Mysterious passing

[Lala]

I just found out someone I talk to on is a betta owner. unfortunately I found this out because one of her Bettas died last night. Shes seems to know a bit about bettas, but has no idea what went wrong...

How long have you had your fish? She had him for about 5 months

Have you made any changes recently – tank size, food, water source, conditioners, etc? None that she told me

Does he (or she) have any tank mates? Yes a Pleco, that has been with him from the beginning, though she said the pleco has gotten kind of grumpy as it's grown older and bigger. She's afraid it killed her betta though the only sign was that his fins looked like they had been nibbled on. She used to have a catfish with the pleco and it also died suddenly.

What size is the tank and is it filtered? Is it cycled? It's a 5 gallon filtered tank, she didn't seem to know what I meant when I asked if it was cycled, but it sounded like she does 100%changes once in a while so I'd think no

How often do you change the water and what conditioners/water treatments do you use? No answer yet

Are you currently using any medication? No answer

What do you feed your fish, how much, and how often? no answer

What is the water temperature? She kept the temp at 75, I told her it should be a little warmer than that.

What are the pH and ammonia levels? (Nitrite & Nitrate?) Do you regularly monitor these levels? Again she hasn't answered yet

She said their were no symptoms, he was his happy spunky self last night. and when she woke up he was dead. I know she has treated for quite a few different illnesses, and had one betta die from Droppsy so she knows what they look like and what to do.

I'll post the rest of the answers as soon as she tells me hehe

[amanichen]

The pleco did it. Even a small one is capable of killing a betta.

As for tankmates...many fish which live with tankmates their entire lives, become accustomed to them, however that must start when all the fish are very young. Adult plecos don't really tolerate other fish as they get larger, esp if the quarters are cramped.

[Lala]

OK thanks. That was all I could think might have happened but since there was no "damage" other than the fins I wasn't sure. I thought plecos were good tankmates, is that only in big tanks?

She said she wasn't going to try to find him a new home, so hopefully she can before she rescues a new betta.

Thank you again,
Lala

[marcusbacus]

I'll take advantage of the tankmates mention and ask: is it better to add tankmates to a betta tank or add a betta to a tank with his supposed future tankmates? (considering the same fishes, ages, species and stuff)

I'm thinking about getting a new bigger tank (not much bigger though) and a new betta (still to be chosen) and I would like to add something else to it... I was thinking about a few neon tetras (which might be a problem because of the pH) or a cory, not sure yet. Or even snails ...

[Flurry]

I'm getting a 10 gallon tank for Christmas, and I'd also like to know. My Betta will be one of the first fish I add to the tank once I get it and cycle it, but my stock list is as follows:

6 black neon tetras
2 otos
4 cories
1 betta