Betta death.

[Flumpweesel]

So last Jan I got as an impulse two lady bettas one of lasted about 8mths before dieing of some unknown bacterial infection in my community tank the second was found floating last week no prior signs of issue.

This leads me to ask the question how old do you're bettas get? 

These two ladies where from a UK equivalent of a big box store and cost less than £5 for the pair.

So also what do you pay and what do you expect from bettas? are we being set up fail maybe only a survey will give us a clue.

[FLFishChik]

I’m sorry about your Bettas. It’s tough to lose your Aqua pets.

in my area, our BB store sells Bettas in a range from $7 (for standard solid color juvenile veil tail) to $30 for the more exotic  Betta ( giant koi plakat Nemo sparkly magical unicorn mermaid rainbow fancy pants) . I don’t expect much as the care on any given week differs tremendously depending on who’s working. Some weeks the cups are immaculate and the fish lively and healthy and other weeks the cups are filthy and the fish on the barely moving and looking rough. 
 
I currently have 2 Betta from above mentioned store, Leo who’s about 3 years old and Taz, newest member and still a very young Betta, not quite his full size yet

Leo

 

Taz

Edited January 4, 2023 by FLFishChik

[jwcarlson]

I was wondering the same thing.  We left for a day on Saturday and came home.  No betta.  No body.  Don't feel he could have jumped and not been found unless cat ate him, but that seems a bit tough to imagine as tank is in an infrequently used spot for cats. 

If it died in tank its tough to imagine it was entirely consumed in the 10 or 12 hours we were gone, but I guess more like 24 hours because lights were off when we got home. 

Only had him a few months, day before he  was just fine, interacting, eating, etc.  Don't get it.  Daughter was pretty upset, but I have been wondering the exact same thing the last few days... How old was he when we got him? 

[Biotope Biologist]

I have had quite a few bettas over the years. All of which ranging in age from several months to 5 years. So this survey will likely turn up with a pretty big range. Several “cheap” betta lines are so inbred and have such low genetic diversity it’s a wonder they made it past fry-hood.

 

I think you might find the ‘premium’ bettas or locally bred ones will live the happy 3+ years. But I’ve only ever had rescues so I can’t speak to that. Maybe one day I’d like to get some other species of betta. 


I think as long as you give them a good home lifespan is irrelevant 

 

[nabokovfan87]

Not in my own care, but even some bettas with very poor care I have seen survive for a few months.  Longest I've seen personally is 2-3 years.  None of those bettas actually had a real aquarium I would say that 75-90% of them developed dropsy. Very unfortunate.

[Remi de Groot]

On my second Betta now. First one lived for about 1,5 years and was bought for €15 at a LFS.
Didn't have any signs of illness but was getting tired way faster in the end and didn't eat as much anymore.

Got my current one at Vivarium (aquarium event) last oktober for about the same price.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

IME they don't live very long. I never kept track but in my past fish keeping years most of my Betta probably lived a year give or take a few months either way. I have a lot more experience now than I did then and have a better understanding of their needs so now that I have 4 Betta, 3 being rescues from my "Colossal" thread- I'm trying it again. It was never my intention to keep Betta again- but maybe in the back of my mind what I'm doing is challenging my experience and knowledge- trying to determie if it was my lack of skills in the past OR it truly is that Betta quality is not high across the board. While most fish keepers at my stage are getting breeding projects- I'm testing my skills in trying to keep what I consider a difficult fish alive and happy for longer than I ever have.  The 2 prior I had before these didn't live long- one under a year from a big box store, the other one lived less than a month from a breeder of specialty Betta. My Mum had a Betta that lived in a vase years ago (forgive her she didn't know better neither did any of us at that time) that lived longer than any other Betta I knew- probably 2 years or so. 

When I brought my only non-rescue Betta home months ago, even now I don't have high expectations for him to live long- and maybe that's just me trying to "protect" myself from the bad feelings we get when our fish die seemingly too early- when we are trying our best to do everything right. 

I think the aquarium industry is guilty of convincing us Betta are "beginners" fish when they are ABSOLUTELY NOT. Sure a beginner can get one, but they're lucky if they get it to live a year. I don't know maybe the industry knows most people get bored of fish keeping anyway so that's fine. However they are doing themselves and potential life-long fish keepers a disservice by setting us up for failure.  Then it's heart breaking for a beginner- because they are easy fish to get attached to- partly due to the fact they are typically the only fish, but mostly because they do have very charming totally individual personalities. A beginner that has a true interest in keeping fish will consider themselves terrible fish keepers when they see onliine the fish should live 3-5 years and they only managed 1 or 2, or months even. Seasoned fish keepers (and I don't count myself much in that category, I'd say I'm intermediate but not advanced) have typically gone beyond Betta. Part of that might be because they know that Betta are not bred for health- they are bred for color, fins- looks really and nothing else- this doesn't create a better animal. The trend was super long fins- I think to the Bettas' benefit- we seem to be trending back towards shorter fins but the color impact has not changed. Until we start to breed them more for health and longevity they will probably always be difficult fish to keep for very long. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:12 PM, jwcarlson said:

I was wondering the same thing.  We left for a day on Saturday and came home.  No betta.  No body.  Don't feel he could have jumped and not been found unless cat ate him, but that seems a bit tough to imagine as tank is in an infrequently used spot for cats. 

