The serpae tetras Hyphessobrycon spp. are sometimes guilty of fin nipping in the community tank,
so they should not be kept with long-finned and/or slow-moving fishes.
I told him that I don’t think the betta will
live long if kept like that, but he argued
that bettas have a special organ that allows
them to breathe air and that, in nature,
these fish are sometimes found living in
very small volumes of water. Which one of
us is right?
Carol Ann Huff
betta will, by necessity, be kept at room
temperature, which is far too cold and will
cause it to become listless and lethargic in
short order. Also, in such confining quarters,
the betta will be subjected to precipitous
fluctuations in water quality, resulting from
its own waste and the decomposition of
uneaten food.
Wapakoneta, Ohio
I would remind your friend that just
because a fish can exist for a certain period
under suboptimal conditions doesn’t mean
it can thrive and live a long, healthy life
under those same conditions. After all,
a human being can be kept alive in a
wooden crate with a breathing hole drilled
in it, but that would make for a miserable
existence indeed!
Q
Marauding
Serpae Tetras
I recently added three serpae
tetras to my 20-gallon tank
ice of the dealer at my local
aquarium store. He told me these tetras
make good community fish. Boy was
he wrong! At first, the tetras got along
fine with the other fish in my tank, but
then they began chasing and nipping at
my fancy guppies and my bronze cory
catfish. I’ve already lost my male guppy,
leaving me with only females, and my
poor cory catfish never gets a break. Did
I just get an unusually obnoxious batch of
serpae tetras, or is this normal behavior?
at the adv
atmospheri
Well, you’re both right. It’s
true that bettas have a special
organ called a labyrinth organ
that allows them to breathe
c air. It’s also true that bettas
are sometimes found living in very small,
oxygen-poor bodies of water. In fact, anyone
who has been around this hobby for a while
has heard or read reports of bettas being
discovered in the water-filled footprints of
large animals, such as water buffalo.
Nonetheless, I think you’re also right
that your friend’s betta likely won’t live
long if kept suspended from the wall in a
small vase. The lack of filtration results in
very poor water quality; in fact, most vase
bettas manifest severe ammonia burn of the
fins. This means their gills are dangerously
damaged as well. Also, bettas need a water
temperature in the range of 80°F in order
to thrive, and there’s simply no realistic
way to heat a vessel that small (even that
water-filled buffalo footprint is surrounded
by hot, humid air). That means your friend’s
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