Can Male Bettas Become More Aggressive Over Time?

[Gadfly]

First off hello there been lurking here for a bit, decided to make myself known as I guess you could say I might have a problem. I ended up with a betta from a friend who was deploying to Afganistan, I've never owned a betta so was a little off guard when I took him. But I've been reading more via internet and these forums and I've learned a lot. Now to my problem.... When I first got this guy I was psyched, (and still am) read a lot about different personalities and how some males tolerated tank mates such as shrimp and snails. Well this tank came with just that. 2 black mystery snail and 3 ghost shrimp to be exact, I kept a careful watch on the tank for a week and all was well. A bit of chasing the shrimp but no successful attacks made. The snail was left alone. Here in the last three days I'm down to 1 shrimp but my boy has an eye for him it looks like. I've ruled his recent aggression down to the tank size, it is a 2.5 gallon Walmart special and I cringed when it was handed to me. So I've pulled one of my old 10 gallon tanks, cleaned it up bought new filter, substrate, bigger heater, and planted it; it's currently cycling. When the tank was given to me it had no heater, and 1 fake plant in it. As soon as I got it I stuck some Java fern in there just to give him some cover. and try and repair or somewhat reverse the new found aggression. Ultimately I was wondering if this aggression is due to the small tank size and over crowding. He currently flares whenever someone gets close to the tank, when before he wouldn't even flare if I stuck a mirror to the tank. Or could it be that he's getting healthier? I've put a small heater in the tank to try and get the water to a decent temp. until my 10 gallon cycles and he can have it to himself along with a few more snails. Thanks for any help and insight in advance. Added a pic this was as soon as I got him home so the fake plant is still in tact. I've named him...The Dude and hope to have him for a long happy life.

 

[Athena]

Might just be the photo but looks like he could have a bit of fin rot. Have you tested the water in his little tank to check the water stats? If you can post the results that would be helpful so we can see if there are any ammonia or nitrite readings.

As for shrimp - well my male betta used to kill and nibble at ghost shrimp, so I guess that's not too out of the ordinary for yours to do it. But you need to remove any dead shrimp because they will rot before the betta is able to eat it all (they don't eat a lot in one day) and anything dead in the tank will raise the ammonia.

Toxins in the water can make a fish more aggressive, simply because they are stressed and unhappy, so they go on the defensive.

If your water stats happen to be perfectly fine, then maybe your betta is just not used to your company yet, causing him to flare.

Oh and that's a nice fake plant he's got there - nothing wrong with fake plants, although for a betta, yes, it's nice to have some live plants (or silk). So long as the plants are not spiky or hard as this can cause them to tear their long fins.

Regards, Athena

 

[loraxchick]

it seems as tho he came from less than ideal conditions right? no heater etc.?
likely the raise in temp increased his activity level. ive actually found the older they get, the LESS agressive/active they become.
generally poor water quality causes listlessness and lazy behavior-not the other way around.
and im sure with adequit water changes and warmer, stable temp that finrot will heal up in no time!!
best of luck with The Dude. he is handsome!
cheers

 

[Gadfly]

I've been looking for indicators of fin rot via the internet, I apologize for my ignorance but my untrained betta eye can't see what you guys are seeing. Could you please point it out to me? So for future reference I can get an idea on what to look for being that I've gotten pretty attached to this guy and the Betta species in general and would like to have some more. Also I neglected to say that I do bi-weekly water changes, 15 to 20% on Monday and Friday. The dead shrimp parts are removed as soon as I see them, but I'm sure the snails have a go at the leftovers as well.

The water temp is stable at 76 to 77 degrees,

PH is a 7.1

Also when he has flared at me his fins look good no tears, rips, or nicks missing. Nothing like the pictures I've seen of fin rot Bettas. If I could only get him to flare for a camera.

 

[Athena]

Hi - well, I wasn't 100% sure it had fin rot, that's what I meant when I said it was hard to tell from the pic - but what I can see are like frayed, cotton-like edges to his fins (and slightly whitish ends). Could be wrong but that's how it looks in the pic to me. Unless he was involved in a fight with another betta in-store - sometimes when they lose parts of fins the fins grow back slightly raggedy with white ends.

Do you happen to have test results for ammonia and nitrite?

You're obviously doing regular water changes so it would seem strange if you had an ammonia spike, but whenever we notice strange behaviour in our fish it's always a good idea to check the stats fully.

Like I said before, the flaring could just be that he's not used to you and he's guarding his territory. Will be interesting to see how he gets on in his new little palace that you're currently preparing for him!

Regards, Athena

 

[Gadfly]

Nitrate is at 5ppm

Nitrite is at 0ppm

Ammonia is at 0.25ppm

I'm ruling the ammonia out to the 2 recent shrimp bodies that were cleaned up last night, and possibly the 2 snails in such a small tank.

I didn't even think to see the white tips on the fins, I didn't think anything of it being that he has that pearl white color running down his whole body.

 

[Athena]

Ah, thanks for getting back with those. Yes, a spike of 0.25ppm in a small tank would be enough to stress any fish. If you do a 50% water change today hopefully that will bring the level back down to zero. Check again tomorrow to see if things have settled. If not you'll need to do another water change.

Someone else mentioned that stressed fish tend to become listless but I have seen occasions where a fish will swim erratically, or up and down continually, become aggressive towards tankmates etc - and it's generally an indication that there's something wrong with the water stats.

Sometimes minor fin rot can be dealt with fairly well just by keeping toxins at bay with water changes - or you can use a suitable medication. Hopefully you won't need to.

Off home in a minute - nitey night!

Athena