# Rip



## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

I've lost quite a few the last couple of months... So I thought I'd put them all in one thread rather than a bunch...

My little Eva.. She was by far my favorite of my females. A black marble dragon HM with the PK gene. She died of mysterious causes though I suspect she had internal injuries from my Conchenn.

Gywnfor.. My dragon HMPK. He was young when I got him and looked to be only a PK, but he branched more while in my care. He died very quickly by some mystery illness.

My sorority girls... Died because someone dumped an entire can of NLS betta pellets into their tank while I was at the store. I had hoped I got to them in time, but they ate themselves to death.

My salamander girl. Was sick when I got her. Got better at first.. Impacted eggs killed her. She released a couple of them before dieing.

Barinthius. Blue and white marble HMPK. Came to me sick. Did not pull through.

HMPK spawn - Killed by unexpected heat while I was sick.

Leonidas. My black dragon HM male with red wash. Heat. Couldn't cool the tank fast enough on an exceptionally hot day fast enough. He didn't handle the heat well at all.

Doyle. Black double tail. Bit his tail off to the point he couldn't really swim. Got him into shallow water. His tail didn't grow back fast enough.

Sholto. Marble double tail. I'm still not sure what happened with him.

Odin. I moved him. He died because of it. He had complete dragon scaling so he couldn't see well. Got stuck in his decoration.

Egil. My tail biter. Took his tail down too far during the night. Found him with no tail on the bottom of the tank the following morning.


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## Opioid Slumber (Aug 23, 2012)

Too hot, severe tailbiting, mystery illness, suspected internal injuries...

Maybe you should consider taking better care of their living conditions. If you've lost that many bettas in two months then you're probably doing something wrong. Why would someone put an entire container of betta pellets in the tank? Maybe you shouldn't let that person anywhere near your fish again. Also, the next time you have a tank that's over heated, put some ice cubes in it. The ice cubes will cool it down gradually but fast enough that the betta is unharmed. Or you could've put that betta in a small bowl with cooler water until you got the temperature fixed. Pretty much everything your bettas died from was completely preventable!!! :shake:


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I know how you feel, I lost 9 girls due to I suspect the fast moving columnaris


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

First of all... I feel bad enough about them dieing without someone saying it was all my fault.

When I recieved Conchenn, I did not know she wouldn't do well in the sorority with the rest of my females. I introduced her slowly and watched them for HOURS. However, everyone has to sleep sometime. She was fine all day and for a couple of days after that. A few days later, I found one of my females dead. I removed the female and knew she had been healthy. Conchenn then started acting very aggressive even towards the female who was most dominant. So I removed her. Later in the day, I noticed Eva not acting as she should. I posted about Eva here in the forums. I did everything I could for her to try to keep her alive. I QTed her in a nice warm 2 gal. I tried AQ. I tried ES. I used IAL. I did everything that was suggested. She would seem better for a day or two and then backslide.

Gwynfor was VERY well taken care of. He had his very own 5 gal heated and filtered tank. All his needed water changes. Varied diet with pellets, frozen, and live foods. He became sick and died within hours, so I do not see how I did not take proper care of him. He was a PetSmart buy.

As for the heat, I had no ice cubes and was using fans plus cooler treated water. Sometimes, I was not home when the temperature spiked. I do, after all, have a daughter and puppy to take care of plus I have appointments of varying kinds every week. I was also bedridden sick for 2 weeks.

Tailbiting is not something that can be prevented. I did everything I could with Egil to keep him from biting. More decorations. Less decorations. More stimulation. Less stimulation. More space. Less space. Nothing made him stop. Not even his own tank. He was simply a tail biter.
I did not have Doyle long. When I got him, he didn't have much of a tail. Every time he got new growth, he would bite it off. I put him in a shallower tank to make getting to the surface easier for him.

ALL of my bettas are in heated and filtered tanks. All of them. They all get fed a varied diet twice a day save for one fast day a week. They all recieve proper water changes and are in cycled tanks. I feed NLS betta pellets, live foods, and frozen foods. I have PTSD and anxiety. My fish help me center and calm down. They help me relax. I would NEVER not take proper care of my fish.

