I noticed a weird problem with my bettas. I've been keeping them in 2.5 gallon tanks with corner filters divided into two (glass dividers). I also kept one boy in a 5 gallon divided into two, with guppies on the other side. This boy came down with finrot, so I put him in my hospital tank (3/4-1 gallon bowl). He got better, blew lots of happy bubbles, but when I tried putting him in the 2.5 gal setup, tank and filter disinfected, finrot immediately attacked his tail again. It was a rough couple of weeks, but finally he got completely (I believe, as there were no more dark edges, and fin was growing back) cured this week. So I moved him back in a 2.5 gallon all by himself with the corner filter (I disinfected the tank, but the filter was an "established" one). The next day, finrot ate at his tail again.
Anyway, I'm confused. I know bettas are supposed to be happier with larger tanks, but it seems that mine are not thriving in the larger filtered and cycled tanks. The others seem to be possibly coming down with finrot as well. Whenever I move them to the hospital bowl, which is unfiltered but I clean it (full water change) every 2 days or so, they heal well and blow lots of bubbles (even when they're sick). But when I put them in the 2.5 gals, they hardly have any bubbles at all, and they seem to eventually get sick. I clean the 2.5 with 30-50% water changes every 2 or 3 days. Now I'm thinking maybe I should just get all my bettas 1 gallon unfiltered containers each. I wanted to avoid this before as I hate doing frequent full water changes and thought they'd appreciate larger tanks, but I hate even more their getting sick all the time.
Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?
Kitty
Anyway, I'm confused. I know bettas are supposed to be happier with larger tanks, but it seems that mine are not thriving in the larger filtered and cycled tanks. The others seem to be possibly coming down with finrot as well. Whenever I move them to the hospital bowl, which is unfiltered but I clean it (full water change) every 2 days or so, they heal well and blow lots of bubbles (even when they're sick). But when I put them in the 2.5 gals, they hardly have any bubbles at all, and they seem to eventually get sick. I clean the 2.5 with 30-50% water changes every 2 or 3 days. Now I'm thinking maybe I should just get all my bettas 1 gallon unfiltered containers each. I wanted to avoid this before as I hate doing frequent full water changes and thought they'd appreciate larger tanks, but I hate even more their getting sick all the time.
Does anyone have any insights or suggestions?
Kitty