Dead Fish :(

I'm bummed. My betta died yesterday and then today I lost a neon really randomly from my other tank. The betta had been having issues since I brought him home in October with swimming. I expect he had something wrong with him, he just could never swim well and would always float or sink. Very often would swim with a weirdly bent spine too. I wasn't surprised he died.

My neon though was zipping around the tank this morning! I fed them and they looked great. This evening walked over and he was just dead. No warning whatsoever. The neon was the smallest one of the group and had a deformed gill. His left gill always was not closed like most gills (I don't know if that makes sense). He was my favorite and my only fish with a name. I was really sad he was dead and feel like a lousy fish keeper now for losing two in two days.

I can't decide if I want to put anything in the 5 gallon or just take a break from fish for a while..... I'm hoping my other neons don't go too but they look 100% healthy today. Are there any options for the 5 gallon other than a betta?

Shrimp I love a tank thats heavily planted (but low upkeep so i use easy plants and go for natural look vs sculpted) with cherry shrimp (or crystal, or whatever) buzzing about.

So sorry you lost your betta and neon...fish can be so hard to keep alive sometimes.

What's the temp in your tanks? If your place is that hot, they might be getting really warm.

Either way, sorry for both your losses

Well today was a lot cooler so it got up to only 76 inside my house. :/

If the lights are on in the tank they tend to be a bit warmer than the house, too. Might have added stress on the fish, and the two weakest didn't make it. Just an idea.

Would 76 be too hot?

Oh that's as hot as the tank got? If that's the case then no that is definitely not too hot for Bettas or Neons.

Yeah the thermometer on the tank when I pulled the dead neon out said 76. I was hoping I wasn't setting it to overheat the fish because it's been set that warm since I got them.

Nah 76 is okay for them. Looks like my idea is a bust. Sorry.

I've always had trouble with bettas. I'm convinced they're seen be stores as expendable.

You can do two ADFs in a 5gal!

I wonder if the neon had some sort of parasite in his gill that finally caught up to him, like gill flukes or something? Sorry for your loss, and thank you for giving a gimpy betta a nice life. Those guys are so awesome and so many people don't treat them all that well. I think part of the problem with bettas is they have a short lifespan, and they're already mature by the time the store gets them.