Just rambles and rants from the artist formerly known and currently known as Synthetic Tone.

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Tetra's are just about gone

Posted 02-11-2009 at 01:32 PM by synthetic
Updated 02-11-2009 at 06:38 PM by synthetic

Well, despite what I have read and pet store told me... Neon Tetra's are not a good fish to put in with a male Betta. Out of 6... I am down to 2 and I think they will be gonners by time I get home today.

It seems the Betta likes messing with them. He will chase one for a bit but never really tries to snip it... just chases and I think that is enough to scare those little things into a heart attack. I watched one happen last night... it was weird. He suddenly became distant and didn't want to hang with his other 2 buddies and kept swimming to top like he was gasping for air. Then he would fall down like he was dead but then suddenly start darting randomly all over the tank. He did this for about 15 minutes before finally he just quit moving and laid at the top.

There was 2 left when I left this morning and I could tell they were both scared silly and one already looked like it was getting the same distant look as the one last night and was going out on his own without his buddy. I have a feeling one of both will be gone when I return from work today.

Lessoned learned there. Gotta get fish that are close in size to the Betta... he's just too big of a bully to have those tiny fish in with him. Red's a bully but still love him. He's got personality and he actually seems to respond to my appearance near the tank so I guess I will keep him lol.

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thats a shame Synth.
maybe this will help: The Fish Tank FAQ - Bettas

If you havent already you should make sure that if you have smaller fish, you should give them a place to go and hide (like crevasses between rocks in a pile) where the bigger fish cant get at them. they may spend thier entire lives hiding, (i have had some that did) but often they can and will use the hiding spot only when it gets dangerous. often the bully fish will grow weary of the game.

Posted 02-11-2009 at 05:05 PM by supertackyman supertackyman is offline

	thanks for the website... I will read up on that this evening. I did have a medium size mountain in the tank with caves in it but for some reason the Tetra's wouldn't use it. They stayed in the opposite corner of the tank. Guess they just weren't real bright.
	Posted 02-11-2009 at 06:40 PM by synthetic

Quote:

Guess they just weren't real bright.

well, that's pretty normal. it seems that the lower your rung on the foodchain, the dumber you are, but the better you are at breeding mass numbers. your strength is in numbers, not smarts.

* this rule is to the contrary regarding the homosapien members of the world, whom are proficient breeders and are noted for acts of immense dumbness. and yet, have risen to the very precipice of the food chain. (opposable thumbs up for world domination

)

Posted 02-11-2009 at 07:14 PM by supertackyman supertackyman is offline

Hehe, yeah where on top... due to out numbers and our opposable thumbs

I have had the same problem... I cant remember what kind of fish I had that where smaller than my betta's but some of those died the same kind of dead.

My solution was to get some plants (those plastic things at the pet shop?) And place them around their "lurking spot" than in the middle of all that weed I placed some stones found in the yard so that the betta's couldn't go everywhere in there...

That saved some of my smaller fish

Posted 02-11-2009 at 11:33 PM by unleash unleash is offline

	Quote: Originally Posted by unleash My solution was to get some plants (those plastic things at the pet shop?) Actually, they've recently come out with a new invention: live plants. They "grow" when given sunlight, and they're produced by "reproduction." lol It's just a matter of whether the pet shops carry suitable aquarium plants.
	Posted 02-12-2009 at 01:03 AM by Culann

	I had one plastic plant... they seemed to stay near it. I hadn't thought about building a hiding space near it. The mountain and caves were on the other side. The sole survivor finally figured out that the mountain and caves were the place to be. He was hiding in there yesterday when I returned home. Now if only he could have taken charge and got his buddies into those caves sooner.
	Posted 02-12-2009 at 01:14 PM by synthetic

see synthetic, thats how it works. the stupid ones die, and the smart ones live to reproduce.
at least thats how its supposed to work.
the consumer protection agency put a damper on darwinian selection here in the states. used to be that if billybob wanted to throw lawn darts straight up and watch them come down, he was free to do that until he had been eliminated from our gene pool. it seems lately that all the protecting that the government provides stupid people from themselves, just allows them to fill the asiles at Wal*Mart more efficiently.

Posted 02-12-2009 at 06:03 PM by supertackyman supertackyman is offline

yep... the population keeps growing and people complain about urban sprawl, pollution, and increased traffic on the roads but yet they want everyone to live longer by eating healthier, using seat belts, forcing car makers to develop safer vehicles, not letting those die that really want to die for one reason or another, etc... just never made sense to me... my guess is they just want to make sure they can collect as much taxes as possible which means everyone needs to live and live as long as possible lol

Posted 02-12-2009 at 07:35 PM by synthetic synthetic is offline

	I've never been too fond of neons myself. They are small, get eaten regularly, and are remarkably sensitive to pH changes (which happens very regularly in new tank setups). Personally I'd try adding some barbs.... but be careful as they do like to nip a bit. Serpae tetras are also a safe bet as they are pretty large and can shoal nicely.
	Posted 02-13-2009 at 10:40 PM by Man1c M0g

yeah... I just kinda like the colors of the Neons... but a friend of mine said his father had trouble with them too and they didn't last long. My tank is new to me but... it is an older seasoned tank... I think it was the Betta scaring them unless my PH changed from feeding etc.

I thought about Barbs but my beta has these really nice colorful and large fins and not sure if I want to risk having those nipped and tattered. I will check on those Serpae you mentioned though... thanks for the tip Mog

Posted 02-13-2009 at 11:41 PM by synthetic synthetic is offline

	your pink is showing again.
	Posted 02-14-2009 at 03:46 AM by supertackyman

	Quote: Originally Posted by synthetic I will check on those Serpae you mentioned though... thanks for the tip Mog No worries. Try looking for Black Phantom Tetras too... they are quite wild, but they only ever chase each other around the tank... so your other fish are safe.
	Posted 02-15-2009 at 01:27 PM by Man1c M0g

	Quote: Originally Posted by supertackyman your pink is showing again. shhh... that's kinda personal don't you think Black Phantom Tetra's? Sounds interesting... I will see what is available on the net
	Posted 02-15-2009 at 01:34 PM by synthetic

	If you like the colors you may want to look into African Cichlids. There are alot of diff types although they are aggresive.
	Posted 02-20-2009 at 07:46 PM by mccaherty3