My Betta Has Gone M.I.A.

I...er...yea, can't find my female betta at all. I know she hasn't jumped out but I still can't find her in the tank. I only got her about two days ago and I've only fed her fish flakes because I didn't know otherwise. It was what the freshwater fish "expert" had reccomended. And I've seen her spitting out all the food... And I was just wondering if she can hide, and how long I can expect to wait before she comes out again. ???

 

Here's for the obvious questions:
Are you 100% sure she didnt' jump out?
Did you lift every piece of deco and gravels? Sometimes fish get stuck on the back of the tank, between the glass and the filter.
Is she sharing the tank with other fish? If so, which?

 

If she did jump out something took her away from wherever she landed. Otherwise I'm 100 percent sure, yes. And now I've checked all the gravel and decorartions. (I've got a plasctic log she could have swam into though I don't know if she could have gotten stuck. I think I checked pretty thoroughly before I set it outside of the fish tank for a while.) The only other tank mates are three ghost shrimp and three Harlequins.

 

Umm do you have cats??

 

:;z well one thing this forum has tought me is when there's no other answer you blame the fish aliens :;z

 

ya they took over my plecos mind and made him go in the filter to eat food :;z stupid aliens cost him his life!

 

Nope, no cats. I think we might have some mice though and I've seen them in my room before. Might be a wild thought but if she jumped out and the mice got her...

But assuming she hasn't jumped out, how long would it be before she got really hungy and maybe either died or came up for food. (Assuming she can still swim to the top and isn't covered with rocks which I don't believe she is.)

 

a few days I think a fish could surive only getting fed once a week ...lol I never really tested them to see how long they could go..I'm a every other day kinda guy

 

would you be able to post pics of the tank from dif. angles? what about the filter? what kind is it and has it been checked completely?

 

one of my loaches likes to hang under one of my ordements that's hollow inside and has a hole in the bottom I was I picked it to gravel vac under it and it shhot of of there and I didnt know cuase its a horse face loach and it spends most of the day in the gravel

 

I think if you watched your tank for about an hour to 2 hours you should be able to see her come up for air, not because she needs to but more from instinct. Other than that I have heard of checking under all decorations a second time, and then a third time and the same thing with the filter. Check the impellers to for small bits *shudders*

 

My best guess it tht she jumped out.

 

this is a mystery that must be solved

 

Oh, nice one, that. You should totally be a fish detective.

I think if you watched your tank for about an hour to 2 hours you should be able to see her come up for air, not because she needs to but more from instinct.

 

Do you not have a lid on the tank? You should always have one because all fish are capable of jumping out.

Do you have an under-gravel filter? I have heard of Bettas getting stuck in them.

If you still can't find her then she has jumped out. They can flop around for a long time and get quite a way from the tank. She could be under some furniture or even stuck to the back of whatever your tank is on.

Bettas can survive a couple weeks with no food. They don't generally like flakes but can learn to eat them but will overeat and become dangerously constipated. This is one reason they don't make good community tank fish. It is not possible to control how much they eat unless they are alone or with fish who don't eat the same foods.

I wouldn't advise you get another Betta until you have a secure lid for the tank and make sure all decoration are safe and have holes big enough for the Betta to get in and out. They are insatiably curious and will get themselves in trouble if you don't watch for these things.