Member

Posts: 55
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-26-2003 03:16 PM         

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I feel so bad! One of my female bettas died this morning and I have no idea why. When I first got her, she refused to eat but I was feeding pellets and I thought that might be the problem because I know some bettas can be picky eaters. So I got some baby shrimp and she started eating a little, about half a shrimp morning and night. She was in a small bowl, but I always kept the water super clean and disinfected it every week (I had her for three weeks). I made sure to stress her as little as possible every time I changed the water, too. I was having an ick problemwit the other female I have and my one male double tail had a swim bladder problem, so I made sure to wash my hands after handling any of the fish and the containers I held them in while I changed water (not with soap, I used a very diluted bleach solution 1 part bleach to ten parts water). I just moved her last night because I was worried my bedstand light might bother her eyes if I turned it on at night and she wasn't expecting it (I know, kind of stupid, but I like to make sure my pets are as comfortable as possible), checked her over when I set the bowl down, absolutely nothing seemed wrong. Her color was actually brighter than normal, which I thought was because she was finally eating. Woke up this morning, she was the last one I fed, and she was floating sideways under her plant so I knew she was dead beyond any hope. Went to flush her to fishie heaven and I noticed her head and spine area had turned dark black, her belly was white, and her tail area was even brighter than ever. It was like all of her scale color had gone to her tail. I know something had to have happened pretty soon after I went to bed because she was curled up stiff to one side, but I don't know what was wrong. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? My friend thought it might be some kind of infection, but didn't know how it could've killed her so fast. I know I take very good care of my bettas. I'm careful not to overfeed them, I make sure their bowls are disinfected at least once a week, I change the water in the smaller tanks every three days to replenish the water oxygen, and I only use spring water that's bottled to make sure it doesn't have any bad chemicals in it. Can anybody tell me what happened to her and what I could've done to prevent? Thanks for any replies!

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Member

Posts: 20
From:wethersfield, ct
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-26-2003 04:09 PM         

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i don't know much about bettas, but with my fish i personnally wouldnt use bleach to clean his tank. thats a powerful chemical in my mind and i just wouldnt do it, also you should get a small tank that you can have a filter on, this way you wont have to worry bout taking the fish out of the bowl to clean it. it would be a lot less stresfull for them. an emporer 3 would be a good tank for a bettas. my fiance has 2 emporer 3 tanks with a betta in each of them and they love it.

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Member

Posts: 55
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-26-2003 07:19 PM         

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I'm pretty new to fish, anything I used to take care of the ones I have so far is what I've read on IBC (International Betta Congress) approved sites, that's where I found out about the solution. I've never heard of an Emperor tank. How big are they and where would you find one? What do you do to disinfect the tanks? I love my fish and I really don't want to lose another one, I feel absolutely awful about Mystery. Thanks for replying!

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Member

Posts: 55
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-27-2003 12:50 AM         

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Just checked the three that are left and the other female and my single tail male are both white under their jaws, gills, and fins. Could it be a type of fungus or something?

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Member

Posts: 20
From:wethersfield, ct
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-27-2003 08:29 AM         

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you can find emprorer tanks at any pet store, if they dont have them go online and order them. they come in all sorts of sizes.

i have a 90 gallon tank which i do weekly water changes on. i usuallt remove about 25% of the water. i have a special hose that syphens the gravel and removes any waste that mey be in the rocks.

your fish may very well have a disease. go to the pet store and look atthe fish medications. the tablet medication has pictures of what the meds will cure, so you can match what you fish looks like to the correct medication.

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Member

Posts: 55
From:Youngstown, OH USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 06-27-2003 01:54 PM         

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Thanks so much! I'll have to go see about all that. I'm happy to say that the other three made it through the night and the female's looking much better.

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