BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Who can answer this...

My friend got a beautiful white/black/blue betta last week.
It is more white than anything so she named him phantom.
Phantom swam normally, ate well, was active whenever people were around his tank, and seemed to be healthy. He was solo in the tank. She did water changes every two days and was very cautious with the chemicals she used.
Yesterday (Sunday) she gave Phantom his 4 pellets before we went to a movie. Phantom ate them as she dropped them in one at a time. We were gone for a little over three hours. When we came back Phantom was laying on his side, in the bottom of the tank, dead, stiff as a board, fins flared out, and there was a bright red patch or spot on his underside behind the "flare" about where the fin starts. It's not swollen or leaking. It looks like a blood bruise that humans get. There was nothing wrong with him when we left him. She made sure he was in fact dead, there was no movement when she gently nudged him. Has anyone heard of anything like this? Does anyone know what it is or why it happened?

Sounds a little like ammonia poisoning...could something have gotten knocked in his tank? Also, was it his gills that looked red? Red gills that look like they're bleeding are a sign of ammonia poisoning.

His tank sits on a bookshelf and the top has a hood cover to protect him from dust, ect. (well, did anyway)
The gills were still white and black. The red area or spot was underneath, like on his belly, but not that far down. It was between the two long slim fins in front and the beginning of the back fin. It really looked like a reddish colored bruise that humans get when they get hit, but there is nothing in the tank he could have done that on.
It's really strange.

Four pellets of what would be my question. If they were large shrimp pellets, the poor little fish's stomach exploded when the pellets absorbed water and expanded. The would explain the positioning and appearance of the bruise.

Caveat: Fish foods, especially pellets, absorb water and if the fish eats them quickly, they will expand inside the fish with bad results. Often, after eating too quickly of this type of food, the fish will lie on the bottom with grotesquely swollen bellies. In the worst case, the fish will die.

Sorry for the bad news. For bettas, stick to small foods. If these were pellets designed for bettas, perhaps there was an intestinal blockage.

The only thing that I know she fed him was HiKari Betta Bio-Gold baby pellets.
We are both mystified. It is a sad thing. She is gun shy to get another one for fear of it doing the same as phantom.