I have a tank of 4 betta fish 1 male and 3 females, I bought them monday and cleaned the tank friday, i noticed the water was a little blurry but i couldnt figure out why....well Saturday came i woke up fed them and by the afternoon 1 of the females were dead....and the others seem fine, but im a little worried i did something wrong....could i be over feeding them? but also when i got them (my sister bought them for me) she only added the Betta Plus treatment , and this time i put in the fish bowl cleaner with it (it comes in the package with the betta plus).....and when i got it my sister but to little chemicals for the size tank we have ...which is 5 litres and this time i added the recommended amount.....could the chemical change kill them!?
....im really worried...i dont want them to die
2007-11-03 14:52:18 · 8 answers · asked by ¿Curious? 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
Everyone is telling me to seperate them....but the pet shop told me it was ok...the said if u want more than one you have to have 1 male to every three females and they'll be fine.....why owuld they lie to me if i was buying them anyway.....it makes no sense
2007-11-03 15:40:28 · update #1
the reason the petstore told you so, is because they simply don't know what they're talking about most of them time unfortunately
Also your tank is way to small, it's just about enough for 1 betta, it's not even 2 US gallons :(
If you really want to house several bettas together, you can only go with females
And for that a minimum of a 10US gallon tank is required
A minimum of 3 females is also good to have, because they will establish the so called pecking order among them, if you would only get 2 one will dominate the other
In a 10 gallon you could easily fit 5 females as well as 3 cory's (bottom feeder)
And i'm sure your water didn't kill them but the male
Also the tank is suppose to be filtered and heated
they thrive in temperatures of 78-82 degrees(25-28^C)
here is an article on proper betta fish care
http://www.fishlesscycling.com/articles/caring_for_bettas.html
Hope that helps
Good luck
EB
Feel free to email me
2007-11-03 16:56:21 · answer #1 · answered by Kribensis lover 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, you CANNOT keep betta fish together--not even a male with females, or even just females. They WILL fight at some point, regardless of gender. Also, your tank is too small--a single betta needs at least 2 gallons (which would be about...8 litres, I think?) And yes, the cloudiness could very well be from overfeeding. A single betta fish should get about 3-5 pellets a day. Any uneaten food should be removed from the tank.
Also, do you have a heater? Betta fish need to be kept at about 80 degrees (F). Colder water will make them sluggish and weaken their immune systems, making them more susceptible to diseases.
As for water conditioner...Prime is a good choice. I doubt it was the chemical change that killed your fish. Just add the amount stated in the directions and you'll be fine.
[edit] It is not at all uncommon for pet stores to lie to customers about buying fish. Often time, employees simply don't know what they're talking about. Look up information about betta fish online and I promise you will find that betta fish cannot be kept together. Please, for the sake of your fish, seperate them.
2007-11-03 15:12:33 · answer #2 · answered by Chaos! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your female may have been killed by the male. When trying to breed my fish the male would chase bite and hit the female constantly. I thought she would end up badly beaten. I keep females together in a community tank that is quite large with a lot of plants each fish has it's own place to hide when they are tired of chasing each other about. Putting a male and female together unless your planning breeding isn't a good idea. Some betta will spawn in 24 to 48 hrs and you will have loads of baby's which would or wouldn't be fun to look after!.
2007-11-04 19:57:49 · answer #3 · answered by Danny W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should never keep Betta fish together because they will fight each other. Betta fish are very hard to take care of because most of the time they are not healthy when you get them from the pet store. Yes the chemical change could have killed them, but you should just keep doing what your doing and if another one dies go back to the pet store and ask for more info. that's what I did when my first Betta fish died.
2007-11-03 15:26:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could possibly be the chemicals, but I doubt a change would harm the fish. It could be that you're using too many. I only use one specific chemical for the tank and that's to make the tap water healthier for them to thrive in. I'd try to just go with one chemical for yours, or a little less than what you've been using.
2007-11-03 14:58:52 · answer #5 · answered by Meg J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bettas are hardy fish. Although if you didn't put the recommend chemicals it could have done something. The female fish that died probably wasn't as healthy as you believed it was. Do you put aquarium salt in after you change the water? Salt is good for fish, it helps them produce a slimy coat that helps their immune system.
2007-11-03 15:04:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Then seperate the bettas from each other. That would keep them from fighting from each other. Then the chemicals should be varied. Pls. dont overdose the chemicals.
2007-11-03 15:26:09 · answer #7 · answered by Chad, M.D. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mine have the same problem, but the vet told me that its the food, as they dont eat it and its left there leaving chemicals to break off.
2007-11-03 21:46:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