Horror Stories

[ravekiss]

Has anyone got a horror story about a divided tank of male bettas?

 

[MissD]

I have 14 bettas that get moved around from divided tanks to bowls for a bit of a change of scenery once in a while, and the worst thing I've had happen is one male jumped from his section into his neighbour's. There weren't any problems, though - the two swam around together before getting yanked apart. Chances are they would have fought after a while so that, and possibly a disease in one section spreading through to the other, are really the worse that I can see happening.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I did have one of my boys get ich in my divided tank. The other did get it, but not as bad as the first. I have my divider set up so that they don't really share water. They each have a bubble filter that are on a gang valve so I can control the bubbles, and a small 25W heater to keep their water warm. They can see each other, but not very well, so most of the time they ignore eachother. I want to divide my 5G as well, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[Kiarra]

Well, my Doubletail jumped his divider last night straight into the side where his little brother is. I heard the splash in the middle of the night and got up to find Ghost and his little brother staring at each other and blowing random bubbles. They weren't even flaring or posturing at each other at all. Not quite a horror story, I suppose, but it scared the crap out of me when I heard the splash.

I also had one male Veil jump a divider after a water change, when I forgot to put the lid in because I was called away. The Betta he jumped in with was quite gay (long story, but he preferred males, so to speak), and I found the little white one who jumped just swimming around, calm as can be, and the little butterfly gay boy frantically building a nest and wiggling his little butt to attract the white one. I've been enormously lucky with what few jumpers I've had!

Then again, I had two small juvies I just got in a divided tank, one male, one female, and the female jumped the divider when I was feeding her. She wanted to mate with her brother...he just wanted to kill her. They flared, postured, curled, and looked like they were attacking each other, but they didn't leave a mark on each other. I pulled her out and plopped her back in the side, no harm done.

 

[nashnut]

I've been using divided mini bows for months now and only had one incident but no damage. I put the divider in but not properly and a small betta managed to squeeze thru and get to the other side. Nothing happened as I was right there and grabbed the net real fast.

 

[ravekiss]

I've been using divided mini bows for months now and only had one incident but no damage. I put the divider in but not properly and a small betta managed to squeeze thru and get to the other side. Nothing happened as I was right there and grabbed the net real fast.

That exact incident occured with me. I had just bought the Mini-Bow 2.5g and I put the divider upside down and Midnite squeezed thru the side. I was right there thankfully and I grabbed the net and removed him. The hadnt started to fight. they were circling each other flaring. How do you have your dividers now? Did you alter it in any way?

 

[BettaMomma]

I just got a minibow 2.5G for my 2 new boys, and put the divider in. There was NO WAY that one of those fish wasn't going to be able to squeeze by the side so I had to come up with something else. So... I did some adjusting and improvising - and here's what I ended up with. I took the divider back out (after removing one fish, of course) and I put it into one side of the tank and slid it over until it was tight up against the sides of the tank - if you put it in the slots in the middle there's a gap - but if you slide it over (so it's not in the slots but rather off to one side of the gaps), and you don't even have to slide it over toward one side or the other of the tank more than 1/2 inch or so, it fits tight.

THEN... Since Gabriel's fins and pecs are so long I was afraid he'd get right up by the divider and get something nipped off - sOOO... I went to the craft store and got some plastic canvas. I HATED the stuff at first (Before I had to resort to getting some) but I decided I wouldn't rest easy until I know I had them blocked off enough that there was NO way they could get to each other. SOOO... I carefully measured out the plastic canvas so it fit tight in there, AND... I also made sure to cut the top part of it inside so it sticks up a good 3 inches (it touches the inside of the hood when I put the hood on) so they can't really jump either. I got the semi-clear stuff with VERY tiny holes in it, so they can somewhat see if they put their eyeball up to the holes but they don't get freaked out because they can see the other all the time. I LOVE craft canvas now. It's my ultra fave!!

I'll take pics tonight and post them tomorrow. I am really really happy with the way it turned out, and the next purchase I make will be another tank just like this one for Lucky and Six here at work. They're stuck in 1G aquaviews and wanna upgrade them a teeny bit.

 

[ravekiss]

Thanks Bettamomma, I'll look forward to seeing the pictures. Take close shots so I can see exactly how you fit it. Right now I put the report cover slots on the ends of the divider and put it back in.

 

[BettaMomma]

Okies! I'm sure Petey will be excited too - it will be his first photo shoot.


Yeehaw!

 

[GuppyDude]

iv had my divided 10g with 3 bettas in it for a couple months now and iv alredy got a collection of bad stories they are ok after awhile but when u add a new fish they will do anything to get to the other side and give the new guy a "friendly" hello.

 

[ravekiss]

Hey Bettamomma, did you get a chance to take those pics of Petey and the divided tank?

 

[BettaMomma]

I'm sorry - I went to get the camera last night and the battery pack was missing.
I will be able to take it home after work tonight and take them and post them then.

I'm sorry - i was really irritated last night when I could not find it! Uugh- I guess i just need to invest in my own good camera.

Look for them later today

 

[ravekiss]

Thats ok, no need to apologize. So far I'm not having any trouble with my 2 guys int eh divided tank. I am worried if sunshine's fins get over to the other side, if starbrite will attack them. Sunshine's fins are long and flowing and whenever he turns away from the divider, they slide thru the holes on the divider. So far they've been there for 2 days with no problems though.