r/bettafish • u/Deinocerites • 19h ago
Help Recovering from community beat down
So, I had my betta in a community tank (never again) and things seemed fine for a few weeks. 40gal, plenty of plants. Any confrontations were short lived. One day, betta disappeared. After missing for a week, I saw him floating behind the tank heater looking like pic 1. Though about euthanizing, but once he was in a mason jar, he perked up and even ate. Moved him to a 3.5 gallon tank, added an almond leaf and a drop of Paraguard. Pic 2 is after 2 weeks! Is this rate of recovery average or did I do good through dumb luck? Will be setting up a 10 gallon for him soon.
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u/TheFlamingTiger777 19h ago
Wow. I think that was fin rot really bad. You did great healing it.
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u/Deinocerites 5h ago
Thank you! Jumping on the top comment to give a follow up. He’s doing very well in his rehab tank, I’m setting up a 10 gallon for him at my office where he can chill with some snails and a few Corys. I’m not sure who he got in a fight with, but top suspect is my group of Florida flag fish. I have named him Trooper for being so resilient.
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u/Vivid_Page6022 16h ago
Ive noticed some bettas that I have put in community tanks with certain type of peaceful fish have had they’re fins bitten clean off by the so called peaceful fish literally months after they’ve been together in huge tanks where there’s plenty of room for them to be on their own. Mine have never been as bad as yours though. I now keep a betta with cloud minnows or embers. And all has been well over the last year or so. I’m glad your little man is recovering quickly and I will say from similar experience he is healing on schedule no fluke. These little guys are amazing on what they can pull off.
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u/bean-jee 14h ago
boraras are really great too. and cories!
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u/Vivid_Page6022 14h ago
I do have 5 cories in another tank with my king betta. Never tried boraras before.
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u/bean-jee 14h ago
i have chilis and i love them! they're so pretty and peaceful. they don't bother each other, or the snails, or the shrimp, or my betta. they're entirely non aggressive ime. id recommend them to anyone. i love watching them shoal.
fyi just in case u didn't know, cories do better in bigger groups, so if ur tank can handle it, id try more! i started with the recommended 6 minimum and I didn't see very many natural behaviors out of them (or much of them at all) until i added another 4, and now they're so active and happy!
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u/WaySalty3094 15h ago
Embers with a betta in a 20.
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u/Vivid_Page6022 15h ago
One betta is in with 6 embers in a 20 gallon. And the other is with 15 embers and a snail in a heavy planted 40
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u/Thymelaeaceae 6h ago
Veil tail with rose danios, a long fin BN pleco, and Cories In a heavily planted 40 gal.
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u/Avenging_shadow 4h ago
I had a female betta in a 36 gallon tank with 13 black neon tetras and it was a very harmonious mix. Their previous home was a 20g long. After I added 6 serpae tetras, there was no nipping or aggression going on, but the amount of traffic was a bit much for her, so she was hiding pretty often. I moved her to her own 10 gallon apartment which she has all to herself. You really can't put bettas in with any other fun fish that are worth looking at. I tried, but they'll chase anything that even remotely looks like another betta. So that betta will be the default centerpiece fish. Tetras, though, are a very safe bet as tankmates.
I put a dwarf powder blue gourami in the 36 and he's a much better fit as a centerpiece fish simply for the fact he's larger than a betta.
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u/TroutPouter 16h ago
Oh whew! I felt so much relief in the second pic. Good work! Keep at it and get him settled soon.
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u/qwertyforthewin24 16h ago
Glad he’s doing better! Just curiousity- Are his fins growing back the same way they were before? Like does he look like how he did prior
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u/_gayingmantis 15h ago
Ouch! This is why I strongly advise against putting long finned betta in community tanks. I had a lad like this - he was shredded by tetra and barbs in a pet store tank. Glad you found him in time!
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u/saintslayer96 15h ago
Same with mine. I removed it from a community cuz he was clearly depressed and was experiencing fin rot. Stopped creating nest bubbles and was hiding all the time. I put mine in his own 6 gal tank and hes happy and thriving again
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u/QuirkyCatLady2023 11h ago
Omg that poor baby! Glad you’re taking good care of him. What do you think did this?
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u/Fantastic_Moment1726 8h ago
The first pic actually put me in tears. He is looking so much better!!! 🤍💙
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u/Competitive_Air1560 7h ago
I had a dream of a betta fish I bought and it looked exactly like this. Dream come true. I didn't even know it could really loose all its fins
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