Stressed Fish

[ghostchoir]

My poor little panda cory was bitten by the betta yesterday, and since then he has become very secluded and spends all his time hiding from everything and not really bonding with anyone or doing much apart from sitting there and looking miserable.

The betta hasn't bitten him or any of the others since and nor have any of the other fish (7 other cories and 5 glowlight danios).

Is there anything I can do for my little cory to make him feel a bit better?

I don't have any other tanks at the moment, though I am saving up to buy a small tank to put sick fish in the future. Would something like a large bucket be okay for him? I know that sounds stupid but I'm not sure what else to do, I think taking him out of the tank would be the best thing for him but as I don't have any other tanks there's no where else really to put him. Obviously I'd use clean (and dechlorinated) water in it and give him a sand base and his favourite plant.

If I do this, how many of the other cories should I take and put in with him?

This is really only temporary until he's a bit livelier again.

Or is this a bad idea and I should just leave him where he is?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I wouldn't advise keeping corys or danio's with betta's at all because;

a. Danios prefer cool highly oxygenated tanks with a strong current and lots of open spaces- this is just the sort of habitat though that betta's do not suit at all. Betta's prefer warm planted tanks with a gentle current in them. So based on habitat/environment preferences alone, these fish shouldn't be kept together.
b. Danio's have been known to nip the long flowing fins of fish like betta's- betta's have no defence whatsoever against danio's as they are much more fast and robust fish than betta's- if the danio's did decide to one day pick on it, the betta would be left a sorry sight.
c. As you have experienced, betta's can attack corys- unlike betta's, corys are extremely peaceful fish and do not stand up well to agressive or territorial fish like betta's (corys also have no concept of territory like betta's do as well, so often bumble into the betta's territory without even realising it, which will irritate the betta), so they should not be kept together. Corys and danio's on the other hand mix well as danio's pay no interest in corys whatsoever.

How many gallons is the tank/what is its dimensions? If the tank is big enough for the danios, i would keep the danio's and cory in the main tank and simply buy a tank of at least 2gals for the betta to live in by itself (which it will be more than happy living in, more than often betta's actually do best on their on as they are not sociable fish by nature and can be easily stressed or irritated by the day to day activities of other fish, particularly ones who have no concept of territory like corys).

Corys do best in a tank with sand substrate as this allows them to perform their natural feeding behavior (sifting through the sand looking for food) and such a substrate is also least likely to give them feeding problems or things like bacterial infections in their barbels/whiskers. Corys are sociable fish and do best in groups of their own kind of at least 3-4 corys- so for your panda cory, i would look at getting at least 2-3 more panda's to live with it if he is not already in such a group .
For treating the cory, i would use some a small doses of melafix to help aid the healing process and help prevent any secondary infections from setting into its wounds.

edit: Oh by the way, i would not advise moving the cory unless you have a tank with some mature and established filtration in it as to put a panda cory in an un-cycled or un-filtered tank right now would probably spell its doom considering how sensitive panda corys are to water quality. Moving the betta is what i would advise doing right now as this fish is the cause of the problem, it should be fine in an unfiltered tank or tub as long as you do daily or once every other day 100% water changes (there are quite a few people on the forum who keep their bettas like this).

 

[ghostchoir]

I'm already planning on getting a seperate tank for the betta - it's just a case of waiting until I can get one - in theory it should be this weekend at the latest. I've already ordered it, but I'm having it delivered so it depends on when that gets here really. Really I just wanted to know what was best for the little panda BEFORE the betta's new tank arrives.

The tank has sort of half and half - the temperature is exactly in the middle for what both prefer. The majority of the tank is filled with plants, whilst the front 1/4 and much of the top is open for the danios.

The danios have never really attacked the betta - I thought they would too, but they're more happy ignoring him completely and playing amongst themselves. That's not to say they haven't nipped him but it's extremely rare for them - really they just ignore him completely and chase each other rather than him. In my case, they pay much more attention to the cories than the betta. They really don't seem to care about him at all, they stay out of each others way.

The tank is 125 litres, no idea what that is in gallons. The betta's general territory is oddly where the cories don't usually go - he 'claimed' a small ornamental tree a while back and prowls around that. The cories do ocasionally wonder over but not very often at all.

They already have sand. I always knew I wanted cories so they've had sand since the beginning. There's four other pandas with him and four jullis - though obviously he prefers the other pandas they tend to group with the jullis as well.

It's just strange as they lived together fine before. He ocasionally nipped the others but that was just normal fish behaviour really. He spent most of him time keeping himself to himself and just sitting in the ornaments or in the plants, he never actually attempted to go after the others. He was more likely to if they went near 'HIS' ornament, but even then he mostly left them alone and just watched them.

So yeah, the betta already has a new tank coming. I guess I'll keep the panda with the others until that happens!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah sometimes fish which have been fine with others for ages, can suddenly turn around one day and become very agressive or mean tempered towards other fish- its one of the problems with a lot of semi-agressive or territorial fish, as you don't really know what their personalities and tolerance of other fish is going to be like in the long run.
If you have a 10litre bucket or something similar, you can keep the betta in there for the time being until you get the new tank as long as the bucket is kept at a stable room temperature and the water is changed on a regular basis .

 

[ghostchoir]

That's what I'm planning to do in a few minutes

Slightly odd question, but about terretorial fish - would moving their ornaments and plants etc around make them more or less so, or would it have no difference whatsoever?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

That's what I'm planning to do in a few minutes

Slightly odd question, but about terretorial fish - would moving their ornaments and plants etc around make them more or less so, or would it have no difference whatsoever?

Hm i'm not sure if that would successfully work or not with a betta (i know that it can sometimes work with anglefish which are trying to spawn though sometimes), i think it will just be best to keep it separated from the corys and danio's as either way it would not take long for the betta to establish a new territory in the tank.