Please Help! What Happened?

[Yitatasuni]

Hi. Could someone please tell me what may have happened? I had two male betta fish, Abbott and Costello, in a split 2.5 gal tank. I bought both fish from Wal-Mart at the same time (4 months ago). They were both doing fine, until this past Thursday (Sept. 4). Abbott suddenly stopped eating. He wouldn't swim anymore, either. He'd just hover in place, not even his little fins were moving. But I could see him breathing. Sometimes, he'd tilt a little to one side, then straighten up again. He'd just float there and stare at me. I woke up on Sat. morning to find him dead. Abbott had no visible signs of illness or disease, no spots, no spikes, no bloated stomach. The tank has a mini heater, temp stayed between 75 and 85 degrees. I used water conditioner. Did not overfeed. Costello, the other one, is still doing fine, now swimming alone in an undivided tank. Very active and eating well. Abbott was bigger and much less active from the start than Costello. Is it possible he was already old when I bought him? Please someone take your best guess. I feel so bad for Abbott, and would like to know what went wrong. Thanks.

 

[lilfishie]

with no visible signs of disease i would put it down to old age, sometimes bettas are a year old by the time they reach the pet store

do you have a test kit at all?

 

[Yitatasuni]

Hi. Thanks for responding. No, I don't have a test kit yet. Was gonna buy one, but other things came up (like buying insulin for one of my cats). Was planning on buying a test kit soon anyway. I'm sure the water quality is fine, since I use a water conditioner and Costello seems to still be doing great. But testing it can't hurt.
I was thinking of buying another fish to replace Abbott, but now I'm not so sure. Costello appears to be enjoying all that extra room he has now that I took the divider out of the tank. You should really see him zoom!
Hope your fishies are doing well!

 

[lilfishie]

i wouldn't get another one, if he's likeing the extra room then let him keep it, in my opinon a 2.5 divided isn't enough, some will say 1 gal is the min others say 5gal, but after keeping bettas in 2.5 gals they seem happy so for me that is the min, i would deffinately get a test kit when you can, a good liquid one too, you'll need ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests

 

[ibbledibble]

I'm sure the water quality is fine, since I use a water conditioner

water conditioner will not control your water quality, it will remove heavy metals and chlorine, but not ammonia nitrite and nitrate.

how often were you doing water changes? and how much? (10%, 50%, 100% etc) and was/is the tank filtered?

very sorry for your loss.

 

[ReMz]

I'm sure the water quality is fine, since I use a water conditioner

water conditioner will not control your water quality, it will remove heavy metals and chlorine, but not ammonia nitrite and nitrate.

how often were you doing water changes? and how much? (10%, 50%, 100% etc) and was/is the tank filtered?

very sorry for your loss.

Seconded. We need to know these things.

Old age is an option, but depending on your water condition and stats... there could be other things. The behavior sounds very much like an internal bacteria. On that note, get back to us asap so we can properly diagnose what happened. There is a possibility that if it was an infection, your other guy is at risk.

keep him in the 2.5 gallon by himself IMO. like you said, he's loving the space for zooming around.

Also, you may want to do a substantial water change at this point to ensure that Costello doesn't pick up anything bad.

 

[Yitatasuni]

Hi. I do a 100% water change weekly, making sure to leave the boys in their own separate bowl with their old water while I'm busy with the tank. Had a filter, but the little guys were upset by it, so I stopped using it. I immediately changed the water and cleaned the tank after Abbott died. I'm watching for any odd behavior from Costello, but so far, he still seems fine.

 

[ReMz]

Hi. I do a 100% water change weekly, making sure to leave the boys in their own separate bowl with their old water while I'm busy with the tank. Had a filter, but the little guys were upset by it, so I stopped using it. I immediately changed the water and cleaned the tank after Abbott died. I'm watching for any odd behavior from Costello, but so far, he still seems fine.

Excellent. Then don't do anything out of the ordinary to stress him out. Glad Costello is doing well. Forgot to say that I'm really sad to hear about Abbott.

Consider the filter again if you are going to keep him in there by himself. The added space might diffuse the current a bit more.... if not there are ways to kill the current on most filters. Let me know if you are interested

Just keeps the tank cleaner and is a little less maintenance for you. Post immediately if you suspect something is wrong.

 

[Yitatasuni]

Thanks. I'll definitely reconsider using a filter.

I still feel bad about Abbott. I did everything the same with them both, yet one still dies. Guess I'll never really be sure what happened.

 

[Honeythorn]

Theres a thread HERE that shows you how to make a simple sponge filter from a fish food pot and some other bits and pieces. There is a good diagram on page 5 if the pictures look a little confusing. It should produce very little water disturbance and will certainly fit into a 2.5 gallon.

 

[Yitatasuni]

Hi. Thanks for the filter info. I noticed, though, that you guys are changing the subject a little. This thread is about why my fish Abbott died. Anyone here have any ideas?

 

[ReMz]

Hi. Thanks for the filter info. I noticed, though, that you guys are changing the subject a little. This thread is about why my fish Abbott died. Anyone here have any ideas?

We are just trying to help you out with your other guy.

You really cannot be sure what the cause was. We can give you ideas. It was most likely one of two things. 1) old age. 2) some sort of bacterial/fungal infection. The symptoms of both are pretty much identical. What is important is that you keep a close eye on your other guy and keep his stress to a minimum. If Abbot died of disease, there is still a chance that Costello may be trying to kick something.

 

[5teady_2012]

Theres a thread HERE that shows you how to make a simple sponge filter from a fish food pot and some other bits and pieces. There is a good diagram on page 5 if the pictures look a little confusing. It should produce very little water disturbance and will certainly fit into a 2.5 gallon.

Signature violation

 

[Amunet]

With no filter, in such a small tank, I would guess that poor water quality due to ammonia build up during the week could've caused him to become ill and die.
In a small tank like that, with 2 fish, that ammonia builds up alot faster than you think it does. 100% once a week is not enough IMO to keep the water quality at what it should be. I would start doing small water changes every other day, about 10% until you can go out and get yourself some liquid test kits. Once you have those, then you'll be able to test the water to see when you should be doing water changes.

Being exposed constantly to high amounts of ammonia, it could've just eventually did its damage, weakened the bettas immune system so it got an infection, etc etc.
There's really no way to guess accurately what caused the death.

So sorry that he died though. Very much sucks when it happens so suddenly and unexpectedly.

 

[Yitatasuni]

Hi. I just wanted to thank you guys again for the help. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't appreciate it. Just so you know, Costello is still doing very well. He's still not showing any signs of illness. Still as active as ever.

I'm not so sure Abbott had a bacterial infection, though. Since Costello is not sick at all, and it's been a few days since Abbott died. Abbott, the one who died, had been the more lethargic one from the very start.

I went to the Petsmart site today to look at filters. They have a small one for tanks up to 3 gal., it's supposed to be smaller and quieter than other ones, I'm seriously thinking of getting it.