Dr Suess... the unkillable Alpha Beta fish.

The longest I ever had a Beta fish was four years. He died of a swim bladder infection, which is what I was imagining Dr. Suess had. Glad to read that he has recovered.
 
Det_Kimble said:
The longest I ever had a Beta fish was four years. He died of a swim bladder infection, which is what I was imagining Dr. Suess had. Glad to read that he has recovered.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I don't know too much about fish care other than the big box pet store staff and google searches. I think i am going to consult a pet store specializing in fish next time to get my info.

I think the scenery messed up the ph and gave him the infection -I just can't believe he made it.
 
FingerBang said:
Yeah different rocks will mess with water chemistry. If in doubt scratch off small pieces of the rock into some water, mix it up, and then do before and after tests for PH and hardness(GH). Off the top of my head I know rainbow rock and limestone are also bad for Bettas. They will raise the PH too high.

Have you tried frozen peas for its swim bladder issue? http://www.ehow.com/facts_5608361_betta-swim-bladder-disease-treatment.html

You can also try fasting him for a few days or even longer. It takes a long time to starve a fish to death.

If he is building a bubble nest he can't be doing too bad, they don't do that when they are stressed. If he is struggling a bit to move around I would buy a fake silk plant, then place one or two of the leaves about an inch under the surface so it can rest on it and be close to the surface. Much better than resting on the bottom.

The start of Betta care depends on if it's in a cycled tank with a filter, or a non cycled tank with no filter. Both require difference maintenance, specifically how water changes are done and their frequency.
Click to expand...


Thanks he's doing awesome now -except his fins are weak and small now compared to when I bought him

I did the pea trick alot once he got sick -got that of the internet.
 
SevenSamurai said:
but he was referring to Beta Fish -which are little warm water air-breathing carnivorous puddle/rice paddy fish.

You are talking about Gold fish -which are vegetarian Carp that live in cold water and use gills to breathe water and can grow over a foot long.

not really a good comparison
Click to expand...

They're both considered "throw away fish" by the public. Most are kept in undersized, unfiltered, and poor water conditions. If you're going to take on the task of caring for an animal, you should make your best attempt to care for it. I get the excuse "well it's just a 10 cent fish so if it dies no big deal" and my counter is "I can get a puppy or kitty for free, since it was free does that give me the right to abuse to it?" then the people get all huffy and walk off.
Most pet stores the advice from the employees need to be taken with a grain of salt, they're not always right.

BTW there is a Dr. Seuss fish (Belonoperca Pylei)
drseus_zps70e191d7.jpg
 
If you don't mind buying them, pick up some flightless fruit flies and drop a few in at a time. They used to go bonkers at the pet store when I would do it b
 
I've had two betas do the same thing. But, only for a few weeks, not 9 months. Once, I thought it was dead and took it outside to bury it in the garden. It came to life in my hand and started flopping around. It was fine after that.
 
jefferz said:
They're both considered "throw away fish" by the public. Most are kept in undersized, unfiltered, and poor water conditions. If you're going to take on the task of caring for an animal, you should make your best attempt to care for it. I get the excuse "well it's just a 10 cent fish so if it dies no big deal" and my counter is "I can get a puppy or kitty for free, since it was free does that give me the right to abuse to it?" then the people get all huffy and walk off.
Most pet stores the advice from the employees need to be taken with a grain of salt, they're not always right.

BTW there is a Dr. Seuss fish (Belonoperca Pylei)
drseus_zps70e191d7.jpg
Click to expand...

Awesome.

i didn't consider him a throw away fish -that is why I tried for 9 months to nurse him back until it appears I was successful.

I don't purposefully kill anything ever anyways (here comes Dizzy in disbelief) -even bugs.
 
SevenSamurai said:
Thanks. I don't know too much about fish care other than the big box pet store staff and google searches. I think i am going to consult a pet store specializing in fish next time to get my info.

I think the scenery messed up the ph and gave him the infection -I just can't believe he made it.
Click to expand...

Since it sounds like your Betta was sick, you should try putting some aquarium salt in his tank the next time you clean it. Aquarium salt will aid him with his recovery.

saltpn.jpg
 
Det_Kimble said:
Since it sounds like your Betta was sick, you should try putting some aquarium salt in his tank the next time you clean it. Aquarium salt will aid him with his recovery.

saltpn.jpg
Click to expand...

It will kill any snails or shrimp in your tank and some plants.
 
jefferz said:
It will kill any snails or shrimp in your tank and some plants.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info and warning.

Unfortunately Gary passed on at the beginning of the summer.

That's 3 family members dying at my house in 2012. Am looking forward to 2013.
 
I had a Beta fish named Tony that went through the same thing. Seemed dead at times but you could still see him move. Then one day he just started acting better. He did eventually die like 2 months later though.
 
The fish wasn't ready to scale those steps to the pearly gates.
 
I am pleased to announce that Dr Suess the Unkillable Alpha Beta Fish is still doing well now approaching 3 years old (13 months after he magically quit floating upside down for which he did for 9 months).

My GF after much testing has figured out that Theo (Dr Suess) likes very dirty water -the less we clean it the more lively and active he becomes. My tank is like a reddish soup that you can't see through and he is loving life.

Very strange and counter to basically everything we read or were told about conditioning water. We only clean out a small portion of the water at a time just to make ourselves not feel like bad parents. Sometimes I will sit by the aquarium glass and chat with Theo about the glory days of the aquarium when Gary the snail and Theo would play hide and seek in the magical castle.
 
That fish sounds like a slob.
 
Did you actually clean it after the fish got better to see if the clean water was actually the cause of the problem?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,662
Messages
55,432,763
Members
174,775
Latest member
kilgorevontrouty

Share this page

Back
Top