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Does It Ever Get Easier?


Peta

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:P

well in the last three days I have lost three fish.

Hidie my DT girl - don't know what got her in the end. Santa (new red PkHM Male) don't know why with him also, he's never been 100% since he came home. and my Snow Green PK HM Snot, whom was my current prettiest fish, and I was planning to spawn with his sister Chicken in the next few weeks.

So since I moved house (just over a month - month and six days to be exact!) ... I have managed to lose six fish! ;)

My other half went into the fish room this morning to find a 'black mass' on the floor... he was even deverstated to find that it was Snot under all those ants (he must have jumped out of his betta cube that he was temporairly in due to me being unsure on the state of the betta baricks he was in... wish I had of put him back as I was thinking of doing this morning :D ... then he noticed Santa wasn't looking to good .... by this afternoon he was dead :(

*sigh*

And I don't like the look of Kissenger at the moment in with his babies. - Worried becasue I do think it's the 'new' water that's caused the trouble - and I'm 99% sure it would have been that jug(s) of water that I used in the fry tank.... ARGH!!

at this point I've decided no more fish. I'll maintain the ones I have an the ones I do have coming (my three aqua bid girls) ... and if I can get through the next two months and see how we go... :(

and because I haven't really got to share any photos of them yet....

Snot:

IMG_4945w.jpg

and Santa:

IMG_4874w.jpg

:) my babies. :D

... well the boy's finished digging the hole for me in the garden - better go get the fish out of the freezer and bury them ;)

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So sorry about what has happened to your babies, and no, it doesn't seem to get any easier when you lose them. You get attached to each and every one of them for their different personalities. I hope that things improve for you soon.

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Sorry to hear about your losses Peta. I think there's somethiing strange going on this summer... All my boys have been sick the past couple days. Seem OK now but still... bewarebrunette seems to be having some troubles as well... Could the weather just be TOO hot??

To answer the question: No, it doesn't. It makes you feel useless and incapable of caring for the smallest of creatures... That's how I get anyway...

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Bennie/Betta Boxes - 100% every 3 days I try for every two days, and when I do manage to do every two days they get only 80% change as I figure it's good to leave some of the water in there!

Non Filtered tanks (under 8L)- every 3 days - sometimes four. If I can stretch it with just a small water change (20% during the week) I do a 100% at the end of the week.

Filtered tanks. 20% every week - 50% every third week.

When I did have my turkey baster - I would clean out poo from bottom of tanks as often. But since it broke the syringe just doesn't quite cut it LOL.

I'm so kicking my self for not ensuring the lids where on the betta boxes - I did have them on when I first put them in there (Snot, Santa and Oscar) ... but left it off when I was feeding them and didn't think to put it back on yesterday. :)

My fry actaully at this point seem to be doing okay - the boyfriend was even surprised at how much they have grown in the last few days since he last was in the fish room... So that's one good thing. *knock on wood* I'm sure something will come up with them - holding my breath for it now.

Oh... and with the water - I have about six/eight 10L spring water jugs that I've collected, I fill these with tap water - newest to the back of the line - so try to age it for around a week if not two (depending on level of waterchanges, mishaps I've had haha)

I still always - no matter what - put in my water conditioner - one I have gotten from Jodie-lea and also stress guard. The newest additon to the tank/s has been some java moss and that's about it - all but one are bare bottom tanks.

Sorry to hear about your losses Peta. I think there's somethiing strange going on this summer... All my boys have been sick the past couple days. Seem OK now but still... bewarebrunette seems to be having some troubles as well... Could the weather just be TOO hot??

To answer the question: No, it doesn't. It makes you feel useless and incapable of caring for the smallest of creatures... That's how I get anyway...

well I changed my facebook profile to "Peta da fish killer" - I think what I'm most mad about is Snot, as that was totaly MY fault - he should have had a lid on his box. (and I think I'm also most deverstated about loseing him today - as just between you and me, never really 'warmed' to Sanata - he was my "ugly' fish, and also one who never really *did* anything - he's always been mopey and inactive ie kinda boring - wouldn't even flare that much at the other boys. I was going to try to living him up by giving him his own tank with more space to see if he perked up... guess I don't have to worry now.

