Betta tetra dying

[Robsue]

I guys, slight problem again. My tanks are fine at moment but daughters tank is being awkward. She has 4 harlequin Rasbora, 12 neon tetra, 1 albino rainbow shark and about 20 guppies. The tank is well cycled and all fish are small. Slowly been getting added over last 3 weeks after 3 week cycling. We have now had 2 betas die. ( not in tank at same time) had 1 died after 4 days. Got a second one from different store and after about 12 days that too died. Any ideas or suggestions would be great

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

What tank size? Parameters?

 

[Robsue]

80 litres, nitrate 0.2 ph 7.8. Heat 27, good filter media,

 

[jpchin]

what's the ammonia reading? i believe you are quite over stocked. you have 37 fish in a roughly 21 gallon tank. that's way too many fish. please post your ammonia level. do you use an api liquid test? strips are not very accurate i suspect a high ammonia level is your problem.

 

[Robsue]

If ammonia too high then why only 1 fish? Fish are all juvenile at moment so are quite small and being separated when bigger

 

[jpchin]

well we don't know if the ammonia is high unless you do a test and post the results. bettas are rather fragile fish and might show effects of ammonia poisoning quicker. please do the test, post the results and we can take it from there.

 

[Robsue]

Sorry, didn't mean to sound argumentative. Will get test today for it and post. Thanks.

 

[Stellah]

Also- could be stress related. Betas die of stress more easily I've found. :/ even through they are small, it's still way over stocked. Even if every fish is an inch long, it's still twice as many as should be in there. Betas also generally aren't good with the fish you mentioned. Nothing with colorful fins. Even if they aren't flairing or nipping, it could stress them out. Sorry.

 

[Wiggles24]

I have a betta in my tank that contains harlequin rasboras and they never bother him

 

[cmwalters]

I agree with the stress-related suggestion. Bettas generally like to be alone in a tank. Or at least in a very peaceful tank. They are stressed by too much activity in a tank, so a tank with multiple schools of active fish is probably stressing them a lot. Also, some bettas just don't make it. They could have been sickly coming from the store.

 

[rmiller]

Let's start by re-homing the shark, that guy is semi-aggressive, and grows to about 6 inches. He's likely a big part of your problem. I would also re-home at least half the guppies, especially any females.

 

[colejohnson73]

Way to many fish.