Betta Fish: Lost my little buddy :(

I’m reeling with guilt after my fish, Gibby, died while I was on a 10 day vacation.

I had a friend stopping by every few days to feed him, on her second trip there he was dead. I’m not sure what happened, since I’m still not home. Her first time visiting he must’ve been in one of his caves, so i told her to do a small shake of food for him to forage for in the morning. I figured this was better than leaving no food in the tank for another 3-4 days. My theory is she overfed him and he died of ammonia poisoning (my fault since i didn’t teach her how to feed him and I forget that most people don’t know how little they need).

I put so much into this little guy over the two years that I’ve had him. We dealt with a nasty, year long battle with fin rot and he had finally been getting better (this photo is from before that, he looks ragged now so I didn’t want to post a recent one). We’ve been through two moves together. I was in a very bad relationship and used to just sit and watch/talk to him after getting home from work. He had one of the biggest personalities I’ve ever seen. He really was my friend and companion. He was also such a trooper throughout his battle with fin rot, it breaks my heart that my carelessness is what took him.

I know he was on the older side, but the reason I think he passed from ammonia poisoning is because he was as hungry and active as ever when I left. He showed no signs of slowing down.

I’m just absolutely devastated. Most people don’t understand what it’s like to be attached to a fish in this way which is why I’m posting here. My boyfriend has been a huge support though.

Our next guy we plan on getting from a breeder, to hopefully avoid the petsmart genetics. If anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Just needed to vent to people who understand, thanks for reading.