Update -- not looking good for this fish

Maybe I won't have to do it for him. Now he's laying on the bottom of the bowl on his side. He's still breathing but that's about it. I think this is definitely towards the end of his life. Now he just swam up to the top to get air. He's a little to one side. I think his best moments are behind him. I think that he is weak. He can swim up and get air, that is good. But he really can't do much else. I can tell that he struggles to swim up. He's back near the bottom now. He swam up a little, I pushed him back down a few times. It was with little effort. He's back on the bottom, slightly to one side. He's breathing a little bit heavy, moderate gill movement.

I took him out and put the toothpick in his mouth a few times. Now he's back on the bottom on his side. Still breathing, but, not in very good shape.

I took him out and poked him again in his mouth with a toothpick. He's in worse shape now. He's at the top of the water vertical and not moving at all.

Now he tried to swim toward the top and then sank down to the bottom. I think he really is near the end of his life. So sad.

Now he was able to swim to the top. He's staying at the top now.

He's really weak. He's at the top, slightly on one side. Just sitting there and taking in air occasionally. He's still breathing, but that's about it. He can't seem to move that much.

He's at the bottom now, head first. He's still breathing but i know he can't be doing that well.

Now he's at the bottom on his side. He can't seem to swim up to the top at all. His skin is pale. I think it's almost over for him. He'll be dead soon. He can't swim up for air anymore. It's very unfortunate. He doesn't have any strength left in him.
I saw him struggle for a little bit and then stop. Poor thing can't come up for air. It's just a matter of time now until he's gone.

That's it. The fish is dead. I can see no more gill movement.

Damaged internal organs?

I think I may have damaged one of the fish's internal organs when I poked him in the gill membrane. Possibly the liver? I'm not sure. But this would or could explain why the fish is not swimming around very well. Seems like he often floats to the top or floats to the bottom. Don't know if he's going to get much better. Of course if he doesn't improve eventually I guess I'll have to end it for him, don't want him to suffer indefinitely.

Anyway, he's not choosing to move very fast. I can see where he lost some of his fins when I took him out of the bowl, flipped him over, held him down, and poked him. I know he was trying to resist. In the end, of course, he lost out. Would it be any easier on him if I just put him in a cup for him to try to recover?

I don't know what to do with this fish. He seems not healthy enough to live well on his own, yet, not damaged enough to die. What should be done with him?

So I chased him around with the spoon for awhile, and kept taking him out of the water and poking at his eyes slightly with a toothpick. I think I've damaged one of his eyes at least. Now I think I've definitely done some damage to one or both of his eyes. I took him out. He kept flipping over. But I kept poking at his eyes. Going to take him out and test him again. I think I got him. Damaged both his eyes, now he can't see at all.

He's doing the same thing it appears, swimming up to the top and staying against the side of the bowl. Now of course, he's much more tired than before. I might see if I can scoop him up and poke him in the eyes a few more times. But I haven't really pinned him down yet. Only one time. I know that's something that really weakens a fish.

Well I think he can't do much now. He's got two blind eyes. He's been picked up out of the bowl about 15 times, approximately. He's almost out of energy. He hasn't been hit over the head though, thats a good thing.

Right now he's at the bottom of the bowl, contemplating his fate. He's lost a few more fins. He can't eat. He does seem to be able to swim straight, although it is of course in spurts. He couldn't swim smoothly since his first treatment. I see the scabs from where he was poked in the gills. I dont know if he could withstand another one of those treatments today. His fins seem very clamped now. Of course, he's lost more fins, so there is that, too. He's on the top on the side of the bowl, as is usual for him since his first treatment.

I've noticed he keeps jerking from one side to the other when he swims. I don't want to kill him now because my sister is here, I don't want her to think I killed the fish. Although I probably will later.

He can't do much at all. I'd say his options are really limited right now.

I fooled him temporarily. I put the spoon at the top to block his surface air. Because he couldn't see, he probably thought the spoon was everywhere. He went to the bottom. Because he still can't see, he probably doesn't know where the surface is, or if he can get there. He'll probably try again. Eventually. Now I'm going to leave him alone and see if he does.

I think he'll be gone later this evening. For one reason or another. I'll keep you posted.

He just scrambled up to the top. But he hasn't taken a breath yet. That's good, he hasn't given up -- yet. His fins are looking a bit rotted. I think because he lost many of them. Now he swam to the other side of the bowl. At least he can still swim to the top, and he can still get air. Those are two good things.

No more bubbles now. And I think no more pellets ever for this fish.

He's back at the top of the bowl now. His gills are still moving. He's no longer breathing heavily.

It sure would be good to hear this music while the fish was swimming around but I know that's not going to happen again.

I see the fish swim a little bit every now and then, but mostly he just stays in the same place. Now he's on the bottom, slightly to one side. I think he can't hold himself up straight if not for resting on one side of the bowl.

Here is the fish, back at the top of the bowl, now slightly vertical.

I just don't think he's going to last. If all he can do is sit at the top / bottom and breath, and can't eat, then that's not very much of a life. I think I should end his life for him soon. Because he's probably not going to get any better than this.

Fish update

Well, the fish is no better. He's at the top of the bowl, against one side, taking a breath every now and then. He's not moving his front fins. Rear fins are somewhat clamped together. He's not moving around that much. He pretty much stays still.

So he swam to the other side of the bowl. Now he's doing pretty much the same thing as before, floating on the top of the water on the side of the bowl. He wasn't moving much before, but after this treatment, now he's almost not moving at all. Again, I should have left him alone. He was doing somewhat ok, although he wasn't eating. Has he lost the use of his left fin? Nevermind I saw him moving his right fin slightly. He went to the bottom briefly but then just floated back to the top.

Now he floated back to teh bottom. Now he's coming back up to the top, to take a breath of air. Now he's back to staying on the top at the side of the bowl. Anything he does, he moves slowly. I think he is distraught. Of course he didn't think this could happen to him. His eyes are less alert than previously were.