If it died in tank its tough to imagine it was entirely consumed in the 10 or 12 hours we were gone, but I guess more like 24 hours because lights were off when we got home. 

Only had him a few months, day before he  was just fine, interacting, eating, etc.  Don't get it.  Daughter was pretty upset, but I have been wondering the exact same thing the last few days... How old was he when we got him? 

Do you have snails or shrimp?  If the fish died in the tank, they would have eaten him.

---

I am enjoying my betta.  I talk to him and we play games, like I will drag something through the water (ie: a plant cutting) and he will chase it..  and he always always greets me when I approach.  He flutters his side fins excitedly when he sees me.  Sometimes he gives me a little flare, because he has a 'tude.  I hope he lives a long time, but I did read about the short lifespan of bettas before I adopted him.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[jwcarlson]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea Yes, and quite a lot of them.  In the past when fish have died they do eat them pretty quickly (though haven't had that happen in this tank that I remember), but usually there's a skeleton left over.  It's possible he could have died the night before we left.  We left the house before lights come on and got back after they turn off.  Kids left for sleepover and Gpa/Gma's... now that I'm thinking about it, we probably didn't have many eyes on the tank at all for closer to 48 hours with the lights on.  They could certainly take care of a fish that fast.  I'm thinking I fed them before we left for the day Saturday, but that's not the case upon further reflection.  Days are starting to run together between me being off a bit on vacation and wife (teacher) and kids being off school for the last few weeks.

Edited January 4, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/4/2023 at 9:34 AM, jwcarlson said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea Yes, and quite a lot of them.  In the past when fish have died they do eat them pretty quickly, but usually there's a skeleton left over.  It's possible he could have died the night before we left.  We left the house before lights come on and got back after they turn off.  Kids left for sleepover and Gpa/Gma's... now that I'm thinking about it, we probably didn't have many eyes on the tank at all for closer to 48 hours with the lights on.  They could certainly take care of a fish that fast.  I'm thinking I fed them before we left for the day Saturday, but that's not the case upon further reflection.  Days are starting to run together between me being off a bit on vacation and wife (teacher) and kids being off school for the last few weeks.

It is a blessing in disguise.  It really really sucks the fish died, and I'm so sorry that happened.  The silver lining is you could have had an ammonia spike because you hadn't noticed, and that could have come with more losses.  Your cleanup crew had a high protein meal.  You have a nice little ecosystem in the tank taking care of itself.

[jwcarlson]

Yes, that was part of the perplexing part because when I couldn't find him Sunday afternoon I checked ammonia and it was 0.  

Wish he would have showed some signs of issues, though.  

I think if I get another betta I will try to find someone breeding them locally so I know how old they are.  It makes perfect sense that a breeding facility would shuffle out their old stock and sell them... egg laying facilities do it with their spent hens.  You'd hope that they'd be honest about it, but I think there's enough middlemen and inherent loss that most people wouldn't really question problems.  There could, of course, be issues that caused the death that I'm just not seeing/noticing, though... don't want to make it sound like I'm just throwing my hands up blaming some outside force.

Edited January 4, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/4/2023 at 9:52 AM, jwcarlson said:

Yes, that was part of the perplexing part because when I couldn't find him Sunday afternoon I checked ammonia and it was 0.  

Wish he would have showed some signs of issues, though.  

I think if I get another betta I will try to find someone breeding them locally so I know how old they are.  It makes perfect sense that a breeding facility would shuffle out their old stock and sell them... egg laying facilities do it with their spent hens.  You'd hope that they'd be honest about it, but I think there's enough middlemen and inherent loss that most people wouldn't really question problems.  There could, of course, be issues that caused the death that I'm just not seeing/noticing, though... don't want to make it sound like I'm just throwing my hands up blaming some outside force.

I get that.  I don't know how old my betta is either.  I adopted him from a friend, and I don't know how long she had him.

[Flumpweesel]

Thanks everyone, I think especially with the male bettas they are going to be a bit older before they are sold as those tails need to grow.

It would be great if we were as familiar with fish longevity as are with other pets, I keep a list of dates I buy my fish so I don't go drive myself potty trying to work out if there is something wrong or just their time.

But you almost never hear of a Betta getting to the 2 year mark maybe we expect to much 

[FLFishChik]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:20 PM, Flumpweesel said:

Thanks everyone, I think especially with the male bettas they are going to be a bit older before they are sold as those tails need to grow.

It would be great if we were as familiar with fish longevity as are with other pets, I keep a list of dates I buy my fish so I don't go drive myself potty trying to work out if there is something wrong or just their time.

But you almost never hear of a Betta getting to the 2 year mark maybe we expect to much 

I guess the only way to really calculate longevity it to raise several fry from different hatchlings through adulthood until they pass naturally. It’s difficult to tell just how old a fish is when you buy it from the store. Was the fish bred locally? Imported from overseas? How long was the fish raised before the pet store acquired it? How long did the pet store have it before I acquired it? How well did both the breeder and the pet store take care of the fish (and anyone who handled it in between the breeder and the buyer)?  So many questions