Chi-chi, our sweet betta, has died today.
We had NO water for the tank (they need gallons of water) and we are about 1-2 hours to a local grocery (which don't you think is unheard of?!?!?) so we filled her tank up with sink water.
Was the sink water effecting her??

We left about 2 hours later for my daughters swim team, which is an hour and a half long.
We came back to the house to find Chi at the bottom of the tank near his big rock.
Turned on the side.
Dead.
My daughter ran out of the bathroom, crying, horrible screaming, yelling in agony screaming, "NO!!!!!!"
Before we got the birds, Chi was her everything.
Her heart and soul.
How precious life is...

Chi was so affectionate and you woul never think bettas, especially fish, would be like that!
Before any of you tell me, "You had a circular, stupid, tank!!! No wonder your fish died!"
Your wrong.

We have a big tank for her, with a big rock which she loves.
We had noticed somethings wrong with her about a week ago...
It's not like you can bring a fish to a vets office, and they inject something into your fish.

I Googled "what makes a betta fish die", and found some answers.
All fish have this type of bacteria.



It could be that.
If you could please all say a wonderful prayer for her and she is not suffering in pain and she is gone.

I thought this was Chi right now:
Gone back in Thailand where she came from, with her friends, swimming in a wonderful sparkling watered river, and when the moon becomes to be lit, all her friends, mother, sisters, all of her best buddies--will be sleeping together under the full lit moon.

Chi, you'll make it baby fish.
I really hope you are having fun and hope God is taking good care of you.
Enjoy your life forever, baby.

the tap water has CHLORINE AND CHLORAMINES in it these two things are put in to kill bacteria that make people sick... they are EXTREMELY TOXIC to fish, it will kill them in a couple of hours. there are drops that you can buy at the pet shop that counteracts any of these things in tap water and purify for use right away. these chemicals are also really hard on your house plants. water that you want to use for fish (without having to buy the drops) get your water that you want to use out of the tap and let it sit for 24 to 30 hrs. during this time, the chlorine's will disintegrate leaving the water safe for your fish. i have one of those square things with the little tap on that i use to hold the water for my plants, it would be great for holding water for your fish bowl too. it is a good idea with a fish bowl to remove 2/3 of the water every week and a half (depending on the size of the bowl)and add fresh (treated or having sat for 24 hrs) it is also a good idea to have it at the same temp as the water that is in the bowl... too hot or cold can shock a fish and kill it. if the tank has no pump, the fish will use up all the oxygen in the water and suffocate, that is why it needs to be changed regularly. a good way to judge when the water needs to be changed is to watch the fish... if it is spending most of it's time "gulping" at the surface... the oxygen level is getting dangerously low. hope this helps.
R.I.P chi

I've never heard of "they need gallons". One of my betta fish has a gallon bowl and the other is a little smaller. Chi had such a large tank, I doubt the water had been left long enough to stack up ammonia to the point of poisoning. That usually happens more often in the half gallon bowls.

Other than that, BB is right. The tap water needs to be treated or left sitting for a while. But, fish don't usually act odd, so she may have also been sick and the oddities in the water were just too much to handle. Either way, he's comfortable, in the perfect place. Peace be with you and your family.

Aww mattie, I am sorry for your loss.
If you noticed something wrong with him a week ago, chances are he was already sick in some way, and the use of the untreated water sped things along. And of course it had nothing to do with having a circular bowl or tank!
If you decide to get another beta, be sure to get some of the drops to remove chlorine from the water just in case you don't have bottled water on hand. Or like bb said put tap water in a container and leave it out for 24 hrs before using it.

Gus, I think what she meant by "gallons" of water is bottled water in gallon jugs.

((((HUGS))) to your daughter Mattie. I know it's hard to lose even a fish, especially for kids. How long did she have Chi-chi?

RIP little Chi-chi

When we got "him", his little deli container(it's what they do in those stupid PetSmart's, besides putting them in a bag with barely any water to survive, PetSmart goes from little bags to a deli container. Is that all they got to do for poor fishies?) read that it was a boy.
Me and my daughter said that it would never act like a boy. We both thought they had a mistake, and that it was a girl betta.

BB, I never knew that it could kill a fish that bad
Now I know what could have happened.
I'm really sorry, I didn't know



Yes, that's what I meant.
I was sad at the time, and couldn't express my opinion correct.



This October Chi would have been 1 years old .

Aww im so sorry for your loss:( I know what you mean about petsmart and their stupid little boxes.. I got bijou in the smallest little box and I felt terrible:( Yesterday my aunt went to get a new budgie and her boyfriend who has had budgies (not the same ones of course) for about 15-20 years now demanded a bigger box to bring him home in, so after a lot of arguing they gave him one meant for like a bunny or something? I will definitely note that if I ever get a bird from there again..

I used to work at Petsmart and the conditions the bettas are in is not the best. Granted, they don't mind being in a small puddle of water, but they would do best if their small puddle was cleaned daily! And that does not always happen.

A betta is not really a beginner's fish, no matter what they tell anyone at the store. Just like a goldfish is not a beginner's fish either. The easy fish are guppies, platys and swordfish, some kinds of catfishes and some South American Cichlids.

And, as everyone has said, tapwater is not something you can toss a fish into without water treatments.

I am sorry for your loss! I hope you decide to give a nice home to more fishes. Now that you are learning more about aquarium conditions, I am sure you will be a great fish mom!

We had many large and small aquariums for many years. You can definitely become quite fond of your fish, and it is sad when they die.

I agree that having good water testing kits can be very helpful so you can be sure that the water your fish are living in is good for them. It's like the air you breathe - if it was full of sulfur you'd notice and try to fix it. Fish need you to do that same sort of safety check on their water.