I've had my betta for about a year in a 2.5 gallon tank w/ a power filter...did partial water changes every 2 weeks & changed the filter pad every month...last week i got a small pleco to put in the tank b/c there was a lil algae starting to grow...he seemed very healthy...brightly colored, swimming around...very curious of the pleco...yesterday when i came home from work i noticed he was not moving at the bottom of the tank. I tapped on the glass but he still did not move...i thought he was dead...but then he started swimming around like nothing was wrong. the same thing happened last night. today when i got home from work he was dead at the bottom of the tank ( could his death be the result of the pleco being added or does it seem more like old age??

I doubt the plecto could have caused his death, but it may have stressed him. I've never found Betta's to do well with any other fish.

It also could have been old age.

well it must have been something because today i came home & now the pleco is dead ( the pleco i have in my other tank, which i got at the same store at the same time is fine along with my other betta ::knock on wood:: so maybe it was ammonia or nitrite levels that were off?? i used test strips...maybe i bought a defective pack (

1 year isn't very old for a Betta. They can also get along pretty well with other fish, just it's not a good idea to put them with their own species unless you've got a good breeding pair. It seems that since both fish died, there was something wrong with the water.

u shud get bowl buddies-they take chemicals out of the water just put 1 in after u clean