Dying Beta

Ginevive, what food were you giving her? I've noticed mine get "flip over" as it's called in goldies a lot (where they roll onto their back and float), when fed food with ethoxyquin in it. Others can get it when fed pellet type foods, though I've never had this issue. Switching to Hikari Goldfish flakes would have probably fixed the problem.

Sorry you lost her though. Goldfish are dumb. Cute, but dumb. It's a fact. lol ;3 Mine are as retarded as the next so I've made sure there's so way they can kill themselves in their pond.

And yes, bettas are also prone to SBD also.

Okay I haven't put Ping down yet (couldn't find clove oil yesterday at the store I was at). Let me describe what's going on. Ping isn't able to rise easily from the bottom of his tank. He's just sort of laying against this gravel and the glass. This is not normal behaviour for him at all, up until week before last he was his usual active self and would come to the surface to feed or follow my finger around the glass. When he tries to rise to eat he is obviously struggling hard, his body almost bends in half and he rises off kilter, almost looking as if he will go over on his back from the effort (but does not). Most days he is just not bothering to try to eat at all which is why I'm concerned he will simply starve to death.

I've had Ping 3.5 years. I have no idea how old he was when my kids bought him for me. My understanding is that beta's live 3 to 5 years so I'm assuming this is simply old age catching up with him. His diet is the same as it's always been and there's been no changes to his environment. This just seems to have come on in the last week or two and quite honestly I was expecting him to die naturally last week. When he didn't I became concerned that I needed to intervene so he didn't die slowly from starvation.

So it's more like his writhing and flipping when he struggles to get a breath of air, rather than a battle for the surface? If there anything on his body or patches of discoloration? Fuzz (sometimes it's faint and hard to see), grey spots, tiny specks of white or gold? Does his body look more bloated than is normal, any pine coning of the scales, protruding eyes? Red on his fins, lesions? I’d siphon some water from his tank and do a partial WC after testing your water just in case. You might have had an ammonia or nitrite spike (depending on you WC cycle and how big the tank is and all that jazz), which could have made him ill.

A lot of the time, swim bladder issues can be fixed with time and effort, but the SBD may be another symptom of something else.

Doing some studying for our betta....


The plish or goldfish bowls are baaaaad news for bettas. They need to be kept in tanks w/the circulating, warm water and fresh water changes like other tropicals. Live food is better.

Bernie was getting the tiny Hikari betta pellets. At the time, I didn't know live food would be better for him. Once I learned the plish bowl was wrong I moved him.

Whatever happens Jo, :hug: to you and comfort in Ping's passing (if he did).

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R

Jo, I wish there was something more I could tell you, but I think the others covered it. I wish you luck with the situation.

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Originally Posted by Styx

Ginevive, what food were you giving her? .

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I was feeding the hikari pellets; sadly though, she had the symptoms before I got her. She was a sympathy-induced buy.. she was not as bad when I got her and actually lived a few years, but now I know hat this is pretty-m uch not a correctible disease once it sets in, right? I have heard of someone who will surgically "install" something to weigh them down, but I could not put her through that.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Thank you so much Jamie. I'm going out today so I will pick up the ingredients to euthanize old Ping. Silly to be so upset about a dang fish but he's been a lovely little fellow, very interactive and friendly for a fish and I just can't stand watching him go this way. Even a fish shouldn't have to die inch by inch. Hugs bro, thanks for the link.

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Your such a caring person (unlike many I know/met/heard) And I thank you for you generosity to all living things:oops:

sweety314, you can also do a NPT - Natural Planted Tank. Because bettas dislike a current, they like standing water or extremely low currents best. NPTs if you have them set up right will keep the nitrites, ammonia, ect down because the plants consume them while the fish produce them. Though you gotta watch out for those plants. I had one full of beautiful crypts, long story short they melted, ammonia spiked, my fish got sick.

Ginevive, sometimes it's a minor issue like too much gas in the gut or from overeating. Sometimes it's an internal infection which you would notice as it spreads outwards and that is very hard to treat. Other times it's chronic but does not affect the fish's life, a serious fall, attack, or previous illness could damage that organ and that's never fixable. I've heard about putting in a weight, but nothing more than like someone mentioning it so I don't know if it works. And actually, some fish as they develope when they're fry, get deformed swim bladders, but most breeders cull these "sliders".

But if it's caused by a bacterial infection or other disease, you're right, 90% of the time it's fatal because by the time it starts affecting how they swim, they're nearly dead already.

I'm terribly sorry for what you are going through. I work at a fish store, and I have to go through it with rescue fish often. :( I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here. I'm a fish and aquarium specialist and have cared for and maintained tanks all my life. Have you tried using any aquarium salt in your water. . . I always recommend trying that before you put your fish to sleep (only if it's safe for the species). I would recommend a teaspoon for every 2 litres. However, I am really sorry to say that it might not work and Ping might be too far gone. It's a hard decision to make, and it kills me everytime. If the fish has the will, it's hard to choose to take their life :(. I also must admit that I have always used the freezer method for all of my tropical fish. The temperature will cool them down enough that they go to sleep. I could never use vodka on any fish for fear of burning them, but that's just me. Normally, I place the fish in a large deli container filled halfway with water. I then place it in the freezer, and within 20 minutes, they have gone to sleep. I personally think that there is no sure fire way to prevent pain when putting a fish to sleep, because we have no idea how they feel to begin with. Again. . . I'm very sorry for the pain you're going through. . . fish are family too. :(

Do not use salt on dropsy however (swelling of the body and pineconing) it will make it worse really fast. Use aquarium salt for finrot, ich, velvet, ect. Works great in combo with meds for external parasites.

Let us know if Ping made it or not.