I'm really leaning towards it being something to do with the water and what they have been adding to 'fix' it (ie the alge problems we've had - the folrid additons to water etc etc...) and just damn bad luck. I'm goign to ask the boy to get me some more spring water tomorrow as I just can't bring myself to trust the water from the taps right now. Maybe once the current jugs have been siting for another few weeks!

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Peta I'm so sorry to hear you lost more of your babies. I know what that's like. I have to say though, if its the water, then maybe I'm just lucky? I dont bother ageing water etc, I just use it from the tap, and add the water ager. And I don't do near as many water changes as you do either. I do hope things improve for you.

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It is horrible when you lose so many fish and you don't know why. :)

How long do you age your water for?

What is the difference in pH straight out of the tap and what is the pH in the 3 day old beanie containers?

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:) bye bye boys.

Sorry Peta, wish there was something more to say.

I've taken a cautious line on water changes lately. My betta tanks, (only three) are all filtered, Sebastion with an ugf and Splodge and Purple with a penn-plax sponge filter. I have only been doing a 25% water change weekly, although I just spent a fortnight away with a friend topping up the tanks after a week, and the water parameters were all good when I returned.

The barbs in my tropical tank however had a large water change today, about 80%, and seem a little off tonight. Not exactly gasping, but pale in colour and not too active. They are a lot tougher than betta's so should be ok, but I really do think it's the water. Amonia, nitrate and nitrite all showed normal (I even had the lfs run the tests again incase I was doing it wrong) so I am left to wonder what else is in there.

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Sorry to hear about your losses Peta. I know it's too late to save the ones you've already lost but I've a few suggestions that you might consider.

First, I suggest you drill a hole in the lid of the beanie box that you can put food through. I drilled a 5mm hole so I never have to take the lids off. Start with the smallest drill bit that you own and go slow. Don't put too much pressure on the lid or it will crack. Go up in drill bit size gradually, one size at a time, until the hole is the size you want. I only feed my fish pellets so the small hole is perfectly fine. I use a tiny funnel I found at Coles. It came in a set of 3 sizes and the smallest one was just perfect.

Next, you should consider hooking those beanie boxes into some kind of filtration system. Small containers are extremely hard to maintain. If you're interested, feel free to start a thread and we can workshop some designs.

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Oh Peta, I'm so sorry to hear about your fishies. It doesn't get any easier.

I got out of bettas all together after a horror run, with all my fish gradually dying. I never did find out what the problem was.

It's possible the changes in water quality have allowed some kind of disease process to gain a hold, maybe? As you know, during the past week or so Qld Water has started mixing Mt Crosby water with Gold Coast water, and has flushed Mt Crosby weir, to get rid of the 'pond water' smell and taste that's been so noticeable in Ipswich and the western suburbs lately.

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Thanks everyone for your replies.

Sadley I think you're all right - it doesn't get any easier. :)

Lost Kissenger today :) (my Copper BF boy)

He's been off colour for awhile now (was the reason I took him out of the baby tank) ... he never came 'good' either. Just was kind of a moppey bum - went off his food. Again like Santa and Hidie - no outward signs of anything wrong :( Just died.

I hate this!!!

:((

Edited by Peta(&Eric)
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  • 6 months later...

sorry to hear about your fish :rant: I lost my Siamese Algae Eater this arvo and I always feel depressed after one of my fish has died.

I too lost a betta yesterday. The only one that is alive is the mother betta. Who would think she'd outlive her babies?

It gets hard to decide whether to try again or just give up. My oscar is the last fish I'll buy untill I get a bigger tank......and then.....we shall see

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Hello Peta, Eric,guys. Sorry for your lost ones. I have also lost a few betta over the last month or so, though none of them were spring chickens. All were between one and two years old. These little guys do indeed have their own individual personalities, just as we do. We love and bond with them as our little fishy friends. They know who their best friend is - YOU. Only good pet owners will ever experience (or understand) this bonding. Betta don't live very long relatively speaking, and are even more short-lived in the wild. My attitude is to love them while they last. Don't despair. Sometimes we talk about giving up on pet keeping when things aren't so rosy for whatever reason, though the bottom line is......you won't - ever. I know that we all will look forward to our future little mates and try to remember the ones that we were close to. - Brad.

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