Please Read.

[Bugsvile]

My wife told me of her friend who has some fish, i think some of these are not compatible,

The list i was given was

2 Dutch Ram?male and female ( i have not heard of the dutch ram

Catfish (unknown)

Cherry barb unsure of numbers im afraid

Neon Tetra (she started with 6 and is now down to three and apparently one has an eye gouged out)

Betta (Male)

I assume its the betta causing the problem and he is displaying to the Dutch ram's mostly but all are being displayed to, I am unsure of the tank size but i do know they have not cycled the tank.

Her friend wants to get rid of the betta as she believes he is causing the problem and i am sure he probably is, but i am trying to get her to get a seperate tank for the betta or should she try
to get the LFS to take it back?

 

[kelly528]

It's hard to tell but I can tell you for sure that bettas cannot be kept with cichlids or barbs and rarely get along with tetras. I'm surprised he isn't shredded to bits by now.

 

[OldMan47]

With an uncycled tank, it is time to remove all of the fish if she has an alternative place for them. Otherwise, it is time to look at the catfish unless it happens to be a cory or a pleco. As usual, the betta is getting a bum rap for being an aggressor but is the absolute wrong choice in 90% of the cases. Just because bettas don't get along with each other, conspecific aggression, it does not mean they are generally aggressive with other fish, interspecific aggression. When there is a betta in a tank with anything but peaceful fish, it is most often a victim, not an aggressor. On the other hand, most catfish are carnivorous and are very hard on smaller fish that are not cautious enough around them.

 

[Bugsvile]

Thanks OM, i have tried texting the wife at work hope she gets the message, as far as a second tank goes i am preaty sure she does not have a spare tank Unfortunatley my tank is nowhere near to being ready to try to help out.

I have asked her to try and get her friend to do a large water change as i doubt they are checking water conditions daily!

By the way OM i took your advice and cleaned the wifes filter in my small tank and it has worked a treat, used some of the media also and i got some cardinals in there who are doing great!

I also got a Betta and they all just do their own thing, no fin nipping or anything and he is constantly building bubble nests

 

[OldMan47]

That sounds good Bugsvile. I am glad things are working out for you.