alexyay Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I got my betta about a month and a week ago, but then he suddenly died yesterday. He seemed happy and healthy throughout that time - the only thing that concerned me was how often he'd squeeze himself between the rocks and the glass however he never got stuck. However in the past couple of days he hadn't been eating, and hid under one of the rocks and didn't come out - however he hadn't lost colour and didn't appear sick. I couldn't get him interested in eating, however. But then last night he was totally white, and it appeared that blood had pooled around the heart area (based on this - it was totally swollen and red, but the rest of him had no colour) - his fins had worn off also. He lived in a 70L tank with 7 black neons and three bristlenoses, and had a 50% water change a week ago (due to ammonia having built up). He left the other fish alone and they left him alone, no fighting or anything. Could it have been an ammonia spike? All my other fish are perfectly healthy. I should have checked to see if he had eaten anything like a pebble but I was so distressed it didn't occur to me at the time. I just really need to know what I could have done to save him, I feel miserable because he's my first betta and the last thing I want to do is repeat this situation. Rest in peace, Henry. (By the way, sorry if this in in the wrong section) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 If his fins had worn off, sounds like he had fin rot. Letting ammonia build up at all can impair immunity, and oxygen exchange. What was your water change schedule before you noticed the ammonia spike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 25% changes every week. I hadn't noticed anything on his fins before then Edit: I would like to note that I made the mistake of regularly cleaning out the filtration system at the same time, which (or at least what my father said) probably removed bacteria and allowed the ammonia to build up. It seems to have gotten better now that I'm not totally cleaning out the filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I have lost a Betta before also. He's the one in my pic to the left. These guys are very responsive to ammonia. It wouldn't take much of a spike to affect them. Sorry for your loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinox Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I lost my awsome red betta when i had a large ammonia spike i know your feeling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Could be lots of reasons - age, ammonia, fin rot, some infection. With betta purchased from shops it is hard to tell their age - those pictures of yours suggest he was a minimum of 7 months old as had full finnage. To be honest, betta in captivity do not last for years and years like other fish, occasionally you will get one that lives past 2, but I would expect their life span to be a max of 13 months. When you clean out the filter rinse it with tank water, not tap water. My filters hold multiple layers of sponges and filter material and I only ever clean out 1/3 at any time, using water I am taking out of the tank. It rinses out the gunge but leaves enough bacteria in there to stop an ammonia spike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Thanks guys for the support I'll make sure to do slightly bigger water changes and I'll be testing the ammonia regularly from now on. I don't know how old he is - he's from HFF but I'm not sure of what age they get their fish. I've always cleaned out the filter in tank water, but thank you any way In a couple of weeks I'll check out better filtration systems also - mine's an internal filter (70L blue planet tall tank) which may not be doing the job as well as it could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Is it a filter with power head in the tank and the water trickles back in overhead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I would think that 25% /week would be fine, but it's definitely better to over filtrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Is it a filter with power head in the tank and the water trickles back in overhead? It's very similar to this and it goes over top the tank just under the lid. This is the tank (that's overfilled, though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 This is the tank (that's overfilled, though). Do you mean the waterline? How low do you normally have it? I would have thought that the plants would be helping with the Ammonia... How big are your bristlenose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 Do you mean the waterline? How low do you normally have it? I would have thought that the plants would be helping with the Ammonia... How big are your bristlenose? Just slightly lower than the filter. That's what I had thought too - there's quite a few plants in there and they're thriving. The bristlenoses are pretty small - one's about two inches and the other two are 1.5" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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