Just yesterday my little female betta Ebi died. I had only had her a month, and she had been fully active and looked fine until a couple of days ago. She had been hugging the bottom of the tank and didn't come to greet me when I went to feed her on Monday. She was bloated and had a long stringy poop hanging from her so I thought it was constipation and let her be. Yesterday she was worse and looked like she was gasping a little, so I was going to dose some Anti-Internal bacteria and give her a pea just in case it was something internal when I got back from work. I also noticed she was mostly bloated on her right side, and her left looked relatively normal.
I didn't get the chance, as she had passed by the time I got home. The side with the lump also looked a little pinecone-y. My partner had been keeping an eye on her and she had been twisting and curling up before she passed. I don't know what could have killed her so quickly, so my first question is does anyone have any idea what it could have been?
My tank is a 5-gal with an internal filter and a heater, the heater was set to 24/25C. Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates 5-10ppm. pH is between 7.4 and 7.6. I'd been feeding her 2-3 pellets a day, but on Saturday I also gave her a bit of freeze dried bloodworm as a treat. I had cycled the tank for a month with ammonia the plants produced when I planted them, after my last betta Kanda died. The tank is pretty heavily planted so I do use liquid carbon, but I wasn't dosing it daily. I also do have a bit of a problem with green hair algae at the moment. I do a partial water change once a week on Saturdays.
This is the second fish I have lost in about as many months, so I am wondering if there is something wrong with my care and what I can do to prevent it happening in the future, or am I just unlucky? I love keeping fish and I don't want to stop keeping them, but I don't want to lose another before its time.
Finally, what should I do to clean the tank? Is it necessary to empty it fully and start from scratch or will carrying out a big water change and giving the gravel etc a deep clean a few times be enough?
I didn't get the chance, as she had passed by the time I got home. The side with the lump also looked a little pinecone-y. My partner had been keeping an eye on her and she had been twisting and curling up before she passed. I don't know what could have killed her so quickly, so my first question is does anyone have any idea what it could have been?
My tank is a 5-gal with an internal filter and a heater, the heater was set to 24/25C. Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates 5-10ppm. pH is between 7.4 and 7.6. I'd been feeding her 2-3 pellets a day, but on Saturday I also gave her a bit of freeze dried bloodworm as a treat. I had cycled the tank for a month with ammonia the plants produced when I planted them, after my last betta Kanda died. The tank is pretty heavily planted so I do use liquid carbon, but I wasn't dosing it daily. I also do have a bit of a problem with green hair algae at the moment. I do a partial water change once a week on Saturdays.
This is the second fish I have lost in about as many months, so I am wondering if there is something wrong with my care and what I can do to prevent it happening in the future, or am I just unlucky? I love keeping fish and I don't want to stop keeping them, but I don't want to lose another before its time.
Finally, what should I do to clean the tank? Is it necessary to empty it fully and start from scratch or will carrying out a big water change and giving the gravel etc a deep clean a few times be enough?