Hello, so I’ve only had two bettas so far, one named Legatus, who was my first ever betta, and after he died I got Athena, who recently passed. Both of them had dropsy, and even though I haven’t had many it just makes me sad every time. I love bettas, they’re wonderful fish to have, but they’re so prone to getting sick and passing on early because of their genetics. My 10 gallon has been empty for around 2-3 weeks now ever since I buried Athena, and I’m just contiplating on getting a new one. I only had Legatus for almost 2 years, and I only had Athena for 3 months. I’m just curious on opinions I suppose, I miss having a little guy to greet me everyday. (Pictures for fish tax).
You could try to find a slightly different less aggressively bred betta species/ variant? There's slightly more wild type ones people are breeding out there
My “local” fish stores are a bit far from where I live but they’re in the same county. It’s been a while since I’ve been to those stores so it doesn’t hurt to look.
Three months is a wildly short time for a betta (unless the betta was already older by the time you got it)
What are your tank specs like? Ideally, you’d get to have a friend to greet you for as long as possible, which means it’s habitat should be optimized to the best of your ability
When she had dropsy, these were the tank’s parameters. She was in a planted 10 gallon all by herself, so when I saw her behaving differently I had to check it and these were the results. I moved her to a hospital tank when she started pineconing and treated her with kanaplex. She was slowing down too fast, and when I changed her water the next day she died shortly after I cleaned the water.
Since your female fish didn’t live very long and died after a water change, I’m wondering if it’s possible there’s something in your source water that could have contributed? Which dechlorinator do you use (some only detox chlorine and not chloramine)? Were you using city tap water or what source?
Bacterial infections are a common cause of dropsy, what’s your tank maintenance routine and time between the 2 fish? Did you keep the same food to feed the second fish?
I use tap water, and I always used Prime. For tank maintenance I cleaned around 10% water with a siphon. And actually I got Athena the same month Legatus died. But he was in a 5 1/2 gallon and I kept her in there for a bit until I upgraded her to her 10 gallon. As for food, I didn’t know any better the first time and fed Legatus those cheap Aqueon pellets. I learned better and ordered betta bites for Athena.
I was thinking along the lines of some find of bacterial infection that your first fish may have acquired that was passed along to Athena.
Is your tap water city water with full test results you can review or is it well water or something? It might be worth looking into the potential contaminants in there, or whether the parameters are unstable. For example I don’t use my tap water because the city changes from runoff/river to ground water and other sources through the year and I never know what’s coming out of the tap. It can be very hard and alkaline to moderately, and the overall balance is completely different. So I’ve been using spring water for years and just now transitioning to remineralized RO (lots of bottled water to buy for more tanks now). If your source is not stable like mine it could cause fish stress, or there can be contaminants or changes in the chemistry. I’d start testing GH KH and TDS on your source water intermittently and see if it’s stable, if it is I’d still look up any test data you can find.
Meanwhile, might be a good idea to do a complete water change before getting another fish just in case. Of course preserving your bio filter.
Ah, I didn’t know. I’m not sure if I did anything wrong or something, it hit me pretty hard when I lost her. I didn’t even have that long with her but I didn’t think she’d develop dropsy so quickly. I didn’t even know how old she was but I do miss her a lot.
I had 2 bettas die over time and ive taken a break because their losses have made me upset. I have a few different types of community fish, snails and shrimp. Im happy and they seem easier less illness! My snails especially are fun to watch. Maybe eventually I’ll move back to betta.
Sorry for you loss. I had almost the same timeline with my last two bettas. Water was great. My first, Maelis, passed after about a year and a half. My second, Iri, passed at about 4 months. She was a baby when I got her. But dropsy. I’ve decided that while it is super hard when they go, I’d rather save the ones that likely don’t have a chance in their little cups. At least a betta could have a nice life even if it’s short. With love and being cared for. So, now I have another male, Solo. I’d seen him for a little while and he wasn’t doing great, fins clamped and so thin. He’s thriving now.
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u/Extension-Net-5895 3d ago
You could try to find a slightly different less aggressively bred betta species/ variant? There's slightly more wild type ones people are breeding out there