I got a halfmoon red male betta a couple months ago and named him chilli. He is my second betta and my first betta was already sick when I got him so I learned quite a bit about
He was in a 40L cycled tank with a Molly (they didn’t fight chilli just chased him a bit) 30 shrimps and a snail.
The shrimps are happy and they are breeding with many small shrimp. The tank conditions were fine.
But one day I found him bloated, he was fine till the day before and eating.
The next day I found him pineconing. I immediately moved him to a hospital tank but it was too late, he passed away that night.
Now I’m scared to get another betta but my friend has a female betta and he couldn’t give her proper care so I’m planning to take her in.
But I’m scared if something will happen to her.
The shrimps are out and grazing and the water parameters are good.
What do I do ?
https://i.redd.it/qv9qiuzb39xf1.jpeg
Posted by TeaCake004
1 Comment
Dropsy is usually a result of an opportunistic bacterial infection (except in very old fish where it may be caused by cancer). The root cause of most such infections is too much organic matter in the tank and not enough biological filtration to break down dissolved organic matter.
I see that you have what *looks* like a fairly appropriately sized sponge filter. Here are a few questions to rule out filtration issues: How often do you clean that sponge, and exactly how do you clean it? What is the air flow rate on your air pump, and is the filter’s lift tube below the surface of the water?
Other related questions: how much did you feed per day? Was the water typically crystal clear, or was there a slight whitish haze in the water? And what temp was the tank kept at?