Hi guys – My betta fish Finley passed away today as I watched. It was so sudden I wasn’t sure what to do. It happened over the course of 5 hours (at least when I was awake, it could’ve started during the night).
The rules of this group won’t let me post his picture of his body, but I’m really curious if something internally happened to him because of some discoloration on his body I’d never seen before until this morning.
I’m genuinely curious if something was wrong internally or if it was something I could’ve prevented. I’ve had him since the beginning of August 2025. He was doing great up until today. Even last night before bed his was acting normally and ate his food.
Tank Info:
5 gallons
Heater and sponge filter
7 live plants – no fake ones
Frog Bit floaters
Small pebbles as the substrate
Water changed once a week (last one was 50% this morning as an emergency)
Tested water about 20 mins ago once he passed – all parameters were normal. Alkalinity was high (never seen before)
If you guys have any ideas, please let me know. I’m devastated. I thought I was doing a good job as this was not my first fish I’ve had. I’ve had beta fish before and other community tanks. If allowed I will post a picture of his body, but I don’t want my post to get taken down. Thanks everyone. 🐟💔
https://i.redd.it/6750ioeg028g1.jpeg
Posted by Puzzleknees
2 Comments
UPDATED TO ADD: I found a dead earwig in his tank on Monday (4 days ago). I took it out but there was a small piece of it that went into the rocks and I couldn’t get it out. I’m thinking maybe he ate that and it plugged him up??
As long as your water parameters were fine there was probably not much you could do, they can either be super strong or some of the most fragile creatures you can have. At least you gave him a nice home :). SIP Finley.