Moving on...after the death of my betta

[An t-iasg]

Hi everyone,
I had 2 bettas in a 5 1/2 gallon tank. One betta is still in the tank and is doing fine. The other betta died Tuesday evening. He died in the critter keeper, not in the main tank. I only have that Aquarium Pharm. spray cleaner. I cleaned the critter keepers with that, but should I just throw them away? I already threw the one net away. I'm really not sure what the betta died from -- he didn't have the dropsy pinecone look, but he had a huge red bump, like a tumor, on his side. I couldn't see any external signs of fungus or parasites.

On Tuesday night, I changed a gallon and a half of water out of the tank. The parameters were fine. It just felt good to do something for the other betta, and I wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to pick up anything bad. On Wednesday, I was thinking...is he swimming ok? Is he eating ok? Are his fins getting raggety?? I finally didn't look into the tank for about an hour, because I was getting so paranoid about him! But he's fine.

I'm going to get another betta, maybe in a few weeks. If all the parameters are fine, can I just put him in the tank with the other betta, after he is QT-ed? Or should I do another big water change first? Should I do anything to clean the fake plants? I didn't want to remove the bacteria on them.

 

[Scottw68TN]

You should be fine. just keep the water changed and the parameters on target.

 

[Sinuhe]

Did I understand right, that you're going to have 2 bettas in the same tank? Is there anything to separate them from each other? You can't keep 2 male bettas in the same tank, unless you have a divider of some sort to keep them from attacking each other.

 

[An t-iasg]

Yes, of course there is a divider. I was thinking of removing it and letting the other betta have the whole tank for as long as he lives. It wouldn't be hard at all to remove it, but I do want another betta, and I would have to tear the tank down to put the divider back in. Even with a small 5 1/2 gallon tank, that would be a pain!

 

[Sinuhe]

OK, good Just making sure, because you didn't mention it in your first post. I've been thinking of keeping a betta in a 5 gallon tank as well. Having 2 with a divider in between would be nice, but I doubt we have any decent dividers available around where I live.

 

[An t-iasg]

Well, here's what we did, and you could probably do it too:

The divider I got said it fits an 8 to 10 gallon tank. I just bought it for the frame apparatus. I didn't like the actual divider. It was clear, and I thought the bettas could see through it too easily. Plus it only had little pin-hole openings for water to pass through. It didn't look like water would flow freely. I went to a craft store, and bought a plastic needlepoint canvas. It's an 8x10 piece of plastic that has holes for the needle to go through, so you can make stitches in any direction. The actual plastic rows and columns are not that big, so you can't see them when you're done with your stitching project. But the holes are relatively big, so the water would flow freely. They had a variety of colors. I got white. I got another piece, too, if I ever needed a spare quickly!

Then, my husband used a saw to cut the divider frame to the correct size for the smaller tank, so it would fit the heighth and width of the tank. I'm not good with saws and things, but it must have been easy -- it took him about 2 seconds to cut!! Then I cut the plastic needlepoint canvas with scissors to fit, and slipped it into the grooves of the divider, and put it in the tank! There are also two little clips that go over the top of the tank to hold it tightly. The two bettas could see each other, but they were safely separated, and they more or less ignored each other after a while.

 

[tkos]

Perhaps you could remove the divider and then add another type of fish to the tank and make it a small community. Adding a three dwarf cories might make for a new adventure in the tank.

Of course that would mean a bigger filter than the small one you currently have.

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi tkos,
Yes, I thought about that too. I am really getting hooked on fish! The more I see in the store, the more I want! I suppose I could add a small internal filter, one that doesn't make splashy water like a HOB. (I don't even know if any HOB's are small enough.)

But...this betta is stressed rather easily. It's most of the reason I went from bowl to tank. This remaining betta gets fin and tail rot so easily. He got it when I put him in this tank. Then, after he settled in, and the temperature didn't fluctuate like the bowls, he's the best he's been in months. So I kinda hesitate to put some cories in. I looked at them and they're very cute. But they are very active, which may bug the betta, and need a cooler temp than my tank, which is around 82 degrees.

The betta that died would have been fine with a tankmate. He didn't get bothered too easily.

Our house is in a state of remodeling now--that's why it was so easy to cut that divider. My husband already had the miter saw set up in the garage because he was cutting baseboard and quarter-round at the time we set up the tank and divider! So, when remodeling is all done, I would like to set up a 10 gallon tank with cardinal tetras and some cories. It's just a thought right now; need to research some more.

So, as far as the 5 1/2 gallon goes, I still don't really know what I'm going to do. I may take the divider out and put in a ghost shrimp. I don't think that would bother the betta. Or I still could get another betta in a few weeks, when I feel like looking at them again! One thing's for sure -- it's sad looking at that empty side of the tank.