Problem With My Siamese Fighting Male

[damovts]

Hi all, this is my first post on this forums and im from UK, but got a quick question

The other day i got 1 male and 2 females for my tank, and for the first 1-2 days the male looked like he was having the time of his life hanging out with the females and the other fish i have in the tank

But the last few days he has gotta a bit weird on us, He is hiding pretty much all day, and hardly eating anyfood..

We have tested for Ammonia and Nitrite and there a tad high so we are gonna get some stuff tomorrow from the fish shop to lower that.

Also we have 2 gouramis in the tank with him with other fish too.. we think they may have been nipping him? and anyway to helps his fins to heal?

Another thing, We found a dead bleeding heart today which looks like his tail has been bitten, and one of his eye's looked half missing

Any idea's what it could be?

 

[sunpirate2u]

oh my.....
well it must have to do with ur readings, if one of ur fish just died thats a bad sign. To help lower ur ammonia and nitrite, do about a 25%-40% water change.

i would use melafix for his fins and also add some
aquarium salt. if u have a hospital tank i would put him in until his fins r healed.

~andi

 

[ReMz]

a male betta cannot live with female bettas. gouramis ARE NOT compatible tank mates.

You have a lot of things going wrong.

Get the male betta isolated in his own tank. Return the females. Do your research. You're creating a disaster in that tank.

oh my.....
well it must have to do with ur readings, if one of ur fish just died thats a bad sign. To help lower ur ammonia and nitrite, do about a 25%-40% water change.

i would use melafix for his fins and also add some
aquarium salt. if u have a hospital tank i would put him in until his fins r healed.

~andi

no. water stats have nothing to do with this.

you referred to your betta as a "Siamese Fighting Male" ... take a hint from the name and think about compatibility issues. Females must be kept 5 or more.

 

[Hawkins]

your bleeding heart was probably eaten after it died.

but yeah, you do have some issues..

 

[tibby25731]

Get your male out ASAP and into his own tank unless you want more deaths.
Females may or may not be OK with your other fish, but really you should have 5 or more to prevent bullying.
As for the ammo and nitrite, water changes are the easiest way to sort that. Is your tank cycled? If so, HOW did you cycle it? More info will help us to help you!

 

[damovts]

a male betta cannot live with female bettas. gouramis ARE NOT compatible tank mates.

You have a lot of things going wrong.

Get the male betta isolated in his own tank. Return the females. Do your research. You're creating a disaster in that tank.

oh my.....
well it must have to do with ur readings, if one of ur fish just died thats a bad sign. To help lower ur ammonia and nitrite, do about a 25%-40% water change.

i would use melafix for his fins and also add some
aquarium salt. if u have a hospital tank i would put him in until his fins r healed.

~andi

no. water stats have nothing to do with this.

you referred to your betta as a "Siamese Fighting Male" ... take a hint from the name and think about compatibility issues. Females must be kept 5 or more.

if your referring to asking the guys at the fish shop i did and he said 1 male will be fine with 2 female fighters as he even recommend them himself!! I have done my research from what the guys have told me, hence why i am curious as to why this is happening!!

we took out the gouramis today and the male seems to have perked up alot more now, but now it seems that 1 of the female fighter is chasing the other female fighter

 

[bollio]

get the male FIGHTER a tank of his own and do it quick. once youve done that read read read and you will find out why you needed to do it

 

[damovts]

get the male FIGHTER a tank of his own and do it quick. once youve done that read read read and you will find out why you needed to do it

yep im doing it tomorrow

going to buy myself a roughly 10litre tank for the fighter on his own, and cause we only got 2 females i was reading it best to have 3-4

Also in this new tank for him, what does he need? air filter? light? themostat? gravel? plants?.. maybe 1 bottom feeder with him too?

Any help will be appreciated especially with this tank just for him

 

[ReMz]

if your referring to asking the guys at the fish shop i did and he said 1 male will be fine with 2 female fighters as he even recommend them himself!! I have done my research from what the guys have told me, hence why i am curious as to why this is happening!!

we took out the gouramis today and the male seems to have perked up alot more now, but now it seems that 1 of the female fighter is chasing the other female fighter

I'm not referring to the guys at the fish shop. I am telling you correct information. If you are so naive to rely on local fish shop information, you have not done your research. In general, they are looking to make a quick buck or will pass information to you that they have "heard". The experienced members here have nothing to gain except to offer you correct advice.

So, start listening because nobody said to remove the gouramis. I told you why this is happening and other people have agreed.

get the male FIGHTER a tank of his own and do it quick. once youve done that read read read and you will find out why you needed to do it

yep im doing it tomorrow

going to buy myself a roughly 10litre tank for the fighter on his own, and cause we only got 2 females i was reading it best to have 3-4

Also in this new tank for him, what does he need? air filter? light? themostat? gravel? plants?.. maybe 1 bottom feeder with him too?

