# No idea what happened :(



## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

Smaug, my orange VT died today. I have no idea why.  I had only had him for 4 months, but he started getting lethargic a few days ago, then today began to just lay on his side on the bottom of his QT cup before he died. No change in food, and his water parameters were great. I have no idea what happened, he had no outward signs of illness (no velvet, ick, or bloatedness, just very pale.)

He was such a healthy fish up until 2 days ago. I'm pretty depressed now and feel like a betta-failure.


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## Canuck Fins (Oct 5, 2010)

Sorry you lost your fish! That's always tough.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm sorry to hear you lost Smaug. You gave him a good four months that he wouldn't have had otherwise. You're only a betta-failure if you fail to love your betta and I know you loved Smaug or you wouldn't have posted about him. And Smaug wouldn't want you to feel like a failure either.


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

Thanks Sakura. :')


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome. And everything I said is true so if you keep thinking you're a betta-failure, Smaug will be sad wherever he is.  By the way, I like the name of your bunny. She's named after the Star Wars character from Timothy Zahn's books, right?


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

Yes she is! I'm a huge Star Wars fan


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I greet you, fellow Star Wars fan.


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## Neil D (Apr 10, 2011)

I'm so sorry smaug died. 

I'm a Star.....*drumroll*....TREK fan haha I love star trek, especially The Next Generation. Pardon my nerd spazzum


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

Have you guys heard of fish getting parasites from frozen brine shrimp? I gave smaug some maybe a week before he died (he got brine shrimp once or twice a week). I'm wondering if maybe there was something in there that caused him to go down so hard and fast. 

I'm leaving for an internship monday and I'll be gone for 6 weeks, but I'm gonna go betta-shopping when I get home and give it another try.

Both of my parents are trekkies ^_^ And by trekkies, I mean my dad has the entire original series that he taped off TV in the 70's. They're hardcore. So I do appreciate Star Trek.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I suppose it could happen but most frozen foods go through a pretty rigorous sterilization process to remove any parasites. And the only real food out there that carries a significant danger of parasite infection is live tubifex worms. There are some diseases that do get a fish really fast but I'm not familiar with the details of Smaug's case. He didn't have a black or grayish spot on his tail that moved progressively up his body in less than 30 hours, did he?


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

He didn't have any physical signs of illness besides getting pale. No grayish/whitish spots, no fin rot, no bloat - he just went to the bottom, clamped his fins and kind of laid there.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Wow. How long had you had him? I've read pet store bettas can be as old as a year by the time they reach the stores. That's too bad, I'm sorry to hear he went so suddenly like that.


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

I had him for four months.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Will you get another one?


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## soccerdog693 (Dec 28, 2010)

Yes, I believe I will. Like I said I'm going out of town for 6 weeks, but when I get back I'm gonna try again.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

That's good. I think Smaug would want you to have another betta.


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## Serafina (Jun 19, 2011)

Sorry to hear about Smaug. I agree with Sakura8 that he would want you to have another betta.

Best, ~Sarah


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm so sorry about Smaug.


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