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Thread: Need help with Betta bellica

  1. #1
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    Need help with Betta bellica

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    Got my first wild betta species on Monday. 4 pieces of Betta bellica. After I got them home, I put them in a 1ft tank with some JBJ gravel, a Eden 301 filter, some ketapang leaves and drift wood. Also the water is from my outdoor tub where I kept my female Betta splendens. But not sure what happened, yesterday discovered one had died and now discovered another dead one...haiz...what could be wrong with my setup. Did not want to bring them home to see them die one by one.

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    Newly setup 1 ft tank? New filter? What kind of gravel is that? Not all JBJ gravel are inert. How much ketapang leaves did you throw in? Could it be the drastic change in pH?

    One thing that I realise is that a lot of times, mixing wild and aquarium species can be a problem. Whilst both may look healthy when kept separately, one species may die quickly due to lack of immunity against some diseases/bacteria that the other may have. As such, the souce of your water may be the culprit here since labyrinth fish can usually take a new setup fairly well.

    You might want to take out the gravel, change out the water, add salt and aerate. Then add Melafix and Pimafix to condition the fish and reduce chances of bacteria infestation (although a low pH should also do the same for bacteria). These are standard measures to prevent further losses.

    Perhaps you have other information to share with us and we can make a better assessment.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    It's ok. Found the rest all dead in the evening. Haiz...First time trying wild betta after all these years of fish keeping and it is a disaster. Think need some time before trying wild betta again.

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    Regretable...but don't let that initial setback get better of you.

    Wild betta requires a lot of patience as they care and management requires a good understanding of their character and habitat. But once you master that, their interesting character and behaviour makes them as attractive as fishes from the other corner of the earth.

    Cheers,

    p.s. tank covers are absolutely necessary for most species.
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cairocks View Post
    Got my first wild betta species on Monday. 4 pieces of Betta bellica. After I got them home, I put them in a 1ft tank with some JBJ gravel, a Eden 301 filter, some ketapang leaves and drift wood. Also the water is from my outdoor tub where I kept my female Betta splendens. But not sure what happened, yesterday discovered one had died and now discovered another dead one...haiz...what could be wrong with my setup. Did not want to bring them home to see them die one by one.
    Where did you get your ketapang leaves from?

    From my experience, the leaves need to be washed thoroughly first before soaking, and the source should be one where the leaves will be clean, ie not from a roadside where the leaves are constantly exposed to car exhaust fumes.

    i wont know how powerful your filter is, but if i'm not wrong B.bellica are bubblenesters and are happier in still water conditions.

    But yea.. you can always try again.

    Cheers!

    ben

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    Got the leaves from a beach park. Quite some distance away from the road. Had been using the leaves from that location for quite some time for my Betta splendens without any problem.

    Humm...maybe it is the filter, maybe it is the gravel. Not sure what is the name of the gravel but each piece are polished to small spheres, reddish brown and labeled under JBJ. Got recommended to it sometime ago by Ian of Kingfisher for keeping my CRS. The gravel was used sometime ago but left in my backyard under sun and rain for at least 6 months since it was last used. Not sure when I will get over this disaster as the slight of fish dying one by one everday is rather painful.

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    Betta bellica is actually quite a hardy species. Maybe next time introducde them properly into a well cycled tank, they will do fine. And then 1 ft is a little too small for 4 fish. I would suggest you to get a 2 ft for two pairs.

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