Had to make a tough decision.

[travis32]

O.k. well my plan to house two marine bettas in a 55g tank, didn't go well... I know. Before anyone says I told you so..... I know, I get it.. I accept my mistake and am trying to do what I can to be responsible to my livestock..


So, I have a friend with a 55g he was wanting to get a marine betta the same time as me I found out after the fact, but he's tight on money, well more than me anyways right now. So, I got the two betta shipment on Saturday. Today I came home from work and the submissive one had a gash in his side. He was missing scales, and it was red.. Not sure if they're blood is red or not, but, it had a tinge of red. I don't know if the gash actually did more than remove scales...

And well, since I don't know marine biology very well I don't know what type of wounds are mortal...

So, I made a last minute decision today hopefully early enough to save the wounded one. I gave the healthy one to my friend, thinking it would survive the stress of the move better than the wounded one. I hope I made the right decision. In the process of getting him out I had to dismantle my rock work. We got him safely out with a net. after relocating the rocks (didn't take them out of the tank, just moved them inside.. Don't ask how we did that in a 55g tank.. We did...

So, I reaquascaped, which I actually liked the new random design better than the old one.. However, I'm worried about my paramaters.. did I disturb the bacteria, detritious, etc, in the tank to release nitrates, ammonia, etc? Or once everything settles it should be fine? And fyi, I am running filter floss, activated carbon, and the skimmer, etc. I'm withholding feeding today to allow things to settle.

Once I resettled everything, the corals were extremely POed.. Of course. Slime everywhere.. I dosed some iodine I had to help hopefully help with the coral recovery and the fish recovery. I believe iodine should help promote healing. I could be wrong here.. I dosed less than it said to on the bottle. Plus, if it was a slight OD, it should go inert after 8 hours. I feel safe and confident with the Iodine.

So, the question becomes, how do I nurse the wounded betta or is it all up to his healing powers to heal?


I'm kinda glad I got rid of the agressor. It was terrorizing my blenny, and my grama looked like she had a small scratch on her body that wasn't there before. I think the agressor betta may have chased her out of the tank and she hit my cover.

My crown leather had a bunch of branches broken off from my blenny hiding in it. So, I'm pretty sure the agressor betta was a bad bad fish.. The wounded one seems very docile and not agressive at all. I hope it heals! If it heals and recovers, I think it'll be a great fish. If it dies, it's the largest fish in my tank, It'll probably kill half my corals if I don't get it out soon enough.



Let me know if I made the wrong decisions on anything so far. I realize the biggest mistake was trying to get two bettas to be friends. Now that that's overwith, what do I do to get things back in order?

[travis32]

Wow, 55+ views, no comments?

[downhillbiker]

I think that you made a fine decision. I am unsure of whether or not the fish will make it, that is all dependent on the fish's health, stress level, whether it is eating, ect. I know that I added 4 yellow tangs, 2 triggers, and a regal angel to my tank last week, and world war 3 broke out. The fish that had been in there for almost a year now harassed the new fish without remorse. The next morning most of my yellow tanks had little gashes in the sides of their bodies. Today you can look at them and not even notice. They look healthy and they all get along great.

[travis32]

Wow. Awesome. I could have left the two bettas together longer, but, I was afraid of Darwinian's law kicking in. Survival of the fittest, pick on the weekest, etc. Maybe after a few days they would have gotten along, but with them separated now, the one I have seems happier.

[Drewbaby]

What you did I'd best. When two fish are going at it evenly it's for dominance, but when one is clearly kicking the crap out of the other who is only trying to get away there is usually a casualty.

[Gdevine]

Don't add any more iodine. Change out your filter floss and carbon more frequently and you may want to turn up your skimmer a bit more to get any "crap" out of the water column. A WC may not be a bad idea here as well. More importantly leave the tank alone now, no need for any more drastic changes, and let the tank settle back in and you should be fine.

[Shane Hoffman]

There is a product called stress coat that I have found to speed the healing of fish. I am not sure if it is scientifically proven that it helps heal fish. IME it does speed the recovery process. I purchase the stress coat that contains aloe. Its made by API.

[Gdevine]

Don't add anything more to the tank than your normal dosing and leave the fish alone...nature can do wonderful things is left alone.

[travis32]

Awesome, I just wanted to make sure that leaving the fish to their own devices is the best course of action. Thanks for confirming that!

It looked like the betta ate some last night after the other betta was gone. So, as long as he keeps eating, he should hopefully recover. Here's to the power of nature and marine life. I hope.

[csmfish]

FWIW, I have noticed that gashes always seem to heal fairly well and a bruised fish always dies, go figure!?