And Who's Been Eating My Fins!

[michaelwgroves]

I got a siamese fighting male and two females a few weeks ago and someone is nibbling his fins and there nearly all gone! The Females are fine.

I have the following fish in my tank;

55 Cardinal Tetra
2 Harliquin Tetra
1 Glowlight Tetra
6 Mollies
6 Cherry Barbs
2 Clown Loaches
1 Yo-Yo Loaches
3 Opaline Gouramis
1 Silver Angel
2 Koi Angel
9 Rummie Nose Tetra
6 Corydoras
10 Otas
3 Bristlenose
15 Amano Shrimps
1 Male Siamese Fighter
2 Female Siamese Fighters
1 Kuhli Loach
4 Silver Dollar
6 Large blueish Tetra
3 Silver Shark
4 Flying Fox
60 Kribensis (4 Adult, rest various ages)

 

[Phoenixbaby]

ok firstly, males and females must be seperated immediately

secondly, with ur stocking im not suprised theres been nipped fins

Tetras are well know fin nippers, and if i were u id seperate the male into his own tank, and either rehome to 2 females, or get another tank and add a few more females

reason being, keeping 2 females means they will bully each other, and tear each other apart, i know this for a fact, been there done it got the t shirt

also u shud never keep a male with a female unless spawning, so either get him his own tank or rehome him also

hope this has helped

 

[tibby25731]

probably the tetras. Get hi outta there, male bettas are not good in a community. You'll wake up one day to find him dead - pretty soon by the sounds of it! Put him in a small tank alone, check for fin rot, add some melafix as a precaution

 

[Phoenixbaby]

also do not, and i mean do not, keep those 2 females together, they will fight and kill each other

and same for the male

 

[michaelwgroves]

I thought it was only the males that fought and you could keep as many females as you like?
They never seperate the females in the LFS, only the males!

Also, if I rehome him, will his fins regrow?

Finally, I used to have Guppies with my Cardinal, Rummy Nose, Glow Light & Harliquin with no problem. Is it my new larger Tetra that are nipping his fins, I think they are called Conga Tetra?

 

[Phoenixbaby]

I thought it was only the males that fought and you could keep as many females as you like?
They never seperate the females in the LFS, only the males!

Also, if I rehome him, will his fins regrow?

Finally, I used to have Guppies with my Cardinal, Rummy Nose, Glow Light & Harliquin with no problem. Is it my new larger Tetra that are nipping his fins, I think they are called Conga Tetra?

all those tetras will nip

females can be kept together but only in groups of 4 or more

 

[ReMz]

what size tank are we talking about? that is a massive stocking......... like massive.

A betta is not a community tank fish. If you have that sort of stocking you must have at least a 75 gallon tank...... at least. That would also mean high filter current. = bad for male bettas.

You have the worst community tank you could possible have to keep a betta in. An angel? tetras? gouramis?

BIIIIGGGGG NO

 

[michaelwgroves]

what size tank are we talking about? that is a massive stocking......... like massive.

A betta is not a community tank fish. If you have that sort of stocking you must have at least a 75 gallon tank...... at least. That would also mean high filter current. = bad for male bettas.

You have the worst community tank you could possible have to keep a betta in. An angel? tetras? gouramis?

BIIIIGGGGG NO

Thanks for the info, I'll get them out and see if I can give them back to the LFS.

My tank is 250G, the one in the picture below.

Will the male recover?

 

[ReMz]

what size tank are we talking about? that is a massive stocking......... like massive.

A betta is not a community tank fish. If you have that sort of stocking you must have at least a 75 gallon tank...... at least. That would also mean high filter current. = bad for male bettas.

You have the worst community tank you could possible have to keep a betta in. An angel? tetras? gouramis?

BIIIIGGGGG NO

Thanks for the info, I'll get them out and see if I can give them back to the LFS.

My tank is 250G, the one in the picture below.

Will the male recover?

whew. good. you had me really scared. I always assume the worst without trying to offend people too much. Lot of people around here with no idea how to keep fish.

That betta (and the females) cannot survive in a tank like that.

You could always go pick up a cheap 5 gallon setup for the male and treat him with Melafix for fin regrowth. Usually a LFS will just dispose of returns like like that.

edit: SWEEET tank btw

 

[michaelwgroves]

I've got an 80 gallon quarantine tank, I'll put them in there with some melafix.
Have to see how the girls get on, currently no fighting in the main tank.

Once all okay I'll see if any friends want them. (As long as they have no tetra or Angels!)

Thanks for the advice, you have probably saved thier lives.

 

[ReMz]

Glad to help. Also glad you came here for advice

80 gallon quarantine tank ? That is the size of my MAIN tank. haha. You have to snap a picture of a lone betta in an 80 gallon

Try the girls out in there. I'm not optimistic, but it's possible that they work out. The biggest problem would be them fighting (but maybe not in a tank that large) or them killing other fish. They can be very aggressive.

 

[dusky]

Just to say i doubt its the congo tetras, i have those in with my angels & gouramies and silver sharks and not a nipped fin in sight. It will be the little tetras.

 

[michaelwgroves]

Thought I should give an update, I decided to only put a single female in with the male so they don't fight.
I was not concerned about leaving a single female in the large tank as she can hide in the weeds and so far both females are in tact.

My quarantine does not look that big, due to its location its very deep and tall as I had to cram it in limited space.

When I put the female in with the male they both looked at each other and puffed out thier cheeks, whats that all about?

I read on the Melafix to put 5ml for 7 days, assume thats okay and the female won't be affected?
Also, how long will it taker for him to get better, I'm gutted I had never seen such a lovely example, he's all battered now

 

[Phoenixbaby]

why have u got the male and female in the same tank?

i have already said they SHOULDNT be kept together

 

[michaelwgroves]

Damn, you did indeed say that, I've moved her back to the main tank.

I thought it was just males that fought, I put her in there for company.

Thanks again