years after I had kept my first betta) and realized "Wow, bettas need a filter!" So, I got a two gallon tank - uncycled, of course - with no decor to get caught on and PimaFix (which had helped my first betta with cotton wool fungus several years earlier). It did nothing (obviously, since I didn't know what was wrong with him and PimaFix isn't good for bettas). Red lesions started appearing on his head, would scab over while he was asleep, and then would open again if he swam. I started doing daily water changes, which didn't help, and after two weeks since the knots in his tail started, he died literally right before my eyes.
I understand that poor water quality was the initial issue, but... doesn anyone know why he got knots in his tail and red lesions on his head?
Mystery #2: Oscar (Fourth)
At this point, I knew all about cycling and water testing. I had researched good pet stores, understood what meds were and were not good to use, had a filter and heater running... everything was great. I bought this beautiful marble koi plakat from my LFS (that had barracks for their bettas instead of cups... so cool). He had a massive head, and was friendly, beautiful, and healthy. His silver scales had started jumping, and I was really excited about this fish. And then he promptly got lethargic two weeks later and was dead within 12 hours. I had absolutely no idea what happened and was devastated. I nearly quit fishkeeping forever after that.
Obviously, I didn't, since I have a very successful 5g betta tank and 30g community tank now. But those two deaths still plague me. Any ideas on what could have happened to either of those bettas?
Thanks!