BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish please help me solve the mysterious & sudden death of my lil' friend

last thursday evening i went about changing my hospitalized fishies as usual, nothng different at all.

regimine is as follows;
every two or three days fill gallon glass jar full of 85F water, 1/2 tablespoon of aquarium salt, 1/2 tablet of maracyn 2, stir a cyclone and wait for it all to disolve. when completely disolved stir again adding 1/2 teaspoon betta conditioner, 1/2 teaspoon amquel, 1/2 teaspoon stress coat, 2 or 3 drops of accu clear and finally 5ml of coppersafe, mix well.
one fish/tank at a time, i begin tank cleaning with a latex glove on. i fill a small holding cup with water (depending on cleanliness of tank water i may or may not use partial tank water). gently removing fish with gloved hand, placing slowly into holding cup to not shock too much.
thoroughly rinsing out hospital tank with hottest of hot water from tap, and using same temp water and a small piece of paper towel, i wipedown the acrylic tank and standing thermometer real well of any slime, residue, gunk or what have you. thoroughly rinsing again with very hot water. about once a week i'll give the tank a onceover with vinegar soaked paper towel follwed by another heavy rinse to kill any nasties, 'though on this particular day. then fill one gallon acrylic tank half way and add fishie!

i have been using this same regimine for nearly a month now without any incident showing definite improvement in all three of my boys' conditions. even they all had/have varying degrees of illness there was/is a sure improvment. so, what happened that thursday night is a shock and mystery.

i had just finished mixing the water for the changes waiting for it to disolve more while cooling down. i went to have a chitty-chat with the boys and to let them know it was bath time soon (they dont really like baths). all seemed well. the boys had nice bubble nests, they were looking alert, begging for attention and dinner. so i gave each one, only 1 pellet from the aqua culture betta color-enhancing food bottle. usually i like to wait 'til after bath time (i think it takes their minds off of the stress), i decided to feed them before hand this time because i had skipped their breakfast that morning and felt bad.
i did notice Sparky seemed a bit sluggish when i gave him his pellet, but i took it that he was sleepy, afterall it was 10pm and they usually start to wind down by then. even so, he attacked it like a rabid pitbull.
i also gave them a quick inspection with a penlight and magnify glass, but they seemed to be healing just fine, nothing out of ordinary.
waiting for the water to cool off some, hubby and i got involved with a video game. realizing i forgot about the water and looking at the clock it was 12:30am. that's when i noticed Sparky.
his tank always has a bit of shadow to it from the lighting of the other tanks, so i generally make it a point to be more aware of him. and as i reached for the other tank, something about his caught my eye. he didn't seem right. at closer inspection it was evident that it was an emergency situation.
his abdomin was unusually swollen, to which i first contributed to constipation. turning on the light i saw he was swimming around his tank, it looked fairly harmless until he came to rest and he was clearly having a problem with remaining vertical. i couldn't recall ever having this happen with any of my boys when they became constipated.
i went to get the epsom salt, returning i found he was getting worse and fast. right before my eyes i could visably see him deteriorating. grabbing hubby to kep an eye on him while i scrambled around the "fish" bathroom trying to think of what to do for him. i decided to give him an immediate water change.
grabbing his tank rushing him to the bathroom, i began to prepare a salt bath for him to dip him in first. i figured that would ease some discomfort if anything. looking down at him was so sad, the poor guy was at this point struggling to keep swimming, fins very tightly clamped. he was getting listless, his breathing became labored and it seemed i couldn't get the salt bath ready fast enough. i made the decision to just put him in a cup of fresh water until the salt bath was ready.
no time to get gloves, i scooped him up with little resistance and plaed him gently in the cup. i just stared him, searching for any hint of positive change.
he was now pale, with clamped fins, bloated tummy, just floating on his side. he seemed to be trying to tilt his head up for breath, his fins were so clamped it made me think of muscle cramps. just then he wiggled a bit, pause, wiggle, wiggle, pause.
i thought he was trying to swim and i felt so bad. i thought it would make him feel better and perhaps ease his breathing if i cupped my hand, gently helping him to remain verticle close to the sruface. i studied him for a moment, at first it seemed to help. he didn't have to use much energy to breath air now, though his gills still seemed to labor, but not as hard.
he squirmed now and then in my hand. i was thinking perhaps he was trying to swim again. however, after the third time i realized sadly, that these were more like spasms rather than deliberate atemtps to swim. looking at him more closely, my heart sank. i could tell that he wasn't even aware of me.
i had seen that glassy stare before, still i hoped something would happen to reverse this. at that moment my mind reeled, desperately formulating of what to do. i questioned the idea of euthnasia. staring down into his eyes, studying him, searching, i thought i saw a fleeting moment of recognition just before another spasm.
i just couldn't do that. as painful as it was for both of us, i couldn't take away from him. he's a spunky lil' fighter and i didn't see him giving up, i cannot do something like that as long as i felt he wasn't giving up yet.
the salt bath was finally ready. i wasn't sure if it would stress himout making things worse to move him again.i even wondered if it would help him, for me to gently, slowly apply pressure to lower abdomin. just in case it was constipation, perhaps a blockage just needed a gentle push and everythign would be fine. right.
i didn't want to risk causing further, irrepairable damage to him.it was then as i was about to transfer him to the salt bath, that he squirmed a few more times. i watched his gills to see how he was doing. he seemed to relax, thinking the worse was over and recovery could now begin, his gills slowly came to a stop.

