BEFORE you upgrade your betta to bigger tank

[BettaMomma]

Well, I decided that Amos had been in his little 2.5 gallon tank long enough.
So I went out and got him a 5 gallon hex eclipse tank with a filter.
Got seeded gravel from my lfs - had a mini cycle, put Amos in.

At first I thought he really dug his new place, it turns out he didn't.
AT ALL.

I first noticed that even tho the current was tossling him all over the place, he still found places to hide, facing away from me. When he was in his 2.5, he ALWAYS stared right at me - even when he was resting or whatever. He didn't want to miss a THING. Then I noticed that he had some slight stress lines on him. THEN part of his tail went missing - I thought it had gotten sucked up into the intake tube. To my horror - later that day I was watching him and he started chasing his tail, then when he was able to latch on, he shook his head like a dog playing with a toy, until he ripped off a section of tail. "SLIRP" in when the tail piece, just like a piece of spaghetti, then he chewed it up - head bobbing and all and SWALLOWED IT. After some research, I discovered they do this when they're extremely stressed out. I guess like us biting our fingernails? EEK

Next day I came into work to find him pretty much tailless and COVERED IN ick. I immediately went to the lfs and got meds for the ick, and picked up another 2.5 gallon tank (the one he was previously in is now occupied by Jasper). Amos is now back into a safe, warm and clean 2.5G tank (just moved him back over yesterday). I went out to check on them today and the ick is gone - (going to finish all the treatments, tho) but he's acting VERY weird - clamped fins, laying on the bottom, very skiddish, etc. etc. - AND he's got the start of popeye going on. He's now getting tetracycline and maracide. (for popeye and ick, respecitively).

Moral of the story is -
if your betta SEEMS HAPPY, he probably is.
AND...
THINK TWICE before you "upgrade" your betta to a tank where he's going to be faced with currents. It's very hard on them.

One good thing that will come of this... I get to try to figure out what to put into my 5 gallon now - it's already been cycled, so why not? Male guppies or something. That will be fun! Now I just hope I can get poor little Amos back to perfect health like he was in before the whole 5 gallon nightmare.

 

[Whiskerz]

Oh my....that sounds horrible

Good thing I read this, I was thinking about setting up one of my 5 gallons and putting one of my bettas in it. I don't think I will now

As for putting fish in your 5 gallon - You could probably go buy a female betta and put her in it Or the guppies, I like them both and they both have great colors

I hope Amos gets better. Good luck

 

[BettaMomma]

I was thinking about female bettas too.

BUT... I don't know if they hate current as much as males do?
I"m really really going to do my homework before stocking that tank. I want to make sure that whatever winds up in there will be completely happy.

 

[cutechic]

All my females (from various breeders & lfs) love a currrent in their tanks, as long as they have some place to get away from it if they want.

 

[Whiskerz]

Same with what cutechic said
My female bettas don't have a problem with the current, but when they do...they learn to stay away from it I have one that kinda plays in the current

 

[BettaMomma]

That's good to know.
I have really been wanting to get some girly bettas.
I have all males - fish, guinea pigs and humans.
It's time to bring some chicas into the mix to even things out.

 

[SRC]

emmm...why not just buy a different filter....one with adjustable water flow . Tetra whisper filters work quite well in that respect, imho.

 

[Raechal]

My male betta is in a 10 gallon with a current. He has been in there for months and he seems totally happy! I guess he has learned to go around it and even when he does decide to swim under it, he fights the current and almost always wins.

But he has always had a current in his tank ever since we've had him. Although I am thinking of splitting the 10 gallon in my room with a tank divider and putting the male on one side and female on the other. That way they would both be out of the current since that one is unfiltered. Not sure though.

 

[mm_simb]

My betta always goes under the water that is flowing in. He seems fine and happy with the current. I guess it just depends on the personality.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

Did you know the history of the tank that your lfs gave you the seeded gravel from? Your ick and popeye problems could have come from that if it currently houses fish. I never trust gravel from my lfs no matter if the fish in it look healthy or not. I would much rather go through the cycling process myself. That way I am positive I am not introuducing anything to my tank. Just food for thought.

 

[nicki82]

i think it depends on the betta on how much they hate currents and so on too. Here in australia I have seen many aquariam stores with bettas in community tanks. I have a betta in a community tank and there are no problems with the current or other fish in there. I also have another betta in a plain fish bowl with no filter and since it is very used to that location I wont add him to any future tanks because I dont think he would be as happy or versatile as the other betta.

 

[MyDogIsJealousOfMyFish]

I put my two bettas into a 10 gallon divided tank with a penguin power filter. One side ended up with all the current and the other was perfectly calm. I pulled out the power filter and put in two sponge filters instead. There is now filtration on both sides and zero current.

 

[mandi]

emmm...why not just buy a different filter....one with adjustable water flow . Tetra whisper filters work quite well in that respect, imho.

Eclipse tanks are all integrated into the hood... I have an Eclipse System 6 like that. There's no room to hang a filter on the back.

I was going to use mine for a new betta I just ordered from BettySplendens.com but now I'm wondering if it's going to be too strong. Hmm.

 

[BettaMomma]

The wasn't a problem with the gravel - the problem was that Amos was used to being in his nice happy little current-less tank, and I just threw him into the bigger tank. The lfs that I go to has a sparkling reputation and I'm going to put other fish into the tank that Amos just came out of as soon as I decide what to get.

Amos was constantly fighting the flow, both in and out and he seemed like it was really just too much for him. He just hated the change. He'd been in his other tank (without current) for about 4 months and just prefers to be w/out the current. The whole tank was sort of like a mini tornado because of the filter. I put some sponge into the intake filter, and it slowed the current down some but it just wasn't worth leaving him in there.

Granted - some fish may like it, but if you've had your betta in a tank without filter for some time, be prepared for the fact that he might not like the current when he's thrown into it.

 

[SMSBrunetteGirl]

Woah,yikes! Good job posting this!I thought they said bigger tanks were always better