My Betta ate the head and eyeball of two different Tetras

Feanor said:

Hello and welcome!

My concern would rather be to find a new home for the rest of the Tetras, provide them a tank of their own or bring them back to the store (if they accept them).

Before adding new fish to a tank with existing fish it is highly recommended to quarantine them for at least 14 days to make sure the new fish are healthy (or at least appear to be).

You don‘t need to get any medication now.
Just watch your fish and should you see any signs of different behaviour or appearence within the next days you can post it in the category ”Betta Fish Diseases and Emergencies“.

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Feanor said:

Concerning the Tetras:
Do you have an air supply/bubbler in the bowl?
What about the Tetra with the eyeball wound? Is he still alive?

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All helpful to know, thank you. And yeah, the one that lost an eyeball was a different color than the others so I think it may have come from a mixed tank and the person helping me didn't notice. It may have had shock or something going on before even trying to adjust to the tank. I put it in a cup and then flushed it after a few minutes of it floating on its side. Lesson learned - examine the bag. Also maybe it was just stunned and could have survived.

I have the remaining three in a large jar with a thermometer and propagating plant and they seem pretty happy. I just add some new warm water when the temp. drops to <=72. This is to avoid another $70 on a second tank and thermometer, but I might take that bait too in the next week and get some more friends for them.

I tried the epsom salt bath on AJ last night and his belly swelling is very slowly going down but this is day 3 with no food. I put a plastic bag in the tank corner to keep him in close to the surface so he can breath better and am just checking to make sure he's still breathing and changing some of the bag water.

took_the_bait said:

Not the exact events, but saw the attacks going on before finding them. Couldn't see the head anywhere else in the tank. But anyway, AJ kicked the bucket last night. I really think he had the head in his stomach and couldn't pass it. Three tiny Tetra now enjoying 10 gallons.

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With my experience with tetras, he would not be able just to swallow the whole head. And they are carnivores, he would easily be able to pass something like that. I would watch your 3 tetras and look for signs of parasites and any disease. Depending on the tetra, you need to get more than just 3, as they school a lot. Some larger tetra species will be "ok" with 3 but prefer more. Id wait a couple weeks and pick up another tank to quarantine some more tetras for your 10 gallon, as its healthy to have as many as are allowed in a tank. I keep neon tetras in my 10 gallon and have kept neons for almost 10 years. They still confuse me sometimes but I have a lot of experience. You want to look out for mainly, NTD, and Ich, and other diseases. Neon tetras especially come from huge breeding farms, and the disease usually passes by the inspectors, that's why when you first get neons, they can be delicate for this reason, but eventually get tougher over time as you feed them and build up their immunity. I have some large neons I picked up at a Pet Smart near me, where 2 of them hit the can the first week, but now all my others are large and tough. With neons the toughest survive. Same with other popular tetras. I do like neons, but in the future I plan on buying Cardinal tetras instead, they are more hardy, look simmilar and arent as over bred in my opinion.