My Beta fish Angus

Question
Hi Chris,
I am beside myself.  I bought 2 betas about a year ago.  (one red - Angus; and the other blue - Jake).   I have had them in 2 separate 1 1/2 gallon vases with colored glass gravel and live submerged plants that I bought from the fish dept. in Wal-mart.  I clean their vases completely, once a month.  The joke was that Angus with a very hyper diaper, could swim all day long with slight rest intervals (very much like my personality) and Jake was always the very calm one, who only swam (glided) once in a while, but was mostly a "lounge lizard" (the same personality as my husband).  Well about a week ago Angus appeared very listless.  He was always a huge eater (7 or 8 beta fish pellets) twice a day, and Jake ate like a bird, only 2 or 3 pellets, and did not always eat during every feeding.  Well about a week ago, Angus appeared very listless.  All he would do is sit on the very top and seem to gulp air.  Then I noticed that he appeared somewhat larger/wider/fatter than Jake.  I did change the water in both tanks this past Sunday, but Angus  still seemed listless, unhungry, and gulping at the top of the tank. Well I went to your site and checked out all the possibilities.  I thought maybe he was constipated, so this past Monday, I ran out and got Epsom salts and only put a pinch in the water.  Then we added a light and tried to keep him warm.  I also had some "Fish Mox" (Amoxiccilin), and I added about 1/4 of the 250mg tab to the water (recommended dosage on bottle was 250mg tab per 10 gals.  He was very vibrant in red color, until Monday night, the area right around his gills appeared to be turning ever so slightly white.  Also all Monday evening he appeared to be swimming to the top (maybe to get closer to the light), but he could not angle himself onto the leaf upon which to rest.  I kept checking on him and he would swim up, then drift back down and either land on a lower leaf or the gravel, almost as if he ran out of gas by swimming to the top.  Even as he sank to the bottom, he appeared to be moving his fins.  He did appear to be in distress, as he seemed to be 'huffing and puffing' the whole time.  Well we woke up Tuesday morning and found that he had passed away.  His color never seemed to change from the vibrant red, except for the bit of white around his gills.  I am so sorry that I could not help him and am beside myself as to what was wrong with him.  Now I don't know how to prevent the same fate from happening to Jake.  Can you shed some light on this problem.  Thank you so very much.
Linda

Answer
Hi Linda;

Poor Angus...what a shame. It is possible he had a bowel obstruction. Feeding peas every couple of days can help avoid it. It acts as a laxative. Bettas were not really meant to eat dried foods, even though that's what we give them and it is a very healthy diet otherwise. Their natural diet is live bugs. There is enough moisture in them to normally avoid intestinal problems. Overfeeding and low temperature can constribute to it too. Give Jake tiny bits of green peas two or three times a week to help him avoid it.

You might want to change the water more often too. Every week is really what is recommended. The live plants help a lot though, so every two weeks is still okay.

Keep up the good work and get Jake a new friend!

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Chris Robbins

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