Siamese Fighter Help !

[craig663]

Help ! My Siamese Fighters keep dying - I have an Orb 60l and various fish but the fighters keep dying whilst the other fish are more hardy - I have silver sharks and was told to get them out - are they the cause or do fighters need special treatment - eg - food ....

 

[ALEXF]

Its more than likely just the fish. Bettas aka siamease (sp?) fighting fish are best kept alone. Exspecially the males. Many people will say well i have never had a problem but as a general rule its not a good idea. But for other peoples input sake, how long have you had the tank? has it been cycled? what all fish do you have in it? and what are you feeding it? awnsering these questions will help others to help you.

Thank You,

Alex

 

[Scotty001]

as Alex has mentioned Betta's are best kept alone by themselves, and he is correct that others will say that they can get on ok in community tanks this is IMO true as well but REALLY depends on the other fish they need to be like the Betta as in not fast and boisterous, but slow and docile just plodding around, i have a Betta in one of my community tanks and he is doing ok but again there isn't too many other fish in that community and they are all current docile slow moving fish that don't bother the Betta or go near him.

i think Ive been lucky with this as there is the chance that he could be harassed a little by my cribs, they have had 2 spawning and when they are looking after their newborns the Betta has gone floating past them and the parents and they have not chased the Betta off (this is very very rare) the cribs have chased off other fish, i do wonder is giving of a sense of I'm no threat just floating around bimbling about don't need to worry about me.

the second i see them or any other fish give chase to the Betta if gets nr their territory hes going into a spare 60l tank which Ive already got the filter pads being prepped in the external filter for the community.

As Ive said you can get lucky but Betta's are a fish that like to be on their own.

 

[SPLiSH]

Hey Craig

Yeah, it's already been said, but bettas do best on their own - the sharks are probably harassing them to death. Bettas are awesome little fish, I have two. In my opinion, the ideal setup for a betta on his own is a tank between 2 and 10 gals. In my experience, they sometimes stress in larger tanks. Get a heater, set the temp to about 26, get a few silk plants and some specialised betta pellets, and he should be happy! I use Pro's Choice floating betta pellets but this might just be an Aussie brand. All my bettas have preferred pellets over flakes. A filter isn't necessary - I've had several fish without them - but it does reduce the frequency of water changes needed. Both sides of my divided tank have seperate small sponge filters and they work really well

Good luck!