Betta as an intruder

[shiftkey]

So my fiance and I inherited a 10 gallon tank a 2 year old Betta and his Pleco companion. A few days later we sadly found Mr Betta deceased from what we assume was old age but we can't be sure since we didn't really have a chance to examine him or his behavior. Now the pleco is doing fine , aside from being scared of anything that moves ( no seriously even shadows make him hide).

Is it possible that when we introduce the new Betta we're intending to get ( after a thorough tank cleaning for safety reasons) he'll view it as an intruder get over his cowardice and attack. On the opposite side will the Betta simply decide " hey it's my tank too bad if you were here first."

We'd like to minimize any possible carnage. We want another Betta, the local petstore( i know i know petstore bad breeder good but google give me no search results for breeders here) has pretty crowntails and we don't see why if the pleco/ betta combination worked before it would fail now.

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcomed.

[FishMomma]

Sorry to hear about your Betta. It makes you feel bad when you lose them!

First of all, I think the first thing you should do is a water change. From what you're saying about the Pleco it sounds like ammonia and nitrIte levels may be on the high side. NEVER do a 100% water change!! Each tank, if it has been extablished for more than 3 months, has a good supply of beneficial bacteria that will help keep ammonia and nitrIte levels low and safe. If you do a 100% water change, you're only dumping any and all beneficial bacteria down the drain which will require you to start from scratch with a "new" tank. New tanks will have spikes of ammonia and nitrItes that are quite harmful and stressful for any fish! Since you don't know what casued the Betta to die, there are a couple of things that you should do. First, add 1/2 teaspoon of AQUARIUM SALT per GALLON of water to your tank. Dissolve the salt in conditioned water before adding it to your tank. This will give your Pleco extra protection against any diseases by causing him to produce a thicker "slime coat." The other thing I would do is add Methylene Blue to your tank. You may have to order this online since I have had problems finding this in the local pet stores (USA). Here is a link that has some good info regarding Methylene Blue: [Registered users only can see links. ]. You'll have to scroll down the page a bit until you see the part about Methylene Blue.

If you decide to add a Betta to your tank, be sure to provide lots of hiding places for both the Pleco and Betta. The Betta may flare when you initially put him in the tank but probably will eventually be fine. Make sure that you will be around to watch the tank's "goings ons" once you put the Betta in your tank. Sometimes it helps to change the decor around if you have fish that have lived in the tank for awhile. This will make everyone start at the same place when they start staking out their "territory" in the tank. There is a fish compatibility chart link below that you may find helpful but the Plecos and Bettas usually work together. Some Bettas are more aggressive than others so keep that in mind, too.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your new fish and let me know if I can answer any other questions!!!

[shiftkey]

Thanks for such a fast response. ^-^


I'm just reading through your site now making sure I don't miss anything important. I'm still a bit confused on the whole Ph balance of the water thing. Though I assume if the tank has been using tap water here for the past few years that the water is at the right balance. I'll have to make a quick call to the fiancee's parents to see if they messed around with the water at all.

[BettaLu&Meg]

With tap water you want to purchase "Water Conditioner". this removes all harmfull chlorine, and metals from tap water and makes it cleaner for your betta/fish. the water conditioner can be found at any pet/aquaruim store and is fairly cheep $5-6dollars. doing this will definitly make the water more a stress-free enviroment in itself. also there are test stripes to check out the ph's and nitrates, and i believe there inexpensive and local pet stores as well.