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I haven't been on here in years because I was forced to sell my tanks when we moved. But I had to post this to stop some one from doing the same dumb thing(s) I did.

I bought a 5g Eclipse tank 3 years ago to house a rescue betta I named Flash. The tank is in my home office next to my desk. I had gravel and fake decor in the tank with him and he lived happily for about 18 months but got sick & died after a winter power outage. The tank was torn down and sat empty for a spell. The tank went back up when I decided to try my hand at freshwater aquarium plants and eventually another betta.

I put in some pretty Java Fern tied to a nice piece of driftwood. The tank was missing something, so I added various pieces of petrified wood. making sure that the sides were smooth. Because I had a lava rock archway in my first bettas tank (which he loved and slept in, but it rubbed his scales off & he almost died )

The tank ran for a few months without fish until I came across the CT male Betta on Aquabid that I named, Zander. He's what brings me here today.

He lived happily in his new tank for over almost 2 years. He acted a little strange this month on the 13th & died on the 14th. The tank was heated to 75-degress, did 25-30 percent water changes weekly, Used NovAqua+ along with AmQuel+ on the water and made sure the water was the same temp before adding it to the tank. I used BIO-Spira weekly as well to keep the tank from entering mini cycling processes after water changes. Never tested the water (I know that's bad & now have the appropriate testing kits).

On the 13th he was slow to wake up for his feeding in the AM. But after that everything seemed normal. He was playing in the current from the filter output, displaying his hood off & on when he caught his reflection on the tank & well he seemed very very normal. I woke up on the 14th to find him just laying on the bottom of his tank gasping for air. The tank water was to be changed in 2 days but this freaked me out so I did a 50 percent water change. He was still just laying there only moving to surface for air and that was a task for him.

His color & fins were good. He wasn't displaying any signs of an illness other than just laying there & not eating. His stomach wasn't bloated. I spent the whole day trying to find an illness that matched up w/out any luck. Then, just before he passed, he had surfaced for air & floated strangely back to the bottom, landing on his side with his back to me. The scales on the front portion of his body were slightly popped but his stomach wasn't bloated. I knew the popped scales were Dropsy but before I could try to help him he was gone. Now I'm left trying to figure out how he got Dropsy & what to do with this planted tank.

I was looking at the tank a few days ago and realised I killed him! Doing a water change the prior week, I moved some of the petrified wood around, In doing this I made 2 huge mistakes.

First, As I said previously, I made sure the sides of the wood were smooth, but I didn't take into account the sharpness of the edges. And some of the pieces I stood up were very thin & sharp looking. So I'm surprised his fins weren't completely trashed. Not sure where my head was when I did that or the next thing.

Second, placement! I had removed my betta, the light hood and the filter so I could access some of the petrified wood I wanted to move. One being a rather large piece, that I moved to the front of the tank. Got everything in place, and put the filter in and let it run for awhile. Then put the betta back in & put the light hood back on. Well in my extreme dumbness, I had put that rather large piece of petrified wood directly under the filter output. It never entered my mind because I had the filter out when I did it. And sadly, I didn't realise my huge mistake until days after he died. As I said before: he always played in the current from the filter output, which would push him down toward the bottom, he'd swim out and go back for more. I think he went to play in the output water and got slammed into that darn petrified wood, which caused internal injuries, which in turn caused the dropsy that killed him.

Therefore, it was my pure absent minded dumbness that killed him. The tank looked great but it was a fishes gauntlet of death.

The tank is being torn down & everything is getting tossed. I'm going to add some Java Moss tied to a half coconut shell cave; some more Java Fern tied to small rocks that are going to get pushed into the substrate; and some sort of grass (haven't decided). When the tank is ready, it will house another betta. I'm considering either a male HM Plakat, a male Betta Imbellis, or maybe just a real pretty female.

Sorry for the long post. Hopefully no one will do the dumb things I have. And if they have, maybe they'll see this post & undo them before their fish gets killed.

