Newbie With Some Questions

[Dieharddocker]

Hi all 
 
New to this forum and have a few newbie questions if I may. 
 
Just purchased a 25 litre Tank (40cm x 23cm x 28cm) Complete with stones, a few ornaments and an Elite Jet flo 50 Filter. 
 
 
Went down to the local pet shop and picked up a Male Betta, a comet, and something else similar to a comet. I was told that these 3 would live fine and shouldn't aggravate the Betta. 
 
But as soon ans a put them into the tank, the Betta wouldn't leave the other two alone, constantly following them around the tank, flaring up and them ect. 
 
When I woke up in the morning, I noticed that the Betta's tail had ripped, I thought that there must have been a fight overnight and this was the result, and it would settle down soon enough. 
 
But all the next day the Betta continued to follow and flare at the others. 

So I went out and bought a 10 litre bowl, and put the Betta in there he seemed to be ok, but now as i wake up in the morning, his tail seems to be even more torn/shredded. Is he bored and bitting his own tail? is he sick? was the current from the tank to strong and stressed him out? 
 
Cheers 
 
Dave
 
 
EDIT: whoops, meant to go in fresh water tank section, apologies.

 

[Chad]

Welcome to the forum. A betta will generally go after any fish that it sees as similar to itself. This could be a brightly colored fish, or a fish with large fins, or even one with a similar body shape.
Their tails can of course be damaged by other fish but they also are quite sensitive to ammonia which can cause them to deteriorate.
Did you allow the tank to cycle before putting fish into it or was it purchased from someone who already had it cycled?

 

[byork]

Are you use a water conditioner like prime or seachem?

Berta's are typically pretty hardy and tend to be aggressive toward tankmates. This could easily damage his fins. I would add some stress coat to his bowl and maybe some vitachem or some other vitamin supplement that says it will assist in healing fins.

However, you problably have more problems to come. Since it sounds like you put the fish onthe tank before it was cycled. You will definitely need to get a test kit, preferably not strips, that tests for at least ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Hardness (general and carbonate) would be a bonus sometimes tests refer to carbonate hardness as alkilinity. That said you should do some reading on the nitrogen cycle. To put it simply:
Fish poop and other decaying stuff, food etc. create/are ammonia
Ammonia is toxic to fish, bacteria in a cycled tank use the ammonia and create as a by product nitrite (usually)
Nitrite is more toxic than ammonia to fish, bacteria in a cycled tank use the nitrite and expel nitrate (usually). Typically the bacteria that use the nitrite are not as quick to develop or not as efficient in a new tank. Ultimately the nitrate is not really harmful and can be kept at safe levels with regular water changes. Getting through the cycle with fish can be tricky and require a lot water changes and testing to keep the ammonia and nitrite at safe levels.

Please excuse my spelling and auto correct....

 

[Dieharddocker]

Not to sure whether I completed a cycle, bought the tank, filled it, put the required amount of water conditioner and another liquid to help get bacteria going. Put the filter in and let it run for 2 days before the fish came in.

Spoke to people at the pet shop today and they said that tail is probably caused by stress from moving into 3 different environments in 3 days. But I should keep an eye on it.

 

[phoenixgsd]

welcome to the forum, i have to ask but, comet as in goldfish?
 
goldfish are not suitable for a 25L tank, and they are coldwater fish  the betta is tropical and needs a heater, also you are correct in thinking, bettas dont like strong currents

 

[byork]

I completely overlooked the comets and other goldfish. I have comets in my pond, approximately 1300 gallons, that are about 5 yrs young and about 8". My understanding is that they can live up to 25 yrs when cared for properly. They do looked like dwarfs next to the koi.