Betta Fish Death Diagnostic

[Hannah Storoschuk]

Betta Fish Death

Hello,

I would love some information on what the cause of my betta dying may have been.

I had owned him for 3.5 years. and he was at least a year old when I bought him.

I had him in a 15 gallon, filtered, heated tank. I exchanged about 24 cups of treated tap water a month. The filter flow was reduced so he could swim, and heater was set to 24 decrees C. There was one live plant. I moved him into this tank about 8 months ago. Previously he was in a gallon tank with water changed every two weeks.

He was generally a relatively active little guy, but also enjoyed sitting in his floating log.

About 5 days ago I noticed he was being lethargic, and just sitting in his log. However, he was still hungry and did some swimming.

2 days ago I noticed him sitting on the bottom of his tank, which was quite uncharacteristic. I didn't noticed anything else odd, but then yesterday noticed he had white mucous around one of his gills. He would just lay sideways on the bottom of the tank, or lay in his floating log. He seemed to be 'gasping' for air. Whenever he swam to the top of the tank he would let himself fall back down, and bump into things along the way. However, he did not seem to struggle with swimming otherwise.

I bought him Bettafix, recommended to me by a fish vet in the area. I added in 1/2 tsp per gallon yesterday. This AM he was fine, but when I got home from school today he was dead on the bottom of his tank.

What do you think may have been the cause of his death? Old age? Water parameters? A fungus?

If I get a new betta, what can I do differently? As well, do I need to steralize everything in the tank before getting a new fish?

 

[fishorama]

I'm so sorry your pretty betta died. He seems to have been, for a betta, quite up there in age. No telling whether it was old age or something else, I don't see signs of fungus. His body looks a bit bloated but hard to say if that was before or after death.

What were your water parameters? I prefer more than monthly water changes, like every 7-10 days but you should have been ok in a 15g. Do you have any other animals in there? Snails?

Tell us everything you can think of...& when it's time for a new betta here are things to look for: from a previous post of mine recently:

When it's time for another betta, if there's a choice between a smaller (younger) fish & a very big 1, get the smaller. Of course you want a pretty colored 1 & may have strong opinions on fin types but once fish are adult there's no way to know age. Study each fish you're considering. Look for healthy fins, eyes, gills & scales. Not too fat or skinny, no bumps, lumps or white areas (dots or patches). It's hard to tell in those little cups but an active fish is probably healthier.

 

[Hannah Storoschuk]

I sadly don'y have a water testing kit, so don't know the parameters.. My fish was so healthy for so long I thought that having him in a filtered 15 g was enough. Apparently that was a mistake. Secondly, I do not have anything else in the tank with him. The only thing I noticed on him was the small amount of white mucous on his gill, and otherwise he seemed fine.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Yes, sorry for your loss!

Like said, ~24 cups is only like 1.5 gallons. A typical weekly water change amount is 50% of the volume, or ~7.5gal per week in your case.
With just one fish in 15g, it may be a bit of overkill, but the best way to know for sure like fishorama suggested, you need to order yourself an API master test kit that allows you to measure for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in PPM.

 

[Hannah Storoschuk]

Hmm OK, I will do that. I was told by multiple people at the fish store sine I had a single betta in a filtered 15 gallon tank with a filter made for 20 g that I would only need to do a 24 cup monthly water change. This probably wasn't correct info?

 

[Rbishop]

I'm a firm believer in a minimum of 50% weekly, regardless of tank stats.....

 

[FreshyFresh]

Hmm OK, I will do that. I was told by multiple people at the fish store sine I had a single betta in a filtered 15 gallon tank with a filter made for 20 g that I would only need to do a 24 cup monthly water change. This probably wasn't correct info?

My experience with advice from a fish store, even those that have been around for decades has not been positive. Especially when it comes to nitrogen cycle and water changes.

It's great you have a filter that's 'rated' for a larger than than you have it on, but filtration is only part of the picture. Crystal clear water doesn't mean healthy water at all.

 

[OrionGirl]

Honestly, I don't think there was anything wrong with the water. I agree with the above in terms of water changes, but if anything shortened his life, it was living in a bowl for a long time since that likely wasn't heated. Bettas tend to not be terribly long lived fish. 4-5 years is average. If you get another betta, more water changes will not hurt, might help, but I don't think more water changes would have prolonged the life of your pet by a noticeable amount. I'd say adding some more plants would do more, truthfully.