Again ~ Sorry for the long post ~ take care! ~ Sherri

Wow, sorry to hear that about your betta. That stinks. Hope all goes well with the next betta!

-FS

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

Sorry to hear that -- but, believe me, I wish the mistakes that had led me to kill so many of MY fish over the last 19 years were so subtle. (Including my last Betta -- I haven't even got the heart to tell anyone how I killed him.)

Thanks for the moral support guys. I felt so bad when I realised what I did. But I'm excited about the new set up I have planned. Just wish it was Zander going back in that's all.

Bruce ~ I almost didn't say anything either. But I came forward in the hopes that whoever reads this post will have it in mind when they arrange/rearrange their tank.

He was the first betta I've had that didn't get sick & then I did this

Hi there,
I just wonder if in fact its nothing you did, but instead Old Age that killed your little buddy.

His color & fins were good. He wasn't displaying any signs of an illness other than just laying there & not eating. His stomach wasn't bloated. I spent the whole day trying to find an illness that matched up w/out any luck. Then, just before he passed, he had surfaced for air & floated strangely back to the bottom, landing on his side with his back to me. The scales on the front portion of his body were slightly popped but his stomach wasn't bloated. I knew the popped scales were Dropsy but before I could try to help him he was gone. Now I'm left trying to figure out how he got Dropsy & what to do with this planted tank.

These are all signs of what happens to a fish when it gets old. Dropsy is not a disease but a symptom, its often caused in old fish because their kidneys are no longer flushing out the waste to the level they were in youth (this happens to elderly people too).
At 2 years old, and probably 2.5 years because you bought him Aquabid and he was likely already 6 months to 1 year of age when you got him.
I wouldnt kick yourself too hard, to me it seems like your little friend died a normal death of old age, as most bettas do when they reach 2-3 years of age, which is the normal lifespan for a betta.


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I feel compelled to say well done on an excellent post. It is so much better to be honest about ones mistakes, and to hold them up as examples as what not to do for the benefit of others rather than hide them. Honesty is half the battle in getting things sorted, and to know that you recognise mistakes is a good thing, it shows to us that you will go on beyond these mistakes to make a good fishkeeper.

I actually consider it a bravery, and although things did not turn out happily for that fish, you were up against some unusual difficulties there, and at least you tried to do your best, and thats all we can do. Its the culture of hiding mistakes like guilty secrets that often perpetuates the repetition of such wrongdoings, and you show by example that it is possible for many people to remain open and do much better. In fact it is such tips, even though the result is unfortunate for your fish that help reinforce boundaries of good fishkeeping for other people, and gives people a better overview of the total realm of behavioural responses in a fish that may affect its wellbeing. It is important to pass such information on. What better way to make something productive out of a mistake, or to do honour to the dead party is there?

I'll never slam in the face of such open mindedness.

Well done.

/:'

I have the feeling that your betta died an old man, a natural death. I agree with So_Very_Sneaky. I dont think that the current (and especially that from a small filter) can slam a fish hard enough to a piece of hardscape to actually kill it. But its great to see how hobbyists like you take the full responsibility of what happenns to their fish Thats what the hobby is all about, IMO.
Best of luck with your next fish!

-Mughal

He was a few months shy of being 2 years old. I've had other bettas that died around 2 to 3 years old from old age. But with them they were pretty inactive and just sorta hung around the top of the tank not swimming much for a few days or so before they passed. Though I've never had a betta die within 26 hours of old age, without showing some other signs of being old first, he may have died of old age.

The current in these little tanks can toss a male betta around pretty good. The VT male that I housed in it, before Zander, hated the current and would have nothing to do with the outflow side of the tank. I ended up tying a piece of plastic under the outflow to diffuse the current for him. When Zander played in the current, it would push him down pretty fast toward the bottom, and just before he reached the substrate, he'd swim real hard out of the current. I was ready to tie the plastic back on until I realised he was playing in it cuz he'd break out and return at the top and do it all over again: sorta like a betta roller coaster

Take Care ~ Sherri