Tattered fins

[Tammy]

Hello!

I have been reading this board for awhile, but have yet to write. Course,
up till now, I didn't have any questions to post.

I have a 10g community, that has been doing exceptionally well, despite
being a tad crowded. (It is awfully hard to resist getting new fish,
especially when I finally found some really nice head and tail light tetras
that I have been wanting for awhile!)

Some background info, I have a 10g, running both an under gravel filter, and
a Penguin BioWheel 125. Since my water here is sooooo very hard (Las Vegas
has about the hardest water in the country... drat it) I use bottled
purified water for my tank. I have my GH and KH between 85 to 100, and my
PH stays at a comfortable 7.0 to 6.8 I don't have any problems with ammo.
or nitrate in my tank (AFTER it finally settled.... took forever!)

Now for my problem. I have to be out of the state for a family emergency,
and ended up being gone for 2 weeks, when I had originally planned on a few
days. I had a friend taking care of both my fish, and my cats (least he
cats eat the fish!) The cats were fine, but my fish didn't fare so well.
My tank was do for its routing water change when I left, but I figured it
would do ok. The problem was it was both WAY overfed, and the water level
dropped too low, which prevented the lift tube for the UG from working
correctly. Needless to say, I lost a few fish (ok, so there were
technically too many.... but it was fine before, and had stayed that way)
and my water was nasty when I got home.

I changed all the filters, did a 20% water change and also a new airstone,
as this one was really yucky. Oh, forgot to mention that I also keep a bag
of carbon and nitrate reducer (the white stuff.... can't remember what it is
called at the moment... duh!) Yes, that is over kill for a 10g but that is
the only way I could get it to cycle in the beginning.

So, (long winded... sorry) a week after getting home and getting to work
cleaning it up, I have lost a total of 4 fish, but the tank if back to its
normal clear, clean self. All tests are back in the normal range for my
tank, and my poor abused fish are active and eating normally. The only
evidence is some nasty looking fins. My neons are raggedy, and my male
Betta looks like he has been through a war.

My question is this: will thier fins eventually grow back and look healthy
again? Their color (which was rather faded) has returned, and they are back
to normal activity, but they sure look sad. I hate to think I have pulled
them through this crisis, only to have them keep looking so bad. Is there
anything I can do? I regularly use StressCoat as it is, so perhaps that
will heal them. Any ideas?

Sorry for rambling on.... I would, however, really appreciate any advice.
As it is, I am happy, as I first thought I would have to scrap this tank and
start it over again. But it would be nice to get them back to looking like
fish again, and not chewed up scraps (hummm, maybe the cats did snack some?
LOL!)

Thanks a bunch! :-)

Tammy

[Anna Hayward]

In article <lH_1b.7807$QT5.6488@fed1read02>, Tammy >
writes
>Sorry for rambling on.... I would, however, really appreciate any
>advice. As it is, I am happy, as I first thought I would have to scrap
>this tank and start it over again. But it would be nice to get them
>back to looking like fish again, and not chewed up scraps (hummm, maybe
>the cats did snack some? LOL!)

Neons and betta in the same tank? Bad news - I'm surprised your betta
lasted as long as he did. The Latin for neons translates as "little
nippers" and they are notorious fin nippers. I find black neon tetras (a
totally different species) are generally OK but no tetra is ideal with a
betta.

If I were you, I'd get your betta his own little tank or bowl, a plant
and a cave and he'll be much happier.
--
Anna Hayward, Alien Visitor
mailto:

Anna's Pregnancy, Parenting and Autism page:
http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/

[blove]

with the betta bein in his own bowl or small tank you can give him meds like
BettaFix will start the healing fast. its recommended that he should have
atleast a gallon bowl or bigger. and ya just keep it clean so he wont get
finrot. id use spring water just because it has minerals that fish need.
whats great for bettas are those 2.5 gallon minibows that come with a
filter. i bought a 5.5 minibow from the fish killer store (walmart) for
only like 40 bucks and i have 2 female bettas in it and im waiting for my
local fish store to get in more female bettas so i can add a third and im
gonna get a dwarf frog to go in with them.

"Anna Hayward" > wrote in message
...
> In article <lH_1b.7807$QT5.6488@fed1read02>, Tammy >
> writes
> >Sorry for rambling on.... I would, however, really appreciate any
> >advice. As it is, I am happy, as I first thought I would have to scrap
> >this tank and start it over again. But it would be nice to get them
> >back to looking like fish again, and not chewed up scraps (hummm, maybe
> >the cats did snack some? LOL!)
>
> Neons and betta in the same tank? Bad news - I'm surprised your betta
> lasted as long as he did. The Latin for neons translates as "little
> nippers" and they are notorious fin nippers. I find black neon tetras (a
> totally different species) are generally OK but no tetra is ideal with a
> betta.
>
> If I were you, I'd get your betta his own little tank or bowl, a plant
> and a cave and he'll be much happier.
> --
> Anna Hayward, Alien Visitor
> mailto:
>
> Anna's Pregnancy, Parenting and Autism page:
> http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/

[levittd]

bp
"Anna Hayward" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> Neons and betta in the same tank? Bad news - I'm surprised your betta
> lasted as long as he did. The Latin for neons translates as "little
> nippers" and they are notorious fin nippers. I find black neon tetras (a
> totally different species) are generally OK but no tetra is ideal with a
> betta.
>
> If I were you, I'd get your betta his own little tank or bowl, a plant
> and a cave and he'll be much happier.
> --
> Anna Hayward, Alien Visitor
> mailto:


