Betta Safe Than Sorry.

[Htw]

Hi, have just got my first pair of bettas. The male is in a 17L tank with a filter which is very gentle and there is an area of bubbles on the surface which I presume is the start of a nest. He is also eating mosquito larvae with gusto. The female is in a community tank for a couple of days until her tank arrives tomorrow. When I put her in there 2 days ago she was showing vertical lines and a white dot under her anal fin, which I now understand means she was ready for breeding. [Both were next to each other, in bags when I collected them]. The female is hiding, prob in a pretend log thing but I havn't seen her since she was put in there. If she is or was ready, does it matter if she doesn't go with the male? I think I should try and find her and put her in another container asap, but should I let her come out on her own, or stress her out moving things around looking for her? Sorry I've written an essay! Also the male has a couple of whitespot. Can I use protozin? Myxazin and melafix don't include ich on the label. Thanks.

 

[sukie]

Hmm. . . if she's got ich you should seperate her and get her some meds. As for breeding right away - doesn't matter if she's ready, it matters when you're ready.

 

[Htw]

I don't know if she's got it as I can't see her. The male's got ich and I do have meds. I wanted to know which one to use as being new to these fish, they may be sensitive to certain types. I have used the ones I stated on my other fish successfully in the past.

 

[sukie]

Who says I can read. . .

Just use the meds that worked for you in the past.

 

[Htw]

Yeah, I just did. Didn't want to leave it for too long or it could have got worse, so fingers crossed it works. Thanks anyway. Still don't know whether to try and get the female out though.

 

[guppymommy]

If it were me, I'd try to find her and make sure she is alright. What other kinds of fish are in this community tank? Maybe they picked on her and she's hiding from them. I'd worry about her being stressed with leaving her in the tank if she's being picked on, so looking for her may stress her out for a little bit, but leaving her in a situation that may not be ideal for her would be more stressful in the long run. Yeah, I'd definitely look for her and take her out if it were me.

 

[Htw]

Bad news. She was behind a rock, dead. I've not had much luck with the fish from that lfs. Thats 1 dead betta and 3 dead guppies [not all in the same tank] and 1 with ich, all bought only 2 days ago. Don't think I'll be getting fish from them in a hurry. Mind you it has happened before from them, but thought I'd give them another go as they are the most local. Fish I bought from another store and privately, recently, are doing fine. Oh well, nothing goes smoothly all the time. Will be more choosy next time. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[guppymommy]

Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss. That is awful!

 

[sukie]

My best suggestion is to break down the tank - disinfect it and start all over it again.

 

[Htw]

Have just spent the last few hours doing just that. My mother in law was visiting and said that is why she'd never have fish. all that lugging water from room to room. Never mind,will get another female soon. Her tank will be here tomorrow , but I'll be buying her from somewhere different. Better luck next time I hope, or perhaps I'll just stick to males. Thanks all for the kind words, I hate losing fish!