# incredible (but true!) survival tale



## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

My beautiful 1yr. old crown tail betta, "Blue", started some weird behavior last week, jumping up and hitting the tank lid for no apparent reason a couple times a day. At first, I was alarmed and I checked water parameters; all good. No bullies, no recent changes. The tank has a cover, with only a tiny space where the filter hangs. So, this week end, I heard Blue leap and splash again, at about 8a.m. At 8:25 or 8:30, I fed the fish and could not see Blue. Since I have a well planted tank, it isn't unusual to "lose" a fish for a while, but I double checked, and still no Blue. With a growing sense of dread, I got down on the floor, and yep, there was poor Blue, dehydrated, in a pile of dust under the stand. I noticed his gills still moved a bit, so I plopped him back in the tank. Can you believe he pulled through?? He scraped the entire top of his back down to the red meat, probably when he squeezed through the crack which is smaller than he is, and his eyes had appeared dried up-I thought he was a goner. He just draped himself in a plant for cover for a few days. I threw some stresscoat and salt in the water, increased the heat a bit. Had to hand feed the poor fellow a few days, but he has been up and about like his old self now for two days! I am still on alert for infection, of course. I know Bettas have the labirynth organ for breathing, but he was nearly 30 minutes on a hardwood floor! I may have to re-name him some super hero name, like Tony Stark. Hope he has decided there are no better ponds to leap to nearby...


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## Guest (Mar 5, 2013)

That is amazing! Yeah bettas are tough fish. I would have had a heart attack if that was my betta.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I have spoken with a man who's fish was a potato chip and the eyes were dried, and he threw the fish back in and it survived. I just had a gourami jump out, but it was a potato chip with the eyes sunken in and no kill movement, so I tossed it.


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## chamfishlvr (Jan 22, 2010)

Oh, wow! This happened to me with a female that must have been stressed out since she had just courted with a male. I couldn't even look at her, I just screamed and woke my dad up at 5 AM to flush her for me. She may have lived.... :'(


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## chamfishlvr (Jan 22, 2010)

I told the breeder I get my fish from and he said "that's why I love cellophane" haha.


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