It seems like his fins are even more clamped together. And when he swims up for air from the bottom, he swims vertically. He's not dead, but he's a far way from where he was just a day ago. I think this fish's better days are over.

I "fixed" the fish today

I did it. What I talked about yesterday. I took the fish out, laid him on one side, and poked him in that red area behind his gills. I think I did it several times. Then, I put him on his other side and did the same thing.

Now I put the fish back in the bowl. He's definitely not doing as well. He's at the top against one side of the bowl. I wonder if he can still swim around? At first he was swimming somewhat wildly, but now he has settled down. Oh, when I put my finger on the wall of the bowl next to him, he starts swimming wildly again. But then he calms down and moves back up to the top. I wonder how he will do now. Now he's just staying at the top. Wonder how long he's going to do that for, or if that's all he's going to do. If that's all, then I may have to poke him some more. For now, Im just going to let him be, and see what he does. Oh, and he's not flapping his fins anymore. I wonder if he's in pain? Or just shock, that he could be so easily controlled. He can't seem to swim calmly anymore. I wonder if this is permanent, or temporary? He seems to be a little bit to one side. I think he's using the wall to keep himself straight. So, he's definitely got some problems now. The fish is obviously having trouble swimming on one side, and has to compensate by swimming harder on the other side. And he seems only able to swim around the sides of the bowl. I hope he improves. But, I wouldn't count on it. He's slightly to one side. That's not a good sign. Who would have known that a few pokes on the red part behind his gills could make him act this way? I didn't think I hit him that hard. Apparently for him, it was painful. I think I may have to end it for him later today if he doesn't improve, because being just on one side is really not good, it means there is something wrong with the fish. Also, now it appears that his fins are more clamped together. I thing he is definitely in a lot worse shape than before. He must really be hurting. I didn't mean it like that.

I think this is the start toward the end of this fish's life. It's a shame. But it's true today that he was barely moving around, not eating, and not blowing bubbles. I'm thinking these fishes really don't do well in a bowl, they really probably need, like I've read, a tank with a heater and a filter, etc.

I'm sure I have permanently injured this fish. He is not acting like he was before. Now, his fins are clamped and he can't swim calmly, when he swims it looks like a great effort on his part. He swims quickly to the top to get air, then swims back down. I think one side of him is injured, because he struggles slightly to swim not sideways. He doesn't move his fins as much as he used to. When he's still, he doesn't move them at all. He mainly sticks to the sides of the bowl when swimming. And he likes to stay at the bottom.

About treatments for your fish

I just want to say that if you enjoy watching your beta fish swim around the tank/bowl, if you enjoy watching it move, etc., then you shouldn't do any of these "treatments" as described in previous posts.

Your fish will more than likely not be the same after a treatment. They are very sensitive fish and they just can't see to take much in terms of these kinds of things.

So if you're considering poking / depriving oxygen / chasing / or any other related behavior, think carefully about the consequences.

The fish is pretty to watch swim around. I'm willing to say that if you do something to the fish, you're going to wish you hadn't done it later. And, you can't take it back. Sometimes, the fish will never recover. Then, you may want to repeat the same or related behaviors again with the fish, which will certainly result in the fish's untimely death.

Then, there will definitely be no way you can take it back. So, just think about these things before harming your betta fish in any way. It would be best, like I said, if you did none of these things at all, and just left the fish to swim as it does and live life in a normal everyday way.

You don't really have to "wonder" how the fish would feel / react if you did x or y or z to the fish, chances are, it wouldn't be as good as it was before. It's that simple.

Fish have a lot of energy although they don't always use it, they can be very energetic when swimming away from an attack, or trying to escape. However, that will deplete their energy and also weaken the fish's defenses, that means the fish will have less energy and less resistance later towards a future attack.

This will eventually lead to the extreme weakening of the fish, to the point where it can barely swim around. You may see a fish like this swim in short bursts, swim slightly on one side, something like that. If a fish is swimming on one side, that is really bad, and the damage I would say is probably irreversible at that point. Then, you might feel like you want to end the fish's life and put it out of it's misery. The idea is to avoid getting to this point in the first place.

So that's the advice I have for you this evening.

Further update

I'm watching him now from my bed, I know he can't see me from where he is. He's starting to swim what I think is a little more naturally. Now he's hanging out towards the top of the bowl. It looks like he's about to breath some air. I'm going to see what happens if I approach him and sit next to him.

OK so I approached him, it bumped the desk slightly and he swam immediately to the bottom of the bowl. I think he really is afraid of me. I'll give him some time to recover and see if he improves. Right now he's just staying at the bottom of the tank. But I bet given a few minutes alone, he'll do more than that. I'll keep you posted.

There, now he's starting to float up a little. I won't poke him again for awhile to give him some time to recover.

He just took a breath of air, swam down to the bottom, and then up again for another breath of air. I think he's doing better. He's kind of swimming in slow motion.

He's back at the bottom now.

He'd been swimming around the tank slowly, now he's back at the bottom. I wonder if this is part of his resting / recovery process. We'll see what he does next.

Oh, now he's swimming up a little. Up to the top. It looks like he took a breath of air.

He's back at the top now, just floating there. Now he's swimming back down again. He's on the bottom now. He seems to be doing everything in slow motion right now. I wonder if it's because I wore him out by poking him briefly with a toothpick?

I wonder how he would swim and react if I poked the red area by his gills on both sides, then let him loose in his tank. If he doesn't improve soon, I think he may find out.

He's just sitting at the bottom. I wonder if I wore him out, or if he's just resting. Sometimes I still want him to be "fixed". I wonder what he will act like if he is fixed. But I want to wait at least until he is swimming like normal again. If that is he is capable of that. If not then, I may have to fix him anyway, because he won't make it.

I hurt him so little, I really hope he can recover from this. I'm going to time how long he stays on the bottom. OK, about 1.25 mins and he's back at the top of the bowl.

