Well, Mr. Fishy #4 just bit the dust and I don't know why! We kept one alive for almost two years, and then we've not been able to keep one alive any longer than three days! Poor PJ, whose pet this is and who really loves his Mr. Fishy, is just about beside himself. These are lovely blue bettas, and we keep Mr. Fishy in a one gallon tank in the bedroom.
Mr. Fishy #1 died when I brought a plant in and didn't clean it properly. OK, big mistake. Mr. Fishy #2 I think died of whatever killed Mr. Fishy #1 as I didn't sterilize everything properly. Mr. Fishy #3 just keeled over literally overnight, even though I even purchased all new stuff for him. He came from Petco and never did do well really. Mr. Fishy #4 came from a place that seemed to know what they were doing - they had the bettas in habitats instead of plastic cups, nice and clean, and Mr. Fishy #4 was an outstanding specimen. I'm just so aggravated that he only lasted three days! They had a 24 hour guarantee on him, of course - all the fish places did and all the fish died right outside the guarantee time. [sm=sad.gif] I need a smiley for flushing money down the toilet - literally - here. [8|]
With Mr. Fishy #4 I also followed an online betta expert's advice for setting up the tank and whatnot, and he did nicely for about a day, but he never did eat a bite of the food we have here. I don't know whether that was it - maybe they were feeding some fancy live food in that store? Or maybe my water is too acidic - I tested it and it's pretty low - but how did Mr. Fishy #1 last so long? Nitrites and everything else are good - just the low ph water. I used Aquasol and did partial water changes every couple days. He floated, clamped his fins, then last night he turned sideways and went to join his predecessors at the watery Rainbow Bridge. Waaaaaaaaaaah.
Are there any betta experts here?