Danios eat my betta's food!!!

Goldy

Goldy

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May 22, 2004
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I have 6 danios in a 10 gallon with a betta. Everyone is basically happy and active except the betta never gets to eat. Once in awhile I'm able to slip him a pellet. Is he eating leftovers or something? I bought a 5 gallon to set up and put him in, but will he last until it's cycled (fishlessly)? If I put in a lot of plants and seed it with stuff from my cycled tank, can I cycle it with him in it? I really like this fish and don't want to lose him.

Another possiblity, I was planning on putting the betta in the 5 gallon anyway because I want to make the 10 gallon brackish for my crabs. I considered trading in my danios for a couple of mollies. If I did this first, cycled the 5, moved the betta, and then made the 10 gallon brackish, would that work? Will mollies let the betta eat? Will the betta leave the mollies alone?

One last thing, when I put the betta in the 5, is it too small for 3 corys, too?

Please reply ASAP. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
i have an 18 gal tub with some guppies in it and i ran out of the storage containers i keep bettas in, so i just put one of my bettas in there. she is rather fiesty towards everyone but i think the amount of guppies is more than she can handle. they all seem to steal her food when i feed her so i direct the guppies over to one corner and feed them and then quietly slip her food in the opposite corner. a few guppies catch on but she chases them away or i do.
ytou could possibly use a breeder net too-i have done that with some of my goldfish. just put the betta in there and feed it in the net. when she/he is done you can just put the betta back in the tank and scoop out any uneaten food.
 
bettas can be pretty darn fiesty and fast when they need to be! if he is hungry enough, I think he'll get food. Fish can eat mircoscopic life that is in your tank and survive quite well with very little food. I'd leave the betta in unless he starts looking a little thin and weak. if they are eating all the food, I'd judt feed slightly more so some falls down to the bottom of the tank where he can get it. If you do regular water changes this shouldn't be a problem
 
Danios and bettas don't get along and this is one of the reasons. Bettas can be bothered by faster fish and get outcompeted for food.

Your betta would likely survive the cycle, but if you make sure he gets some food through the cycle he'd probably be best off in the tank until the cycle is done. The breeding net could work, but I think getting put in it just to eat would be stressful for the fish. In a long 10 gallon tank you could start feeding the danios on one end and try and coax the betta to the other. If worse comes to worse, your betta would be okay for a few days without food.

I think you'd have to acclimate the mollies slowly to brackish and mollies can be nippy with bettas (but danios more so). If it's temporary and you don't see any major problems that might work out well.

I'm not sure how well your betta is doing in with the danios, but 5 gallons is plenty for him and he'll enjoy having the space to himself (better for himself to think he's king of the roost rather than having to compete with danios!). Bettas are generally laid back, slow moving fish and faster, more hyper fish do stress them out. Corys would work well if you have enough room: 3 cory's might work, but that'd be close to all you could fit in there. You could probably keep that, but keep an eye on the water parameters - if anything got out of hand it would do so quickly and while the betta is hard enough to stand bad water conditions, corys aren't fond of it.

Most bettas I've had won't eat food off the ground on a regular basis (though they were well fed enough to be snooty about it). I think even if he gets the food, he'd be happiest in the 5 gallon by himself or some small co-inhabitants; if not the corys than maybe an otto or two (if they don't get too big) or a snail, or if you're up to it, a couple of African Dwarf Frogs.
 
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Just a thought, if you seeded the 5 g well, then swapped some or all of the danio's over until you verified that the cycle was estabilished you could relieve your feeding problem with the beatta without risking him during the cycle. In all honesty, the beatta and the Danio's are both hardy enough to handle a carefully (and I do mean carefully) run fishy cycle. Fishy cycle's can be done without harming fish, it's just that most people don't learn enough or pay close enough attention to do so. Re-Read the cycle sticky, there is some good info on how to carefully run a fishy cycle in there. In either case, fishless is of course the best course, and planting heavily is a close second. Seeding is also a good practice and cuts the time down drastically as well as the risk. You should be able to safely do any of the above with a beatta in a 5g, and then add the cories later. IMO I would look for some of the smaller breeds of cories. I know there are a couple that only get about an inch as adults, while others will grow as much as 3" I can't name names, but have seen species profiles that listed adults at 1.25" max. 1 beatta 3 small cories in a 5 g with good maintenance and filtration should be o.k.

Also beatta's can do well in community tanks with the right types of tankmates. Danios as said are just too energetic for them ( It's kind of like putting me n a room with a bunch of three year olds. I go nuts in about 3 minutes. Do some research, and try this site for additional info as well. beautiful beattas
 
Thanks for all the advice. I used a net to isolate my betta yesterday and got him to eat. I think I will be using this method as we have a new addition I'm in charge of for awhile. My husband has wanted a border collie puppy for awhile and we got him on Saturday. Needless to say, the 5 gallon will have to wait. The betta has plenty of places to hide from the danios so I think if I just use the net he will be ok for now. Thanks again. Puppy's yelping again:(
 
I wouldn't Put 3 Corys In, Just One Or Two Depending On The Size. But Someone Who Knows More May Tell You Differently. Ghost Shrimp Get Along With BEttas Very Well, So You Might Put Them with The Betta In The Five Gallon, Or Trade The Danios For The Mollies And Put Them All In The 10.
 
The ghost shrimp are a good idea. they are really cool critters to watch and do a good job with the scavenging.
dave
 
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