Male Betta Attacked

[jahouli]

Hi,
After buying a green terror for my large tank I moved my smallest fish - the male betta to a little biOrb on his own - a little late really as he'd already had his fins nipped badly in the 12 hrs it took me to get his tank together. After a couple of weeks his fins recovered well and I decided to give him some company in the form of female bettas. The LFS assured me this would be ok. He's a year old and the females are fairly young. He was a little boisterous and over excited when I first put them in, but after a couple of days of that I've barely seen him. It's about 10 days after I put the females in now, and I've just noticed him laid on the gravel with barely any fins left...it looks pretty bad...think I might have to give him the freezer treatment. Is it normal for females to attack males? I've had him with females before and he was fine then.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

NOOOOO dont put him in the freezer!!!

get him out of that tank straight away

males n females should never be kept together, that guy at ur lfs told u wrong, the girls have beaten him up

have u got another tank to put him in?

 

[jahouli]

Damn. I bought that biOrb especially for him. I've got a plastic emergency quarantine tank I could put him in...gonna have to get another heater for him. Poor thing - he looks such a sorry sight.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

put him in there with a heater, have u anything like melafix and pimafix?

what damage is done to him??

 

[jahouli]

OK. He's temporarily in a rather large vase. He looks pretty stressed and weak with a bit of fungus on his head. I've added a few drops of Melafix and hoping for the best. I'll sort something more permanent out if he shows signs of recovery.

..As for biOrbs - they really distort the view of the fish - not great when checking for ill heath...I'm not impressed.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

ok ur gonna need to treat with Pimafix aswell if he as fungus as the melafix will do nothing to it

as far as im aware u can treat with both of these at the same time

and his water needs to be heated

 

[Netty]

If he struggles to get to the top for air....you will need to lower the water level so he hasn't so far to go.....good luck with him

I would be inclined to go back to the Lfs and tell them that the advice they are giving people regarding Bettas is WRONG!!!!!

 

[Phoenixbaby]

agreed netty, some ppl in fish shops havent a clue, n its so frustrating grrr

 

[Netty]

Exactly and if people don't inform them they will carry on doing it........and it's the poor fish that suffers as usual

 

[jahouli]

Thanks guys. I can't get hold of any pimafix any time soon but I could add a bit of general tonic. !!!And I just remembered I do have a spare heater somewhere.

And I will have a word down the LFS. They've been really good until now.

 

[Phoenixbaby]

the general tonic wont do much tbh, try get some pimafix tho

 

[devon_charm]

can i ask who told you that you can freeze a fish to put it down?

 

[AngelOfDeath]

would be more humane to bite its head off rather than freeze it

 

[Phoenixbaby]

exactly, atleast uve got some sense

 

[devon_charm]

would be more humane to bite its head off rather than freeze it