Betta update

He was such a confident betta fish. Now, he's beginning to be a fearful betta fish. We'll see if he blows bubbles tomorrow but I am betting on many less bubbles. I think he is loosing his cool and his concentration. Maybe he'll calm down when I go away for awhile. I don't want him to be afraid of me. But I guess what I've done has kind of made him that way. He's perceptive. Sometimes it seems like if I even pick up the toothpick at all, he swims to the bottom. I think he'll be calmer when I'm away because he's afraid of me and what I can do to him. That's just my opinion.

UPDATAE: I just poked him some more with the toothpick. Now he is staying on the bottom and not moving at all. I wonder if he'll recover? He's breathing a little heavier, too. His eyes seem to suggest he is still with it. I think I need to get away from this fish to give him some time to recover.

Now he is swimming again, against the walls of the bowl. He almost took a breath. Or did he? He's hyper right now. He can't seem to stay still. I poked him a few more times. Now he's back on the bottom, staying still. Still flapping his fins. I need to get away from him or I'll just keep poking him and he won't be able to calm down. He's got so much energy swimming like that. Of course I know that he is also using his energy up. I'm going now, got to leave him alone for awhile.

I just left the room and came back. He's at the bottom of the tank now. Resting / recovering? I'll have to wait to see what he's going to do next. He's just kind of floating there. Now he's flashing aroudn his fins. Now almost still. Have to wait and see what he does. He's definitely breathing heavier than normal. I think his eyes are suspicious now? He went up and took a breath of air. Now more swimming against the walls. I think he'll be OK. For now.

Fish took a breath

He finally took a breath. He is pretty smart. When I even approach the toothpick near him, he swims away. I guess he has good vision, he can see it from a distance. I am poking him now with the toothpick when he gets near the top. I think he's starting to stay more towards the middle. He's swimming a little wildly now. I guess I got to him. Once I start its hard to stop. He's swimming faster now, thrashing a little around the tank. I think I got his attention. Let's see if he'll come up for air now. Right now he's at the bottom of the tank. Will he be able to recover from this slight attack? Will I attack him more? Time will tell.

I realized that this may make it harder for me to feed him, because if he remembers my attacks, maybe he will be afraid of me. I'll have to see tomorrow how he reacts.

I can tell he is swimming more restlessly. Now, when I put my finger against the side of the tank, he swims away quickly, instead of just backing away like he did before. Now he is nervous, I would even say, anxious. He's definitely lost some of his calm demeanor. His breathing is faster now, too. I think he needs oxygen a little but may be slightly afraid of getting some.

I poked him again, this time with a toothpick

My poke at this betta sent him flailing down the bowl. He's now at the bottom / middle of the bowl, but I don't see him going near the top anytime soon. I wonder if I can scare him from taking a breath of fresh air? I would just poke him with the toothpick anytime he gets near the top of the bowl. But truthfully, I don't want this betta to die. He seems like a good betta. We'll see. Maybe I'll just poke him a few more times and then let him recover. Truthfully, he seems afraid to come to the top of the tank and take a breath of air. I wonder how long he can last like this. I see him get close to the top, but then he won't take that last step to take a breath. Instead, he swims to the bottom or another part of the bowl. He's breathing a little bit faster. I wonder if he's starting to become afraid? I wish I could see what he is thinking at this time.

I poked him once

He swam away quickly, as I'd suspected. Now he seems more hesitant to come to the top of the water. Especially if I hold the needle near the bowl. Somehow I think he senses it is an attack for him and he stays away. He hasn't come up for air in the last few tries. Ah, just got him again. I'll have to wait until he stays at the top of the surface, then get him by poking him from behind where he's less likely to see the needle. So far, fish seems in good shape and is continuing to act normal. Although it seems like he hesitates a little to come up for air. Understandably so. He stays near the top but sometimes he seems hesitant to take that last leap for air. Sometimes he swims back below again. I'll let you know how this continues to play out.

Desire to Poke the Fish

I have this continuing desire to poke the fish with a needle while he is near the top of the water. I know it'll just get him to run away, make him temporarily hyper. I'd like to be able to get a good solid poke in before he does that. Don't think that will be possible unless I take the betta out of the bowl to poke him, where he has less defenses. I guess I will just settle for poking him while he's at the very top for now, then see what he does.

Betta Fish Needs to Be "Fixed"

What do I mean when I say that a betta fish needs to be "fixed"? This could be one of many things:

1) Poking out his eyes
2) Cutting off or pulling off his directional fins
3) Keeping him under water without letting him come up for air for a period of time
4) Hitting him over the head with a plastic fork or spoon when he tries to come up for air
5) Chasing him around the tank with a plastic spoon, etc.
6) Pinning him to the side or bottom of the tank with a plastic fork.

All of these things are things I have done to a betta fish. All of these things leave a fish in a somewhat weakened condition, just keep this in mind. He may not be the same fish as he was before after you do these things to him. He may not swim the same or act the same. He may loose some of his enthusiasm or be less active.

Once this happens, he may not go back to how he was before, as this may be permanent damage. Sometimes, given the appropriate recovery time (if you can help yourself), he may recover.

Fish won't eat, wondering about poking near gills

So, my fish won't eat the betta bits. Big surprise. I've had this problem with many other fish. So, here's my thing. I've been wondering for a good part of the day what would happen if I took the fish out and poked him with a needle behind his gills, where it is a bright red color, once on each side. Would he start bleeding? Would he swim differently?

I know this is a cruel thing to do to a fish. It probably would cause him some pain. I was just wondering about it and I guess that's because: 1) I am bored and 2) the fish won't do what I want him to do, i.e. eat his pellets like he's supposed to.

I'm trying not to do it. I know it probably wouldn't be good for the fish. He probably wouldn't be the same after I do this. I am going to buy him some frozen food and see if he eats it.

I will give him some time to behave himself. Then if he doesn't.. well.. there could be some repercussions for him.

