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Hi!

bangkok my betta is 2 year old. he was already fully grown when i got him. How long can i expect him to live for? about 3 weeks ago, i really thought it was the end as he got sooo skinny and struggled to reach the surface to breathe. I put him in the breeding box to reduce the distance he had to swim to breathe and did a course of Melafix. However my hopes weren't very high. He would not even touch his beloved brine shrimps! He was just laying there on his side. after 2 weeks in this state i even researched euthanasia, but was completely unable to do anything. But, believe it not, the Melafix has worked wonders as he is now back in the main tank, swimming all over the place, flaring away, chasing shrimps and putting the weight back on!!! He's a real character and definitely owns the tank!

how old is the eldest betta you guys look after?

severine

Unfortunately, most bettas don't live longer than three years. Bettas are often about a year old when they are sold in stores, so yours is probably three or so. You are lucky that yours is still alive, most bettas don't live even that long.
There is no way to say how long your betta will keep on living, there have been bettas that have lived to five years old!

For bettas, there really is no certain way to tell when they are aging, and about to die. I had a very happy, energetic betta die of natural causes two days ago. He was only about 15 months old.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

so sorry to hear about your betta. I will be devastated when mine passes away. He 's the fish that made me change my ideas about all fishes! I thought they just looked good and that's it, but with him i realised fish can be clever, cunning even, and have tons of personnality! Then i got some clown loaches and all hell broke loose LOL!!!

He's my first fish, apart from a few neons that i used to cycle the tank (they're still in there as well! old buddies now...).

are you going to get another betta?

I have a betta who was 5 years old last month, and several that are 3 or 4 years old. My "old" guy really looks like an old man. His spine has curved, he is slower moving and he has areas on his fins where the colour has started to fade. He isn't sick and still enjoys his food and spends time flaring at my coffee mug lol. When you put him next to a young betta you can really see the difference in energy levels. He loves resting on the leaf of his silk plant and watching me work.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

I don't think I will get another betta, at least not anytime soon. Mine was an impulse buy, because he was so beautiful, and I felt sorry for him. I only have a 29 gallon community tank at the moment, and I don't want to risk putting another betta in there. I plan on eventually getting a pair of cichlids, and I want to make sure that no fish get hurt.

Here is a picture of the deceased:
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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

thats a nice looking fish books
sorry about your loss

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''