I lost my beloved Betta

[sunnypseudo]

I will start off by saying, I'm not a fish enthusiast. I'm not even a Betta enthusiast. Truth be told, I never saw myself as a fish owner because they are fragile creatures, and as weird as it sounds, I'm not fond of things dying under my watch. So that being said.. I got a Betta nearly two years ago from a Petco, blue/green/purple Half Moon, because, believe it or not, the guy was trying to get me to bring him home. I started him in a two and a half gallon tank with live plants and filter, and pretty regular tank cleanings/water conditioning to the letter every time. He did wonderfully. I started doing more reading about Bettas a while back, and thought it would be nice to upgrade him to a ten gallon tank. I had heard that the larger the tank, the more exercise, the longer they live, as well as, with a larger tank, you can have bottom feeders and I thought it would just be a nice thing to do for my little buddy. We had gotten three spotted cory and aside from his first discovery of other life on this planet, he did great. They never picked on him, he never picked on them. A few days after we had gotten everything set up, one of the cory went for the big sleep. My husband (who knows a lot more about this stuff than I do) assured me that its normal to lose a fish after bringing home. Being some what familiarized with Betta behavior and sicknesses, I've kept a watchful eye on him for these last (nearly) two years, and nothing had really changed until yesterday. He didn't have rapid gill movement, he wasn't tucking his fins in, he wasn't even hanging out at the bottom. Once he did arch his head back which I thought was strange so I watched him for a bit, and he swam off, and resumed as normal. The only other strange thing that happened was yesterday he didn't seem to want to eat. I know it isn't uncommon for a fish to skip a day, he has before, so I just kept an eye on him. By last night, he was sideways on the bottom of the tank, and I caught him just as he passed. We removed him immediately into our spare tank. Now, I watch him, or have watched him closely, there had been no previous discoloration of fins or gills, no scale loss, no spots, no blood. When he was passing, this was the first I had seen his gills looked swollen and bloody. We checked the PH level and it was under .25. I've been keeping the tank at about 76 degrees, which is the same temperature my Betta has always lived in.

The two cories that are left seem to be doing just fine, no changes with them at all, though I haven't had them for more than a week, so I don't know them like I knew my Betta.

The only thing his visual symptoms matched up with was ammonia poisoning, but I don't see how that can be possible when the PH level was fine. Is there a chance this really could have been old age? Until I can get to the bottom of this, and make sure the other two cory will be fine, I really don't want to bring home anymore little guys for risk that they may die on me too.

 

[rich311k]

I am sorry for your loss. If I read that correctly he was 4 years in your care?

 

[sunnypseudo]

No nearly two years. If it were four, I would have expected this or something like this.

 

[Dylan5359]

What about ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

 

[Kat1103]

You stated this is a brand new tank? Most likely it is cycling. Cycling is strenuous on fish. And with your betta's old age he probably wasn't strong enough to ride it out. You need to get a test kit and test the water often during cycling and do frequent water changes to prevent anymore deaths. Good luck and sorry to hear about your betta.

 

[sunnypseudo]

Actually reading back through it, the time can be a little off..

For nearly two years I had him in a 2.5 gallon (filter, plants ect), a week ago we moved him to the ten gallon with the three little cories, and everyone did fine, one cory passed about three days ago, and I lost my Betta last night.

 

[Dylan5359]

It's most likely, like stated above, a cycling caused death.(not trying to sound rude but do you know what cycling is?) Did you notice anything weird around the body, like white liquidy stuff? Because I've had a betta killed by an algae bloom before.

 

[sunnypseudo]

Actually I have no idea what cycling is and I was going to ask, please define for me. And no, there was nothing strange on him no white, no red (until he passed around his gills) no brown or rust color.

 

[Dylan5359]

Well fish produce waste which turns in to ammonia. (highly toxic to fish and the ammonia level should always be a 0) That ammonia converts into nitrite. (nitrite, highly toxic and should always also be at 0) However, that nitrite converts into nitrate. (not toxic in small numbers) Cycling, is gaining the bacteria needed to have this ammonia-nitrite-nitrate possible. Cycling also should be done before the fish is in the tank, so when ammonia is at 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate is low you can add fish. There are also many ways to cycle a tank, fish less which could be as simple as throwing in a piece of raw shrimp, or a fish in cycle, which you unknowingly did. When your betta was in the not yet established tank he suffered from different changes in ammonia and nitrite leading to his death. It worked in the 2 gallon because he was younger and hardier, but with age he was at when you made the switch, he could not handle such toxic levels. Back to cycling,cycling can take from 2-4 weeks maybe less, and the point of it is when you do get your fish, and when it does produce waste it will automatically convert. (Sorry if I did not explain it to well)

 

[sunnypseudo]

Well I really wish I had read about cycling or knew about it previously to this.. I can see how this could (probably did) do him in. The only test kit that I could find was a Phosphate test kit. I guess its time for me to go find a different store to find one for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. From what I read the only things I seem to have done right was take some of the gravel from his old tank and put in live plants.. Thanks for bringing this up, at least I'll know for the future.

 

[sunnypseudo]

No you explained that perfectly Dylan, that was just about the same thing I just read. Again, thank you very much for bringing this up.

 

[Dylan5359]

Well I really wish I had read about cycling or knew about it previously to this.. I can see how this could (probably did) do him in. The only test kit that I could find was a Phosphate test kit. I guess its time for me to go find a different store to find one for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. From what I read the only things I seem to have done right was take some of the gravel from his old tank and put in live plants.. Thanks for bringing this up, at least I'll know for the future.

You would be best off buying an API liquid test kit- freshwater. It's accurate, not like test strips. Yes good move on the gravel from the old tank. That probably would have sped up the cycle. Also don't blame yourself, we've all been there.

 

[sunnypseudo]

Is there a different API test kit different from API Phosphate PO Test Kit Fresh Water/Salt Water? like should it say its for ammonia and nitrite/nitrate?

 

[Dylan5359]

API master test kit. (forgot to add the master part) http://www.petco.com/product/103685/API-Freshwater-Master-Test-Kit.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

They sell them at petco, petsmart, and some times at your LFS. (put cursor over acronym to get the definition)

 

[Dylan5359]

*Also, something you'll come to realize is never trust what the fish store says. They usually have no idea what they are talking about. Better yet post a thread on this site asking us, that is if you continue into the fish hobby, which I hope you do.

 

[sunnypseudo]

Aaaah, ok so that is what I need to be looking for. I don't think they had that one in stock when I went, I'll check other places this weekend to see if I can't find it. Thank you so much. Just wish I did the research before moving him. At least, hopefully I can prevent from doing this again. In the mean time, should I try moving the cories? or is the damage basically done and just wait now?

 

[Dylan5359]

Moving the cories I think will just cause more damage. You have some established tank media from the previous tank which is speeding up the cycle. They are hardy it seems or they would have passed with the betta. I think the ammonia and nitrite levels may be starting to change now. One thing you may be able to help them with is do a PWC or two each day until the tank is cycled. (again put cursor over acronym for definition) Its usually cheaper to buy the API master test kit online, well from my experience.

And no problem. Any other questions you have I'll be happy to answer either through this thread or through a P.M.

 

[sunnypseudo]

Thank you thank you thank you. I will start on that right away. And yea, if I have anymore questions, I'll be coming back to you guys.

 

[Dylan5359]

As I'm sure you already know, make sure the water is dechlorinized. Tap water has some nasties that could easily kill your fish. (unless you have a filtered water system hooked up to your faucet)

 

[sunnypseudo]

I just do the water conditioner stuff since I don't have filtered water, and I don't typically keep distilled water either.