lonely betta?

[smpthy4thedevil]

so i'm looking through my LFS a few days ago and what do i see? a gorgeous cambodian crowntail betta. only six bucks! i grab a spare heater and a small sponge filter to throw into my spare tank, buy my lovely fishy, and bring him home. after scrubbing out the tank and washing the gravel and dechlorinating the water whatnot, into the tank he goes. (i've named him Pope John Paul the Third, as blasphemous as i am.)

i've got another betta -- Igby -- in the tank next to his with a few platies and, as of yesterday, and handful of fry -- my first-ever batch of fry, btw. anywho, Igby is healthy and *very* active, chasing the platies around all day, though he never seems to catch any.

now the problem is, my new boy seems so bored. all he does is pick a spot in the tank and float there forever, fins droopy, looking dead. i nearly had a heart attack when i saw him do it at first. i'm 99% sure he isnt sick, as when i remove the divider from between the Pope's tank and Igby's, he puts on a good show, flares, swims up and down the wall chasing Igby, does his general fishy thing and looks quite healthy, but when i put the divider back, he goes back to his listless floating.

the Pope seems so bored and lonely... but i cant put any more fish in that tank. it's only a 2 gallon, and as far as i know there arent any little fish that would fit in there with my new boy who wouldnt get eaten/nipped to high hell.

should i just leave the divider out entirely and let Igby and his Popeliness look at each other all day, or would they eventually get used to each other and stop flaring if i did that?

are there some little fish i could put in with Pope John Paul to keep him company? could i safely put one of the platies in with him, or would the single platy get lonely/eaten/somehow disturbed?

or would it be okay if, every once in a while, i put Igby into the two gallon and Pope John Paul into the other tank to let him have some fun, if only for a while? both tanks have the same PH and temp and everything.

*sigh* i dont know what to do. i dont want the Pope to be bored or lonely, but i dont want an unhappy little fish being nibbled on or anything either. and if it's stressful/dangerous/whatever to have Igby and Pope switch tanks, i dont want to do that.

i cant stand to see the Pope looking so lonely.

any help?

 

[jams.alaskan]

What type of decorations does he have? I'll keep watching to see if any betta owners know of tank mates for this small space. How he perks up!

ALASKA

 

[Dwarfs]

Get him some ghost shrimp or cory cats to hang out with. My betta has a ghost shrimp (1 inch max) as of 30 minutes ago and he follows the shrimp around. The shrimp eat extra food that falls to the bottom and so will cories

 

[cutechic]

Cories like to be in bigger groups, but I don't think 2 gallon is big enough for more than one cory and a betta. What about an African Dwarf Frog?

 

[modernhamlet]

If you really want him to have some tankmates, I would suggest getting a 5 gallon tank and 3 of the smaller otos or corys. Or a 10 gallon, which would open up all sorts of options. And the cool thing is that just a tank won't cost that much. You've got the other things you need already.

I'm so helpful...

 

[scott1000]

I'm so helpful...

And so humble

 

[modernhamlet]

I'm so helpful...

And so humble

Humble, maybe. Sarcastic, yes.

 

[smpthy4thedevil]

If you really want him to have some tankmates, I would suggest getting a 5 gallon tank and 3 of the smaller otos or corys. Or a 10 gallon, which would open up all sorts of options.

oh man.. i would love to get another tank -- if i had it my way my entire house would be filled with fish tanks. but alas, i've already got three tanks, and my mother has declared NO MORE WATER. so sadly the only thing i can do is keep the Pope in the 2 gallon and add something small in with him...

What about an African Dwarf Frog?

that may be a good idea... a friend of mine has an african dwarf frog in a 2 gallon with a betta she just bought last week... i'll have to ask her how they're getting along. if she says they get on well, i may have to buy one. D

any idea how much one of those would cost me?

 

[smpthy4thedevil]

What type of decorations does he have?

for now he's just got a biggish plastic plant. i want to get him some kind of little cave or something, but i havent seen anything in my LFS that's the right size, that isnt totally hideous.

 

[sumer_kay]

You know I used to feel the same way about a betta I had for 2 years! He never made a bubblenest, or flared his gills, in fact, I didn't even know they COULD do those things! Maybe some are just more active than others?
My current betta, Charlie, is in a large fish bowl (I'd say one gallon, maybe two) and he builds on his nest everynight. He is all by his lonesome, but he has a fake plant, and a live plant, and occasionally I put him up a mirror. He actually is much happier alone (in the community 10 gal he was always hiding, and kind of moping.)
I guess my question to you is do you have bubblenests? seems to be what they do when they're happy The shrimp thing sounds like a good idea! I think I'll get Charlie one
woohoo I'm getting a new baby Good luck to you!

 

[MerryCat]

you could try giving your betta interesting new things to swim around/though. I used to change Fred's (my first betta ever) tank decorations around and rotate them every few weeks, or when he was starting to get "mopey". After each change, he'd get all active, exploreing everything and blowing bubbles everywhere.
Also, you know those plastic tubes that camera film comes in? I took the top off of one, and cut off the bottom end, so that Fred had a floating tunnel to swim through. He took to building his nests inside it- though the bubbles never fit in the tiny space- and using it as a place to hide out before dashing out to ambush my cories. Much fun^^ Though some might say I had waay too much time on my hands *lol*

 

[cutechic]

any idea how much one of those would cost me?

Definitely less than $5. When I had them a couple of years ago they were $3 or $4 CAD. Shrimp are a lot cheaper, and some stores may give them to you free if you ask nicely

I agree with sumer_kay, you may want to occasionally put a mirror next to his tank. Just make sure to not leave it there all the time or he may get too stressed.

 

[smpthy4thedevil]

I agree with sumer_kay, you may want to occasionally put a mirror next to his tank. Just make sure to not leave it there all the time or he may get too stressed.

nah, he's got a buddy in the tank next to his. i take out the divider for a while every day and let them flare at each other and all that.

any idea how much one of those would cost me?

Definitely less than $5. When I had them a couple of years ago they were $3 or $4 CAD. Shrimp are a lot cheaper, and some stores may give them to you free if you ask nicely

oh good... i cant afford to spend much money on fish or aquarium things right now. will the frogs eat the same food as my betta or am i going to have to go out and buy new stuff? (my bettas eat freeze dried bloodworms, bettamin flakes, freeze-dried plankton and occasionally live brine shrimp)

i've had ghost shrimp... they were the sole survivors of my first unfortunate fish tank experience a few years ago. but they're long gone by now.

i think my first choice'll be the frog... but i havent seen them in any of my LFS's. then again, the LFS closest to me doesnt carry ghost shrimp either... i may have to go on a trek for either one.

 

[sairie]

my betta, dumbledore, is the same way. i've had him for about 2 weeks, in a 2.5 gallon tank with 2 fake plants and a little cave. this is the first betta i've ever owned... and i'm worried too. i don't have a filter or anything on this tank... i'd like to add something to make him a lil more active. he just seems so depressed :[