My Betta...

...is not dead, yet! But he is looking "funny". For want of a better description, his fins look like they're "fused" or something. Whereas normally Bettas have flowing fins, his fin filaments look more stick like. Very wierd. It might explain why he spends a lot of time laying about, maybe it's difficult for him to swim?

When he does swim, he looks ok otherwise and is eating away and nosing about so he seems fine. Anyway, just in case he's brewing something, I've added some Melafix and Pimafix to the tank and I'll try and get a photo of him to illustrate what I mean 'coz I'm quite puzzled.

Piccies please Good call with the la-di-da fix

Oh Mary, I hope he's ok. Got everything crossed for you!

He's dead.

Just went to check on him and found him dead. Ok, that's it - there must be something lurking in the tank but it's odd that it's only killing the Bettas and not the shrimp.

Also, there have been other fish through that tank such as the female Betta, a male Gourami, zebra danios etc. when I was using it as a Q tank so how come they all survived but the male Bettas one by one have croaked? Very puzzling...

Oh Mary Thats awful I say gut out the tank, scrub it and restart

That's what I'm going to do, Matty. It can't just be pure bad luck that I've had five dead Bettas in as many months. I just wish I knew what was killing them 'coz none of them have shown the same symptoms and all were bought from different places.

Theres bad luck and serious tank issues!! I think your tank has the latter (Maybe try something that isn't a betta)

Only 15L so that's all it's good for. But why would Bettas in particular be susceptible?? That's what I'm trying to figure out...given that historically they've been kept in tiny unheated, unfiltered containers, this was practically the lap of luxury in comparison.

Oh Mary, I am so sorry, that's really bad news.

It does seem strange that only bettas are affected. As a process of elimination, is there anything that bettas need that the others don't?

pH requirements, temperature, etc I know that bettas like to swim near the top of the tank - perhaps the shape of orb doesn't suit this?

I'm not saying any of this is relevant Mary, just throwing things in to be considered.

Mary wrote:

Only 15L so that's all it's good for. But why would Bettas in particular be susceptible?? That's what I'm trying to figure out...given that historically they've been kept in tiny unheated, unfiltered containers, this was practically the lap of luxury in comparison.

Well they are hybrids, making them delicate. So if there is a pathogen it is affected badly! When people keep then in those bowls that water may be bad, but there might not necessarily be virusy-pathogeny things in the water

Mary, sorry to hear that

I know it might sound daft but maybe a lot of lfs use the same shipment, if 30 lfs all order 50, maybe a job lot comes over & gets distributed across the different shops.

i know there has recently been a 'duff' batch of mbuna knocking about that were all shipped from Czechoslovakia & spread all over the UK & Ireland. I should think with certain fish, they can take a while to fizzle out the duff stock

munchycarrot wrote:

I know it might sound daft but maybe a lot of lfs use the same shipment, if 30 lfs all order 50, maybe a job lot comes over & gets distributed across the different shops.

i know there has recently been a 'duff' batch of mbuna knocking about that were all shipped from Czechoslovakia & spread all over the UK & Ireland. I should think with certain fish, they can take a while to fizzle out the duff stock

Clever!

Diana wrote:

pH requirements, temperature, etc I know that bettas like to swim near the top of the tank - perhaps the shape of orb doesn't suit this?

All valid points, Diana but I don't think it was any of those. pH is neutral, temp is 24C +/- 1 deg which is cooler than my other tanks but the heater is a fixed temp one. However, this is well within the tolerance range of a Betta which can survive in unheated water. When they did swim, it was always around the top of the bowl so no problems there. Also, a Pearl Gourami was in there for ages and had no problems and that's from the same family as the Betta. Apart from the fin-nipped one, the other three arrived in seemingly perfect health and just went downhill, the last one very rapidly if you recall in just 48 hours from finrot.

munchycarrot wrote:

I know it might sound daft but maybe a lot of lfs use the same shipment, if 30 lfs all order 50, maybe a job lot comes over & gets distributed across the different shops.

Well, that would certainly make me feel better and I have read that Bettas are so overbred/inbred these days, they've been considerably weakened. They all looked so healthy in the shop though, I feel guilty about consigning them to the Tank of Death...

Four of the five came from the same LFS and the fifth (the one that died of finrot in just 48 hours) came from a different one. Whether or not I get another one remains to be seen. For the time being, I'm going to move out the shrimp and give the tank a good clean out. It may not be necessary but it'll make me feel like I'll be giving the next occupant the best possible start anyway and at least I can get rid of the aquatic snails once and for all...

Quote :

I suppose the only way to rule out something to do with the tank is to get another betta and put it in a totally different tank altogether.

That's a great idea. I have the coldwater Q-tank (16L) lying redundant but the filter sponges have been kept cycled in the 165L tank. I also have a spare heater. You're a genius...now why didn't I think of that?? I am a scientist, after all!

Oh mary, I am so sorry about your fish, what a lovely looking one too.

I think you are brave to think of trying with another one, I dont know that I would.

Good luck with it if you do

Think you've just deleted one of my posts Mary

I'll let you off though, as I know you're upset

I did?? Oh sorry, was it the one where I quoted you? I keep doing that, editing instead of quoting. Doh.

I did call you a genius though...:lol:

I know, that's why I was not more severe with you :lol:

I keep doing that too by the way!

Diana wrote:

I know, that's why I was not more severe with you. I keep doing that too by the way!

A bit dangerous giving us "Gods" powers that we can't control...

sorry about your fish mary, that's real bad. are you going to get another one and try it in a different tank?

Yep, I'm going to take Diana's advice and put it in a different tank and see how I get on. If it still dies then I'll know it's bad stock whereas if it survives, I'll assume there's something amiss with the BiOrb.

Good on you Mary for keeping at it. Hope the experiment turns out succesful for you.

Mary, is it possible the shrimp are harbouring some sort of pathogen? I know you have put some in one of your bigger tanks, but perhaps the fact they are in a bigger water volume with more filtration means that it does not have the same effect.

it's probably a daft idea, just wondering what the reason could be?

Well I did wonder about that, Guppy, which is why after the last Betta died, I moved out all bar two of the shrimp into the 165L tank, where they were promptly eaten...but no problems with the fish in that tank. Unless it was the Bolivian Ram that recently died that ate them all...