Rescued A Betta From Tank Full Of Gourami!

[catherine896]

My 125 litre tank had 6 guppies in, 1 male and 5 females. But yesterday the heater stopped working so I rushed out to Pets At Home to get a new one and I was looking at the fish and in a tank full of gourami was a siamese fighting fish! I was shocked to see all the gourami together 'cos I think they were mostly males 'cos they were bright colours but not 100% sure. But when the little fighter fish came out of the plant over to see who was peering in the tank I was even more shocked! His tail and fins were half eaten off! I was watching and the gourami kept cornering him and going in to attack him! I couldnt leave him there so I told my partner either we buy him for our tank or we complain until they move him! So we bought him! Hes yellow and would have bright blue coming out on his tail and fins but that is mostly gone from him being attacked! The person serving us said 'it is supposed to be a male but hes not very well, all his fins are damaged...' so I said well yes thats because hes in a tank with fish he shouldnt be with and they are attacking him! And he sort of said 'oh, thats why is it?' IDIOT!!!
I am right aren't I, he should not of been in a tank with gourami? Even so they should be checking to see if the fish are all OK and NOT getting bullied! So we got him and 5 neon tetras and we got him for £0.80 because he was damaged. I was a bit worried he might attack the guppies and neons in the tank but hes being really good. Hasnt gone near them, the guppies come up to see him and he just swims off. Im glad I got him out of that tank, Ive named him Spike ! How long will it take for his fins and tail to grow back fully?
Thanks.

 

[liz2]

Well done for saving him. I dont keep mine in community tanks so not sure if yours will be OK with the others long term. His tail will heal. If he was mine I would put him in a tank by himself with really clean water and meds.

 

[catherine896]

Im going to keep an eye on him today and see how he is and if there are any signs I will set up our other tank, not sure what size it is, its 2 foot long a foot wide and a foot tall, would that be ok for him if he had to go in there? I kept the plastic bag we brought him home in so if I need to I can seperate him in there while I setup other tank! Hopefully he will be ok, he doesnt seem interested in the other fish.
He is cute though, he follows me along the tank when I walk past!

 

[Amunet]

That other tank sounds like it would be great for him!
Should watch him carefully when he starts to get better and/or more comfy with his surroundings. He might be shy and doesn't seem to care now, but he could attack those other fish and well.. that wouldn't be good!

Anywho! Great for you for saving the poor little fella! I'm sure he's just in love with you & your hubby now for saving him
You should probably take him out and stick him in that other tank and give him some meds anyway. Even if he isn't showing signs of anything, I think it would be safer to treat him for finrot now than wait to see if it might show up.. ya know?

 

[dark_mushroom]

Im going to keep an eye on him today and see how he is and if there are any signs I will set up our other tank, not sure what size it is, its 2 foot long a foot wide and a foot tall, would that be ok for him if he had to go in there? I kept the plastic bag we brought him home in so if I need to I can seperate him in there while I setup other tank! Hopefully he will be ok, he doesnt seem interested in the other fish.
He is cute though, he follows me along the tank when I walk past!

Good job on rescuing him, I did the same thing with one he was going to be flushed by somebody i knew and he went into my community tank temporarily (which included gourami) all was fine for about a month but then one day he declared war on everyone else in the tank including the gourami twice his size. He very quickly became king of the tank and I had to take action I put him in a 40l with a few endlers but he killed some

He is now by himself in a 20l and he is fine in there, my honest advice would be to seperate him totally and he will be all healed in no time

 

[fishboy619]

well done for saving him, it really annoys me when fish shop has fish in the wrong tanks, why the hell cant they take better care of them.i hope he heals well, good luck with everything

 

[Glod]

I'd also keep an eye on the neons, they can be nippy little sods. I have 5 neons in a tank and they constantly harrass each other. The Bettas fins may just be too tempting when they start to grow back.

I've never heard of Guppies nipping, but cohabitation is possible if your Betta doesn't turn on them.

Gouramis are in the same family as Bettas, both are territorial, both want the same territory. In general gouramis are larger so the Betta comes off worst.

As for keeping him in the community long term, only he knows if he will behave or not. At least you have a spare tank you can move him to if needed

 

[catherine896]

Thanks for replying. He seems so much happier today! He potters about in and out of the plants and if I come in the room he swims over to see me! Hes got slightly brighter in colouration aswell so Im assuming thats a good sign that hes happier. The neons dont seem to even notice he is there, and the guppies dont care anymore, he just swims about on his own in and out of the plants. Ill try to put a pic up of him soon.
Thanks again.

 

[liz2]

Excellent news. I got a new baby today and lost an old one......

 

[catherine896]

Aww, sorry you had to lose one! Ill be sad when he dies, he seems so friendly and likes when people are looking at him!

 

[fiki]

awe good job! love rescuing bettas - bought a gorgeous ct younglin with a gil that was larger and puffed up... isolated him and after acouple weeks... he's better! not only that but he is quite the piggy...

but thank you for saving that bub

 

[Kyrielle]

How long will it take for his fins and tail to grow back fully?
Thanks.

They can grow back pretty quickly. Ideally, I would put him in a seperate tank and treat him with Melafix for a week to get the regrowth jump started and prevent fungus and the like. But that's just me, he should be fine either way.

 

[gsta13]

awe good job! love rescuing bettas - bought a gorgeous ct younglin with a gil that was larger and puffed up... isolated him and after acouple weeks... he's better! not only that but he is quite the piggy...

but thank you for saving that bub

Ok im going to put my neck on the line here. I know its god for he individual betta or any other fish for that matter being rescued, but some people say that you shouldnt buy from places tht keep there fish in a bad way for a couple of reasons.
1) its porbly ill and could harm oyur other fish if put in the same tank
2) your lining the pockets of people that keep the fish this in way if nobody bought the fish but everyone complained then the fish wouldbe moved and the staff educated (eventually you like to think anyway)
Just a couple of reasons not to buy from crappy stores like (some, some are ok) Pets At Home branches.And i know its real hard to jus walk away from a fish but its just summet to think about! But get some pics as soon as!
Greg

 

[Eskielvr]

Be careful. I added a Betta to my Neons and he started chasing one right away. The chase didn't last long, but then the next day one was dead, followed by another the following day. I removed him but then my Neons got diseased and I went from 13 down to my current 5.