What can I do about an agresive beta fish?

Question

I have a beta fish in my aquarium along with a few tetras and guppies. I have found 3 dead fish in my tank in the past 48 hours and have had the tank for about 6 days now. I truly suspect that my beta fish was up to the job as I noticed that the victim's fins had been "eaten off" Is there anything I can do about this without separating the beta fish from the tank or will I continue to have further victims? I'd like to add more fish to my 10 gallon aquarium but now I'm afraid to introduce them to this little, aggressive bad ***. Any tips could help.

Thanks in advance

In regards to the water cycling, about 6 gallons out of the 10 is water that was given to me by the store directly in bags in order to avoid the long process of cycling. I don't believe that it is related to the death of the fish.

Answer 1

well unless you've see the betta I'd be more suspicious of the tetras, since you said fin damage. tetras have been known to be fin nippers and can be quite aggressive, a few of them can do a lot of damage.

if it was the betta, it is because your tank is over stocked. please don't add more. bettas are not aggressive towards other fish unless you give them reason to be. they are very territorial, a ten gallon tank should only have about 4 or 5 fish in with a male betta and it should be heavily planted.

*edit after reading the answer above mine*
they do not live in small mud puddles, they live in ride paddies, and while rice paddies are not DEEP they are VERY wide, calling them puddles is quite a stretch. bettas in nature have a huge territory to themselves.

keeping bettas in unheated, unfiltered bowls is equivalent to keeping you in a closet at 45F (room temp water is NOT suitable for tropical fish, which is what a betta is. you bring up their natural habitat, well their natural habitat is extremely warm, around 75-85F) with no place to go to the bathroom but the floor. even if whoever is keeping you in the closet cleans your waste off the floor the recommended 3 times a week it's still not a very happy life. you'll be dirty, cold and cramped. you'll get weak and get sick easily.

their natural habitat give them plenty of room, and the water may be murky, but it's a whole ecosystem that a bowl can hardly match.

all fish need filters. cleaning the tank 3 times a week is good, but good bacteria grows in the tank and it's very important to fish health. every time you change the tank you get rid of the bacteria. filters eliminate this.

when thinking about bettas and filters and heaters consider how you would treat other tropical fish, would you keep an angel in a bowl just big enough for it to turn around a bit at room temp? no, so why make bettas suffer this abuse?

Answer 2

If you have put in fish after only having the tank set up for 6 days then the betta is not killing them. The tank is not cycled, so there is no bacteria to eat the fish waste. They are choking in their own poo and pee and they are dying. You need to start doing 50% water changes every day if you want the rest of your fish to survive. My website below has an article on cycling that you will find very helpful.

People are soo stupid! Bettas can be kept with other fish. People assume that since they are called "fighting fish" that means they kill everything in sight. They only fight other bettas or fish they think are other bettas. Tetras and most guppies do not fall into this category. If the bettas was killing them it would be blatently obvious because he would not stop chasing them ever.

People who think I am wrong about bettas, please stop by my forum, I will be more than happy to prove you wrong.


EDIT: Using water from other tanks does not help the cycle. The bacteria is not waterborn, it live on decor, in gravel, and mostly in the filter. If you can get filter media from a fish tank at the pet store that will help the cycle a whole bunch. Water does nothing at all.

Answer 3

Before everybody blames the betta, let me say they CAN be kept with other species of fish - just not another male betta. Where I work, we keep them in the display tanks with other fish (1 per tank, except for the females which are kept together) to give them better water quality (filtration) and temperatures than sitting on a shelf. Only problems we've had are with other fish picking on THEM because of the long fins. And since you have only a "few" tetras (some are known fin nippers) in a 10 gallon tank, I'd start looking in their direction! You don't say what species of tetra you have, so I'll give you a website where you can look up what you have. You probably got yours as small fish (from a store) and as they are maturing, they're showing their nipping tendencies.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/000tropfishcareguides.htm

You could settle this easily by putting in a divider and keeping the betta apart from the others - if the problems continue, you'll know it was him.

Answer 4

confident, extra suitable than a million beta fish in a tank will combat one yet another, in spite of the undeniable fact that there is situations of the place ive heard beta fish struggling with in the initiating, yet then making a sequence of command that we could them peacefully co exist. Beta fish will combat something that has fins the size, close to to, or larger than theirs.

Answer 5

I;m sorry but your beta will haveto be a loner, betas will kill any fish(especailly otehr betas) thats in the same tank, get another tank for him(but please not a beta tank, there to small it's like a human living in a closet) get a 10 gallon tank for your beta and make it nice with plants d then you can get more fish for your other aquirum. theres no way you can make your beta get along with the other fish, I've had ppl keep betas with tetras but thats very rare, the best thing for your fish would be to seperate them

Answer 6

When you have an agressive betta, you cant help it. I kept one in my 55 gallon without trouble but in one as small as a 10 gallon i would separate him. My betta occupied half of my tank and was still grumpy sometimes, so i took him out. They want the space all to themselves.

I advise you take him out or buy a tank separator. Its not really worth the trouble in a small tank like yours though. I would get him a large bowl of him own. They sell nice ones with under gravel filters at walmart for 10 dollars. Great deal and your betta will love it.

Answer 7

Bettas are almost always aggressive. Male bettas do not do well in community tanks, especially with other fancy finned fish like the guppies. You're better off separating him, it's not likely he'll ever stop killing the other fish. Sorry.

Answer 8

Since your tank is so new i'm going to suggest get your water tested (most pet shops do it for free) your fish may be dying because of toxic water conditions (usually overfeeding) a new tank needs to "cycle" to become stable .this can take 3-5 weeks.
you may be blaming your betta but it might be just eating the dead after they die

Answer 9

Well just think. Betta's can live in small mud puddles, so if you want. You can buy a smaller little thing (I use plastic goldfish bowls for my bettas, easy to clean and don't take up much space so I can have more!!) And then have all the colorful fish you want in your 10 gallon!...well that's what I do.

Answer 10

they should've told you at the pet store where you got it from. You can't put a beta with any other fish, not even other beta. It amazes me how they even reproduce. Have you ever heard of people taking pits or roosters and having them fight, well, people do that with beta's too!