hugh betta problem?

Question

heres the deal, bought a betta this time last year, went perfect till 6mths ago when I changed its water, I always change his water at least once a week, for 6mths he did perfect, then all of sudden I did a water change (same way as always, I did nothing different) and he went belly up, then started slamming himself against everything (he was fine and had never done this, till this exact moment) so I thought, oh gosh, I didn't rinse it enough, so I took him out and added him to a clean bowl of water, rerinsed the big one, and added him back in...same thing...(but I did nothing different) thinking he was going to die, I quickly called the pet shop, but they said they couldn't help, so I waited....the next day, he was alive, but not the same betta, listless, not eating, etc. this went on for a total of 6mth, until finally the other day he died, now like I said I did nothing different then the previous 6mths, and he was fine till that very moment....what happened?

like I said, the first 6mths he was fine everytime I changed his water, the last 6 he would react the same way everytime I changed his water, falling over, slamming into things, etc, I did nothing different from the first 6mths, and just to make it clear...he had been a perfectly fine fish, (tails, eating, swimming etc) until that one water change but I did nothing different then before, I want to buy another want, but don't want to repeat the same mistake...but I still don't see what I could have done wrong. (his bowl was kept at 80, and he got 4-6 pellets of food per day which was what the instructions labeled.)

Answer 1

Since the initial episode was connected with a water change, it just about had to be the water unless you used cleaning products in the process of cleaning the bowl. I'll assume you use tap and suggest you call the water works and ask them if they have changed their system in any way in the last 6 months. For example, they may have begun to use chloramines instead of chlorine gas. In that case normal dechlorinator would break it down and release ammonia into the water. Products are sold that can handle chloramines safely for fish. Or it's possible that they began bringing in water from another source that caused pH shock.

As to the fact that it lasted 6 months, well nothing really jumps out. It's possible he injured himself during the initial episode or that heavy metals were involved, but the metals are HIGHLY unlikely.

Try to buy from a very local pet shop that uses the same water source you do. Then you avoid many of the potential problems.

Sorry, but this type of thing happens from time to time and it's rare to ever discover the cause.

MM

Answer 2

Did you dechlorinate the water before you change it?
And if you did - did you put in the correct dosage?

There could be metal elements in the water that you changed, especially if you have old metal pipes. Its important that you use a dechlorinator that's not only dechlorinate the water but dissolves heavy metals as well.
It sounds like your beta might have taken in a metal solid therefore the banging around.

The other possibility is that the water was either extremely acidic or alkaline(ph levels)... usually Bettas are fairly accommodating in terms of ph but extreme ph could lead to severe stress and death.

There could be another thousand and one reasons but from what you said these two could be the likely causes?

Answer 3

Where were you getting the fresh water from? If from you tap, maybe the water company changed the way it is treating it's water before it gets to you--like adding some new chemical. My water co. started adding chloramines to our water (but sent out notices, put an ad in the paper letting fishkeepers know); chloramines are harder to eradicate then chlorine so new chems had to be added to the water before fish use (and with one of the major dechlorainator manufactuers' products, if you put too much in the water to dechloaminate it, it causes all sorts of other havoc to happen in the tank) (I switched to bottled water--15-20 gals of it every week just for the fish--since we had such a huge die out of fish using the new chloraminated water even though we were chem treating it to make it safe) . Did you test the water to see what the parameters were? You should not be using soap in the bowl since soaps now all have other agents in them (to prevent spots, to coat them so they shine, etc.) and if you're using bleach, use a dechlorinator like Prime to neutralize it.

Answer 4

I avoid most water problems because I use bottled water for all my aquariums. Betta's don't need a temp of 80 degrees. They can live quite well at room temps as long as they are out of drafts and not in the sun. Agree, must be a difference in the water you used. If faucet water, you had no control over it. Try a gallon bottle of spring or drinking water.

Answer 5

maybe he had some sort of disease, like ich for example. did you notice any sandlike grains on him? if so then it was ich, a parisite that eats the fish inside out. do you have betta bowl/water conditioner? because you absolutely need that. it makes tap water safe for bettas. did you use aquarium salt? thats for freshwater fish and bettas. it helps boost their immune system.. dont over use it. maybe you bought him too old? how big was he> size determines age. they grow up to 2 1/2 inches. were there other fish in the tank? maybe one of them was sick and the illness spread. thats all i can think of to try and help you out! i hope what ive said gives you some insight on the problem, and im so sorry about your fish! my betta recently cmae down with ich and died yesterday too. good luck!!

Answer 6

Most likely it was due to rapid temp change. Remember that rapid change even good change is dangerous. The other possibility is he came down with ich, or velvet, and the water change had nothing to do with it.

PS- Velvet is kinda of harm to see unless you know what to look for.

Answer 7

Poor Betta. If he lives try getting a bottle of melafix, petsmart has it, it may save him. I used it on my dying betta and he perked right up, regained his color and is a lively and feisty guy again. Took almost 2 weeks for him to fully recover. I really thought he was going to die.

Answer 8

aww sorry to hear about your fish...idk what happened, at first I was gonna say change its water back but then I kept reading and saw that you did.

Maybe you should have called (or taken him/her to) the vet and told them.

Answer 9

It was probably just his time if he had never done that before next clean every 2 weeks

Answer 10

i have some suggestions
maybe a fish heart attack
or a sudden felling of insecurity
maybe was scared to DEATH