I swear, I have no luck with bettas!
So many of them dieing before their time... *sigh*

Well my big pretty girl Bertha is sick.. has been sick for a while now no matter what I do.

She first started to get what I thought was columnaris pretty much right after I got her... even though none of the other fish ever had any signs of it.
So I treated the tank with maracyn 1&2 multiple times, and eventually gave her medicated food which seemed to do the trick. She perked up for a while and the whitish "columnaris" spots cleared right up.
Well about 2 weeks ago, she started showing signs of getting it again. So I tryed feeding her the medicated food again, but she was NOT having any of it. She would spit it back out and one of the other girls would grab it, so I didn't try that again b/c I don't want the other fish eating it.

So I treated the tank with tetracycline, and it's not helping her at all. I think she might be on her last "legs".
She's been resting in the plants alot and not eating, and just a bit ago, she was struggling to stay up near the top to get a breath. She'd struggle up, then immediatly sink down to the floor and rest partially on her side.
I scooped out some water and her and put her into a bowl so she won't have to struggle in her last moments.... I just hope she passes quickly though. I really don't want to have to euthanize her, but I also don't want her to suffer for long.

Dangit!! Why Can't my bettas just LIVE!!
You always hear about bettas living in miserable conditions where the person doesn't give a crap, and here my bettas are, living in the ideal tanks, cycled, warm, planted, etcetc, and they drop like flies
BLEH!!!

And I'm going to have to put in 2 more females into my tanks of death so the remaining 2 girls who are still together don't completely rip eachother to shreds now that it's just the 2 of them.........

This post has been edited by Amunet: Jun 28 2008, 01:06 AM

putting her in the bowl is kinda euthanizing her in a way. no heater/filter..

and your sig says you have an empty 3gal.. if she does die cant you seperate the other girls using this tank?

or just get another divider for your 10gal which already has them in.

getting more fish isnt the answer really, and its best to wait a week or so after a death before putting more in

edit: but i do hope she gets better, have you tried melafix?

This post has been edited by Hawkins: Jun 24 2008, 11:16 AM

First up....
So, do you go around to the ppl here that keep their bettas in unfiltered unheated containers and tell them that they're slowly euthanizing their fish?
I don't want to come off hostile or anything, but statements like that are a bit silly and unnecessary.

I put her in to the bowl w/ about a little over an inch of water so she wouldn't struggle to get to the surface for air. The bowl is sitting on top of the 3 gallon tank (in the water) so it stays heated and I've been doing small water changes in it to make sure the water inside is as clean as possible.
The reason I'm not putting her into the 3 gallon is because I'm still debating whether or not it would be safe enough to do so since it seems like every betta I put in to it MIGHT be getting sick from the same thing.
I'm probably going to end up putting her into it though so I can treat her w/ some more meds. NOT melafix. I refuse to use it on bettas b/c I'm paranoid it will hurt them. After things I've read about it having a risk of screwing up their labrynth organ.. I just don't want to take that risk if I don't have to. I have a shelf of other meds I can use instead so... hopefully *crosses fingers* one of them works.

And .... pls don't take my tone as talking down. Dernit, it's so hard to get your tone across on the internet lol
But why in your opinion do you think getting more fish isn't the answer? Or waiting a week after a fish death before getting more fish? That just came off as very strange advice that you gave
Yeah I'd never follow the wait a week thing I get very attached to my fish, so if one dies, I mourn, but when I see those bettas in the store needing a good home... I can't help myself if I have the room to get some. I can still mourn as my new fishies enjoy their new home

ANYWHO.... I might just divide the tank with the girls in it. I'm still not sure yet on if I do want more bettas at this moment. Not b/c I don't want them mind you, but b/c we're in the process of trying to find our first home and it would just be easier if I have less fish to transfer whenever we do move heh

Status on my sick girl... she's still very much alive in the bowl. I think she likes not having to go up far for her breath. I don't know what to do though. I'm super paranoid about placing her in to the 3 gallon tank. After the last betta developed dropsy in it after being as healthy as a horse... I'm just so hesitant, BUT I don't want to give up on her so would like to medicate her some more.
I guess if I medicate... I could hope that whatever (if there is anything) is in the tank will be killed by the meds...... *shrugs*

I honestly dont think it is anything personal towards you, or the way you look after fish. My to CT Rescues died of the same thing It is the way the shop treats them not you:/ Dont give up on Bettas!!

Oh I don't plan on giving up on them, it just majorly sucks that I can't seem to keep them alive no matter what I do. I get my bettas from Petsmart, so that might be my first problem. My girl Bertha did develop "columnaris" pretty much right after I got her. I think she just has weak genes or something b/c the other girls in the tank are super healthy and have never shown signs of sickness.. same w/ the male betta. *shrugs*

I guess its kinda pot luck. And Hawkins, thats a load of rubbish.

Well, my poor girl lost the battle not too long ago.
I did a small water water change like I've been doing since putting her into the container. She seemed to be in the same state she was before. Just resting, breathing slowly and heavily.... didn't seem to be getting worse.
Got up to let dogs out about 10mins ago and saw that she was dead.

At least it wasn't dropsy. God I hate dropsy... it looks SO awful and looks like it hurts the fish so much (even if it doesn't.. it looks painful to me). At least it didn't appear like she was in any pain before she passed... sigh.... poor girl

It did look like the bump thing on her chin might've burst. Glad I got her out when I did. It would've really sucked if it had burst while she was still in the tank and whatever bacteria it was that she had infected the other fish.

