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Hello,

I have been having extreme betta issues the last few weeks, I'll give a bit of background before getting to my real question.

On Dec.31 I bought a betta from Petcetera, named him Dr.Pepper. Used water conditioner, kept water around room temperature. He was fine, seemed swimmy and happy. Then on the 5th day, I awoke to find him covered in a white filmy mess. By the end of the day (I had to go to work) he was dead. I was really sad, but blamed it on bad luck.
I cleaned everything thoroughly, even threw out the rocks and on Sunday bought a new betta, locally bred, and named him David Bowie. He seemed fine and then yesterday I noticed he was lethargic and not eating as much. Upon closer inspection this morning I noticed he had fungus type stuff in his mouth...so my amateur diagnosis is mouth fungus.

I have treated his water with Splendid Betta, BettaFix Remedy. Is there any hope for my fishy? Was it my fault he got sick, could he have caught it from Dr. Pepper despite my cleaning efforts?

Any advice or tips would help.

I have had a work betta alive for over a year, so I am not a terrible fish mom I hope.

Thanks

Nicole

Don't worry Nicole, its all a big learning experience and it sounds like you've gotten most of it spot on

What is your room temperature like where you are at the moment? What does it drop to overnight? You want to keep it above 22*C at an absolute minimum, anything less than that will knock their disease resistance out and they'll mope about and run this risk of picking up lot of random bugs.

If you can't get a heater, find a warm spot for him. On top of the fridge is a good one, or on top of another heated tank. I even heard that some people put them on top of the water heater for the house, but try to make sure that it doesn't go hot/cold, or go over 32*C maximum.

To me it sounds like he's picking up things because he can't fight them off, so I'd give that a shot.

On top of that, I'd get yourself some Pimafix as its great with body slime and fungal things and seems nice and gentle on bettas

When you cleaned the bowl etc, did you wash your nets and siphons and stuff too? And were Dr Pepper and David Bowie from the same shop?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi

Thanks for the reassurance!

Unfortunately it seems that David Bowie is pretty much dead this morning. I actually cried about this as I can't help feeling that this was my fault.

I have a hedgehog and a bird, so my apartment is always quite warm, I'd say around 23 degrees, it doesn't drop much at night. My next fish will defintely be moved to the warmest part of the room though.

I washed everything last week when Dr.Pepper died, and actually, David Bowie hadn't touched the net or anything until after he got sick. I got them from 2 different places as I was scared of this happening again, but I guess it did. I just feel so bad for the lil' guy.

Should I even bother trying with another one?

I think you can, but we'll just go through step by step to make sure you've got all your bases covered

First up, do you have any plain bleach? If so, mix up a capful in a gallon of water and rinse off the bowl in it. You can soak the stones in it, and it should even be OK for any silk or plastic plants. This will kill everything in the bowl. Let it soak for 10 minutes or so, and then rinse rinse rinse
Don't use any soaps or detergents, they are dreadful to get off and small amounts are pretty toxic.

What size bowl is it? That can make a big difference too



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thanks so much for your help!

The bowl is about 1-1.5 gallons. I think I will throw out the rocks, I have tons!

*STOP PRESS* Nicole has a hedgehog!!!! w-o-w

On another note:
Sorry for your betta losses. Hope you get it sorted soon. Matter of process of elimination with all the suggestions Calla has made to narrow it down.

Great like! (ie good luck)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Thanks wish-ga...my hedgie, Thistle, gets me pretty excited too!

*ponders*

Are the rocks actual aquarium gravel or rocks from outside somewhere? Outside rocks can have herbicides and insecticides and other nasties on them that might be hindering your cause, so I'd give them a miss.

I'll pop back in tomorrow (bedtime now ) and go through a few more things that should help you keep new fishy right side up

Ohh, and almost forgot What area are you in?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

The rocks are aquarium rocks.

I live on Vancouver Island, so west coast of Canada.

I am nervous to get another betta due to the recent deaths!

the way i see it is worry about the future not the past. Use the past as experience, you should have more confidence in yourself. fish keeping is only hard if you make it hard. otherwise it is very enjoyable. call me wierd but i look forward to feeding, cleaning and rearranging my tank. it is so relaxing and enjoyalbe.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa

PS gppd luck with your fish. if the next one doesn't work out then you can try a different kind of fish or some different food maybe.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa