Betta's Unhappy With Other Fish?

[Neal]

Yesterday I bought some new accesories for my tank, and I bought two tetra neons and an albino bristlenose pleco, and put them in with my betta that I have had for about a month. When I woke up this morning I notice nothing was swimming around, then I notice two dead neons floating around, and then I seen my betta hiding behind my heater, and I couldn't find my pleco, I eventualy moved my heater and seen the pleco and all my fish had died. Do you think it was the betta or something to do with the water? (I'm quite new to keeping fish, so I don't know much) and why do you think it would have killed all of the fish? The pleco was only a baby and it stayed behind the heater so i'm wondering how it found it in the dark...

 

[wendywc]

Most male betta (and my female) do like to be alone, but all your fish died? Are you sure the tank is cycled? What are your water stats? That betta is probably much more hardier than the rest of the fish are. Although little neons probably don't have a change with bettas.

 

[Neal]

Most male betta (and my female) do like to be alone, but all your fish died? Are you sure the tank is cycled? What are your water stats? That betta is probably much more hardier than the rest of the fish are. Although little neons probably don't have a change with bettas.

I just bought a new filter yesterday, its flow rate is 160L/hr and my tank is quite a small one, I reckon it's about 1.5-2 Gallons (I'm not very good at estimating). It says on the filter box 'All-in-one mechanical, chemical and biological filtration system' so I assume that is controling the water pH? (I don't know much about water pH's or how to control them...)

 

[Mikaila31]

If u just bought the filter yesterday then your tank is not cycled. also a 2 gallon tank is really only big enough to hold the betta and most bettas will kill other fish not just other male bettas.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Neal]

So maybe if I hadn't put the neons and pleco in yet, it might not of killed it, or did the water kill it?
Also, how long does it take for a tank to be cycled? At the minute it looks like its full of smoke/dust, I don't know if its suppose too or not.

 

[Elise]

Neons are fragile little buggers so they may just have died of shock. But the truth is cycling should happen with pretty much any fish but bettas! And some people, to be extra careful, cycle with bettas too!

So, cycling should go for around I'm gunna say at least a week. Some people put goldfish or other really hardy fish in it to help it cycle faster. Basically, if everything is new, then there isn't really any naturally occuring bacteria. Some people use an already used filter just to add those tank water bacteria. If you had fish in there already and are now going through the cycling phase then the cloudiness might be a bacterial boom which will subside in a couple of days.

In a 2 gallon, I'd say a betta and *maybe* a snail (it depends on the personality of the betta--if he's really territorial or not). But really, if your betta has some plants and maybe a cave, he only needs you for attention and friendship. Of course, you could split the 2 gallon with craft canvas and put a betta on either side. (if you want more info on dividing a tank, just ask!)

Sorry about the little tank mates! But I'm sure most people have lost a couple of fish when they started fish keeping! I know I did....



ps-any one who knows more about cycling or anything, help me out here! I don't cycle unless it's 10 gallons at least...

 

[soritan]

I'd recommend looking into the newbie forum for very complete, easy to understand information about the nitrogen cycle (cycling). I would highly recommend it. Read the FAQs before you buy any other fish.

What you essentially did, was quadruple the bio-load in a tank where there was no beneficial bacteria. I would recommend doing a water change, quickly. Perhaps several small partial changes, to reduce the stress on the betta. I don't think the betta had very much (if anything) to do with the other fish dying.

As to the snail --

I've heard that snails are very messy, and I've read multiple times on this forum and others that even in 5 gallon tanks, they make the water smell inside a week. I sort of like snails, so I'd probably try and pull it off myself if I didn't have ADFs in mine, already.

 

[jollysue]

I have had very good success with BioSpira when I needed to cycle a tank fast. Sometimes I forget and overload a tank, using a filter not cycled for the load of fish or putting in a big group at once. When that happens I add BioSpira and it speeds up the process. I would do a big waterchange with the Betta. Then frequent small ones until it looks good. I do use snails. I find them to be helpful if I don't over feed. I think even a froggy would find 1.5 to be small quarters.

 

[Neal]

Nothing was like a natural thing though, it has a 50W heater, a not very powerful filter (I can change the power), an ornament cave and some colourful gravel, and all of it was washed before being place in the tank...

Just a quick note to say my brother has two albino frogs in his 1.5G tank, and he has the same gravel as me and a heater the same as me and he's had no problems...Maybe it's just the frogs I don't know, and my heater is brand new...

 

[catxx]

for a tank that small, my personal preference would be a 25 watt heater and no filter, just large water changes every 3 days, and a betta ONLY. only a betta could put up with that (i have 2 in 3.5 gallons who live like this). of course treating all water accordingly. both of my tanks like that are bare-bottomed and have lots of fake plants for them to hide in. they're happy, always nice big bubble nests! this also avoids the need to cycle your tank.

the bristlenose pleco you got really needs a 15 gallon+ tank.
the tetras need to be in schools of 5+ and tanks 15 gallon+ also.

 

[Neal]

It was a very small albino pleco though, just a baby, it was about 1.5cm long, so it was around the right size for my tank...

 

[catxx]

yes but they don't stay that size for long!
always put fish in tanks that are the right size, or near to for their full adult size, not their baby size, then you'll cut down on all the fishy deaths. this rule can be contested with some fish and some tank sizes, but always assume that any tank below 5 gallons is for 1 or 2 fish only and ones that stay small, plecs all need 10 gallons plus.

 

[Neal]

Thanks for that, but I've only just got into fish so how would I know what size things are going to be when they are adults?

 

[catxx]

a BN plec will get to 5" (i have seen some big beasties around 6" though!) and all plecs produce a lot of waste.
neon tetras only get to around an inch, but due to their activeness they still need large tanks and big schools, the more the merrier!

a betta will get to around 2.5-3inches (not including tail), but as they are slow swimmers and can breath air from the surface they can survive in small tanks, for this reason they don't much like currents either.

p.s.

Thanks for that, but I've only just got into fish so how would I know what size things are going to be when they are adults?

just ask us love! or there are tons of websites about to tell you, the power of google <3

 

[soritan]

Off topic, but you might want to talk your brother into reading up on his frogs. They get to be very big, and can be aggressive. It's often recommended to have a tank size between 10 and 20 gallons for a single frog.

Your small tank doesn't leave room for any fish tankmates, at all. If you like, you can hazard a couple ghost shrimp. I rather like them, I think they're interesting, and they're cheap.