Betta Death-Could This Have Been Prevented!

[wdicwg]

My male betta who I have had for almost 2 years died this morning after a three hour trip yesterday. I am a senior in college so a few times a year it has been necessary to bring my betta home with me or back to school. I have successfully completed the trip five times with him before now. Each time I move him I put him in a one gallon bowl that is half filled with water (also what I use as a hospital tank). I always put him in the back floor board and wrap a coat around the bowl for insulation and it doesn't cause much of a water temp change (one degree in 3 hours). This has always worked well in the past and I have not seen any disease or negative effects before this trip.

This time transferring him as I normally would, when arriving home my betta was in pretty bad shape. He had no noticeable disease or problems prior to the move, but when I got him out of the car he was laying on the bottom with his fins clamped and his eyes were cloudy. I filled the rest on the one gallon tank up and treated him with Mardel Maracyn Plus Antibacteria. Last night I tried to get him to come up to the surface to eat and he wouldn't and this morning he was dead.

Under normal conditions I kept him in a 5 gallon tank with a filter and heater.
Before leaving the temp was 78
Ammonia was 0
Nitrite was 0
Nitrate was 10
PH was 6.8

When I got here the water he was in the temp was 77 and all the other readings were the same. I also use 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt per water change (30-40ish% waster changes so not the full 5 gallons, so I have always felt the 1 tablespoon would be too much) and NutraFin Aqua Plus water conditioner. I also fed him a mix of Aqueon Betta Pellets, Freeze dried blood worms and brine shrimp (both dehydrated in tank water before feeding), and occasionally the green tips of broccoli. If any of that changes anything.

I got him in Jan of 2009, so almost 2 years ago, but I do not know how old he was when I got him, but he did not grow anymore, but overall I don't think he was that old since I have read 3-5 years.

Was this most likely stress from the move, a disease I didn't catch, water quality, age or some mixture of the above? Also what if anything can be done to prevent this from happening again?

 

[mike455555]

iv been told by my LFS that bettas don't live more than 2 years max... so i think he was probably old and then the stress of the move finished him off?...but as i said LFS said it... so might not be right.

RIP

 

[Liquid skills]

Yeh perhaps in the wild but catptive bettas can live up to 5 years

Do you know how old he was before you got him?

 

[wdicwg]

Yeh perhaps in the wild but catptive bettas can live up to 5 years

Do you know how old he was before you got him?

I don't know exactly how old he was, but his fins didn't grow after I got him, or they did it wasn't a very noticeable growth, so my best guess is at least 6 or 7 months

 

[Liquid skills]

Hhhmmm thats a problem he could of been like 1-2 years when you got him most pet shops get them when they are over a year so it could of been stress with the move with his age nothing by the sounds of it you could hace done cldnt leave him behind or he wld of died so u took him unfort it is a 50/50 game wiyh fish

Sorry about ur loss tho he sounded old to me

 

[Whisper]

I have read and heard about the rare cases of Bettas living for 3, 4, and 5 years but I've never seen it. I've been caring for multiple Bettas for over 10 years now and every one of them die at around 2 years old like clock work. I think he was so old and weak that the trip may have shortened his life a little but not by much because very likely he only had a month left in him. Most store bought Bettas are from 2 to 6 months old when you get them. So you did a great job with him. Anytime one of my Bettas gets to two years I know I did him well and I track their ages religiously in my Betta notebooks.

You can usually spot the signs when they are in their last few months. many will look for a place on the bottom that is secure for them to go and die in. Some will be weakened, lethargic, and have a loss of appetite. It's part of their natural old aging that they go through.

You should celebrate his life by getting another Betta from the store and saving it from what I call Shot Glass Hell!

 

[Liquid skills]

+10

 

[wdicwg]

Thank you all for responding, and letting me know it was likely age and not something preventable. I defiantly will get another betta, but most likely after I return from break, so I do not have to travel with another betta and I can go to the non-chain pet store that seems to actually take care of their fish and other pets instead of PetHell.

I have ammonia and have been keeping the 5 gal. tank cycled until I knew what I needed to do, and if it would be beneficial to start the cycle from scratch. Since it was likely age and he died in the hospital tank and not the 5 gallon is there anything else I need to do to prepare the 5 gal. for a new betta in a few weeks, like what kind of cleaning, keeping the cycle, starting from scratch, ect?

 

[mike455555]

your filters already cycled from the other betta?. have you been adding ammonia to keep it going. if so i think you can put another fish in without cycling... if not the bacteria would of died off in the filter and you will have to start the cycle again

i dont see why you would need to clean the tank... but you could always rinse it out and do a rescape on it if you wanted (id just use water for this to be honest)

 

[Liquid skills]

+1 but the only thin i would say is if u have another tank thats cycled just cut a bit of media off an use that inste of fully cycleing if your wonting one now