Any help will be appreciated especially with this tank just for him

ASAP. get that male out. a 10litre would be a good tank. You'll need a filter (water filter.... not air...), heater, and a lid. A lot of filters make a strong current, so you may need to lower the current. Let us know if you have this problem. You may use whatever substrate you want. Gravel is fine. Shy away from plastic plants, as they can sometimes rip fins. Silk or real plants are ideal. There wont really be a bottom feeder suitable for a tank that small. I would just enjoy the guy on his own until you get more versed on bettas. (btw, many prefer to be solitary and will attack other tank mates)

 

[damovts]

if your referring to asking the guys at the fish shop i did and he said 1 male will be fine with 2 female fighters as he even recommend them himself!! I have done my research from what the guys have told me, hence why i am curious as to why this is happening!!

we took out the gouramis today and the male seems to have perked up alot more now, but now it seems that 1 of the female fighter is chasing the other female fighter

I'm not referring to the guys at the fish shop. I am telling you correct information. If you are so naive to rely on local fish shop information, you have not done your research. In general, they are looking to make a quick buck or will pass information to you that they have "heard". The experienced members here have nothing to gain except to offer you correct advice.

So, start listening because nobody said to remove the gouramis. I told you why this is happening and other people have agreed.

get the male FIGHTER a tank of his own and do it quick. once youve done that read read read and you will find out why you needed to do it

yep im doing it tomorrow

going to buy myself a roughly 10litre tank for the fighter on his own, and cause we only got 2 females i was reading it best to have 3-4

Also in this new tank for him, what does he need? air filter? light? themostat? gravel? plants?.. maybe 1 bottom feeder with him too?

Any help will be appreciated especially with this tank just for him

ASAP. get that male out. a 10litre would be a good tank. You'll need a filter (water filter.... not air...), heater, and a lid. A lot of filters make a strong current, so you may need to lower the current. Let us know if you have this problem. You may use whatever substrate you want. Gravel is fine. Shy away from plastic plants, as they can sometimes rip fins. Silk or real plants are ideal. There wont really be a bottom feeder suitable for a tank that small. I would just enjoy the guy on his own until you get more versed on bettas. (btw, many prefer to be solitary and will attack other tank mates)

Sorry about that Stupid fish man

But yep im going to get myself a 10-15litre tank today and a water filter and a heater..im guessing due to the size of the tanke i should just get the smallest ones i can find?

also as i said i got 2 other females, shall i buy about 1-2 more for that tank as people say to leave them in groups?
Thanks for the information, il go and slap myself now lol

 

[tibby25731]

You can buy any filter or heater that are designed for the size of your tank. There are some tiny ones out there and also some rather unwieldy ones! Just check they are designed for your 10-15 litres - you don't wanna go buy a filter designed for say, 300-500 litres!
Most people on here have made fishkeeping mistakes based on listening to fish shop employees so don't worry - just do your best to fix things than keep coming onto here for more help and advice! Bettas are so great, you will be pleased you have done the best by them. Yeah, get some more females.

 

[dusky]

Not noticed if its been mentioned or not but the two females will need to be seperated as well. You need at least four for them to live happily ish together and a bigger tank obvioulsy if you are having 4 as opposed to one.

 

[azulfire24]

yea most people try to keep at least 1 gal usa per fish, i think there might be somthing about 1 gal per inch of fish too, depends on how big the fish are i guess. you were right it would be better to kepp at least 4, that way the bullying goes around more evenly and 1 small fish wont get picked on all the time, in my femal tank i have lots of plants and stuff so they lots of spaces to hide , less aggresion if one can get away. i would keep 4 females in a five gal, aboulstly minimum, six would be better and the biggger the better, the gournimiu can bite at the fins of the slightly aggressive betta, but bettas are also delicate and can get hurt by other fish, how many gourniaes do you have? the most fish i ever go is 1 per gal at the most, i had at the max 9 female bettas in a ten gall, you get the idea.

 

[damovts]

We got rid of the gourami's... and the 2 females have a 90litre tank with roughly about 15 small other fish

we got our male fighter a 12litre tank today for himself, with a heater and a filter and some funky cool gravel

If you think that 2 females are not enough how many would you recommend? or if not i will try and give one of them to my mate..

Thanks for the replies

 

[dusky]

What are the small fish you have in with your girls? If they are things like Tetras that's not good as they nip. I wouldn't put anything else with my girls apart from bottom feeders like bristle noses , loaches. You need a minimum of 4 girls. The two you have will just probably fight to the death to become top dog. They do it by battering each other too not necessarily biting until the other becomes so weak it will die.

When and if you get two new girls you will need to take the existing two out and bag them up,, float all four girls before release. The next problem is ensureing that they are definatly all girls as alot of males coming in are looking like females to start with. I've just discovered that another two of my girls are in fact male which accounts for one of them not egging up when put in tube in tank with male

There are many topics on this and it may pay you to have a good look through. There is probably a pinned topic on it.

As an alternative if you don't want to buy more girls you can divide the tank so that they have a side each.