Dying Bettas

I've got 3 betta males set up in 15 liter tanks with 25 watt heaters preset on 25 degrees.

At first they seemed happy in their now homes, but now they are just hanging about again....

I'm especially worried about the whitish one. Seems to be a pink patch on top of his head. (help please) He's going to the bottom and turning over on his side so he's in a bad state!

Any suggestions or help will be appreciated

.

 

They all seemed happy. Bubbles all over the tank.... as I'm typing the white one is dying. Tail down, nose up.

I feel so helpless and stupid right now.

 

Rip

Our white Betta expired and I'm just clueless as to what caused it.

I've taken some pictures in the hope that someone with more experience than I've got will see something that I don't.

In the pictures from the side his head looks "bruised" but its his colouring. The pinkish colour on top of his head I haven't noticed before.

 

Where are the filters?.

 

Hi @DewaldC

I don't have any filters yet. I've been doing daily wc

Ps: Any suggestions for filters would be appreciated. I've been searching for fry filters as suggested by someone else but have not managed to find it yet.

 

How much water do you change daily?.

A sponge filter or a HOB filter.(just make sure it isn't too strong)

 

@DewaldC

I've only been able to find 150 l/h hob (the others that I've been able to find is in excess of 250 l/h)

Won't the 150 be too strong?

 

Dinky - having just waved goodbye to a betta I've kept for over 2 years(he died of old age peacefully), I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I rigged his 30L tank with a little sponge filter that did the job beautifully - have you looked into sponge filters?

 

@tracyp

That's really sad! I am really sorry for your loss.

I've heard of sponge filters, but that is about it. Will spend some time on google and see if I can find a suitable one.

Thanks for the advice.

I've been wondering, that's the second betta of its kind (coloration etc.) that I've lost in two weeks. The blue and red crowntail I've had for a couple of months now and the other blue and red betta for two weeks. Could it be a bad "batch"? or could it be a bad tank? Could it be because he's in the middle tank, that they are "attacking" each other through the glass without me having noticed?

Out of the three however, it was the most active and alive. Came home this afternoon and within half an hour of seeing he's not okay, he died! All three had had bubbles in their tanks and from what I understand it means they are happy and secure.

Any ideas what could cause something like that?

 

Hey Dinky. When you do your water changes, how much water are you changing?

 

@Jenn

About 2 - 3 liters each morning.

When I kept the first one I had (in a 3 liter betta tank), I would do a 100% change once a week aside from small daily changes.

They've only been in these tanks for a week and 1 day now. I check the ammonia levels each morning when I check my 100 liter that I'm still cycling.

On some sites I read that I should do a 100% change daily, on others I read that I should never do a 100% change and I'm a bit at a loss. When I did not have heaters in, a 100% change made sense since water would be the same degrees etc.

Since I've put in heaters doing too big a change did not seem like a good idea.

I did a bigger than usual change this afternoon after the one died.

 

Never 100% waterchanges, rather 10% daily id say on those smaller tanks if they do have cycled filters IMO , http://www.atisponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Hydro-Sponge.jpg I have 2 boyu spondge filters not using them right now, heard great stuff about them. Id say there should be some bubbles in there, earthstones will do or when you get the spondge filters that will do the job. I believe in bubbles :s: or some type of watermovement. Btw the tanks looks great :five:

 

A few things off the top of my head: - you could do bigger water changes. I have also read that big water changes are a no-no. I suspect that comes from the days when people believed that clean water killed fish. The fish would get used to a very high level of nitrates, then if they were put into clean water, the shock would kill them and the belief was confirmed. Now we know better and it makes sense that fish in a river are constantly getting clean water and they don't die, so they won't die in our tanks if they are given clean water. I currently have some Ottos in quarantine. Initially, I was doing 100% water change every 2-3 days and they are fine. If you do a bigger water change the water must be close to the current temp. Can you heat the water before you put it in the tank? - I know you don't have filters yet, but do you have any water movement or an air stone in the tanks? If not the water could become oxygen depleted. - Bettas do prefer higher temps - up to 30 deg C, although 25 shouldn't kill them, so I don't think it's that. I see your tanks are open top, is it possible the temp could be fluctuating between night & day? That would cause some stress. - Add a rooibos tea bag to each tank. It has various therapeutic benefits.

 

Your betta barracks are rather proper .... nice pic.

As other have said - add some filtration - I agree on the sponge filter in each tank.
+ maybe a glass slider on each tank will allow you to fill the tanks with more water
+ you can use a common light (single 3 ft with reflectors should be fine (or what ever you 3 tanks lengths add up to)
+ put something between the tanks so that the fish can not see each other (reduces stress) - preferable something that has texture and that will not create a mirror affect.


Not sure if you are trying to keep the plants and the fish going - hope you are not dosing fertz. Small water volume, loads of WC etc .. no filtration.


What you feeding and when?
Later Ferdie

 

I'm in tears this morning, silly of me, I know, but....

I've kept "Bubbles" in a small little 3 liter for months without any problems. He was so beautiful and so responsive.

Woke up this morning to find him dead in his new tank...

Something went seriously wrong with these new tanks. Here I was thinking I'm improving his living conditions and I end up killing him!

 

Sorry to here about your fish

 

Possible Cause of my dying Betta

I think I have located the cause of my Bettas dying.

This morning I decided to put an air stone into the remaining Betta's tank for some water movement till I manage to find filters.

I plugged it in but it stopped working soon after. Would jiggle the plug, it would work again and then stop again. I then proceeded to test all 3 points and only 1 of the points were stable. The point for the living Betta's tank.

I had bought a new plug for the Betta's tanks this week, and the plug is faulty.

When the lights on the heaters turned off, I assumed it was because it had reached its temperature as per normal. Never crossed my mind that the brand new adapter that I had bought were faulty.

Who knows how long the points may not have made contact during the night, and this house is seriously freezing.

When Bubbles were in his little 3 liter "tank", he was on my bedside table. Nice sunny room with an aircon running at night when it's extremely cold.

"Blue" is doing very well. Ate his food this morning, swimming around and follows my finger when I drag it through the water.

Let's hope that the heaters / plugs have indeed been the problem and that he will stay alive.

I feel like a complete idiot but have learned a very hard, sad lesson!

@Jenn @Marius Swart @f-fish @DewaldC @tracyp

Thanks for all the advise and support, I will be sure to implement the needed measures.

 

Silly question, do you have covers on the tanks? Does anyone use cleaning products near them?

And i agree on the bigger water changes as well as adding the rooibos tea bags - even if it will make your water darker.

 

@Wyvren

The tanks did come with covers but it does not have any holes in it and I presume will therefore not allow for much oxygen in the tanks. I do however put them askew on the tanks at night.

No, it's not an area of the house that needs polishing. But I will be sure to take note when they clean the glass table nearby.

Could seachem excel cause any problems? I think f-fish mentioned something about fertilizers.

 

Thank you!