betta (fighting fish)

[stevie_18]

hi i got a siamese fighting fish yesterday and then i went and got a few guppies today to go with my femals guppies. when i went to look at them there now i saw the betta bighting the tail clean of one of my new guppies. i took the guppies out and put it in a breeding net to protect it. what should i do now its a very nice fish and i dont want to lose it

 

[wuvmybetta]

Bettas will chase the tails of fancy finned fish, he won't stop, he'll only move on to the next

Your best bet will be to get him (betta) his own small tank.

 

[stevie_18]

i was told in the shop that it will only fight with other male fighting fish. the betta is nice but i am not gonna let it eat all my other fish. is it gonna kill all my guppies or other fish aswell???

 

[wuvmybetta]

All bettas are different, they have very different personalities so your lfs can't be certain about each fish. Obviously yours is pretty aggressive,mind you it's only his second day in the tank and he's already lashing out.

I kept one in a community and he killed several fish, he did it slowly over a period of time. It was easy to spot his next target, he would eyeball one fish and within a week that fish would turn up dead and he would move on to the next

Maybe keep him in the breeder net until you can get another tank (quickly!)

 

[jams.alaskan]

Yep, move the betta and maybe add some melafix to the water for your guppy. I have one that lost the whole tail, grew back super fast when I did this.

ALASKA

 

[louise]

I agree i have my betta in a 'bully' tank as he would chase and taunt every fish. i fell for the looks of him and feel sorry for him and my other fish but they are ok, expensive but ok!! LOL

 

[Inchworm]

Hi stevie_18

If you want to keep your betta in a tank with other fish, cory cats seem to be a good choice.

Since a betta's natural territory is on the top of the tank and the cory cats live on the bottom, there is no conflict there. And too, they are compact, chunky fish with short fins, so the bettas cannot confuse them with their rivals.

Guppies, on the other hand, have long flowing fins and swim in the same space as the bettas.

 

[noelberg]

Tank size also matters because fish can be territorial, but then nothing will stop a fish from taking a chunk out of another fish once it has its mind set on doing so.

I'm fearing I might have the same problem with a newly introduced betta and my killis. However the killis are fine with the moving water of the filter and the betta isn't, so the betta keeps to the calm-surfaced side away from the filter.