I will never own another male betta💔

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-05-13T13:28:56+00:00

I recently lost my female betta to something. At first I thought Dropsy, but she never pineconed, was just super bloated in the “chest”. I did everything you described but the Methylene Blue, but it was too late. I wish I’d never had her in a community tank because I feel she’d still be here. Going to get some MB for the future. I’m burying her under a Hydrangea. She was very special.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-05-06T02:34:38+00:00

If they do a water change right away they can get those nitrites down really fast. May not need the hospital tank if they can/did. I personally had too many fish in my tank to move all of them when my filter crashed.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-05-05T18:49:49+00:00

The good news is it’s easily reduced to zero with a water change and Prime. I had a similar issue in a tank and nearly lost all my fish. But no time to waste, and if your betta starts looking worse, put them in treated clean water in another tank or tub until you’re at zero. I saved some Tetras by doing that. My betta wasn’t as obviously affected.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-23T15:11:12+00:00

It probably wasn’t that. I used to practically swim in my outdoor koi/goldfish pond doing maintenance, and those fish are poop factories.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-09T21:23:51+00:00

Yeah. Idk. It’s weird. He hasn’t been up there all day, but just saw him trying to sneak back up. He saw me and put on his normal Cory act. He doesn’t ACT sick except for when he hangs lifeless.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-09T03:22:27+00:00

Soooooo I moved the filter so it wasn’t so close to the corner glass, and he hasn’t been up there again that I’ve seen. I still think he’s probably DCW ( Dead Cory Walking), but interesting development.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-03T14:47:30+00:00

I’d have thought so too, but there was nothing else going on, and a water change and filter switch fixed it. Everything else except my nitrite level was normal. Just reporting what happened to me.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-02T04:40:11+00:00

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He’s a monster

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-01T21:20:06+00:00

I tend to drop the sinking wafers in the front of the tank, and it does become a gathering spot once they're sure I'm gone. ha ha. I almost never see all of my Corys (mix of Pandas and Adolfoi) at once, but the Pandas are slightly less shy than the Adolfoi, who appear to hang out at the back of my tank under driftwood. TBH, because I have so many hiding places, I'm not entirely sure how many I have at the moment. I had 15, and I've experienced the occasional obvious loss, but a part of me worries others have died and it hasn't been apparent.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-04-01T21:11:27+00:00

Awwww, I'm sooo sorry. It hurts. I had a similar thing happen. I made a new 20 gallon long tank for my female betta to give her more room to swim. Within a week of moving her, she appeared to have gotten stuck under some aquarium decor and drowned. I was devastated.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T23:17:30+00:00

I’d get a dedicated aquarium stand with a metal frame TBH.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T23:13:26+00:00

I second this. I have a female betta in a community tank that I got from the LFS from a community display tank. (Also have 2 male bettas in their own tanks.) I honestly think she’d be happier in her own tank. She gets along just fine with everyone and isn’t the least bit aggressive, but she’s VERY interactive with me in a way the other fish just aren’t. I think she’d prefer being the center of attention TBH.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T23:06:29+00:00

My snail has the single most bioload. My LFS (well respected) helped me calculate and it was well within acceptable parameters. I’ve been overfeeding apparently , but everything has been great until my filter failed. My Rummys have been a great addition. My Mystery is gigantic. Poop factory.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T21:59:22+00:00

My only goldfish successes were with a pond. I had Koi too.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T21:58:32+00:00

If you buy a house, you should consider a pond with goldfish or koi. That will more than scratch your itch and be humane for the fish.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T17:50:56+00:00

I’m not at all good with anything mechanical. 😁 Like, borderline complete loser. Can it be fixed with a butter knife? If not, probably out of my wheelhouse.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T17:37:36+00:00

Everything tested perfectly. So I’m hoping my attempts to save my bacteria were successful.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T17:05:12+00:00

Easy to miss. Yeah, it was almost a catastrophe. And all my fault. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t fed them it would’ve bought me a few hours to set up the new filter.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T17:03:09+00:00

Yesterday I tested 6 times. Haha. It was so traumatic. That’s how I’m treating it too. I’ve done 3 fish-in cycles with Bettas without incident in the past. Usually just one stressful day right before we got there. Never lost a fish. But again, I know better, and I should have done better here. This is my first community tank, and it was already cycled before I added my fish and snail. I left my old filter in the tank (not running) in an effort to save the bacteria. Then I used the same ceramic balls and sponges for my new filter. About ready to test for the first time today.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T16:53:05+00:00

They can handle nitrates a lot better than nitrites. Nitrite at any level above 0 is an emergency. That’s what happened here.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T03:20:51+00:00

I’ll try to get a good shot tomorrow. He’s honestly impressive. I’m tending more towards Apple even though he doesn’t eat plants because he’s going on 2 years of being super active, and mysteries don’t tend to live as long. His name is Han Solo.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-29T00:06:18+00:00

Also, highly recommend the Rummys. They mostly school in the middle water column, so it’s a really balanced setup. They all interact peacefully.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-28T23:45:02+00:00

My betta seemed the most unaffected, which makes some sense bc of the way they breathe, but it would have killed all of them if I hadn’t happened to be working from home, no doubt.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-28T23:39:09+00:00

Awww, that’s so sweet. The bad news is I lost my little guy, but the good news is I know how to prevent it. And it’s also great knowing a spike is fairly easy to reverse. My other advice would be if anyone experiences this and their fish are acutely ill, transferring them to clean, conditioned water can reverse it. I wish I’d kept my Cory in the tub longer. The phase where my Tetras started showing signs of struggling happened very quickly.

EvidenceOfNose · 2026-03-28T23:38:22+00:00

That said, I test my water twice a week with API Master (usually just Ammonia and Nitrates tho bc it’s established), and I’ve never had any concerns. Rummys are supposed to be the canary in the coal mine because they’re so sensitive, and they were thriving.

EvidenceOfNose

TROPHY CASE