How to tell when your fish has passed

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dragon14

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I hate to even be asking this question.

He was swimming around a lot last night.

I'm pretty sure my sweet Betta is gone. He was lying on the bottom of the tank not moving for 15 mins. I unplugged the filter to see if the side to side swaying would stop and it did. No attempts at gulping in that time or since moving him to the cup.

I took him out and put him in a clean plastic cup with tank water. I'm 99.99% sure he's gone :'(

I'm very very sad, but also relieved that he's not sick and suffering any longer. I hated seeing him suffer. It was horrible.

I want to bury him but I don't want to yet in case theres a chance he's alive still. It's been about 45 minutes now since he went to the bottom. How do you know for certain when a fish has died?
 
It's been about an hour now. I'm sure he's gone :(

I'm thankful he's not suffering anymore though.
 
Sorry for your loss :( if he doesn't move when you touch him and his gills aren't moving then I would say he's passed.

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Thank you so much.

I picked him up w a gloved hand. Nothing. Nothing when I netted him out of the big tank either.
 
Really sorry, I find it's hard to lose a fish I'm such a softie! When my first betta died last year i cried!

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Thank you.

I've done some crying over the last 5 days. I bawled today for a bit.

I love him so much.

They're our little finned friends. It's ok to cry and feel sadness.
 
They're so personable, I really miss not having a betta.
At least your little guy was loved and cared for :)

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Really sorry, I find it's hard to lose a fish I'm such a softie! When my first betta died last year i cried!

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I lost a whole community tank. Sobbed until I couldn't talk. I hear you. Heck, reading this is making me tear up! I'm a big soft, overanxious fish mom
 
I lost a whole community tank. Sobbed until I couldn't talk. I hear you. Heck, reading this is making me tear up! I'm a big soft, overanxious fish mom

That would've been heart breaking, I'm bad enough when one passes never mind a whole community! That's sad.

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One surefire way to tell if a fish is no more is to hold it out of the water and check the eyes. A live fish will always look down with at least one eye (always both eyes in a healthy fish). A dead fish's eyes will remain central and stare out.

Sorry you lost your fish. It is a shame betta are short lived.
 
One surefire way to tell if a fish is no more is to hold it out of the water and check the eyes. A live fish will always look down with at least one eye (always both eyes in a healthy fish). A dead fish's eyes will remain central and stare out.

Sorry you lost your fish. It is a shame betta are short lived.

Thanks.
 
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