Alot Of Bettas Falling Ill

[Liquid skills]

Hi i dnt know if this can happen but why are there so many betta deaths and illnesses the amount ive seen in the last month theres been about 5 illness or deaths is it because its winter?

 

[Fishy friend2]

It might be something in your water, do you test it before it goes into your tank if so what are you results

 

[Liquid skills]

Nah not mine i just been looking at the forums

 

[Man of fish]

Well that could be it. People might not have a thermometer or heater and water gets too cold. Bettas like 75 and a above. Around 75-82.

 

[Fishy friend2]

Oh.. On the forums, it might be cause of the cold

 

[lilfishie]

As said there is a lot of it about. Myself and a few breeders and importers have been chatting about this recently and all we can think of is the weather. Since most bettas are imported there not used to english weather.

I personally havent had any problems with my bettas bred inside the uk only the imports

 

[Willdrafter]

I had a relatively new Thai import, who has been acting lethargic for the last week or so. We got snow two nights ago and he suddenly just died the next morning. I left my window slightly open, as I was away that night, and the room was cold when I got in. I've never had a problem with leaving the window open before, so perhaps weather does have something to do with it.

 

[micko]

I've noticed this recently too. Not had any deaths *touches wood*

 

[sausagewinkle]

I lost 4 males and 4 females in October/November. Cause of it was unknown, all the males in separate tanks as well.

 

[LadyDragon]

In the forums is a broad net though...
So many different individual situations are involved for each RIP... From novices keeping them in less than ideal conditions, to starting out with elderly fish to begin with, to stress from bad tankmate choices, or inappropriate water parameters (just because they don't complain loudly doesn't mean that they are happy just because of how "cute" they look) and just plain bad luck (my melano male's unfortunate recent death was silly and stupid, I choose the "fish furniture" with different criteria now -the dummy swam into a sea-shell because he was scared of a female and never came out- like I said, it was stupid! Seashell fish furniture isselected slightly differently now! ...but a little late for the biggest sissy fish in all the world) because in spite of everything sometimes they just do stupid things (I also recall a recent thread about a Betta jumping out of the tank through the filter) we've all been there at some point (or unfortunately WILL be)

I don't think it's any sudden development... Most Internet open community message boards are places where people (especially newbies) go to figure things out... Like why the fish that WalMart sold them isn't instantly is not immediately happy and healthy in the tiny flower vase they are keeping it in, with fertilized flowers ontop. Alot of the time it's a way to find information on a personal level, because it can be tricky to find ACTUAL practical information with a google search (in the sea of unrelated advertisements, and often confusing technical jargon) and the net message boards are great places to meet people who have similar interests and don't make fun of them for their interest in a fish. There are all kinds of reasons people loose their fish and visit a message board to help them try to deal with grief or try to understand their mistakes so they don't happen again.

Anyway, I don't think it's a recent development, these kinds of boards always tend to have such things on them with some regularity.

 

[Better is Betta]

Sometimes I wonder if its just genetics. I live in the tropics and have no use for heaters except during our winter months and even then we hardly need to use them. I have tanks sitting side by side with bettas in each one. They all have the same set up the same food, water changes etc and yet one will up and die while the others thrive. I also noticed too that the ones that are home bred are more hardier and never seem to be affected by the usual problems ie ich, fin rot, etc, etc. It always seem to be the ones you bring home from your lfs that die. I guess some stress more than others and we all know stress leads to all sorts of problems.....a bit like humans I suppose.

 

[Willdrafter]

Sometimes I wonder if its just genetics. I live in the tropics and have no use for heaters except during our winter months and even then we hardly need to use them. I have tanks sitting side by side with bettas in each one. They all have the same set up the same food, water changes etc and yet one will up and die while the others thrive. I also noticed too that the ones that are home bred are more hardier and never seem to be affected by the usual problems ie ich, fin rot, etc, etc. It always seem to be the ones you bring home from your lfs that die. I guess some stress more than others and we all know stress leads to all sorts of problems.....a bit like humans I suppose.

Actually I have noticed that the home-bred ones are hardier too.

 

[LadyDragon]

You know, that would make sense (about home breds) they say that about FW shrimp also, they like to send immature shrimp because they adapt more readily to different environments (and no matter what you do to your water in terms of adding stuff to it and adjusting it's parameters, water from different sources has different qualities in terms of water quality) and the shrimp in one set up may be different from their siblings raised in another area. I have blue pearl FW Shrimp and Blue tigers... Mine are tending to be darker blue, but 20 miles away my boyfriend has a set up for them (same source) and his are all light pastel... The water has different stuff in it for minerals and dissolved content or something. (it also tastes different... And we are both on Wells)

They say that effects Koi as well (I started with Koi) and the Japanese are said to produce the best and most regular scaleation patterns and finnage qualities because of the environmental factors. Here in the tropics (I'm in Hawaii) our Koi tend to grow too much too quickly and loose conformation balance (although we do get HUGE ones fast here because of no weather enduced "non growth" stages)

It would make sense that a Betta who grew up in certain conditions is more likely to thrive in them. Also, it's got tone stressful to go through That drastic a "climate change" as going from warm Asian water to cooler temperate zone water without considering dissolved mineral content and all that.