Sad Day

[Kwenbee]

Well, I got home last night and poor Jake the Betta was history. No apparent reason. He had seemed a little listless for the past day or so, and yesterday, just to be safe, I checked the water levels. All were fine.

When I scooped him out of the water, his belly seemed a little puffy, so I don't know if it was a food issue or what. He was in a split 10 gallon tank. Each side of the tank had one betta and two catfish. The catfish and the other betta are all fine.

We had been feeding them the same amount every day, so I know we didn't overfeed him...I guess maybe it was just his time. Poor guy.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm so sorry to hear that. He may have been bloated due to blockage. For many fish, withholding food and feeding blanched peas works to clear things up (I don't know if it works on bettas).

 

[Devilishturtles]

sorry to hear about yout fish kwen..I had something similar happen to my betta not to long back. How long have you had him, or do you know how old it was? Bettas don't last to long from what I understand. 1-2 years on average. Maybe it was just his time...

 

[Christmasfish]

Kal-El; one of my daughter's higher class bettas died last night while we were gone for about 4 hours. Her Steel Melano geno full Half Moon male. Her only steel. And only true Half Moon.
She is totally thinking it was the fault of herself,
because while cleaning tanks yesterday he was left in the changing bowl on a higher shelf while we were gone. but is is still a qt of water. This guy has always been rather small with finnage that is more than double his body volume and when he doesn't flare or eat, he lays against the tank side on the bottom in a blanket pile of his fins. Maybe he wasn't vital enough for a drop in temp.
If it was not for an appointment I had I wouldn't have rushed her out the door.
As a precaution I told her to put hands in her discus tank last. Bettas are pretty susceptible to bacterias and fungus because the labyrinth organ. And we suspect the Discus may be somewhat ill after his ordeal and exposure to newly caught wild fish. I see things going from box to tank there all the time.

Maybe areonomas is in the air as well as the first breath of spring...
Lotta mystery betta fatalities lately

 

[Kwenbee]

I thought about the digestive thing, but didn't have any frozen peas to try to feed him. I wasn't sure if broccolli or string beans would quite be the same

So, I just hoped for the best, but unfortunately it didn't work. I have no idea how old he was. We've had him since January and bought him at Petsmart. He was a very lively fish. He danced in front of the glass when you walked up to it and even kind of came up to your finger when you fed him. My husband said he had a bit of 'tude cuz he was always flaring at Bill across the divider.

He was a beautiful betta...much bigger than Bill, his neighbor. We're going to replace him tomorrow night, but I am really bummed that we lost Jake.

 

[Menagerie]

Better to have loved and lost than ....
I forget how it goes. Anyway, loving and caring for our finned frieds is hard, for the most part they are short lived

 

[Endgame319]

Lots of the bettas you get at fish stores are actually quite old - the full grown ones have much better finnage than the young ones. I'm guessing natural causes.

 

[Allivymar]

Aw bummer Kwenbee I'm sorry. Its always hard to lose a fish, but harder when one is really personable and close to your heart (I'm sad when I lose a schooling fish like a cardinal, but I'd be crushed if one of my angels died).

The lil guy definitely had a good life tho; MUCH better then the one he would have had languishing in the lfs or stuck in a tiny container.

 

[An t-iasg]

Sorry about Jake, Kwenbee...he did have a good life with you, and I'm sure he liked his nice tank and the catfish buddies!