MujiB
- #1
Hello Betta lovers,
I'm in desperate need of your help!
I'm new at this and I've clearly overestimated my abilities and knowledge. My little fish are suffering because of me
I have 1 male Betta in a planted 5 gallon marineland portrait tank and I wanted to get 1 female in a separate tank. The seller who had the female I liked, had a male to match so I decided to get a 10 gallon tank, divide it and have the male and female in each 5 gallon side.
Things went terribly wrong from this point on. . Another seller I was talking to had 4 females I liked very much so all 6 fish got shipped together. My plan was to have 5 females in a 10 gallon and have a separate 5 gallon for the new boy. Plans didn't work out and by the time all 6 arrived, I had 1 10 gallon tank with great perimeters divided in a roughly 7/3.
I've used gravel, wood, filter cartilage and plants from my cycled tank ahead of time but I only had 7 days of fishless cycling so while the parameters showed perfect at the local fish place, the sudden addition of 6 fish can't be great.
Tank is a standard marineland led kit but there is a sponge slowing down the water from filter. About 9 live plants and 2 fake silk ones and 1 driftwood. Lots of hiding places as I have hard time seeing the fish myself.
Fish arrived Friday night. They all seemed to like their tank and got their colors and all ate their pellets happily. Saturday morning they seemed happy with tank. Ate frozen blood worms. Girls loved it but male wouldnt eat. He had a bubble nest going, swimmed, flared and seemed happy. I did a %30 water change with prime and added some live bacteria. Saturday night male kept hiding under leaves and resting. ((The girls are a different problem.. 4 of the females were supposedly together in the same tank which is the only reason why I thought I can have a sorority. Yet pretty much everyone is angry at everyone else. ))
This morning (Sunday) I wake up to a sad tank. My boy was just laying in the bottom and his colors looked pale, the matching girl seems to be doing the same on her side of the tank. The other 3 of the 4 girls are chasing each other but otherwise seem healthy.
I immediately did a %80 water change. (Because I'm a complete idiot I didnt have water ready so it was tap water (we have soft water) treated with prime and just a bit of added bacteria) the temperature showed 76 (normally they are at 79 and now is back to 79) Also I changed the plants to give them better hiding areas.
Male sat on the bottom for hours but n flared a bit at what girls he can see (the divider has many plants in front of it) and the girls seemed to be hiding better. Although 1 is clearly the troublemaker.
I feel like my boy is not doing ok. He isn't happily swimming around and keeps laying on floor or plants.
What can I do or add to help them?
I realized I'm an idiot and I could have done this much differently but here we are. I just want to save them but I'm also limited. I can't just purchase another tank for another 3 months (space issue) All I have is a separate filter and some containers, and a 1 gallon plastic emergency bowl with plant and gravel from cycled tank.
Any ideas and advice will be highly appreciated! Please help me out?
Thank you !!
Ps. To make matters much worse I just found out I have to leave the house Tuesday and can't be back till Friday due to some repairs. Noone to change their water!
Do I put them in small separate bowls? Or keep them together but have someone drop prime? Help! !

I'm in desperate need of your help!
I'm new at this and I've clearly overestimated my abilities and knowledge. My little fish are suffering because of me
I have 1 male Betta in a planted 5 gallon marineland portrait tank and I wanted to get 1 female in a separate tank. The seller who had the female I liked, had a male to match so I decided to get a 10 gallon tank, divide it and have the male and female in each 5 gallon side.
Things went terribly wrong from this point on. . Another seller I was talking to had 4 females I liked very much so all 6 fish got shipped together. My plan was to have 5 females in a 10 gallon and have a separate 5 gallon for the new boy. Plans didn't work out and by the time all 6 arrived, I had 1 10 gallon tank with great perimeters divided in a roughly 7/3.
I've used gravel, wood, filter cartilage and plants from my cycled tank ahead of time but I only had 7 days of fishless cycling so while the parameters showed perfect at the local fish place, the sudden addition of 6 fish can't be great.
Tank is a standard marineland led kit but there is a sponge slowing down the water from filter. About 9 live plants and 2 fake silk ones and 1 driftwood. Lots of hiding places as I have hard time seeing the fish myself.
Fish arrived Friday night. They all seemed to like their tank and got their colors and all ate their pellets happily. Saturday morning they seemed happy with tank. Ate frozen blood worms. Girls loved it but male wouldnt eat. He had a bubble nest going, swimmed, flared and seemed happy. I did a %30 water change with prime and added some live bacteria. Saturday night male kept hiding under leaves and resting. ((The girls are a different problem.. 4 of the females were supposedly together in the same tank which is the only reason why I thought I can have a sorority. Yet pretty much everyone is angry at everyone else. ))
This morning (Sunday) I wake up to a sad tank. My boy was just laying in the bottom and his colors looked pale, the matching girl seems to be doing the same on her side of the tank. The other 3 of the 4 girls are chasing each other but otherwise seem healthy.
I immediately did a %80 water change. (Because I'm a complete idiot I didnt have water ready so it was tap water (we have soft water) treated with prime and just a bit of added bacteria) the temperature showed 76 (normally they are at 79 and now is back to 79) Also I changed the plants to give them better hiding areas.
Male sat on the bottom for hours but n flared a bit at what girls he can see (the divider has many plants in front of it) and the girls seemed to be hiding better. Although 1 is clearly the troublemaker.
I feel like my boy is not doing ok. He isn't happily swimming around and keeps laying on floor or plants.
What can I do or add to help them?
I realized I'm an idiot and I could have done this much differently but here we are. I just want to save them but I'm also limited. I can't just purchase another tank for another 3 months (space issue) All I have is a separate filter and some containers, and a 1 gallon plastic emergency bowl with plant and gravel from cycled tank.
Any ideas and advice will be highly appreciated! Please help me out?
Thank you !!
Ps. To make matters much worse I just found out I have to leave the house Tuesday and can't be back till Friday due to some repairs. Noone to change their water!
Do I put them in small separate bowls? Or keep them together but have someone drop prime? Help! !





