JiminSpazz wrote:Hello guys! Just a quick update:
Aggie, my female veiltail, has passed away. She had a really bad case of popeye, then eventually swimbladder problems and dropsy.
She was hanging on and suffering and I was going to put her down, but when I came home... it looked like she... exploded... maybe she ate something she wasn't supposed too? I don't know. she only pooped twice the entirety she was in the hospital tank too, (two weeks) so I really don't know exactly what when wrong or what I did wrong.
And I have a question for ya'll, because as of now all of my bettas are living with guppy fry, do you think that bettas are entirely solitary creatures?
this question was brought up on a betta fourm I am on, and I thought it was very interesting.
my point of view on this is that no, I do not think bettas are entirely solitary creatures. I think in the wild it'd be almost impossible for a betta not to encounter another fish, but not necessarily another betta. you know what I mean? obviously, you can create betta sororities, but this probably does not happen in the wild and the females will probably get frustated with their small territory and is why most sororities don't end well. And male bettas are sometimes put in communities, and do just fine. But I believe this myth that 'bettas kill everything in their tank' should stay though. Because most people keep bettas in smaller tanks, I think it'd be best for innocent guppies, female bettas, and even other male bettas get slaughtered.
What do you think?
I'm sorry to hear about Aggie. You didn't necessarily do anything wrong; sometimes things just happen, out of our control.
Betta splendens are solitary by nature in the sense that they aren't naturally inclined to seek out other fish outside of breeding and food purposes. This doesn't mean they can't get along with other fish. I've successfully kept community tanks with a betta centerpiece and less successfully kept sororities (would never suggest).
"Betta splendens will always kill any other fish" is a myth just as much as "all Betta splendens will do fine with other fish" is. I don't think spreading false information is the best way to help fish-keepers and their fish.
Just keep in mind more stuff there is in the filter the slower the water circulation through it will be, especially if it's very fine/dense stuff. Some brands actually give their filters output as it would be without any media in the filter and then they also give what it is with their recommended medias in the filter. Would altering the content make it better filter, that I don't know. Would depend on how it runs with modifications and what sort of mess the fish make. Biomasses generally do improve the biological filteration, given there's enough oxygen, but their mechanical filteration aspect is not always the most useful.
