She (betta) Broke My Guppy's Spine!

[ezrock]

Hi. Well I made a really bad decision today. I temporarily put a male fancy guppy with a nice long tail into a 0.5 gallon temp betta tank. I needed to keep him somewhere and didn't have anything else that was easily accessible to put him in. I was only planning on having him there for a few minutes. I've kept female bettas with female guppies before with no problem (even in a relatively small space for a week once) so I figured he'd be okay in with the female betta this time.

I came back a few minutes later to check on him and the betta had half his fin clamped down in her mouth. I tried shooing her away so I could get him out, but she refused to let go. I'm pretty sure she did some major damage to his spine! He was so helpless

Now when I look at him, he's missing almost half his tail. The last 1/4 inch of his spine before the tail is out of shape, bending down at a 45 degree angle (approximately). I'd take a pic, but my digital cam isn't really working right now.

I really never thought she'd do something like this to him, and I feel bad for putting him in a place where it could happen! I guess I now know how aggressive female bettas can be :'(

-Ian

 

[Synirr]

Geez, I'm sorry to hear that!! It just goes to show, even female bettas mean business!

 

[ezrock]

thanks! He seems like he'll be fine though I'm not sure I'll be stressing him out any more by breeding him like I had planned!

-Ian

 

[RandomWiktor]

Just for future knowledge - you shouldn't keep bettas in .5g anyways. The minimum tank size for the species is 1 gallon.

Sorry to hear about your male! I've heard females with guppies can work, but honestly, I think they're too fresh to be kept with ANY fish. I won't even keep 'em with other females; I'm sick of all the horror stories of them mauling one another. Naughty little girls, eh?
Hopefully your male recovers. If he can still swim, I guess the injury shouldn't effect him too much. Just keep him quiet and calm, make sure he has plenty of good food, and hope for the best.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck hope he gets well.

 

[Silvani]

Eep that sounds quite a nasty attack. And yes indeed, I must agree that it does show the girls mean business too. Ouch!

I hope he’s ok… he’s going to have a lot of trouble if his spine is truly broken.

 

[blue_ram]

Sorry to hear that. But most anabantids and cichlids (even the peaceful ones) get very aggressive when confined in small space. I've often kept 1/2" zebra danio frys with female bettas without any problem. There's always some fin nipping going on between the female bettas, but never had any serious injuries in past 4-6 years in any of my tanks. I rarely see any fin nipping in my 30 gal.

 

[ezrock]

hi. thanks for all the replies/kind words/etc.

The betta was in the 0.5 temporarily (few weeks at most hopefully). She gets a nice variety of foods and the water is changed often so she's quite happy in there. I know it's not ideal, but it's definitely nicer than what she was in at the breeder's house.

The male gup is eating nicely and swimming well (considering). He seems to waddle a bit so I think his spine might be more bent than broken!

Overall, I think he'll be okay.

-Ian