New Fish Enters the Bowl

I got a new betta fish today. He's swimming around the bowl and blowing some bubbles on the side of the bowl. He appears pretty healthy. Of course, whenever I get a new fish it seems like he does pretty good the first day, then gets slower and slower in subsequent days. We'll see if this fish is different. I hope that he is.

Poked fish around with toothpick

Today, I got tired of the fish staying still at the top of the water, I wanted to trap him against one side of the bowl with a toothpick, so I tried to do just that. Of course, this fish hasn't had any treatments yet, so he was pretty energetic. He swam away quickly each time I tried to trap him with a toothpick.

So, I chased him a little with the toothpick and kept him under water for about 5 minutes or so. Then I had to go, because I had an errand I needed to run, so I could not continue. Otherwise I imagined I would have kept him underwater for longer. I just do not want to kill another fish. Do treatments, maybe, yes. But not to the point of death. I want the fish to recover.

I'm going to observe this fish now, for the next few minutes, and see if he still swims around. If not, then, I guess it's time for the plastic fork.

New Betta Fish Today

Well, today I got a new betta fish. I just put him in the bowl to see what he will do. He's breathing a little heavy, I think the car ride over here shook him up a bit. Well, I am giong to watch him to see what he will do. So far, he's staying near the top of the water and swimming around a little bit.

He seemed like a healthy betta at the pet store, he was blowing some bubbles at the top, usually a good sign. So, I am ready to see how he does. I am investigating getting a new aquarium this month or next month, a 10 gallon, with a heater and a filter, and putting him in that, maybe with some other fish, too. I'd like to give him the best environment possible so he can reach his full potential.

In Retrospect

I feel bad for the fish. He was doing fine on his own. He didn't deserve what he got. He was swimming and eating some and going under water, swimming to the bottom of the tank and coming back in. He was even blowing a few bubbles.

So in summary, he was a good fish. He really didn't deserve his treatment tonight. He was used and worked on for hours tonight. A fish can only take so much. He got to the end of his life rather quickly. It was a very sad thing. I'm sorry to see him go. I wish he was still alive. I miss him. I don't want to replace him with another fish, but I know that I have to otherwise my parents and sister will ask well what happened to the fish. And of course I don't want to explain. So I probably will have to find him a replacement. He was doing so well. It's a shame. Even with one eye he was kind of doing alright. Better with two eyes.

The lesson learned here is that I cannot even poke one eye of a fish, or two eyes. Because the poking leads to so many other things which leave the fish in a very bad condition very rapidly, and it doesn't end until his death. It's unfortunate, but that is the way it is. So, in the future the goal is to just let the fish swim, don't bother him. If he swims slowly, just let it be, that is probably the best one of these fish is going to do in cold water.

This fish deserved better than he got. I can only say that it is good he is no longer suffering. It's for the best that I ended his life in the end. It wouldn't be fair to leave him floating on one side, breathing, barely able to move around, and not able to see. That's just too much for a fish to have to take, no fish should have to live that way. He suffered for hours, and that's unfortunate. His death at the end was quick and after that he stopped breathing immediately. So at least after that he no longer suffered. That's all I can say for now.

The fish is dead

I had to end it for him. He was suffering too much. He was laying on his side at the top barely able to move. He didn't have much life in him near the end. I tried to get him to move and he would barely move. I didn't want him to suffer. So I took a toothpick and poked it through his head several times. I think he was gone the first time. He stopped breathing completely. I felt sorry for him. Anyway, I finished by flushing him down the garbage disposal. I'm sorry he had a bad ending to a good life. I hope the next fish will be different.

Fish update -- not so good...

He's swimming slightly but on his side. He only stays at the top of the water. He's not doing good at all. I'd say that his life is coming to an end. I never should have started poking his eyes. Especially because once I start, I can't seem to stop. That's the lesson I hope I have learned. I hope he does ok in the last part of his life. I think maybe tomorrow I'll put him in the garbage disposal. That is, if he's not already dead. It's unfortunate.

New betta fish -- a small surgery

Well, I was getting bored with my new betta fish swimming in the bowl. As you might have guessed. So, I wanted to know, what would happen if I punctured his eyes with a needle, but didn't actually take them out?

So, I did the procedure on the fish a few minutes ago. This is how I did it. I took him out of the tank, got him with my hands, had to grab in there for a minute to get him to come out, but of course, I got him out.

Then, I put him down on the bathroom counter and tried to poke his eye with a needle. Of course, he flipped over a few times in self defense, making it difficult for me to poke at his eye.

What to do? So, I held him down by his fins and let him squirm a little. This caused the fish to get tired, loose energy, and would make him less reactive to the touch.

Then, I successfully poked at his eye with my needle several times. I could see a little blood in his eye, too. The needle definitely went in, finally he let it go in, and it wasn't very deep.

Then, I flipped him over and made sure that I poked his other eye a few times. When I was done, I let him back in the tank. Now he's not moving much, he's staying near the top, in one place, and taking in air every now and then.

He's definitely not swimming. I'll have to wait to see if he swims around. If he doesn't, I've got some other options for him. I'm thinking now that his eyes are slightly damaged (I don't know how much, he can still see I'm pretty sure), wouldn't it be fun to put him in the cup, both completely under water, and on the side of the tank, to see how he reacts? This is something I'd definitely like to try.

I'm going to give him some time to recover and see if he starts moving around again. I think I've definitely stopped his bubble blowing for now!

He can still see, when I put my hand on the side of the tank, he darted around like crazy. I definitely think I've made him nervous.

Well, he's got a little time to recover, not much, and then maybe I'll finish him off. Of course, who wants to look at a fish that doesn't move around?

He's breathing a little fast. He doesn't swim smoothly now. He darts around the tank when he moves. I think that I really scared him. Poor little guy. Lets see how he does. Maybe even this small eye procedure was too much for him to take. I can see through his gills that he's breathing heavier than normal. I can only guess that he's recovering. Time will tell. He is flapping his front fins, so that's good for now. But he's definitely just staying in place.

