Betta acting crazy!

Question
Hi, last night my Betta started acting VERY strange and I work up
this morning to find him dead. Before I can bring myself to buy
another I am hoping to find out what happened to the little guy.
He was living in a vase with a peace lily growing out the top. I
have only had him for about a month and he was doing excellent
until last night. We changed his water (it was a whole water
change, conditioned it as well) and shortly afterward he started
frantically leaping at the surface and then floating headfirst to
the bottom, then he would lie on the bottom only to attack the
surface again. This went on for awhile and the next thing I knew
he was "gone". Please help me so that my next Beta will be
healthier.

thanks so much

Answer
Hi Laura;

I'm so sorry this has happened to your fish. So sad....

The first thing to do is get a different container for your new betta. Peace Lily vases are just not a good home for them. The roots often prevent the fish from getting to the top for air and the betta suffocates. The roots can tear the fins and cause infection. There is also not much water in there and it gets dirty too fast. Get a small tank with a light in it so it can keep the temperature up. Bettas are tropical fish and need 75 or higher consistently 24 hours a day. They prefer 80 to 85, so if you can get a 4 or 5 gallon tank with a heater that's the best way to go. Heaters only come in sizes for tanks 4 gallons and up.

The behavior he showed before is an indication of shock or drowning. There are many causes to shock. More than a week since the last water change so chemistry of new water was different, the temperature was different in the new water from the old are possibilities for shock. If there was no way for him to actually get to the surface of the water to gulp air he can drown. This is unfortunately a common cause of betta deaths.

Here are some sites to help you know more about bettas and their care and keeping so you can be successful next time;

http://www.bettatalk.com
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=108706&ck
http://www.healthybetta.com/
http://americanfishguy.tripod.com/bettacare.html
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/anabantids2/p/betta.htm
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/bettacar1/l/blqa2061.htm

Wishing you and your next little betta friend a long happy life......

Followups Welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!