in the very short span of 1 1/2 almost 2 hours Sparky went from being o.k. to the big rice paddie in the sky. and i have absolutely no clue as to what happened nor why.
i wrote much details here, in case it gave anyone reading this some clue or idea as to what ocurred. i have other bettas and plan on getting more fish.
i have hopes to solve this sad mystery so i or anyone else reading here can avoid this happening again. i cannot come up with any logical reason for the symptoms witnessed to have developed so quickly. i do not like feeling helpless, and i wish not to be so unprepared to tackle something like this again. i'm just hoping others may have some insight i missed or lack. please do not hesitate sharing with us.

Mel,
I can't really come up with an answer, but wonder since he was in a hospital tank if something was going on internally that got out of control. I'm so sorry about Sparky. I know he was a wonderful friend. ((((((((Mel)))))))))

Wow, I actually had something similar happen to me yesterday. My Blue Boy betta whom I have had for about 3 months started getting lethargic a few days ago. Yesterday, when I went in to feed him, he was dead. I have no idea what caused it. He was fine up until the day before he died. He was active, eating, and had nice, full fins. When he died, I noticed his belly was a little bloated, but that was the only abnormal thing I could see about him. I can't imagine what could have killed my little guy, and I don't have any ideas as to what happened to yours either... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

thanks Nann, he was a nutty lil' fish. i was just staggared by the swiftness of his death, especially since he was doing so well. it sucks too as i'm at the end of the med cycle and was gonna start reintroducing everyone back into their old tanks. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

again, thanks to everyone here. i am very open to ANY idea, suggestion, clue, hint, even if you think it may be trite. please don't hesitate if anyone has anything to add. thanks!

Maybe fish autopsies aught to be considered?? Go in and find out what that bloat was...just a thought...

I can't imagine what happened. Esp since the other boys are okay, correct, with this regimine? It sounds like an acute thing, like an appendix bursting. I mean, fish don't have those things, but that's the kind of thing I am thinking. Like a perforated eophagus or stomach. I don't think there was anything you could have done here. I am sorry Mel, to hear about your cute little Sparky.

One note: I think you might be adding too many things to the water...each addition creates a higher concentration of ions, which makes it harder for gills to work and the pH to stay stable. if you are interested, we can talk about which things I wold cut from the routine....but if it's all working for you, then great. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

well thanks everyone. as much as i love my fishies, i'm not as upset as i thought i would be. mostly it's from the information, help and friendly support i've reaceived from all of you here. if it wasn't for all the lovely people and your knowledge, friendship and support i might be giving up ideas of more pets, thinking i did him in by neglect.
thanks again everyone for all your support, i still hear this forum is one of the most friendly and supportive on the net that i know of. keep up the good work everyone.
ok, enough gushy, shmooshy sentimentalisms. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

i still wish to solve this fishy puzzle, and when i do i'll share with you all. please don't stop giving your two cents worth, every bit counts!!