Anyone know of common causes for Betta fish to die???

Hi Guys,

So we found my sons betta, Rex, who was perfectly fine this morning and all the time before that... dead... shame man, first time he has had to go through this... very sad indeed, he was a beautiful betta... needless to say, my son is very upset

We want to try and find out why? does anyone know of any common causes? he was eating fine, swimming around, we have a filter and heater and 47lt tank just for him.. any clues would be great... thanks!

Candice and Daniel

 

Maybe old age? How old was the fish when you got him?

 

we only got him about 2 weeks ago... not sure how old he was when we got him though? can one even tell?

 

Not that I know of not for a betta anyway most of them can get to about 3 years old and some may even reach 5 years if you take care of them really good.

 

Its funny that he just ended up dead. You can usually tell when bettas are not feeling well. They will sit on the bottom listless and the fins drooping more than normal.

 

Hi Vis,

That's what I also thought... but he was 100% up until this morning and then when the kids got home from school, they noticed he was dead. I went and got him a new one now, Rex the second , and some females for company, I hope its better this time around....

Candice

 

Do you have a cat or something?

 

Nope, we dont have a cat, we have a dog, little one, Luca, that's a dachshund, and a rat and a hamster...which I am sure could not have been the cause?....

 

Aqua, if the little betta was healthy and no obvious signs of any issues then it might be that something from the room environment (in the air) was the problem - typically this could be any number of household cleaners, detergents, pesticides, etc etc that might have been sprayed in or near to the room and the betta being a Labyrinth species "inhaled" this when he took a gulp of air at the water surface...

 

Thank you for the info Dolphin, I have told my nanny not to use any detergents in the kids room and when she cleans the floor to open all the windows and doors so there is a draft through the room while she is cleaning.

 

Also make sure that your son is not spraying any deo or cologne near the tank. These can also contain chemicals that may be dangerous to the fish.

 

Does the nanny use any household cleaners when cleaning the floor? These typically contain amonia which, as you know, is lethal to fish...

 

Thanks Ashley, will tell them to use it in the bathroom ONLY.

 

I just lost my pair to a nitrite spike today

 

hey candice

quick question, was the tank cycled before you put rex in?
how long have you had him in the tank?

 

I hope you cleaned the tank before you put the new one in and let it cycle first.

 

Hi Julie,

He was in a small peanut butter jar at the LPS, and we first bought him a 10lt betta tank which did not have any filtration, gravel or anything where good bacteria can colonise (they insisted it was not necessary and since they are all kept in those jars without anything I believed them without giving it a second thought)... and then I went back and insisted that I wanted to put a heater and filter in and bought a bigger tank, after reading more about them, so no, I did not cycle the tank first... I was also told by a couple of LPS shops that its not necessary since they eat so little, and therefore produce such little waste that there shouldn't be an issue with nitrates or nitrites. I have been testing the water with the stip tests regularly none the less, adding micro lite (good bacteria), and doing water changes weekly and all has been in order as far as that goes... we had him for 2 weeks.

OMW, cant believe this has happened again! why do the LPS's keep them in the small jars obviously without cycling it cause you cant?? if they did it properly then they would make more sales anyway because then we would then purchase the filters, heaters etc.... isn't there regulatory body for pet shops? I am going to research this because this is the second time this has happened to me, and I just don't understand how people get away with selling companion animals without giving the purchaser correct instructions on how to care for them and even worse in the Betta's case, clearly not even caring for them correctly themselves... (which is why I was caught out for a second time).

I found this site, and I am going to contact them and see if they can help... http://www.sabcap.org.za/

Will let you know what they say...

Candice

---------- Post added at 09:10 ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 ----------

Hi Xtreme Wife,

Well you can see in my response to Julie, this obviously didn't take place... what do you suggest I do with the Betta's I have now? so that I can cycle the tank... I cant put them in with my guppys or in my bigger community tank.. should I take them back and start over?

Regards,
Candice

 

Hi Candice
Sorry to hear about Rex's early demise....Another factor to consider is transport stress...Betta's are imported in Tiny plastic bags containing no more than 2 or 3 table spoons of water...it is not uncommon for fish to sucumb to transport stress for up to a month after they arrive on or shores....so dont feel to bad - it seems that you did your research,maintenance etc...sometimes despite what we do,the death of our fish is predestined to happen due to parameters out of our controll....the times I have stood at the airport in utter frustration waiting for delayed flights or recalcitrant petty officials I blame for most of the grey hairs on my head....
PS: Good luck with Rex the 2nd...

 

I called sabcap (South African Board of Companion Animals), and they said the only thing I can do is to complain to the animal anti cruelty league... I doubt I will get anywhere, otherwise on their inspections to all the LPS shops they would have had an issue with it which clearly they haven't since every LPS I have been to keeps them the same way... maybe I should just let them know and they can then research it themselves and see what is acceptable as far as living conditions for Betta fish go, as well as information that is given out... it is beyond me how there is NO regulatory body for animals, and nothing that insists that LPS owners give out the correct information on their stock? I am going to phone them anyway and dig deeper...

I am very cross now these are living creatures not a piece of plastic!

 

Thanks azurekoi, if that's the case (3 tbs of water), then I definitely wont get anywhere complaining about a peanut butter jar.... man its so sad.. Rex the 2nd is looking fine, one of the females was badly damaged by him though, and looks like another one is on its way out...I read in a few places that the best scenario is one male and about 5 females, which is what we have done... but the females even flare at each other, I researched and made sure they were females cause when they did this I was worried, but they have the white 'egg sack' under their bellies, so I am sure they are females, apparently it can be difficult to tell when they are juveniles...

I must say, this is proving to be more difficult than any of my fish in my community tanks...