Betta Woes!

[Flash Wilson]

Ok, well I won't kill the ones I've got :)

Any advice is welcome here.

I've got two 2.25g tanks, which are heated but not filtered and
I change half the water every week. I test it and it never has
any problems with quality.

I bought an adult betta male about 5 months ago, and he has been
getting lazier of late. So I bought another male for the second
tank to cheer him up a bit. The second male didn't eat any of the
very varied food I offered, and died after 10 days ;(

So I cleaned the tank thoroughly and left things for a while having
taken advice on this forum.

Then I saw female bettas and decided THEY might perk up my male,
and in any case I thought they were quite pretty in their own right.
I bought two (having watched them carefully to make sure they dont
fight and having checked if they fight in the small space I had for
them I could return one, etc etc).

The next day one's eyes were bulging out of its head. I got a
free replacement. The fish died later that day, leaving me with
two females - one from the pair and a new one. The new one was
aggressive however and chased the remaining one about. Well I got
around that by putting lots of little hiding places.

A couple of days later I noticed the quiet one was now dominant,
flaring at the other fish. They'd swapped roles. Later that day
the new one died - completely unexpectedly with no drama and no
injuries or symptoms - I was watching and it just dropped dead!

So now I have one female on its own, looking ok. Wonder if she
will remain so.

The original male is still with me, he lies on the floor breathing
lightly most of the day but I still get him to come up for food
and he will flare at the female. In fact she went all stripey
for a short while ;) He even occasionally gets up to blow a bubble
or three. When he up, he rubs a lot on the plants and I think he
might have some kind of infection.

I've asked my three local LFS and one I use online, and I can't
find Bettafix or Bettamax here (in the UK). I tried treating my
betta with Esha 2000 but his tank is quite small so it was only
one drop - literally.

Anyone got any other ideas on how to help him? I think he is old
and wearing down, but he might also have parasites of some kind from
the recent flashing I've seen him do.

The other female seems fine, but I'm worried she will drop dead all
of a sudden and I'd like to be sure I am doing my best for her.

Anyone have any ideas?

Temp is usually 26C but has been up to 30C recently, water parameters
are all fine, and I change the water with a thin tube to syphon so
the disturbance is minimalised... not sure what else might help!

Cheers,




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[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Betta Woes!
>From: (Flash Wilson)
>Date: 8/20/2003 9:04 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Ok, well I won't kill the ones I've got :)
>
>Any advice is welcome here.
>
>I've got two 2.25g tanks, which are heated but not filtered and
>I change half the water every week. I test it and it never has
>any problems with quality.
>
>I bought an adult betta male about 5 months ago, and he has been
>getting lazier of late. So I bought another male for the second
>tank to cheer him up a bit. The second male didn't eat any of the
>very varied food I offered, and died after 10 days ;(
>
>So I cleaned the tank thoroughly and left things for a while having
>taken advice on this forum.
>
>Then I saw female bettas and decided THEY might perk up my male,
>and in any case I thought they were quite pretty in their own right.
>I bought two (having watched them carefully to make sure they dont
>fight and having checked if they fight in the small space I had for
>them I could return one, etc etc).
>
>The next day one's eyes were bulging out of its head. I got a
>free replacement. The fish died later that day, leaving me with
>two females - one from the pair and a new one. The new one was
>aggressive however and chased the remaining one about. Well I got
>around that by putting lots of little hiding places.
>
>A couple of days later I noticed the quiet one was now dominant,
>flaring at the other fish. They'd swapped roles. Later that day
>the new one died - completely unexpectedly with no drama and no
>injuries or symptoms - I was watching and it just dropped dead!
>
>So now I have one female on its own, looking ok. Wonder if she
>will remain so.
>
>The original male is still with me, he lies on the floor breathing
>lightly most of the day but I still get him to come up for food
>and he will flare at the female. In fact she went all stripey
>for a short while ;) He even occasionally gets up to blow a bubble
>or three. When he up, he rubs a lot on the plants and I think he
>might have some kind of infection.
>
>I've asked my three local LFS and one I use online, and I can't
>find Bettafix or Bettamax here (in the UK). I tried treating my
>betta with Esha 2000 but his tank is quite small so it was only
>one drop - literally.
>
>Anyone got any other ideas on how to help him? I think he is old
>and wearing down, but he might also have parasites of some kind from
>the recent flashing I've seen him do.
>
>The other female seems fine, but I'm worried she will drop dead all
>of a sudden and I'd like to be sure I am doing my best for her.
>
>Anyone have any ideas?
>
>Temp is usually 26C but has been up to 30C recently, water parameters
>are all fine, and I change the water with a thin tube to syphon so
>the disturbance is minimalised... not sure what else might help!
>
>Cheers,
>

Hi Flash.
Sounds like your male may have a parasitic problem.
I'd treat him with something like Quick Cure. It does more than just kill off
Ich or Velvet. I've used it for things that no one could identify, only to have
it fix the problem.
It is a harsh med, and can be toxic to some types of fish (scaleless fish and
inverts).
As for the females, they've been coming in for a month now (around IL) with
some type of something going on.
They look fine, next day they clamp fins, do a jerk here and there and then
die.
These are with young and older females, great finnage, etc.
They look perfectly fine one minute and dead the next.
I've seen this happen before with female Bettas, and back then I concluded it
was a "Betta related issue" only, because only Bettas in a community tank were
affected. It killed them all, yet no other type of fish.
This is a great example of why quarantining is so very important.
The fish may look perfect, and in prime condition. However, they can be
harboring something lethal.
How is the last female doing?
Try not to cross contaminate between the male's tank and the tank that the dead
females were in.