Giving Up....

[Azaezl]

I've decided to give up on bettas My first was a rescue that died from illness which put me off slightly but then I saw a beautiful bright red vt and couldn't resist! He'd been fine for weeks and then all of a sudden i wake up one morning and he's dead!!!! Have no idea what killed him, I checked the water and it was;


Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5
Ammonia - 0
PH - 7.2
Temp - 78F

He was in a 5gal hex which has 2 live plants and 1 fake, black fine gravel,a couple of small plant pots that he loved hiding in, a heater and a filter, I did water changes twice a week.
He seemed fine and would flare sometimes, he even made a bubble nest about 4 days before he died! I'm just baffled as to why he died. I don't think I want to go through it all again so I'm giving up, I'll prob just have the hex as a planted tank, maybe get some shrimp eventually. I just wondered if anyone would know why he died, even when he was dead he looked fine(if that makes sense?) no apparent signs of illness.

 

[liz2]

Sorry you are upset....they just do that sometimes I have had it happen to me loads of time.
They are only fragile little lives but the thing to understand is that you obviously loved him and looked after him and there was nothing you could do. He could have gone to someone else who kept him in dirty water and didnt look after him. to you. xx

 

[stang1]

So sorry for your loss.
I agree with Liz, sometimes it just happens. I lost one of my boys last week and there were no signs of disease or illness.
Don't give up, you obviously care a great deal for your fish and it would be such a shame if you didn't get another one.

 

[davidnso]

Yeah losses do happen, my first that I lost; I was totally sad about it, but I was thinking that it probably was happier with me rather than on a shelf in a small cup the size of a phone booth (if u resized it to human standards)...It sure does sound like you care a great deal, and I encourage you to continue to keep caring for bettas!

 

[Azaezl]

I'm relieved it was just one of those things and I didn't cause him to die, I really don't know if I want to go there again. I'm planning on putting more plants in, maybe changing substrate so I'll wait until I've done all that(3 / 4 weeks), maybe I'll feel different. I'm a real sucker though, I'll prob see some poor betta in a tank full of neons again, fall in love with him and have to rescue him(I rescued a bandit cory yesterday!).

I do love bettas, it's just really upset me that they both died, if I had the room I'd buy lots of lil tanks so I could rescue them all from the tetras! I'm prob just being emotional and in a couple of weeks I'll get the itch to go out and get one / rescue one. It's just such a shock finding him dead like that when he was seemed so happy & healthy.

 

[wendyngd]

you have every right to feel emotional..so sorry for your loss. I felt this way a while ago, but gave it some time. I got hooked again on wanting a betta by reading the betta forum and longing for one of those little buddies.

I've got a little guy who's not doing well at all. He hasn't eaten in 3 or 4 days!! Started out with a mild case of popeye, even though I change water every week (treated with tetracycline), then he did a few somersaults on bottom of bowl yesterday, so I added salt and aquarisol in case it was ext. parasites, but today, though he seemed a little perkier, he still didn't seem to be eating!

I hung out with him and played a little through the wall of the bowl--and he seemed a little responsive--but I'm really worried about him because he's seems to have stopped eating altogether....He's been such a cute little buddy...

Prayers, please.

-Wendy

 

[bymauldin]

I totally know how you feel. I feel like giving up myself. I imagine it happens to all of us at some time or another. Both of my bettas are sick right now. I just had one die from sickness a couple of months ago. I don't know how to treat them One has velvet and I started him on CopperSafe, but honestly...I don't know what I'm doing. The other one I don't know what's wrong. He has no visual signs of infection. He just scratches on everything.

If you're like me, you just feel totally helpless. I know sometimes bettas just get sick and die...but I also know that I'm the one that's responsible for the quality of life that they have. I always feel like I've let them down...like it's something that I've done.

So, I feel your pain. Give it time...you'll get hooked on another little cutie sitting on a shelf in a tiny plastic cup.

 

[Phaedra]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It really sounds like you loved him, so allow yourself some time to grieve.
*hugs* for you too Wendy and bymauldin, it is such a hard thing to go through, you end up feeling so helpless.

 

[liz2]

Thats the word "helpless"....we are going away tomorrow until Tuesday and my big telescopic goldfish is going down hill rapidly. He is the one that has a really horrid growth on his side. He is in clean water so I will just put something in front of his tank, as my son is coming in to feed my birds. He is not allowed to feed the fish and if he sees a nearly dead or dead fish he will freak.



Fingers crossed for our sick fishes.....