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Saga of the Roommates: Taco and Tian-Tian

1K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  ifish 
#1 ·
Tian-Tian vs. Taco.

So I've begun conditioning Taco and Tian-Tian as roommates. :-D They'll be sharing a 5 gal. tank in my dorm within a few weeks.

At the moment I'm sitting next to the two of them. The 2.5 gal tank is split in half by some plastic canvas. Taco is on the right side and Tian-Tian is on the left.

I've done this before with my boys (though I haven't mentioned it). I've never gone over 10 minutes and I've always kept them supervised. And yes, the water gets changed extremely frequently.

The point of this exercise is to get them used to being in close proximity with each other. I am not tormenting them or chasing them around or confining them to these tiny spaces permanently. So don't y'all worry. ;-)

At the moment Taco and Tian-Tian are facing away from each other, with their noses pointed in the opposite direction. :lol: Tian-Tian is jealously guarding his castle. He knows Taco is there, but he hasn't made any aggressive moves towards him (though he has in the past, lol). These guys make me laugh!

Anyway, I'll be making some updates here and there on what they're doing. All is well.
 
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#3 ·
I love these fish! Bettas are way to addicting and have so much personality.
 
#5 ·
Good luck with the conditioning!
 
#6 ·
Hmmm... woke up to this:

Tian-Tian: swimming normally, seeming happy, bowing a bubble here and there in his tank, sleeping in his plant now and then ('cause he's an old man and needs his sleep, lol)

Taco: pouting, not moving in one corner of his tank. Only ate one pellet all morning. Appears relaxed and sleeping.... but Taco never sleeps this late. And he literally hasn't left that corner.

I'll be getting some water changes to both boys and see if that perks up Taco. Poor thing. :(
 
#7 ·
Turns out Taco got whatever Tian-Tian had. D'oh!

He didn't eat his food after all and his body language pretty much told me what was wrong. Ich.
At this point I can only offer clean water and salt baths. However, he should be fine within the week. :) Besides, if Tian-Tian, the "old fart" can bounce back from his various ailments, Taco should be perfectly okay, being so young that he is.

I expected one of 'em was gonna get sick from the other, but that's the whole point of this thing. They need to be used to each other since they'll be living in the same tank. I expect things will turn out all right. :)

Stay tuned!
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the clarification and the well-wishes, neenjar!

Unfortunately, my boys both caught bugs from each other. So I'm doing all I can to keep 'em both healthy and comfortable as possible. It's gonna be a while before either of them are ready. I might have to buy the tank much later than anticipated if it's gonna come down to my boys not doing well with each other.

We'll see.
 
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