siamese fighting fish problem!!!

[Clown_fishman]

first off whats up? i'm new here

I've had a siamese fighting fish for about 8 months. he has never been the must social fish in the tank and tends to stay at the top near the filter...at first i thought it could be a bladder infection.. so i treated it for this... however after doing a little bit of research i found out that it is native to shallow waters and stayin near the waterline could be a trate which my fish has got.

The problem is that i had recently purchased a bigger tank and moved the fish over to the bigger one. I also brought a small plastic plant which the fish hides in all day. i don't seem to see it eat either but then again i never did! the problems got alot worse and it stay in my castle all day the other day and i never saw it move ...only to move in the middle of the plant. it never seems to swim around if you know what i mean.

What i'm trying to find out i guess is... is this type of fish shy?
Could there be a problem or is this just the way the fish is?
what are your opinions?
Please help!

 

[mm_simb]

How big was the tank he was in before and how big is the one he's in now? How's the current in the filter? Do you have a heater in it and at what temp is the water? What are your water stats as in nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, ph? Does he swim normally when he does? Does he have any spots on him?

Oh, and do you have any other fish with him?

 

[Clown_fishman]

its was only a small tank 28L and there was a angel fish and a plec.

the tank now is 65L with angel fish,plec, 6 neons and 2 small clown loaches.

NO spots
temp at about 75F coz i heard that was the best temp for him
swims normal and looks healthy.

All my tester strips got wet so i can't measure the stats at the moment although the other fish seem fine and alot happier

 

[mm_simb]

He doesn't have any nips on his fins? Neons and bettas don't always get along since the neons are known to be fin nippers.
Good temp for a betta would be 80 degrees which is what I keep mine at. They can be kept ideally at 78-80 or from 76-80.

He is probably hiding more because he's scared.

 

[Clown_fishman]

yea no nips ... in fact he looks the best he has ever been when i see him. i'll increase the temp... if he is scared will it pass?

 

[mm_simb]

If you barely moved him there, it could get better. Just provide a lot of hiding places. I don't know if your other fishes would be ok with it but it might be worth looking into some Indian almond leaves or blackwater extract. I tried it with my betta when he was paranoid and he's a lot better now. He even started bubblenesting.
But you say you never see him eat...how do you feed him? or what do you feed him?

 

[GSD]

bettas and angless dont mic too well the angel wil nip at the betta sooner or later(when it gets bigger)and the betta will get very stresse4d.Also the neons are ananglefishes natural diet anyway i think he is scared and stressed i would move him to his own tank but if u cant provide lots of hiding spaces with bushy plants and caves for him to 'escape'from it all.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with the above posts, neons and angels aern't the best fish to have with a betta and so is neons and angels together. A 28ltr is just over 10gallons if i am right in thinking so and bettas often become insecure in large tanks and do not like a strong current from the filter either as it wears them out, so it would probably be best you move him back to the smaller tank.
Clown loachs reach over a ft long and the most common plecs are sailfin and common plecs which also grow huge(sailfins=18inchs+, commons=12inchs+) so it is best you find out what type of plec you have as a 65ltr tank will be too small for the clowns and plec to grow up in to max size. Angels need a 20gal minimum tank so it is also best you move the angel to the larger tank but you may have to rehome the neons as with the angel and betta they may cause issues- its a risky mix.
Your betta is most likely just feeling insecure right now and tired if the filter flow is resonably strong- bettas prefer to either have a very weak filter current or no current at all.

 

[Clown_fishman]

Wow thanks for all ya help!!

the current is fairly weak... ermm i fed it just flakes i wass advised to do that at the fish store.

won't the angel fish and plec grow to the size of the tank and not reach full size? thats not a big problem is it?

Also i put the neons in with my angel fish as it is the softest fish i've seen. the neons seem to scare it.lol. so i don't think there is a problem there.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

won't the angel fish and plec grow to the size of the tank and not reach full size? thats not a big problem is it?

Nope, no fish grows to the size of its tank healthily- basically what happens is the small space starts to stunt the fish's growth and the fish cannot exercise properly, the fish's body may not get much larger but that doesn't stop its organs from growing and eventually the lack of space in the fish's own body suffocates its organs and the fish dies a long and painful death.

 

[Clown_fishman]

your joking right....no one told me that they just said that the fish would stop growin!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

your joking right....no one told me that they just said that the fish would stop growin!

Why would i joke? Unfortunatly, you have to consider that all lfs(loacl fish store)'s are just trying to sell you fish and related merchandise and if they can make a couple of extra dosh selling a fish that is hard to find the right buyer for, then as far as they see it, why not? They did after all sell you all those fish without telling you any of the risks involved after all...

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

in my dads tank which was around 300 litre two angels paired off and started getting aggressive and they started nipping his betta and eventually the betta had hardly any fins and was very weak and so he had to be moved so avoid the angel

 

[OohFeeshy]

Just a note, bettas don't get insecure in larger tanks. Two of mine have been in the 20 before I put them in their own tanks, well, one is in there at the mo. but he's being moved ASAP. Filter could be a problem, but not nessecarily. Mine are fine with a Fluval 2 at normal flow rate.

Anyway, the main problem at hand is overstocking. To put it lightly Common and sailfin plecs are tank sellers, people think they need one and when they realise its too big they need to buy a bigger tank Anyway, for now, I'd take back the plec ASAP as they are very large waste producers and don't help at all. Then you need to decide what you want to do, you can either get the betta his own tank, or keep him in there and change the neons, angel (which you'll need to get rid of anyway) and clown loachs (again, which you'll need to get rid of) for something better like some cories.

 

[MegTheFish]

Just a note, bettas don't get insecure in larger tanks.

I think it depends on the individual betta. Some bettas prefer larger tanks, while other's will cower in a corner. Some bettas prefer smaller tanks, while others will sulk and rufuse to eat because their tank is too small. Take BettaMomma's betta, Amos, who was placed in a larger tank (5 gallons) and because of this he (unfortunatly) died. (I hope you don't mind me using Amos as an example, BettaMomma ) ) In another case, my friend has a betta in a 20 gallon (it has the whole tank to itself) and its always zooming around (now I just need to get her to clean in more often!!!) and eats like a pig, never sulking.