Hey everyone,
So here's the story...was given a 60l biorb (I know lots of you don't like them, now I've read everything I'm not sure if I would buy one myself, but hey, it was gift) and after weeks of playing with ammonia and my little coloured test tubes i managed to fishless cycle it. So I popped in some mopani wood, a little cave, some pebbles over the biorb substrate and some tough looking live plants (eloda I think), plus four dwarf rainbow fishes. And settled back to enjoy, planning on adding maybe some harlequins or a male betta. So far so good, water changes each week, all my water parameters are fine!
So...went to visit a friend. Her flatmate had two little bettas which (no kidding) he was about to flush down the toilet as he was keeping them in a bowl and hadn't realised they were tropical/required a filter or in fact any care at all and couldn't be bothered! So of course I decided to take them off his hands. They were bought from Pets At Home (I know!) the week before as females. They are both a really pretty red/blue colouring and I've read a bit and think they might be plakats.
I'm getting a bit too into my fish I think (as my boyfriend tells me anyway!) and have spent ages watching them, especially as I was worried they might end up fighting as I read that really you should have at least five females in a sorority to reduce aggression. I have noticed my normally happy-go-lucky rainbow fish are spending most of their time hiding and then this morning I found one dead! He had no marks on him apart from his eyes were missing (I'm hoping post-mortem!) and water parameters are again fine (I've got some pesky snails that I have been removing by hand and was worried they might have affected the ammonia/nitrite). Have to say I was a bit gutted having got attached to the little guys and have genuinely put lots of effort into trying to make sure my fishes were well looked after! I'm not sure whether this could just be one of those things or something to do with the bettas, who to be fair do not seem to be chasing the rainbow fish or eachother.
Being paranoid, I caught the two bettas and had a closer look at them. Having read the thread on female tail types, I noticed that the lower fin seems longer than the other, extending beyond the tail. This same fish also seems to have longer pectoral (I might have the wrong fin name here...the narrow ones that hang down just behind the head) fins although it is hard to tell as they don't dangle like the other fish's! I had a look underneath and both fishes seem to have a white spot between their pectoral fins although it seems more prominent on the one I think is female. I'll try and post some photos although this is my first post (despite months of reading this forum!) so I might mess up!
So I guess what I'm asking is this - what sex do you guys think they are? And what should I do now? I know I should separate them but which one should I take out and would he/she be OK in a bowl or bucket (I have a spare heater but no spare tank - I know, bad idea!) until Tuesday when I could either return one to Pets at Home or buy another small tank but of course it wouldn't be cycled. And do you think this could have anything to do with my dead rainbow fish?
Thanks so much for your help, sorry about the stupidly long post, just didn't want to leave anything out!
Ruth x
So here's the story...was given a 60l biorb (I know lots of you don't like them, now I've read everything I'm not sure if I would buy one myself, but hey, it was gift) and after weeks of playing with ammonia and my little coloured test tubes i managed to fishless cycle it. So I popped in some mopani wood, a little cave, some pebbles over the biorb substrate and some tough looking live plants (eloda I think), plus four dwarf rainbow fishes. And settled back to enjoy, planning on adding maybe some harlequins or a male betta. So far so good, water changes each week, all my water parameters are fine!
So...went to visit a friend. Her flatmate had two little bettas which (no kidding) he was about to flush down the toilet as he was keeping them in a bowl and hadn't realised they were tropical/required a filter or in fact any care at all and couldn't be bothered! So of course I decided to take them off his hands. They were bought from Pets At Home (I know!) the week before as females. They are both a really pretty red/blue colouring and I've read a bit and think they might be plakats.
I'm getting a bit too into my fish I think (as my boyfriend tells me anyway!) and have spent ages watching them, especially as I was worried they might end up fighting as I read that really you should have at least five females in a sorority to reduce aggression. I have noticed my normally happy-go-lucky rainbow fish are spending most of their time hiding and then this morning I found one dead! He had no marks on him apart from his eyes were missing (I'm hoping post-mortem!) and water parameters are again fine (I've got some pesky snails that I have been removing by hand and was worried they might have affected the ammonia/nitrite). Have to say I was a bit gutted having got attached to the little guys and have genuinely put lots of effort into trying to make sure my fishes were well looked after! I'm not sure whether this could just be one of those things or something to do with the bettas, who to be fair do not seem to be chasing the rainbow fish or eachother.
Being paranoid, I caught the two bettas and had a closer look at them. Having read the thread on female tail types, I noticed that the lower fin seems longer than the other, extending beyond the tail. This same fish also seems to have longer pectoral (I might have the wrong fin name here...the narrow ones that hang down just behind the head) fins although it is hard to tell as they don't dangle like the other fish's! I had a look underneath and both fishes seem to have a white spot between their pectoral fins although it seems more prominent on the one I think is female. I'll try and post some photos although this is my first post (despite months of reading this forum!) so I might mess up!
So I guess what I'm asking is this - what sex do you guys think they are? And what should I do now? I know I should separate them but which one should I take out and would he/she be OK in a bowl or bucket (I have a spare heater but no spare tank - I know, bad idea!) until Tuesday when I could either return one to Pets at Home or buy another small tank but of course it wouldn't be cycled. And do you think this could have anything to do with my dead rainbow fish?
Thanks so much for your help, sorry about the stupidly long post, just didn't want to leave anything out!
Ruth x