I'm looking at him from the side of the tank. He looks sad. His eye looks inflamed. I think that he didn't think this could happen to him. Life does the strangest things. Sometimes life is unpredictable. One minute he's swimming all over the bowl, although slowly, the next minute he's at the top breathing air, trying to recover from having his eyes poked at.

If he doesn't recover, all I can say is, I'll have other procedures planned for him. It's going to be a busy night for this fish.

His right eye looks swollen. I guess it is irritated from being poked at. I don't know if I can stand to have a fish that has a swollen eye. We'll see how he does. Definitely his left eye looks better than his right eye. His eyes looked better overall before I started poking at them. I almost wish I hadn't done it, but its too late for that now. I'm afraid his right eye might get infected. I think it's time for the cup for a few minutes. Maybe soon.

OK, I put him in the cup. But there is some air at the top for him. I'm going to see if he finds it. Of course, I've got to wait to finish him off until my sister leaves for the evening, I don't want her knowing that I killed my fish tonight.

So far, he's at the bottom of the cup. I'm going to keep my eye on the time. It's kind of hard to see him. I think I'm going to change the water. Maybe poke him the right eye again.

OK, I took his right eye out completely. I think that wasn't too good for him. He's swimming slightly on one side near the top. Bleeding a little bit on the eye socket where I took the eye out. I should have left it in, even if it was swollen. He's jerking in his movements, too. I can see he's not going to last the night and I'm going to have to get another fish tomorrow.

He's swimming in circles near the top. I know he is in not too good of shape. I never should have messed him up in the first place. Now he'll never swim to the bottom of the tank. Of course, unless I put him in the cup and make him stay there. I don't want to mess up his other eye, that would be totally unfair to him. I am thinking about putting him in the cup though.

Now he is moving around a bit, slowly on the top. I want to put him in the cup but I think he is not ready yet. If I put him in the cup now, it could finish him. I want to give him some recovery time first. Then see how he does in the cup.

New betta fish and existing betta fish update

Hi, today I got a new betta fish. So far, I am happy with him. He is blowing plenty of bubbles. He swims against the walls. He consistently moves around. He looks around and seems intelligent.

Update on my existing fish -- well, as you have guessed, I have put him back in the cup. I poked at both of his eyes with a needle, but he can still see. I didn't completely take his eyesight out. I poked at his flesh with a needle, too. Right now, he's near the top of the water and breathing heavily. I had chased him around with a spoon. There's food right in front of him but he won't eat it. I think he is recovering now. He's flapping his fins. I'm thinking about filling the water to the top, putting the lid on, and seeing how long he can last. For now though, I think I'll let him live. I should add that he lost some fins, I guess from me chasing him around the tank with the spoon and such. But he's still alive. Let me give him time and see if his breathing calms down.

This new fish is really good. He's a good fish and I like him.

How to Kill a Betta Fish

This is one way to kill a betta fish, but I have to tell you, it will feel a lot of pain. You can use a combination of any of the methods described in the previous posts to severely weaken the betta. Here is a brief description.

One way to start is to chase the betta around the tank with a plastic spoon. Then, do not let it come up for air. Do this for awhile. You could also try poking the betta, like with a toothpick, and it will run away quickly. Doing these things will weaken the betta.

After you do these and other things for awhile, the betta will become very weak. By then, it may only stay at the top, breathing occasionally. Or, it will stay at the bottom, and come up for air every now and then.

To really create problems for the betta, you might want to take its eyes out. Or take a toothpick, and poke it in its mouth. See how far you can go. If you keep going, you will probably hit an internal organ.

You could also try pushing the betta onto its side when it tries to swim straight. You have to repeatedly do this to potentially have an effect.

The rest is up to you. Actually I am trying to stop doing this. I really don't want to kill any more bettas. They've suffered enough, and they don't deserve this kind of treatment. Just because they don't swim perfectly is not grounds for ending their life. They swim the way they swim and that's that. I think that most bettas that swim slow is because they're not in a heated tank.

Anyway, what I am saying is that you should really take better care of your betta fish, dont kill them. They don't deserve to die. It's time to save the precious lives of these betta fish.

So, you think you're a tough betta fish

Are you? Do you flare up when you see another betta fish? Do you swim fast and push rigorously against the walls of the tank? Do you think you're so tough?

I think differently. I can make you weak. I can take you down. I can get through all of your defenses. I can leave you just swimming a little slower, or floating on your side trying to get air at the top of the tank, or always darting to the top of the tank because you don't know where else to go.

I can take you out. Piece by piece. I have more control of you than you do.

So think of that the next time you're swimming around happily, doing your stuff. Remember that just as fast as you got there, your situation could change dramatically. You're no match for what I can do to you.

Really it's not fair. You don't deserve it. You can't fairly defend yourself. It's hard to stop once it's started. I feel sorry for you. It's not good to see these things happen to you. I hope that our relationship can change.

How to Deprive Your Betta Fish of Oxygen and Make Him Panic

I've shared in my previous post how to deprive your betta fish of oxygen by administering a "treatment" -- pushing him underwater and not letting him come up for air for 5 or 10 minutes. I also said that you can further deprive your betta of air by pushing him around the tank and not letting him come up for air.

In this post I'm going to share with you an even more powerful way to deprive your betta of oxygen and wear him out fast. I'm going to warn you though -- your betta may not be doing too well after you do this, so you may want to limit the amount of time. It really doesn't take much. Understand that your betta may not be as energetic of a fish after you do this, or, in some cases, he may have swimming problems. I am still not sure why this is, but I know that bettas respond to this treatment really well.

OK, so here's what you do. You'll need a small plastic cup or a small regular glass that will fit into your tank, but when you put it at the bottom, does not come up all the way to the top. Here's what you do. Press your glass into the tank, and make sure your betta gets inside the glass or cup. Hold it down at the bottom of the tank.

