trying to help a poorly kept Betta-

The only fish in there I'm not familiar with is the silvertip tetras. I know from experience that some tetras are perfectly peaceful and others are aggressive and nippy. If the silvertips are the nippy kind, then you're going to run into problems. That being said, I'd be reluctant to add the betta to the tank just because of the conditions it was being kept in unless it's quarantined first. Fish can carry all kinds of diseases that won't necessarily affect them, but will affect other inhabitants of a tank they're in. A 5g tank can be purchased for about $20-30 at Wal-mart and would be perfect for a betta. I'd suggest going that route.

I agree with chinnp. Bettas are notorious for their unpredictable aggressive and territorial behaviour. There is a chance he may attack the tetras, or that he will in turn be nipped at by them. He may also eat the shrimp. You would be taking a chance.

The 5 gallon idea above sounds good to me. You could set it up at least as a quarantine tank for a month (to make sure he's not carrying anything), and if you decide to introduce him to your 20 g, you would at least have a good back-up home ready if things didn't work out.

I'd say your 20 is fully stocked and there is potential for behavior issues.

your best bet is to pick up a 5 or 10 gallon tank and set it up for him. (10 i'd be cheaper)

it sounds like his current home probably has a significant nitrate build up. Test the water find out how much nitrate u're dealing with.

put him in his a new home with as much of the old water as you can and then start adding fresh water in slow increments. keep doing 10% water changes every other day or so until the nitrates are down to 10 or fewer ppm.

that's the safest way to transition him to new and better water chemistry.

My betta must not be the norm. I put him into my established 55 G tank with some nippy fancy tetras and some glowfish (many other types of tetras too) and he has thrived. He ignores them, they ignore him. He has lots of plants to hide in though. He has been in the tank for about 3 weeks now, and I see him out and about quite a bit.

Lisa

I have my betta in my 55g. See sig. Occasionally he and the angels chase each other around but there has been no permanent damage...yet. The only thing my betta wont tolerate is snails. He hates snails and will kill them.

betta care

I would add betta cure to his water for about a week for about a week before even thinking about putting him in your tank. Quarantine him in a smaller tank for 10days, only feed him tiny tiny amounts when he is in quarintine.

Betta can be agressive as can any fish, when you want to add him to your main tank, move around some plants etc and then put him in, he will be fine after that because he wont go territorial and neither wil he. :fairy: