Betta died. Where did I go wrong?

[kctheaudioguy]

I'll try to keep this short and to the point.  Thanks in advance to anyone willing to offer advice. 

• 40 Gallon tank
• canister filter with spray bar facing glass and one half of surface.  half of the surface is relatively still for floating plants.
• 79F
• heavily planted with water sprite, hygrophila siamensis, java fern, anubias, pennywort, frog bit, & of course duckweed, 
• 1 crowntail betta, 8 Harlequin Rasboras, 6 Kuhli Loaches, some amano shrimp, 2 nerite snails, and a handful of small snails.
• current parameters (using aquarium co-op test strips 
  • hardness 75-150 ppm 
  • buffer 40 ppm
  • pH 6.8
  • Nitrate 25 ppm
  • Nitrite 0 ppm
  • Ammonia 0 ppm

Story

• Friday 10/29
  • while feeding the Betta he I noticed his tail had black fungus on it.  I think it matched tail rot pretty well after research.
  • I moved the betta to a 3 gallon plastic container with a small filter and heater
  • I added 1 tablespoon of salt (per this article https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish)
  • Cleaned the 40 gallon. (scrubbed glass, cleaned filter media, trimmed and pruned plants & 25% water change)
• Saturday 10/30
  • fed the betta one pellet (xtreme 1.5mm)
  • mixed up three gallons of water with conditioner and salt in a separate bucket to use for water changes
  • changed 1 gallon of water (1/3 total)
• Sunday 10/31
  • fed one pellet
  • changed 1 gallon of water
• Monday 11/01
  • fed one pellet
  • changed 1 gallon of water
• Tuesday 11/02
  • fed one pellet but did not eat it.  (I removed the uneaten pellet)
  • changed 1 gallon of water (mixed up another 3 gallons of salt water)
• Wednesday 11/03
  • I tried to feed him a single flake of fishfood but he didn't eat it.
  • changed 1 gallon of water
  • I determined the fin rot wasn't improving so I added 1/3 packet of API EM Erythromycin.
  • That night I noticed he was curled up on the bottom.  (He usually chills near the surface)
• Thursday 11/04
  • He was still curled up in the morning.  I poked him and his body was stiff.  dead.

He was a pretty active fish until I added the E.M. Erythromycin.  Did I add the wrong amount or do something wrong there?  I can't figure out where I went wrong.  Was I not supposed to use salt and the medicine at the same time?  I'm feeling a bit discouraged and don't want to rush to replace my centerpiece fish until I understand what went wrong.  

 

[Zac]

This is just my opinion but honestly it looks like you did way too much. A 30% water change very day for a sick fish is bound to stress it out a lot. Everyone has their own method tho. If it were me I would’ve just added meds to the 40 gallon right away and follow the treatment instructions along with adding the salt. That’s just me though. Sorry for your loss 😞

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

While that (water changes) might have stressed a fish- I've done plenty of water changes for sick fish without an issue and most have recovered. It's important for a sick fish to have super clean water. 

My two cents is this. Betta fish I'm finding are far more senstive and hard to keep than most other fish. When I saw your post I saw at least 4 others with injuries and deaths of other Bettas. Could you have done something wrong? Sure, it's always possible. Will you ever know for sure, no, but you could get a good idea of what COULD have been done wrong or done differently. I see a lot of posts here where deaths or illnesses happen within a year of owning a Betta. I don't see a lot of people on here boasting about their Betta's 5th birthday. It sucks because I think they're great, but I'll not keep them again. 

[laritheloud]

On 11/5/2021 at 1:50 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

While that (water changes) might have stressed a fish- I've done plenty of water changes for sick fish without an issue and most have recovered. It's important for a sick fish to have super clean water. 

My two cents is this. Betta fish I'm finding are far more senstive and hard to keep than most other fish. When I saw your post I saw at least 4 others with injuries and deaths of other Bettas. Could you have done something wrong? Sure, it's always possible. Will you ever know for sure, no, but you could get a good idea of what COULD have been done wrong or done differently. I see a lot of posts here where deaths or illnesses happen within a year of owning a Betta. I don't see a lot of people on here boasting about their Betta's 5th birthday. It sucks because I think they're great, but I'll not keep them again. 

I hate to say it but I agree with you. Selectively bred bettas seem to have problems that prevent them from living longer lives.

How old was your betta, OP? You did what you could for your little guy and I’m sorry you lost him.