You should probably see your betta swim around like crazy at the top of the cup, in circles, trying desperately to get air. Of course, it won't get any because it's impossible, there is no air in the cup inside the water.

Your betta will keep doing this for minutes, I'm not sure how long. If you keep doing this, eventually your betta will get tired and it will sink to the bottom. It will be breathing really hard because it has exerted a lot of energy and couldn't get any air.

At this point, you may want to let your betta up for air because it's been through a very hard treatment. Keep in mind, if you keep the betta under the glass for longer time, you may risk ending its life because eventually, it will go into oxygen deficit that's too hard to get out of.

So let's assume that you do let the betta up for air. When you do, you may notice that your betta stays towards the top of the tank and breathes every now and then. This is because it's tired, having been through a very strong treatment. The betta may swim slower now than it did before, so be prepared for this. I have even once seen a betta start swimming on its side after one of these treatments. I am not sure how being forced under the cup negatively affects the betta's swimming abilities.

So, that is my post. If you try this, please share how your betta responds with a follow up post here on the site. With this powerful treatment, your betta has no idea what he's in for.

How to Make Your Betta Fish Swim Faster

Sometimes, I get impatient with my betta fish and feel like he is swimming too slow. So, you ask, how can you make your betta fish swim faster? I will tell you, there are a few ways. The first way is to agitate him by chasing him around the tank with a plastic spoon. Place the spoon next to the betta, and he will try to swim away. Then, after he goes to another part of the tank, place the spoon in front of him again. He will swim away again. Keep doing this a few times, and you'll agitate your betta and make him want to swim and dart quickly. This is what I call agitating your betta, you're making him feel the pressure so he swims around more.

Of course, eventually your betta will get tired and probably stay in the same place for awhile. Of course, you can always let him rest if you're feeling compassionate, and do this again later. He will respond to your agitations by swimming faster.

Another variation on this technique of course is to take the plastic spoon and hit your betta on his head or somewhere on his body. This will definitely make him swim around faster.

You can also poke your betta with a toothpick. I like poking him right on his eye. You'll find that bettas are extremely sensitive to this and will immediately start swimming faster.

So those are some things you can do to make your betta swim faster.

How to Give Your Betta Fish Popeye

There is a lot of talk about how a betta fish can get eye problems, like popeye, but have you ever considered that you can actually induce this condition in your fish? I'll tell you exactly how to do it.

This involves a little bit of betta fish "surgery", so be prepared. First, as in my previous posts, you need to chase your betta fish around the tank with a spoon or something, so that it becomes tired. That way, it won't fight you as much for what you are about to do.

Next, take the fish out of the tank and place it on its side. Then, this is the thing you need to do carefully -- partially (and I mean only partially, not the full deal) -- partially dig out it's eye with a toothpick. The fish may flip over when you're doing this as its way of escaping. Of course, you take advantage of this by digging at the eye on its other side with the toothpick.

Between the fish flipping over multiple times and your digging at its eyes, pretty soon it should appear that your fish has popeye. Congradulations, you did it! Now, put the fish in the tank and watch it swim around. It should do just fine. Test the fish by putting your hand up near its eye on both sides and see how it responds. It should respond to you, but maybe not as accurately as before.

If all of the above happens, then you have successfully partially disabled the eyes of your betta fish! Congradulations.

You know you can always take this to the next level, and actually 100% dig out the betta fish's eyes. But, at this point, I've typically found it very hard to stop injuring the fish, and eventually ending its life.

So, maybe it's best to stop right here. But you've got to consciously pull yourself away from the fish so that you don't harm it anymore. At least, that's what I have to do. I think that it is possible for the fish to have his eyes half poked out and still have a very normal life.

I think it's possible to do other things to the betta fish, and for the fish to survive. For example, pulling off its directional fins, for one. Taking off its tail fins, for two. Depriving the fish of oxygen for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Of course, if you do this, keep in mind, the fish may not move as much. Or, it may recover after some time and start swimming again. That's it for now.

Another Betta Bites the Dust (exits the tank)

That's right. Another betta fish is gone tonight. Flushed down the toilet after I pissed on it, but it was barely moving at that point.

Let's backtrack, and I'll explain how it happened. First of all, I decided that I wanted to damage its eyes. I took it out of the tank, and poked its eyes repeatedly with toothpicks on both sides.

It seems like it could still see after this, as its eyes I think have some sort of a liquid inside, when you poke the eye, it really just moves around.

So I went to the next step, and pushed its eyeballs out with a toothpick. First I took one eye out, and let it swim around. I went to check if the fish could see me from its other damaged but still intact eye, and it seemed like it could not. So, I took its other eye out, too.

Then, I let it swim around. It seemed to be doing pretty good, aside from the fact that it could not see. This, of course, was not enough for me. I had to continue. So, I started playing with it, holding it under water, etc. I used a long tweezers to cut its fins, the fins it uses to change directions in the water. I succeeded in cutting most of its fins.

At this point the betta was kind of on one side, swimming for the top of the water. When I pushed it down with a plastic spoon, it would very quickly swim for the top of the tank again. I practiced holding it down by its fins and by using the spoon several times.

To cut its front directional fins, I put the betta in the top of the water, holding it by its fins. When it tried to move its fins, I pulled out my long tweezer and used it to clip the fins. Finally, I got most of both of them. It still had a little, but not much.

As I said, by this point the betta was mostly flat, always swimming for the top of the water. I took a toothpick and stuck it in its mouth. Then I put it back in the water. I did this several times, but it seemed mostly functional. I put the betta right next to a pellet of food to see if it would eat, but it would not, or was not able to.

Finally I took a toothpick, stuck it in its mouth, and poked it out the other side of something. I would think this would have caused some pain. At this point, the betta was really barely moving around, barely alive. It was at this point that I decided the best thing to do would be to flush it down the toilet, I didn't think it would live much longer.

Such is the end of a betta's life. Some of the things I thought it was doing wrong:

1) Sometimes it stayed in one place for too long near the top of the water.

