How can a male betta just disappear?!

[eddr86]

Hi all (first post),

Just wandering how my betta fish can just disappear! Haven’t seen him for 5 days so made the assumption he’s not going to reappear. Sad times, was a great fish (picture below).

The tank lid is always closed, I’ve pretty much turned the inside of the tank upside down in my search. Far too big to be sucked into one of the filters and I don’t believe there’s any fish in the tank capable of eating him (unless the new juvenile rainbow fish got him which I can’t imagine).

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[seangee]

What else is in the tank? Dead fish (whatever the cause) have a tendency to become fish food.

 

[eddr86]

Cherry barbs, penguin tetra, a female betta and an albino bristlenose pleco.

He looked so healthy when I last saw him so was surprised to see him vanish.

I installed a canister filter 2 days before the vanishing act occurred, could this have unsettled him? (I’ve kept the old filter running too)


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[eddr86]

Here’s a picture of the setup


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[Colin_T]

have you checked inside the canister filter?

fish can get out of the smallest gaps in covers so check the floor.

if you have snails in the tank they can eat a fish in a night (depending on how many snails are there), and an adult bristlenose catfish can eat a male fighter in a few days.

check under the wood and in and under the white pebbles, and check the java moss. Then check on the floor.

the fish either jumped out, died and got eaten, or is hiding somewhere because there is too much water movement from the new filter.

 

[NickAu]

No idea what happened to your Betta but that tank is not suitable for a Betta.

There are too many tankmates and just by looking at the Vals I can tell the current is too strong, You also have a female Betta in there?

 

[seangee]

Nice looking tank - but as Nick says not good for betta. Have you recently added fish? If so be aware that adding the canister doesn't increase your capacity overnight so you should keep a close eye on water quality.

Also if you were in the UK I would assume those stones to be limestone. That would change your pH quite dramatically and if they are recently added should come out. (Note: I'm not saying they are but that was my thought process when I saw the pic ).

Oh and FWIW if a fish died overnight I wouldn't expect there to be any remains by morning.

 

[Colin_T]

The rocks look like round river stones (smooth pebbles) and don't look like limestone.
There are enough fish in the tank to eat a male better in 1 day, let alone 5 days that is has been missing.

 

[eddr86]

The rocks have been in since the start and don’t believe them to be limestone. I’ve noted no changes to PH at all, but will keep an eye on that thank you.

Think adding the 2 juvenile rainbow fish was the issue? As was within a few days of that.

I’m putting this down to a newbie mistake, and being sold on the Bettas looks rather than picking the right fish for the environment. Sorry fish [emoji30]


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[Colin_T]

post a picture of each of the rainbows so I can check them for disease. They might have brought something in that killed the betta.

 

[eddr86]

Thank you


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[Colin_T]

they look alright, just a bit of bruising on their lips from being transported.

 

[eddr86]

they look alright, just a bit of bruising on their lips from being transported.

Thanks. Can you tell what type of rainbow fish they are?


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[Colin_T]

in the first photo with the other fishes and plants they looked like Melanotaenia praecox (neon rainbow) but the bigger photos of them show something different, possibly a hybrid. However, most rainbowfish do not show their full colour until they are over 12 months old and they could be anything at this stage.

What did you buy them as?

 

[eddr86]

in the first photo with the other fishes and plants they looked like Melanotaenia praecox (neon rainbow) but the bigger photos of them show something different, possibly a hybrid. However, most rainbowfish do not show their full colour until they are over 12 months old and they could be anything at this stage.

What did you buy them as?

I bought them as ‘assorted rainbow fish’ so could be anything I guess!


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