Betta Died Maybe Not Happy In Large Tank ?

[jetnett]

I lost my Betta last week. He was my first fish I bought last may so around 1 year ago. I had him in a smaller tank with just a few tank mates.
I bought a much larger tank last autumn and he always seemed happy in there but he did stay around the filter a lot of the time though.
He was beautiful grew to a great size. I thought I would have him longer then one year. I know they aren't the strongest of swimmers so could that had been a factor to his death ? Carried all the water tests out and the water seems to be fine My daughter is upset  and
I want to get a new one but it might not be a good idea to put a betta in a large tank its about 180 litre. maybe some guppy's would be happier in there ?
Jeanette

 

[Ninjouzata]

I'm so sorry for your loss!
 
Where did you get your betta? The ones at your LFS are usually a decent age already and have been through a lot so their lifespan will be shorter than one you got from a reputable breeder.
 
What are/were the tankmates? What temperature did you keep him at and what did you feed him?
 
I'm not trying to say you did anything wrong at all just hoping that if we can figure something out, perhaps it can be avoided or watched more carefully in the future.

 

[frapadoodle]

I agree, age and prior conditions are the biggest problems with Bettas bought from the lfs.
Mine passed recently, after just under two years.

 

[jetnett]

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

in the tank I keep Molly's, tetras two clown loach two female betta and some bottom feeders

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

in the tank I keep Molly's, tetras two clown loach two female betta and some bottom feeders
 

 
 
I'm not sure how big your tank is, but unless its at least 75 gallons, its not big enough for clown loaches.  In general, the stocking is a potentially bad situation.   I'll add to that that clown loaches require very high currents, whereas the bettas require very low currents.

 

[Lillefishy]

It's possible that the female bettas ganged up on him, males & females should not be kept together unless for breeding & then separated after spawning

 

[Paradise3]

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

I have the temperature on 27 -28 Celsius I bought him from a large pet store pets at home. I fed him mostly on pellets.flakes and blood worms not all at once though. Feed my fish once a day 1 day a week no food. I did also lose a Molly too last week. I do regular tests but over Easter I didn't carry my weekly water change as I was to busy looking after the kids. Could have maybe been a factor ?

in the tank I keep Molly's, tetras two clown loach two female betta and some bottom feeders
 

 
Big no no here.... Sorry to say it but I think these two may have factored in his death. Males and females should not be kept together, it's even risky to have them together for breeding which is brief(usually less than a day) let alone living together. Females also do better in groups of 5+ to spread the aggression as they can be just as bad as males sometimes. I agree Clown Loach are unsuitable for your tank. They get big, active and need groups.

What tetra do you have? Neons?
What bottom feeders are they? Cory's?

 

[jetnett]

I never saw any aggressive behaviour from the females but I'm not there to watch them all the time. Yes neons and cory's I want bother getting another male Betta while my females are in the tank though.

 

[Paradise3]

If you're going to keep the females get at least three more to spread the aggression

 

[jetnett]

I have two filters so there is a strong current in the tank. I bought 4 females but I ended taking two back to the pet shop as they seemed to struggle with swimming in the tank . Betta's aren't very strong swimmers so I am a bit reluctant to getting anymore as maybe that could have been another factor to my male dying ?

 

[KirkyArcher]

I once had to place my Betta (Bob) into a 33 gal while re sighting and setting up his 6 gallon, He absolutely hated it, and constantly looked stressed, hardly moving at all from one top corner of the tank once back in his tank was back to his normal self, So yes the change to a larger tank could have been a major factor in his demise

 

[Paradise3]

While yes the larger tank may have not helped, the females will have been a big problem with stress here. If you won't get more females then take the current two back as they really can be just as aggressive as males and if they don't have a group to spread the aggression the dominant female may bully and even kill the weaker female.
 
Fast flow will have been a problem too as males can struggle a lot with flow if they are of the longer finned variety. Shorter finned males like Plakat's usually do OK in larger tanks with faster flow whereas longer finned males like Veiltails will struggle with faster flow and larger tanks may stress them(some do just as well as PK's though)...