2) It didn't swim that much towards the middle of the tank.

3) It always stayed towards the sides of the tank. Maybe this is a normal behavior, I don't know for sure.

4) It swam vertically slightly when it was coming up for air.

Other than that, it was a good betta, really, it had a right to live longer than it did. I just couldn't take it. And it was eating its food, too. Maybe I should have had more patience with it. That's one of the areas that I could use some work in.

I'm thinking of getting another fish tomorrow, but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I'll do better without one. When I have one, I definitely focus on it too much, and spend too much time watching it swim around, noticing always what isn't to my satisfaction. Sometimes you don't know you know until something is gone.

How to Remove the eyes of your Betta Fish

I've often been asked this question, how do you remove a betta fish's eyes? Well, it's actually quite simple. I'll tell you how. I will warn you though that it can severely injury the fish and it can cause bleeding.

Here's the easiest way to remove the eyes. First, I push the fish around the tank with a plastic fork or something like that so it will get tired. Finally, the fish stops reacting / moving as much so I know it's ready for the next step.

Next, I take the fish out of the tank and put it on a flat surface. I hold the fish down with one hand. With another I take a toothpick and poke at it's eye. At first, the fish may flip over a few times as this is painful for it, but it will soon stop doing this.

As I'm poking at it's eye, I try to "dig" the eye out of it's socket. This can be hard to do and requires practice to get it right. You'll know when you got it right when you put the fish back in the tank, wave your hand, and it doesn't have any reaction. That means you have succeeded and the eye is no longer working.

So, I usually flip the fish over at this point and remove the other eye. Sometimes loosening the eye from it's socket is enough to stop it from working, and sometimes you need to fully remove it.

Now, I put the fish back in the water and it is totally blind. What does it do? It normally stays towards the top of the tank/bowl and breathes air every now and then.

Of course, it would eventually starve because the betta fish can no longer see its food. I don't know if it would work if you somehow put the food into its mouth? Any suggestions on this point are welcome.

One thing to remember is that the fish will be somewhat weak, as you have removed two eyes, so it won't move that much.

One thing I have been experimenting with is taking a newly blind betta fish and putting it in a tank with a normal, healthy betta fish. Theoretically, the healthy betta fish will see the blind betta fish, but not vice versa, and the blind betta fish will get attacked without knowing why.

Well, that's it, I hope this clarifies for you how to remove the eyes from a betta fish! If you try it, let me know how it works out for you!

One thing I am interested in is, how to remove a betta fish's eyes while still keeping the fish relatively healthy? If you know how to do this, please send me a message. Thanks.

I killed the fish, accidentally...

OK, this time, I took him out of the tank, and stuck a toothpick in his mouth. At first, I just wanted to see how much it would open. But, then I stuck it in further, and I think I must have damaged him in some way.

When he went back in the tank, he wasn't swimming right. He went right to the bottom, and wouldn't move. I didn't know if he was barely still alive, or dead.

I settled on the decision that he was almost dead, and dumped out the water and flushed him down the toilet.

Tomorrow I'll start again with a new fish. And, I promise to treat him much better. I promise.

I know what I need to do. When I see myself being mean to the fish, I need to BREAK THE PATTERN. How? By doing something else. Anything else. Watching a movie, running, reading a book, anything that can get me away from the fish. If I need to, then I will take an anxiety pill. Anyway, the idea is to break the pattern, and get away from the fish.

They can take a lot of abuse, and I do mean a lot, as I have given them a lot of treatments and still see them swimming around. But, the part about taking the eyes out, wounding their flesh, this seems to be more than they can take. So, I've learned my lesson. I'll do better next time.

I think I went a little too far

So I got a little crazy with the betta fish tonight. I kept pushing him around and he kept on swimming. So I went further. I tried to hold him by his tail with the fork several times and he would not stay. Finally, I put my hand in there and held him by his tail several times, and pushed him around with the fork while I held him by his tail.

Then comes the real kicker. I took him out of the bowl for some "surgery." I removed both of his eyeballs. At first, he really objected, and flipped over every time I tried to hit his eyeball. Then, he stopped moving so much, I guess he got used to it.

Then, I put him back in the tank. I think he's not in too good of shape now. He's staying at the top of the tank. He's not moving much. He no longer sees my hands or any objects I put in the tank, since he's blind.

I don't know if he will make it tonight. I may have to put him down the garbage disposal. Tomorrow I plan on getting another fish. It's a shame. He was such a good fish. Why did I have to mess him up? I guess I just couldn't help myself. But now, I wish I hadn't. I wish I had left him alone to do his thing.

I really think that I need some other things to put my time and focus on, instead of focusing on the perfection of a betta fish. It's really unfair to the fish taht I do that.

This fish is in really bad shape. He can breath, but that's about it. He doesn't really swim around anymore. Can't blame him. The thing has been taken to the end of the earth, and then some. I push him to the bottom, and he just swims back towards the top. I guess that's the only place he can stay now. Poor thing. Probably tomorrow I will put him down the disposal, and get another fish. And I promise, I will try my hardest to treat that fish better.

Another Treatment

Hi, I just gave my betta fish another treatment. This time, I went pretty hard on him. For five minutes, I pushed him around the bowl with a plastic fork. Eventually, he got tired and he would go whichever direction I pushed him in. Then, of course, when he tried to get up for air, I blocked up.

I even went a little past the five minute mark, actually I got a little carried away.

Now he is in the recovery stage. He's moving his fins at the bottom of the tank. More updates will be coming in a little while.

He just went up for air quickly and then quickly back to the bottom of the tank. He's of course breathing heavier than usual. I'll keep you posted on his progress.

The One Magic Hit

My betta fish was doing much better today. He was swimming around the tank, doing his think, slower, I'll admit, but none the less moving around like he's supposed to.

Needless to say, he was doing too well, I couldn't let this go one forever now, could I? So, I took my plastic fork and touched the betta fish once while he was under water. He went crazy and started swimming rapidly and erratically all over the tank. Then he sank to the bottom.

