The case of the missing Betta

[Vis4lovers]

I bought a betta a few months back. I had him in a small bowl, he liked it, blew bubble nests, etc. Well, I was lucky enough for someone to give me a 10 gal. tank and decided to transfer him. I did, he was cool, all was well. After a month on his own, I added 5 tetras. He got along fine with them. He would chase them around every once in awhile, but he never flared. He just did his thing, they did theirs. I have a filter with a baffle and a heater, live and fake plants, floating log and the little sleeping leaf. All was great, the betta and tetras for a month or so. Well, I just discovered the other day he was no longer in the tank. I have a lid it on, but just in case, I searched to see if he jumped out (there is a small hole where the feeding door broke off). He was no where. The only thing I can think is that he died and the tetras devoured his remains. Anyway, I was wondering what could have killed him? I thought maybe over feeding because when I feed the tetras he will eat their food. Or, the night before he went missing I put some new water in the tank to replace what had evaporated. I made the water the same temp as the tank, so it wouldn't shock him.

I went to petsmart and talked to the dumbest girl. I don't know a lot about bettas, as he was my first, but tell me if anything she said makes sense: She said I should never keep a betta in such a large tank (10 gal) because he needs to defend his territory and that is simply too big. He probably died of stress. She told me that is why they sell the tiny little bowls, because bettas prefer them. When I asked about him eating too much or the tetra food she flatly said that was not an issue and told me it was stress. Well, he has lived in the tank over 2 months, over 1 month with the tetras. I would like to get another betta, but I don't really want to kill him advice?

 

[leggey]

I will start off with saying the bowl you have is to small ! Never listen to anyone in that hell shop. You could live in tiny cell but that doesn't mean ya should. Ya need at least a 30l tank.

And if it didn't jump then I would check in any hollow ornaments you have as he may have got stuck in one as the like to get into tight spaces

 

[absolutangel04]

Please remember that the forum does not allow store bashing.

Assuming you thoroughly checked the tank for him, and you did not find him on the floor, I think it is safe to assume the tetras ate him.
As to why he died (if that is the case), that is hard to say. It is all just guesses. Not all bettas live long, some carry permanent damage from ammonia poisoning before they ever reach your tank. Some are wantonly bred and have other issues that limit their lives. So, it is very hard to say what happened to yours. I doubt it was stress. If he didn't even bother to flare at the tetras, I highly doubt they could have been disturbing him that much. 10g is a great tank size for a betta IME.
The next death option is of course water quality issues. Do you keep up with regular pwc's? Also, what sort of diet was the betta on? Any bloat?

 

[hcourts]

Did you look in your filter?? I have one the somehow managed to get in the back of my hob filter...scared me to death as he was the only fish in there!!!!

 

[callisto9]

I had one of my guppies swim again the current of the water coming out of the filter and he got in the front of my HOB, too.

I think 10 gallons is enough space for a betta!