Mystery Dead Betta

[goldenpuon]

This morning I woke up to find a vey pale dead female betta in one of my female betta tanks. Her gills covers were out (either from whatever killed her or from other bettas trying to at her) and they were black in comparison to her white body. Her body cavity was hollow (the other fish had eaten her organs, etc.) At first I thought it was Edie, a white female bettas because the betta I saw was so pale. The fish didn't seem very hungry this morning (probably from eating the female). After school, I was surprised to see Edie swimming around happily with her handicapped sister, Crash in the tank. Then I realized it was one of the brownish an blue females in there. I had been thinking that there were only 4 in there but apparently there was a 5th that I had not seen in a while that must have been hidden an dying without me knowing it even though I normally keep careful track of my fish. All the fish seem healthy and I tested the water

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate under 15 or maybe even 10
GH:100
KH:110
PH:6.6

I'm adding some SeaChem to the tank to increase the PH, GH, and KH but other than that, everything seems fine. The fish have a heater and a number 1 hydro sponge filter. Everything seems fine with the fish like nothing ever happened.

But this is not the first time something like this has happened. 2-3 other females in the past 2 years have myteriously been found dead in my tanks like this. Each time, the parameters had been pretty good and there were no signs of illness to the other fish or injury inflicted by a figth that could have killed the fish found dead. I am wondering how this happens and what causes this? Each time the fish is cannabilized. Anmd how can I keep this fom happening again?

Thanks!

Renee

[Carl]

Often these types of deaths cannot be objectively explained, only guesses, which is all I can do as well.

It is also noteworthy that these types of deaths seen to occur in smaller tanks that often pathogens, as well as water parameters and Redox can fluctuate rapidly in.

Your water parameters are good for a Betta (adding some buffer is fine as well).

Once fish dies, they often will decompose rapidly, so with the tools at our disposal as aquarists, determining the cause of death via examination can be difficult.

This fish may have been going "down hill" for some time, but did not show any discernible symptoms. Aeromonas bacteria can consume a fish quite rapidly from the inside out I might add.

One consideration is to try a bare bottom tank if this type of problem persists, as this will often lower these types of bacteria on the bottom. However this is an anecdotal answer on my part to your problem, so please do not take this as a fact.

Also keep an eye on other fish and how they appear/act.

Carl

[goldenpuon]

I do have a bare bottom tank. I have gotten this in ever female betta tank I've kept. Onc ein the 5 gallon before it was bleached, twice over a period of 1 1/2 years in 1 gallon conatiner, and once in this one.

I know this is a bit off topic but my stick-on thermometer was reading 83 this morning in one of my guppy fry tanks. I adjusted it and it's back in the safer range, 79 F. It's at the lowest it can go (my heaters tend to malfunction). If it goes to 83 F like it did this morning with my guppy fry, will it hurt them? They are definitely getting enough to eat so the fact that a higher tempertaure speeds up their metabolism shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks!

[kagome]

Renee,

Where do you have your heater positioned? I was having trouble with my 38g tank being too hot at one end and then too cold at the other so I put the heater right in the middle of the back glass and pointed the out put of the powerhead so that it flows right over the heater and now the whole tank is at an even 78*. Maybe it would help your heaters to function better if they were in the direct flow of your filters if that is at all possible. Just an idea, I hope that's helpful. I think your fry should be fine since they were only at that temperature for a short time.

I'm sorry your fish died, that's always tough. Frankly, I think that to a certain extent bettas have been overbred and since they are generally bred for appearance and not vitality that they can be sickly and die suddenly even though they are kept under good conditions. It's like when people breed dogs or horses for color or appearance and then they end up with all sorts of horrible health problems down the road like eyelashes that turn inward or hip-dysplasia.

[bikeguy33]

also rene....sometimes, as we have all encountered, fish just die. there doesn`t always need to be an explanation. sometimes it just happens.

[eve]

are your tanks open or closed?
if they're open, never ever use a room spray near them, just a tip

[goldenpuon]

Thanks for the responses guys. And no, I never let anything like house sprays or chemicals enter my tanks. My mom is also highly educated in this matter. lol

My only they for how this happens is the fact that female bettas are semi-agressive. Maybe they gang up and kill a fish every so often though when this happens, I never observe nipping before. Also, whenever this happens, none of the living fish are ever injured which further blows my theory of one fish killing another because normally if there was a fight, the on ebeing attacked would fight back. Then again, this fish is an exception because it was obviously not doing well because it was hiding and I had not seen in in at least 5 days.

Sorry for the ramble, I was just trying to figure this out.