I wondered how long it would take him to recover. Now he is swimming much much less than before. That hit I did on him must have been very powerful. I'm going to watch him and see how long it takes him to recover.

He is still flapping his fins, and swimming a little, though, much less and much more slowly. I'll see how he progresses through the late afternoon.

Oh, he seems to be picking up a little now. I wonder if he's ready for another hit? But on the flip side, it's so nice to watch him swim around. I'll see if he can recover to where he was before. Then, maybe I'll give him another hit later on. We'll see how he does.

He's still not eating, though, I fed him before the hit and he spit out the food. I did notice though, that he seems to try and eat the food that is at the bottom of the tank.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see how well he does. It's 4:28, I could still go to the pet store and look for a replacement betta fish to occupy his tank. Still going to think about that. We'll see if I hit him again a few more times, he might definitely need a replacement. If I don't, then I think he can make it a few more days on his own in the tank.

That hit definitely quieted him down though -- it was very effective! It's amazing how just one touch can send a betta into hyperactive orbit, and then dropping to the bottom of the tank. They are very sensitive fish, and they need these treatments just as much as we need to give them.

Why I injure betta fish

So, now that you are reading about all my treatments for betta fish, and everything I do to them, you might be wondering why I do these things. Well, I can tell you that I have anxiety. I've got a mental chemical imbalance. When I see a betta that doesn't do what I want it to do, or doesn't swim the way I want it to swim, I get anxious. Then, I start to think that this betta really needs a treatment. So, I treat the betta, as described in my previous posts. However, usually this just makes me more anxious. Then, when I see the betta's performance degrade, I get even more anxious. So eventually I give the betta another treatment, and the cycle continues.

When it gets to a certain point, I put the betta into his cup from the store, for a more personal treatment. Then, I really let him have it, make him swim in circles, deplete his energy, start hitting him with a plastic fork, etc. When it gets really bad I may even sever his head and end his life. But it takes a little bit of time for it to get to that point.

Anyway, the reason I do these things to bettas I would surmise to say is a result of my anxiety and my obsessive compulsive disorder. I am simply dissatistfied with bettas swimming ability at times, and when they don't eat their food. Then it makes me want to do things to the betta because the betta is not behaving correctly.

Latest Treatment to Betta Fish

What has happened to my betta fish? Two days ago, his fins were wide open, and beautiful. He swam against the sides of the bowl with such vigor. He was constantly swimming.

Now, he is weak. I administered another treatment to him tonight and I think it hit him pretty good. I would push him around with a fork and make him swim away. When he tried to come up for air, I would push him down. I only did this for I think 2 or 3 minutes, but it was a very intense treatment for my betta.

Now, he is staying on the bottom. He's breathing heavier than normal. I'm not sure what he wants to do. He's not swimming around anymore. I assume he will come up for air at some point. I will check on him a little while later.

If he continues to decline I will have no choice but to administer another treatment and let him loose the ability to swim. Then, tomorrow, I will replace him with another betta.

But I have hope for him. Maybe he will recover. This is a true test, to see really how much strength he's got left in him. Now his true colors will shine. I can tell he wants to move. Let's see if he succeeds.

The betta doesn't know it, but how he behaves in the next few hours, and tomorrow, will be the results that determine his life. Time will tell.

Results of Recent Betta Treatment

I just did a couple of treatments on my new betta that lives in 1/2 gallon tank. I think the treatments were successful. The betta likes to stay near the top now at times. It swims around more slowly. When the betta pushes against the walls of the tank (wanting a bigger tank), it's not with such ferocity now. Overall I would say that this has been a successful treatment.

Compulsion of Treatments

Sometimes you will want to continue a treatment or keep doing one treatment after another. But, be careful. This will severely weaken your betta. If you want your betta to die, then definitely continue. If you want your betta to live, then you should let your fish recover before attempting another treatment.

How long should you wait? This varies. I would say at least a few hours. The best thing would be to wait until the next day. You'll learn this more as you begin to experiment.

Signs of a Successful Treatment

How do you know when you have been successful with a treatment for your betta? When your fish stops eating the food you put out for it, you have been successful. When it swims more slowly around the tank, you have been successful. If the fish stays longer at the bottom of the tank, this is a good sign. Also if the fish stays towards the top, this is also good, this may mean your fish is weak and cannot hold enough air. All of this are signs that your treatment is working.

How to calm a betta fish

Is your betta fish too wild? Does it have too much energy, swim around too much, or generally get on your nerves? In this article, I'm going to talk about how to calm down your betta fish, and make your life easier.

Calming a betta fish can be done by administering a treatment. A treatment is a form of discipline for the betta fish, and can be performed in many ways.

By the way, you may want to consider not feeding your betta fish when you know you want to perform a treatment. This will help slow down the fish naturally.

First, I'll describe a very basic form of treatment. You are going to keep the betta fish under water for 5 minutes. You will need a watch, and a plastic fork. Everytime the betta looks like it is coming up for air in it's bowl, put the plastic fork directly over it. It should swim down or even to the bottom of the bowl. Sometimes you will need to be quick, it can sometimes muster up a lot of energy when it tries to get to the surface. Just tap the betta slightly with your plastic fork and it will swim back down. After 5 minutes, you can let the betta come up for air. The treatment is over.

This is a good beginning treatment to learn. But if you really want to weaken the betta fish, you must take this treatment one step further. While the betta is under water, take your plastic fork and tap the betta slightly near the head. This will cause it to swim to another part of the tank. Be sure to block the betta when it tries to come up for air. This is very important. Do this several times, like 7-8 times at least, over a 5 minute period. When you are done with its treatment, you should notice the betta swims with less vigor and less energy than before. This means you have had a successful treatment.

There is a more advanced treatment that involves putting a betta back in the cup you got it in from the store, and really working it over with plastic silverware for various minutes, till it almost doesn't move at all. We will leave this for a topic of later discussion.