Another Beta Fish Gone

[Finite Guy]

Hi All: I just had to burry another Beta Fish. My wife and daughter
were really upset. This is the second time in about a year. Not sure
what I'm doing wrong. I have them in a seperate 2 gal tanks with
filters and I change the water on a regular basis. I did notice that
at one time my daughter may have over fed the fish. Would that be a
problem if it only happened once? I told my wife we will not get
anymore. We still have one and he is in pretty good health.

Robert

[Paulo]

When you say " I change the water on a regular basis" what do you mean?
What frequency? and how much water each time?
Do you know the water parameters? (ammonia, ph, nitrites?)
--
Paulo
"Finite Guy" > wrote in message
...
> Hi All: I just had to burry another Beta Fish. My wife and daughter
> were really upset. This is the second time in about a year. Not sure
> what I'm doing wrong. I have them in a seperate 2 gal tanks with
> filters and I change the water on a regular basis. I did notice that
> at one time my daughter may have over fed the fish. Would that be a
> problem if it only happened once? I told my wife we will not get
> anymore. We still have one and he is in pretty good health.
>
> Robert
>

[James and Vikki Gilby]

Hi, Sorry I don't have any relevant advice, I just wanted to beat everyone
and be the first to correct your spelling...it's betta not beta. :-)
--Jim--
I've been lurking here too long!



"Finite Guy" > wrote in message
...
> Hi All: I just had to burry another Beta Fish. My wife and daughter
> were really upset. This is the second time in about a year. Not sure
> what I'm doing wrong. I have them in a seperate 2 gal tanks with
> filters and I change the water on a regular basis. I did notice that
> at one time my daughter may have over fed the fish. Would that be a
> problem if it only happened once? I told my wife we will not get
> anymore. We still have one and he is in pretty good health.
>
> Robert
>

[Dinky]

"James and Vikki Gilby" > wrote in message
news:GuT2c.19877$Zp.15860@fed1read07...
> Hi, Sorry I don't have any relevant advice, I just wanted to beat everyone
> and be the first to correct your spelling...it's betta not beta. :-)

<monty python>
It's a troll, may we burn it?
</monty>


<bg>

billy

[luminos]

Although they can live quite a while, in captivity, a year is actually
pretty decent. The fish was probably half a year old when you bought it,
and their max. lifespan is 2 years.

"Finite Guy" > wrote in message
...
> Hi All: I just had to burry another Beta Fish. My wife and daughter
> were really upset. This is the second time in about a year. Not sure
> what I'm doing wrong. I have them in a seperate 2 gal tanks with
> filters and I change the water on a regular basis. I did notice that
> at one time my daughter may have over fed the fish. Would that be a
> problem if it only happened once? I told my wife we will not get
> anymore. We still have one and he is in pretty good health.
>
> Robert
>

[James and Vikki Gilby]

> It's a troll, may we burn it?

Nah...not a troll...been around over a year, both posting questions and
occasionally, answers to questions. I'm just not very vocal most of the
time. --Jim--

[Finite Guy]

Every couple of weeks, I change the water. I recently got some advice
by an expert regarding ammonia etc. I don't think that was the
problem. I think the problem was to overfeeding accident. Won't
happen again.
Robert


On Sun, 7 Mar 2004 20:54:41 -0500, "Paulo" > wrote:

>When you say " I change the water on a regular basis" what do you mean?
>What frequency? and how much water each time?
>Do you know the water parameters? (ammonia, ph, nitrites?)

[IDzine01]

"luminos" > wrote in message >...
> Although they can live quite a while, in captivity, a year is actually
> pretty decent. The fish was probably half a year old when you bought it,
> and their max. lifespan is 2 years.

A year is NOT decent. A betta can live from 2-4 years with 2 on the
MINIMUM side of their usual life span.

> > Hi All: I just had to burry another Beta Fish. My wife and daughter
> > were really upset. This is the second time in about a year. Not sure
> > what I'm doing wrong. I have them in a seperate 2 gal tanks with
> > filters and I change the water on a regular basis. I did notice that
> > at one time my daughter may have over fed the fish. Would that be a
> > problem if it only happened once? I told my wife we will not get
> > anymore. We still have one and he is in pretty good health.

Overfeeding can cause a host of problems like constipation, bloating
and even swim bladder disorders but it is very unlikely that it caused
your betta to die. Especially if you only overfed it once. Two weeks
is a VERY long time to go without cleaning your betta tank, ESPECIALLY
when it's two gallons. I'm glad to hear that you have learned about
the dangers of ammonia. This is what likely killed your betta. You'll
have to purchase an ammonia test kit and test every day until you see
trace amounts of ammonia. If that happens on say, day 5, you'll know
you have to change your water every 4 days. Every betta is different
and some produce ammonia at a faster rate. It could be every three
days or every 10 days. I have one betta in a 5 gal who needs his water
changed every 4 days. And I take every precaution not to overfeed and
to remove any visible waste from the tank. You can also use Amquel and
NovAqua together to treat your water. It is much more efficient then
the Slime Coat stuff a lot of people use. The AmQuel will turn the
ammonia into a substance harmless to your betta.

Additionally, when you change your bettas water, make sure the
temperature of the fresh water is the same within a degree or so of
the temp you fish was just in. There are other factors that could have
caused your bettas illness, but this is the most likely reason.

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: Another Beta Fish Gone
>From: "Dinky"
>Date: 3/7/2004 11:38 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: et>
>
>"James and Vikki Gilby" > wrote in message
>news:GuT2c.19877$Zp.15860@fed1read07...
>> Hi, Sorry I don't have any relevant advice, I just wanted to beat everyone
>> and be the first to correct your spelling...it's betta not beta. :-)
>
><monty python>
>It's a troll, may we burn it?
></monty>

Who's a troll?
They were correct in correcting the original poster. It IS Betta, not Beta.
Betta is also pronounced "bet-uh", not "bait-uh"!

[James and Vikki Gilby]

> Who's a troll?
> They were correct in correcting the original poster. It IS Betta, not
Beta.
> Betta is also pronounced "bet-uh", not "bait-uh"



Thankyou. =)
--Jim--

[TYNK 7]

(Snipped)
>Subject: Re: Another Beta Fish Gone
>From: "luminos"
>Date: 3/8/2004 12:05 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Although they can live quite a while, in captivity, a year is actually
>pretty decent. The fish was probably half a year old when you bought it,
>and their max. lifespan is 2 years.

Tell that to my 5+ yr old Bettas.
A Bettas lifespan is not *only* 2 yrs. The average lifespan ranges from 2-4
yrs. Of course health and conditions play a large part in how long a Betta will
live.
Many times you'll even see old breeder Bettas, very lovely types and tail
varieties in pet shops. These are generally too old to breed anymore but make
great pets. These guys are fully grown, large Bettas that are added into the
shipments. If you buy one that's already filled out completely, you're not
going to have him around as long as a smaller, younger one.
Just the other day I was looking at male Bettas and saw a very young, extended
red Delta tail....couldn't be more than 6-7 months old, surrounded by a bunch
of older Veil tail (common Bettas are veils).
He was most likely a breeder's cull (to "cull" doesn't always mean to kill).