As to the mishap with my sorority... Had you been around at the time, you would know all of what happened. Plus I just posted it in my first post here. I was not home. Someone came into my bedroom/fishroom. All but 1 of my females ended up dead. I spent a lot of money on these fish. Breeding quality fish as I was going to get into breeding. I loved them and was devastated. My bedroom/fishroom is now under lock and key. I do not know why it happened as I do not even trust my boyfriend to feed them.


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## Opioid Slumber (Aug 23, 2012)

I didn't mean to upset you, I was just a little shocked at several of the causes of death. I'm sorry you lost your fishies, it is really difficult.

I wonder though, if you might've accidentally overmedicated Eva. Sometimes the different drugs you give the fish can actually harm them, if not used correctly. I am not trying to blame you, I'm only wondering about the medication. So...

You named three different medicines that you gave her, did you give her any others also? 
Did you only give the exact dose? 
How many medicines did you give at one time, or in quick succession?

I also understand what you mean when you say you have medical problems like PTSD and anxiety. I also suffer from both of those, along with being Bipolar, having OCD and a Panic disorder. I unfortunately am disabled and have had chronic abdominal pain for 7 1/2 years, and I also have osteoarthritis in my neck and lower back, topped off with bulging discs.

I also have a child. His name is Lucian and he's ten months old. I love him more than anything, so no matter how bad I'm hurting on any given day, I still do everything for him to make sure he's happy, warm, fed, has a lot of play time and naps and give him his bath. (well, my fiancee does it a night, I do it the next, and so on)

Ha, actually I'll have to finish this later, my fiancee just told me needs my help getting Lucian ready for his bath!


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

I only did one at a time. I did not mix the salts. I gave her the recommended doses. I tried AQ salt first. I waited a couple of days after taking her off of it to try ES. During that time, I used IAL for the tannins. After a course of ES, she seemed like she was doing better so I switched back to just IAL. After two days of being on just IAL again, I lost her. She was my favorite so loosing her was hard. She always interacted with me when I was near the sorority.

Now my daughter's fish is looking a bit down. I think he is getting old. He was very big for a combtail and we bought him at PetSmart. He's a tough lil guy though. His water change day is tomorrow so I'll add IAL to his tank when I change the water this time. That usually makes him happy. Hopefully he doesn't bite me this go round.


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## tpocicat (Aug 8, 2011)

Enkil,
As you know, I'm very sorry for your loss. It happens, and I KNOW you did all you could do. 
People being judgemental doesn't help.
I once lost 3 males all at the same time! Things happen and we have no control over everything that happens in our lives. All we can do is our very best.
*hugs*


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## Opioid Slumber (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm not being judgmental tpocicat, I was actually just concerned. If someone loses that many fish so quickly it could indicate a problem that they aren't aware of. I never once said that she didn't try her hardest, I just tried to get her to take a step back and really look at the situation.

Enkil, since you suffer from medical problems, do you think it would be beneficial to you and your soggy friends to teach your boyfriend to care for them properly when you're not able? You said you can't even trust him to feed them. Are you the only "betta geek" in your household? If so, maybe you could ask your boyfriend if he could get more involved so he can help you out. You never know, if he learns more about these amazing companions, he might end up obsessed with them like the members on this forum. Luckily, my fiancee and I discovered our love of bettas together, so we are both completely obsessed with everything about them. Our first bettas were Valentine's gifts for us. We went and picked out everything they would need and then both of us picked out our Valentine's bettas. Since we've been keeping fish, it's actually brought us closer in some ways. Everyday we feed them, watch them, talk to them and otherwise care for them together. If your boyfriend is willing to help you, it really will have awesome results. For both people and fishies.


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## Enkil (Jan 15, 2012)

He bought 6 of the ones I had for me. Unfortunately, I lost the only one he really clicked with. He named Odin. The one he clicked with was a half giant orange female I had. She never greeted me at the tank, but she did him.

Thank you, tpocicat. I know you followed my journal when I kept up with it. ^_^


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