Stunned Siamese Fighter

[Fluffypants]

We've just got a beautiful new male siamese fighter and put him in a tank on his own. Since putting him in all he has done is bob up and down in the corner. He has no interest in food and only waves his pectoral fins every so often. The tank has been going for 2 weeks and the water was tested okay before we put him in. The temp was 23.9 this morning so I've turned up the thermostat and added some Melafix on the assumption that he's stressed from the move.

We're worried because his behaviour is so different from the females that we already have. They are extremely interested in food and always on the move. Is this normal behaviour or is it stress? Anything else that we could do?

[Adrienne]

How long have you had him. Remember that his life so far has been pretty much all spent in a jar or small container. He will take a few days/weeks to adjust to life in a big tank. I do find that my male fighters alone in their own tanks do tend to just 'hang' there for the majority of the time. As long as he is eating don't panic yet.

[Fluffypants]

We only got him last night. He's about 5 months. I gather he came into the LFS on Thurs, then to us on Fri. That's quite a few moves in a short time frame.

[michael.qian]

I got one big red fighter yesterday.

At first he was hanging in one spot looking a bit lost, I left the house, few hours later in the afternoon I came back and he was swimming comfortably around the tank.

[michael.qian]

So guess my point is don't worry yet they might take a while to adjust.

I definitely don't believe such beautiful fish should be housed in small containers.

[Caryl]

And please, never medicate a tank on an asumption. Find out what is wrong first before adding chemicals (or anything else).

Give him time to settle 8)

[Adrienne]

He's probably been in quarantine for a while. Be patient - all fighters have different personalities. Give him space and time to settle. Watch from a distance until he gets used to people and movement. My fighters in the house are used to people, but when I walk into the shed where my breeding tanks are they spook the moment I come up to the tank.

[michael.qian]

It seems that my fighter has settled very quickly then, was never afraid of my movement from the moment I put him in the tank.

Some fish takes longer to settle than others, see how he goes tomorrow.

BTW what colour is he?

[Fluffypants]

He is a crown tail with a purple body and red fins. We think he is just gorgeous and hope our girls will too. We'll just sit back, try to be patient and give him some time to adapt to his new surroundings. It's a worry as his behaviour is a stark contrast to that of our females who are extremely social creatures.

Caryl, I used the Melafix because the directions stated that is could given in when the fish are being moved or handled. I hope I haven't done any harm, plus I only used half the recommended dose as a precaution.

[sharn]

I dont think there would have been any harm done and melafix is usually pretty gentle, if you were to chuck a huge dose of Formalin or something in there then that would certanly be dangerous.

Hope he settles in soon for you

[herefishiefishie]

Try placing a mirror in front of him, see if that livens him up.

Frenchy

[Fluffypants]

I have moved him from the new small tank into our bigger established tank with the two females. They showed a lot of interest in him to the point of nipping his fins. He is now in an isolation tank but in the last hour we noted a small white tubular sac with a black circle on the end appearing to protrude from behind his pelvic fin. It tapers near the body. I thought it might be his intestines but there doesn't seem to be an obvious tear in his abdomen. It doesnt look like a worm either. The best photo I could get is below. Any suggestions.

[Adrienne]

Don't know what it is but it shouldn't look like that - a hernia perhaps?

Not being smart but looks like some sort of rupture. Was it there before the females were in with him? Some males show what looks like the ovipositor on the female but they are only a small dot/tube, that looks swollen.

[Fluffypants]

Sadly he didn't make it through the night. I hope to find out what the protrusion was.

[firespook]

Aww, I'm sad to hear that

[me love fishy]

Is it common for the females to attack the male like that. I have three females and had a male and got up one day to find him dead his body was sort of curled around, I was a bit gutted considering he showed no signs of illness the night before.

I was wondering if he tried mating and the female got nasty, but not sure if this is a likely scenario or not?

[Fluffypants]

Pretty certain he never had the energy to attempt to mate. He was pretty subdued from the start which is why I thought he may be sulking in the tank on his own. Once put in with the girls, they were very attentive but I think more because he was just floating.

[Adrienne]

I have observed that when I have put males in my tanks with females they do tend to nibble at the males tail and fins, just little by little unless the male has somewhere to take refuge. Its really a case of introducing gradually or putting him or them in a container where they can see each other first. It also depends on their personalities.

Fluffypants - did you go back to the shop with him and what did they say/what did the other fighters look like?

[Fluffypants]

The post mortem verdict is stress induced prolapse of the bowel.

I suspected it was the instestine but mistakenly thought the anus was further back in the body. I now know that in bettas, the anus is located directly behind the ventral (pelvic) fins. I'll wait until the water in our small tank has cycled properly and will attempt another male. Only this time I'll leave him alone and not be tempted to introduce him to the females until he is a bit bigger.

[me love fishy]

sorry about your boy fluffypants.

Hope you have better luck next time.