I hate losing her though. She was the first betta I picked for my sorority. I just knew I wanted her as soon as I saw her. She was such a gorgeous girl. I knew she was going to be my dominant girl.. and she was heh... which is why I gave her her name... something that sounds kinda rough and big and mean lol. She actually wasn't mean though. She was dominant, but she never nipped.

Here are a few pics of her.. mainly from when I first got her. She always appeared green when I took pics, but in most angles, she was a gorgeous rich blue color.

Bertha w/ the other gals

Being a little piggy

Begging for food like a good little betta

Flare off



RIP girl.... RIP

So sorry Amunet, she was a beautiful girl Bertha

Well it seems that I've spoken too soon b/c I woke up today and my Pinky girl was breathing heavily and resting inside of the ornament at the bottom of the tank.
Usually when I open up the lid, they instantly dart up to the surface begging for food, but she didn't, so I knew something was wrong.

Sigh.. I swear............... I'm not sure whether to be sad or angry.
The 2 remaining girls have been nothing but healthy since I got them. Were healthy yesterday, eating as they should, flaring at eachother, swimming around with so much energy, and then this happens......


I think she's developing dropsy. She looks bloated and a few of her scales on her stomach are starting to stick out. Her breathing is pretty rapid. Alot more than it should be.
I did a largish water change (60-70%) and am treating the tank with Maracyn 1 & 2. I also gave her an epsom salt bath... 1 to try to help with the bloating and to get a better look at her. Plan to keep giving her a salt bath and just hope it helps.
I really hope I caught whatever is ailing her in time and dangit... I really hope the other 2 in the tank don't get sick as well

She's swimming around a little bit right now which I'm taking as a good sign, but still breathing very heavily and the bloating isn't any better.



Work Meds!!!!!!

Hope she pulls though you are having a crappy time of it at the moment

Yeah no kidding.
First it was my poor no-name boy in the 3 gallon that developed dropsy and died.
Then it was Bertha not too long after him, now my poor Pinky girl


God I really hope the meds work!

And at the very least, if she's too sick to save, work to keep the other fish from getting sick.

An update, it doesn't look good.
More scales seem to be sticking out.
I'm giving her a salt bath right now, hope it helps some.
She's been swimming around some today and flaring at the other girl, but doesn't look great.

I guess at least she's not lethargic? She's very aware of everything going on around her. Poor girl

Just an update again.

She's still bloated, but it doesn't appear to be getting worse. Her scales also aren't sticking out any worse either. Not great, but at least it's something.

I did a 40% water change and added in another dose of maracyn 1, 2 and added 2 teaspoons of dissolved epsom salt to the tank.

I can't bring myself to euthanize her. At least not yet. She's just so aware of her surroundings. Not lethargic like she's given up. She even musters up str enough to flare and chase away the other girl if she gets too close.
Whenever I gave her a salt bath, she would swim around and look out of the plastic tupperware bowl at everything on the desk.
Poor girl is fighting.

I'm thinking maybe once Bertha was out of the tank, it caused too much stress on her from the other female and she ended up getting sick. *shrugs* Who knows.... I just hope she gets better.

I think Hawkins was thinking of how unheated water here in the uk can get very cold indeed and so would slowly kill a tropical fish, but your climate is probably warmer than here.

Ive heared horror stories about Melafix too and I swear it caused sticky fins in one of my bettas. I think its generally safe to use in moderation in a large well filtered tank but I will never use it in a small tank again unless just adding a drop or two if nothing else is working.

I had an ongoing problem with fish getting sick in one of my big tanks and ended up stripping it down, washing it and then soaking it over night in diluted baby sterilizing fluid. I then rinsed everything really well and then filled it up with water with tonnes of declorinator and left it again over night before emptying and refilling it again, making sure there was no smell of chlorine left. It did the trick and there has not been any illness in there since.

Hope things get better for you.

Thanks for that Frollick.


Well... it seems the epsom salt directly in to the tank might be helping with her swelling some. She's still bloated, but looking at her from above, she doesn't seem as bloated as before and her scales aren't popping out as much.
Might just be wishful thinking though, but hey... i'll take it!
She's still breathing rapidly though which also worries me, but *shrugs* Not much else I can do.

Updating again if anyone cares heh

She seems to be doing alot better. Not resting as much as she was before. She's actually been swimming around alot. She's acting like she's feeling alot better.
She still looks somewhat bloated though, but maybe not as bad. It's sorta hard to tell though. Her scales haven't gotten any worse which is good I guess, but they're still slightly poking out.

But definitely a good sign I think that she's alot more active. Gosh I hope she keeps getting better! I really think the epsom salt in the tank is what is helping a great deal.

I think I may have only given her a little bit more time before she dies.
Although her scales aren't sticking out nearly as much as they were, her swimming seems to be getting weaker now.

I wish she would eat, b/c I'd much rather give her a medicated food instead of treating the whole tank, but *shrugs*

I don't want to give up on her, but I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Keep medicating the tank? I know I'll be doing more frequent water changes and adding in the epsom salt since that seems to have helped.
But *shrugs* I dunno.....

I guess I'll just continue with what I'm doing and hope for the best.