I’ve been an aquarium hobbyist for about a year and a half now. Since I started the hobby, I’ve had three tanks and I’ve had three bettas die on me. I got extremely attached to them and it was so painful watching them grow weaker despite my aggressive treatment. Now another one of my bettas has developed severe dropsy and I just don’t know what more I could possibly do. I feel like I’ve done everything in my power to give these guys long, healthy lives. My smallest tank is five gallons and all of them are heated and filtered and have live plants. Yet despite this, it seems like my experience with bettas is worse than that of people who keep their bettas in vases. It makes me so frustrated when I see a betta who has been alive for years living in an unfiltered, unheated tank while I can only keep mine alive for a mean of six months. It feels like I’m so close to giving up on this brutal hobby but at the same time it brings me so much joy to get close to these little fish puppies and watch them as they reveal more and more of their personalities to me over time. It just feels like I’ve failed them. It feels like if I decide to move on and buy another betta, I’m sentencing it to death.
I’m sorry for the rant. Thank you so much for reading this whole thing. I just figured this community would be the most understanding about my situation.
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Posted by smotheredinmayo
2 Comments
Just saw a few online posts about how bettas now have a really bad/unhealthy gene pool. Don’t be so hard on yourself! With you they’ve had a chance to relax and feel comfortable, something they’re not getting in the vase homes even if they don’t become sick. I’m sorry your little guy isn’t doing well
I certainly understand your frustration and disappointment. It is heartbreaking to feel like you’re doing everything you can but it’s also not enough. These poor little guys have been some of the best fish I’ve ever owned and also the most unhealthy. I now have a fully-stocked fish medicine cabinet, which I never expected to need when I entered this hobby either.
I know you said that it feels like you’re sentencing them to death, but in my view it seems like you are giving them a comfortable, happy life full of enrichment, even if it is sadly short. Unfortunately, your poor bettas likely would’ve passed away due to poor genetics and health issues anyway, but the care and love you’ve given them likely lengthened their life spans and ensured that they passed as peacefully as possible.