Dead Betta Question

[Klane]

About two weeks ago I introduced a Betta into my 20 gal long community
tank of 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 6 Zebra Danios and 2 Oto's. For about a week
and a half everything was fine. The Betta seemed very happy and his
fins remained untouched but I kept watching just in case.

After about 11 days I noticed his fins looked shredded and immediately
took him out and put him in the small SpongeBob tank that I had kept
running in case a quick quarantine was needed. The thing is, he never
got better. The fins never started repairing and he became listless.
Last night I noticed that he was spending most of his time on the
bottom, only going to the top for air. This morning I found him dead.

The water parameters in both tanks are fine.

So, should I think he was just ill and that's why his fins got the way
they did? If I buy another one how long should I keep him in quarantine
before I try him in the other tank? I'll be honest, I didn't quarantine
the first Betta, something I'm normally pretty religious about, because
I figured he was already in quarantine in the tiny container I bought
him in.

Thanks,
Klane

[NetMax]

"Klane" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> About two weeks ago I introduced a Betta into my 20 gal long community
> tank of 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 6 Zebra Danios and 2 Oto's. For about a week
> and a half everything was fine. The Betta seemed very happy and his
> fins remained untouched but I kept watching just in case.
>
> After about 11 days I noticed his fins looked shredded and immediately
> took him out and put him in the small SpongeBob tank that I had kept
> running in case a quick quarantine was needed. The thing is, he never
> got better. The fins never started repairing and he became listless.
> Last night I noticed that he was spending most of his time on the
> bottom, only going to the top for air. This morning I found him dead.
>
> The water parameters in both tanks are fine.
>
> So, should I think he was just ill and that's why his fins got the way
> they did? If I buy another one how long should I keep him in quarantine
> before I try him in the other tank? I'll be honest, I didn't quarantine
> the first Betta, something I'm normally pretty religious about, because
> I figured he was already in quarantine in the tiny container I bought
> him in.
>
> Thanks,
> Klane


Ordinarily, it can be a bad idea to mix members of the anabantidae family
(ie: Bettas and gouramis), especially when one or both can be aggressive,
and/or when the tank is small. Danios can also be nippy with Bettas,
especially when they sense its status has changed from predator to
victim.

Interesting idea about not quarantining a Betta because they were already
in isolation. imo, this has a limited validity, especially for external
parasites and faster bacterial contagions - if there was no chance of
cross-contamination (during feeding, water changes etc). For slower
internal problems, which can be triggered by stress (associated with
transport and acclimation), then the theory starts leaking more
heavily... but it was an interesting idea!
--
www.NetMax.tk