Beg to differ about the betta thing. I've kept one of my females in my 15
gal hex with neons, glowlights, silvertips, marbled hatchets, otos, and a
baby pleco for about 8 months now and never has a fin been nipped in this
tank on any of the fish. Obviously, ymmv but I've kept community tanks with
neons in them for years and years and I've never witnessed this supposedly
common behaviour, nor seen damage on other fish resulting from it. In fact,
when any of the other fish get close to her when she's in a mood she just
flares at it and it usually swims away and hides.

levittd

[Graham Ramsay]

"Anna Hayward"wrote
> Neons and betta in the same tank? Bad news - I'm surprised your betta
> lasted as long as he did. The Latin for neons translates as "little
> nippers" and they are notorious fin nippers.

Paracheirodon innesi
Para = near
cheir = hand
odon = tooth
innesi = named after Innes

Never known a Neon to nip a fin (apart from that of other Neons)
in 25 years of keeping them. Must have kept hundreds over the years
with all sorts of long finned fish including Fighters.
Other tetras are not so peaceful though, Serpae and Black Widows
can make short work of a fancy Guppy for instance.
There's always the possibility of course but I'd be surprised.

--
Graham Ramsay
You might be a Bright:
www.the-brights.net

[Tammy]

Hello again!

My thanks to everyone who replied. Actually, most of you said what I had
already been thinking. Get my Betta outta there!

Funny how a little information can lead to near disaster. I have done a lot
of reading, researching, and asking questions along the way with this tank.
Needless to say, it is my first. I thought I was doing a good job, after
some hard (and yes... fatal) mistakes in the beginning. Now that the tank
is established (has been going for near 2 years now) I thought everything
was fine. But now come the finer lessons in the hobby, that for me anyway,
previously escaped me.

Sure, we can get the tank "technically" successful, as in all our water
quality issues are addressed, and the fish look decent. But when it comes
down to providing for their emotional comfort, that is a little harder. I
went back to the books for some further reading and research and learned
some new things. Now, in hindsite, I wonder why I ever set up the
"community" I have. No wonder they never really seemed to thrive. And I
was happy because they were not dying! Seems pretty short sighted now. I
guess we all live and learn.

Now I get to figure out how to remedy the situation on my currently tight
budget. Sure.... I would LOVE to run out and get a bigger tank (wouldn't we
all?! LOL) but I can't afford it. For starters, I am going to move the
Betta and one of my frogs (long story there) into thier own tank. Then
evaluate where to go next with my 10g. See, I have several "school" fish,
that are now just individuals. So, my problem is who gets to go and who
gets friends of his own kind. They can't all stay, darn it. At last count:
1 cherry barb (had been 2) 1 lemmon tetra (had been 2) 3 neons (had been 6,
although not with all the other larger fish at one time...) and 1 head and
tail lite tetra. Plus a cory cat and a (for now) small pleco. Told you I
was over stocked.... oh, the 2 frogs. Any body have any creative ideas on
how to redistribute this little "herd" effectively and inexpensively?
LOL?!!

Again, thanks for letting me ramble again. Mostly I was just "thinking" to
the group, but sometimes good ideas or new knowledge comes of it.

Tammy

[NetMax]

"levittd" > wrote in message
.. .
> bp
> "Anna Hayward" > wrote in message
> ...
> <snip>
> > Neons and betta in the same tank? Bad news - I'm surprised your betta
> > lasted as long as he did. The Latin for neons translates as "little
> > nippers" and they are notorious fin nippers. I find black neon tetras
(a
> > totally different species) are generally OK but no tetra is ideal
with a
> > betta.
> >
> > If I were you, I'd get your betta his own little tank or bowl, a
plant
> > and a cave and he'll be much happier.
> > --
> > Anna Hayward, Alien Visitor
> > mailto:
>
>
> Beg to differ about the betta thing. I've kept one of my females in my
15
> gal hex with neons, glowlights, silvertips, marbled hatchets, otos,
and a
> baby pleco for about 8 months now and never has a fin been nipped in
this
> tank on any of the fish. Obviously, ymmv but I've kept community tanks
with
> neons in them for years and years and I've never witnessed this
supposedly
> common behaviour, nor seen damage on other fish resulting from it. In
fact,
> when any of the other fish get close to her when she's in a mood she
just
> flares at it and it usually swims away and hides.
>
> levittd

Bettas are IMO the least predictable fish in the trade. I have a 60g
tank filled with Zebra and Giant danios beside my office/counter. In
order to illustrate that Bettas can be kept with other fish, I usually
keep a Betta in there. There is probably no worse place for fin nipping
than having 1 Betta in a tank with 100 Zebra danios.

He drops the fish in. The Zebras in their usual enthusiasm, crowd around
the new thing which has fallen into their domain. Is it food, is it a
toy? The crowd goes silent. Either he flares and sends all the Zebras
scurrying away, or he runs for the cover of the Hygrophilia. It's
decided in under a minute. If in the Hygrophilia, we 'rescue' him back
to the cup. However, if he has sent them all running with their tails
between their ventral fins, then he typically rules the roost, and
wanders back & forth oblivious to the maddening Zebra behaviour of never
keeping still.

I just have to keep explaining to customers, ymmv ym-will-v! ;o)
NetMax