Welcome to Gaia! ::

Did they all die in the same tank? Perhaps a complete tank wash may help.... D:

Kokuryuu: No no, only the females, which share a tank, have died in the same tank. All of the other bettas that died which were once in a tank that housed a betta previously were properly sterilized with bleach and left to dry out for a day carefully to insure no cross contamination or bleach poisoning.

prInc355: I've been doing some serious thinking about the sorority. I have all of the conditions required for a female sorority (ten gallon, planted, filtered, four bettas for the hierarchy) but I'm thinking that the reason they keep taking chunks out of one another is that there are not many hiding places for them. Plenty of plants, fake and real, but nothing in regards to, say, a terra cotta pot and such. I've been observing them and there isn't any more damage to the fish from fighting, and the initial fighting may have just been to reset the hierarchy, but I'm not taking any chances. I'm going to go buy a few small pots and plug up the holes for the submissive bettas to hide in away from the alphas. The fish are fine for something but whenever a betta gets near Chartreuse (the opaque one) she chomps on them, she's the alpha female. They need more hiding places from her terrorizing, methinks.

On another note, I went into Petsmart and saw that they had put three females in a glass cup thing that probably wasn't even one gallon. They looked miserable and had practically no fins left.

I also think that I have figured out what may have caused the new betta's death. When I scooped out the little guy from his bowl, very small drops of blood formed on the net. I'm guessing some sort of internal parasite that my Fungus Clear didn't put a dent in. I'm going to go get Maracyn I and II to treat any other rescues that come in just as an extra precaution. Also, I had knocked out the bubbler I had in its bowl (I remember reading in the ultimatebettas forums about a sick betta needing a bubbler to keep the water oxygen rich so it wouldn't have to make the trip up to the surface and can use its gills) when I changed its water, breaking the airstone, so I didn't put it back in, and the air conditioning upstairs was broken, so the temperature was around 90 (yeah. I'm not kidding crying ). A few days before that I was camping and called my stepfather to feed my fish, and he saw that the bubbler's airflow was restricted and the fish was on its side; after adjusting it the fish began to swim again.

Since the temperature was so high, making the water heat up as well (warm water cannot hold much oxygen), and the weakness of the fish from the mysterious sickness, and the fact that I did not put a bubbler in and there were no live plants to give some oxygen to it, he probably suffocated.

What...a horrible way to die.



So in all honesty, I think the only fish that I personally killed, not out of accident or the female tank issue, was Blue, the one that I didn't take care of last year. Kind of depressing, thinking about it. But at least I know I don't have the touch of death. Just a string of bad luck.

Wow, what a long post.


ISF

I'm assuming that Fungus Clear only works on fungus and would not treat parasites, Maracyn won't either, as it is an antibacterial, before you buy or use any medication you need to make sure that its going to cure the disease your fish has.

Bettas don't really need a bubbler, their gills can't absorb enough oxygen from the water so they always will need to get air from the surface.

For Chartruese, If she is very violent you should probably put her in her own cup. This will upset the heirarchy but would probably be best in the long run. You should probably stop housing the females together and wait for the current ones to die off until only one is left, afterward perhaps put other types of fish in or get a smaller tank for one.

PrIncess: From what I know, some sicknesses require that the temperature be raised, for example ick, to kill everything off.


ISF