Betta and Neons

[richiestang_78]

So I just got a Betta with 6 neons today, I went out to dinner to come back to fins 2 dead in the water and 1 MIA. My tank is good so could the Betta have done this?

Well I just found the third dead. The tank is fine PH is 7.4, Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 and nitrates 40.

 

[Friendly]

Don't feel too bad. I started out with 14 neons and 7 died within a week for no reason! The 7 remaining neons have been doing great though. I've never kept neons with a betta before so I'm not sure if the betta could have caused the deaths.

 

[An t-iasg]

Bettas and neons are not too compatible in my experience. What size tank do you have? Aggression is multiplied in a small tank. However, neons are not very hardy and your reading of 40 ppm nitrates could be high enough to stress and kill these sensitive fish.

 

[DeathWarp]

I house cardinal tetras with a male betta and the betta hasn't shown any aggression towards them. It could be that I have a fairly large tank, but that's just my experience with it.

 

[ringfinger]

Losing Neons is nothing new. I have 8 with an extra aggresive female Betta, and she completely ignores them the majority of the time. I would just guess that your Neon deaths are normal. I bought 20 Neons for my 29g, lost 2 for no obvious reason in the first couple days, and the remaining 18 have been thriving for months now. Just keep trying, and buy a couple extras just like you would with Otocinclus Cats.

The No3 does seem a little high, but I always thought a sudden change in No3 caused death over a longer period of time. Could be wrong though.

 

[richiestang_78]

Yeah the nitrate is high but I thought anything 40 and under is alright. Im trying to lower it and may buy a small plant or two to help with it.

 

[Yodlem]

shouldn't this be moved to another forum?

 

[Zagz]

Yes it should be moved. I moved it to sick fish forum.