Not The Best Reaction To A New Tank, Dude.

[woodstock]

Well, two things have come of the new tanks, which you can see in my other thread.

One: They can notice each other through the divider now. It's NEVER happened before! They don't flare or anything, but thtey notice the shadow. They follow each other around, but it's doubtful they think it's another betta. But it's a rather large shadow...

Two: My blue fish, Blue, is now a tailbiter. Great, just great. I caught him in the act, in a corner. He was swimming around, and around, and around, and...CHOMP. His tail is gone.

What I suspect is (for my tailbiter here) is two things.

He was stressed from the change. I actually did have trouble getting him in the cup, but it was over in a second. They were both stressed from it though, he could've taken it harder than Red.

Or, since he's noticed something on the other side, he simply started biting himself for...some reason. Agitation? I'm not sure. They're still exploring the new tank.

Hopefully it was just from the stress! (And probably a little temp fluctuation. His tail is the most sensitive you'll ever see! I put them in my room, and my room does get a little chilly). And hopefully he'll get over it. I know for sure he's not bored though.

Thanks a little, you little tailbiter. Lol
Any tips would be great, though, since this is my first tailbiter ever.

 

[nessar]

Could be he wants to get to the other betta, but cant, so is getting frustrated and taking it out on his tail?

 

[Honeythorn]

Having just looked at the other thread your problem is obvious. Nowhere NEAR enough plants and an extremely bright substrate. No wonder he's stressed.

You need to fill that tank with plants for him to hide in and block some of the glare off the gravel.


Also, if you just took him from one tank and floated him in the new one for a short while before release then that was also insufficient. I have mentioned the breeding trap method in another thread, which I've used on all sorts of small fish over the years and found to be very successful.

 

[woodstock]

The gravel substrate is actually not that bright, it's actually the camera. Whether you believe me or not won't matter. I did have to take some plants out as they were plastic. I'm only gonna be able to add plqnta little by little. And I DID acclimate him for about half the day with a sinking bag. However I dont have a breeding net. The sinking bag should be able to suffice as well. (Its a ziploc bag with marbles at the bottom so it sinks, but is tied up so it doesnt fall. I'd like to see pictures of yours.

 

[woodstock]

Tailbiting got much worse, and I'm about 90% sure it's from seeing the neighbor betta. Not sure why they never noticed each other earlier, until the rescape. Saw him take a huge chunk out himself, and eat it....wow. So I'm feeding him more proteins.

 

[loraxchick]

tape some paper to the sides of the tank where they can see each other.rescape probably opened up a greater range of sight of each other(or their get-away spots when they need a break form each other0 were rearranged. will take some time but they will get tired of the neighbours. but paper will solve the problem, hopefully.
best of luck. keep the water clean for his bitten fins.
cheers

 

[woodstock]

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand your paper tip?
And I did not move their original "homes", or the places the slept in and often hid in. I left those alone, and only added more gravel, the marbles, added plants / removed plants / moved plants.

 

[silverrabbit]

Sorry to hear of the tailbiting can you get even some cheap plants like Elodea to plant along the divider, so it blocks the view?

 

[woodstock]

Is that a real plant? I'm terrible with those, you have no idea, and I'm not up to a real plant, yet. I'll wait until the summer for that. I'm planning on putting more plants by the divider, though.

 

[silverrabbit]

Yeah, but they are so easy to grow it's unbelievable - i'm no good with live and stick mostly to silk, but this will live just about anywhere and grows like stink. It's usually sold in pet shops as "goldfish" or "oxygen" weed, or something like that, and is very cheap. Even if it's just a temp thing, it's better than your fish getting anxious

 

[woodstock]

Hmmmm, I'll go look that up. If you have it, how would an (approx.) 15W fluorescent 6-7hours a day sound?

 

[silverrabbit]

I think that'd be perfect - honestly, I have it in some clear-seal tanks which do not have proper tank lights, and it still grows

 

[woodstock]

For trimming, does that just mean cutting?

 

[silverrabbit]

Yeah... you'll see that it starts growing shoots from the sides, and they'll have their own roots. you can cut them off and replant and just give it a haircut when it reaches the top, or let it grow, the bettas will bubblenest in it

 

[woodstock]

Thanks for the tips, I'll consider that