bettas always get sick for me.

[goozy]

Every time I get a betta within 6 months he ends up sick. Yesterday I noticed my betta with shreded fins, stringy stuff and acting very listless. He is in a tank with 3 little cories, they aren't sick. The ammonia is 0 the ph is 7.4 and the nitrites 0. I don't get it. The only thing different in the last week for this fish was that he ate a little feeder guppy.

[goldfries]

platy can be nippers i think, i saw them harass a goldfish before.

make sure you have soft deco or rounded deco in your tank or else those nice fins will be torn.

[goozy]

Just cories. Really small ones at that.

[OrionGirl]

Where are you getting your fish from? Betta tend to be very in bred, resulting in weak stock. I wouldn't get one from a PetSmart/Co kind of place. See if there are breeders in your area and buy from them.

[goozy]

Rather then it being something I was doing. I usually get them from a petsmart or some place like that because I always feel compelled to save one of those in the little cup. Poor little guys.
:(

[OrionGirl]

Yeah--I know the temptation. Problem is, they usually have some serious health issues--gill burns are among the ailments, but bad stock is a big one.

[wetmanNY]

Fish Club auctions, goozy! I missed the one in Brroklyn in was it October?

[pinballqueen]

Also, it's kind of hard to determine exactly how old many bettas are when they come into the pet stores. If I understand it right, bettas are not the longest-lived fish out there, just a few years is all I've ever gotten from one. If the fish you get is fully-grown when you take it home, you might be getting a two-year-old fish and not know it....I've always tried to get the smallest one I could find, without the "frilly, spiky" fins that are so pretty, because the big guys with the pointy fins are usually old and only live for a few months once you get home with them.

It's really sad, most people see goldfish and bettas as "throw-away" fish, and they're really some of the best pet fish out there.

If it were any other type of fish, I would suspect a compatibility issue, but unfortunately, my experience has been very similar to yours, and it drove me away from keeping bettas for a very long time. I've only just started keeping them again (after having some very good luck with gourami. I figure if one member of the family likes my tanks, maybe the others will, too... I got my first betta in years last month...)

[Endlerama]

Hey Orion Girl, (or anyone else)

I'm a touch confused by something. You say that bettas are very inbred, and that they're better off being bought from a breeder.

Aren't breeders the ones doing the most selective breeding (i.e. inbreeding) to create these fish of the most uniform color?

Wouldn't the typical petstore bettas be more heterozygous, as one can see from their typically variable color patterns, and red front bottom fins?

While I certainly don't dispute that the bulk of most fish stores house bettas in some rather poor conditions, and that the water conditions of private breeders is likely to be better, I'd think that the purebred bettas are the more inbred of any...

Can anyone clear this up?

[OrionGirl]

Breeders tend to be careful about the level of inbreeding, and careully monitor the conditions of the fish. If the fish begins to display unhealthy traits, they infuse some new stock. Breeders won't sell bad stock--their reputation depends on satisfied customers. If the bettas die before reproducing, the line is obviously not worth maintaining.

The bettas sold at PetSmart/PetCo tend to be from tropical fish farms, and there isn't as much attention paid to the individual traits of the fish. If the fry die before maturity, they don't even know--the fish have long been shipped off. Many LFS have the same issues. If you can find one that buys locally bred fish, and doesn't keep them in poor conditions, you're better off.

With fish, it's usually not a matter of genetic diversity as it is line-bred hardiness.

[goozy]

I'm pretty sure this little betta was older when I got him. His fins were real long. He did grow alot since I got him. I think this one will survive his ordeal though today part of his tail fell off. :eek:
Fish auctions? I never been to one. It would be quite interesting. I would probably end up adding a couple more aquariums to my collection.

[amy]

What kind of tank are you keeping him in?
What kind of filtration? Does it have a heater?

Betta's tend to get stressed and sick if the current in their tanks are too high. Make sure that there are some low current zones that the betta can rest in.

Even though they are frequently sold in unheated cups of water and the LSF will tell you that they don't need heat, bettas really do better with a constant temperature around 80F.

[goozy]

he's in a 5 1/2 gallon tank, heavily planted with an aquaclear mini filter with two sponges. there's a heater and I always keep it around 78. Also the ammonia and nitrates are all 0 and the ph is 7.4. the tanks been going for about a year

[amy]

Whoa..... so far you've said is several posts that
ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates = 0

Please clarify. If you tank has been up a year, ammonia and nitrItes should be zero, but the nitrAtes should have some value.

Also, please tell us about your water changes.....

Your pH is fine.

Can you adjust the flow on the aquaclear mini?

Sounds like the betta may have finrot. Raising the tank temperature to 80-82 degrees and adding one tablespoon of any kind of table salt to the tank might help that out, but I'm not sure if salt is okay in a tank with cories. Hopefully someone else here will know about salt and cories.

[goozy]

I never checked the nitrate on that tank, (sometimes I get the two confused.) Maybe I should check it.

I change about a third to half the water every week,

The filter has no adjustment for the flow.

Now the betta is in hopital tank. I've treated him with maracyn 2 and he is eating again and swimming. Also the fugus on his body is clearing up.

[BettaFish]

A heavily planted tank with a single betta may not have measurable nitrates, as the plants will scavenge the ammonia before the bacteria can, which means the ammonia isn't being put through the nitrogen cycle.

[goozy]

I also have three cories in the tank.

[goozy]

:D

[amy]

Congrats!
If you haven't already moved him back to the main tank, leave him quarantine for a month and watch him closely in case he needs to be medicated again.