Ernie Is Depressed. What Should I Do?

[branjie]

Ernie has really been a happy fish until now, making bubble nests every day. I rearranged his tank to have an oriental theme recently, I know he preferred the previous set up with an urn to swim into, but he was still happy and making bubble nests. Then, two days ago, I put a BN catfish in Ernies tank. He went from the most placid fish, to the attack fish. I took the BN catfish out, but since then, Ernie seems depressed. I don't know if he's missing the fun of chasing the catfish, or if he's feeling insecure because his territory has been invaded. He's not been as active as usual, and he has stopped making bubble nests. I decided to put the urn back in his tank, to help him feel safe. He's using the urn to swim into, but he's still unhappy. He spends a fair bit of time not moving much. Tomorrow I'm getting my second Betta. I planned to have their tanks side by side, but I'm not sure if Ernie will be better or worse with this set up. Do you think he will enjoy flaring at the other one, or should I put something between them to block the view? What can I do to cheer him up?

 

[dmarie04]

All you can do is try it and see if it stresses him or not. Let them see each other for like 15 minutes at a time. That might get Ernie going and get him snapped out of this funk.

 

[garethusa]

hopefully the bn fish didn't make the water foul or something......ernie is trying to say something but what exactly? hmmmmmm......time for a water change perhaps?hopefully the bn fish didn't make the water foul or something......ernie is trying to say something but what exactly? hmmmmmm......time for a water change perhaps?

 

[branjie]

dmarie I'll do what you said and see how it goes

garethusa is there in an echo in here? . Yeah, I did think of that too. I have done a water change, and he didn't seem overly impressed. I think I'm going to try and do a total tank clean. A plant I had in there wasn't doing too well, and seems to have encouraged a bit of algae on the glass, hence the BN in the first place. I'll clean it up myself and see what Ernie thinks.