Bettas Keep Dying

[lavenderfleur1]

I've been keeping fish for about 17 years now, and I am familiar with proper tank cycling, heaters, filters, proper food, etc. Over the last year, I've had 3 bettas die, always of the same symptoms. They start out fine, lively, eating well, and then all of a sudden, a month or two after getting them, they will become lethargic and have no interest in food. They develop a slightly bloated stomach, lose color, and scales pineconing a bit.

I cannot figure out what the heck is going on. I kept them (one at a time, not together) in a 10 gallon tank with a small internal filter, and heater set on 80 degrees. I fed a variety of pellets with the occasional bloodworm treat. I change about 30% to 40% of the water weekly, and test readings (API master kit) come out fine. We do have well water, although I've kept bettas for 2 or more years in the well water without issue. The PH is a little high (maybe too high for bettas?) at 8.0.

I really want to figure out what I'm doing wrong so I can keep a betta healthy for more than a couple of months. I love the little guys and having so many die in such a short amount of time has been pretty disheartening.

 

[fishorama]

To me it sounds like a disease that is in the tank itself, that survives to infect the next betta. Pineconing is never good, I've never had a fish live beyond a few months no matter the cause & if it temporarily goes away. It's more a symptom of kidney failure than a disease.

Were your fish young, smaller fish or big, large bodied adults? If adult, there's no way of knowing their age...& kidney failure is 1 of those things that kill old fish (& people too), nothing dies of just "old age", it's a process.

It could be something else too. Is your water pretty much like where you bought the fish? High pH can often mean high GH & KH too. Do you have numbers for those? How did you acclimate them to your tank if the parameters are very different? See osmotic shock.

& then there are diseases that can show signs like pineconing...but usually by the time that shows up...it's too late for any treatment. I hope it's not that (those).

 

[myswtsins]

In addition to fishorama's questions... Do you currently have a sick Betta or did the last one pass already? Did you notice any changes in their feces before they stopped eating? I have a high pH of 8.2 and have learned that the pH is not nearly as important as TDS. Assuming you don't have a TDS meter, as most hobbists don't, giving us GH and KH will help give an idea at least. DO you have any pics of the sick Bettas?

 

[OrionGirl]

Have you kept any other fish successfully in the tank? How long between fish? I'm guessing you're keeping the domestic strains--have you spoken with where you're getting them?