new betta attacks neons!!????

[emmab2001]

hi there on thusday i got my first ever betta called neo!!

all has been going well this morning i noticed he was flaring i ahve returned now and 2 of my neons are dead both ( sorry to be grusome) with there tails and eyes eaten!!???

could the beta have done this?? he lives with 5 neons and 2 platys ???

thanks for any help!!

 

[Gill]

BettasDo like brightly colored fish, and can and will turn on them.
platties and mollies are also considered a nono with bettas.

 

[GSD]

it was proberlby the betta.they hate brightly coloured fish and will attack or flare at them.That is why the prople on tff advise agains putting a betta with most other fish because bettas are unpredictaible and will attack others

 

[Bandit]

yep, most definately the betta could have done it

if you can get him a tank of his own that would help your fishie probs

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

If everything was fine in your tank before you brought the betta home then it was most likely him. Take him out before he starts to snack on the other ones

 

[emmab2001]

thanks for the advice i'm going shopping today for a seperate tank for neo!! he is a fantastic betta i just fell in love with him!!

i belived i had researched well and read that bettas can live quite well with neons and platys i belived it was guppies which should not be housed with bettas??!!

i guess i have learned again bye little dudes

thanks again

 

[Andie]

There's some contention over what tankmates are okay with bettas and what aren't. Some people will have kept (or say they have kept) a male with any number of different fish with no trouble, and this may be true, but only because they have found a male passive enough to ignore the temptation of bright colours/trailing fins. The problem with accepting this as a universal rule is that most male bettas are NOT this passive, and will happily pursue anything they deem a worthy target.

I'm so sorry that you were misled, but I'm glad you got Neo out before anything else happened (incidentally, he may only have killed the fish; it's possible their tankmates had a hand in the nibbling. Anything dead appears to be fair game)

 

[emmab2001]

thanks andie and i know what you mean about the other tank mates having a nibble! when i returned one of the platys was having a nibble and i thought it was him that had killed the neon then i noticed the second neon dead and that neo seemed to be hiding with it under "his" plant it took me quite a while to get neo to move as i did not want to stress him but he was guarding it like it's next meal! and kept flaring at the net!

i also should add that i was advised by 2 diffrent pet stores that it was ok to keep my betta like this and i will be contacting both of them!! telling them to check the advice that there giving people!!

mabey they knew and they just wanted me to spend even more money on another tank!!?? (like i don't spend all my time and money there anyway!!)

i'm just disapointed after wanting a betta for so long that some of my little dudes (collective name!!) had to die for my mistakes i feel so guilty!!

 

[Bandit]

aw don't feel bad emma. you did do research and the fish shop owners gave you advice too, so how were you to know?

sometimes fish shops give out bad advice. sometimes you get a good one, but most of the ones i know give really bad advice.

anyways, neo will love his new tank! let us see some pics if you get some

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

Sometimes it's just the personality of the Betta,
I had my first one in with 2 platies and he totally ignored them.
I am sorry about your lil' dudes

 

[Alix]

ya one of my friends had 2 bettas togather in the same 10gal with acouple suckerfish an she NEVER had a problem so i tried the same thing only with a 20gal an...an it didnt work out near as good as i hoped for. one even had to spend the weekend in the lil cup i got him in cuz the pet store that sells seporaters was closed!!

 

[SRC]

This is why people shouldn't suggest keeping betta's with anything.


No, it "might" not happen for 6 months, a year, or ever...but if could happen as soon as you walk out of the room.

Forcing a betta to live in close quarters is asking for trouble. If at any point in time he feels threatened he will attack.

You could go stand in a tiger cage at the zoo...you might do it everyday for a year and nothing ever happens..the tiger may totally ignore you...but you just don't ever know which day he might decide you have invaded his space and he will get angry about it and decide to attack...but honestly, I don't think you'd be willing to take that chance with yourself.

IMHO since you wouldn't take that chance with your own life...you shouldn't subject your other fish to that type situation either. They are in a tank..confined...with no way out...and with no way to get away...they have no where to go once the betta decides he has been threatend or his "turf" invaded and he goes on the defensive...and then fish start to die and/or get maimed.

Not good.

 

[Alix]

i agree with SRC even thoe 1 person can keep a thousand fish in one small tank for one day an not have any trouble it doesnt meen that they wont have trouble on day 2.