Betta ill, or attacked?

Question

I've had my red male betta Griffin about- 5 months now, he lived for awhile alone in a 10 gallon tank. A few weeks ago I added what I was told was a cory cat fish of some kind, but turned out to really be a talking catfish(which I kept anyway). Since Waffle(catfish) kept to himself and hid during the day- Griffin didn't really care about him too much. But Waffle is nocturnal so I have no idea what those two get up to while I'm sleeping, but it never worried me- everything I read said Waffle was a good community tank fish if kept with good sized fish- and for now, Griffin is much larger than Waffle.

A few days after I got Waffle, I noticed some discoloration around Griffin's face-ish area, his once vibrantly red coloring was a fleshy pink color in a few places. I searched on the internet for hours, but couldn't find anything matching what was on Griffin, but everywhere I looked said lose of appetite was a good indication of a fish being ill- Griffin has never turned away food.

This morning, however, Griffin was just sitting at the bottom of the tank(which is odd for him) and it looked like something had plucked all the scales right off the top of his head! Again, I have failed to find any fish illness that would cause this. I found an old fish bowl and put him in there immediately.

Besides whatever happened to his head, Griffin's color is good(except where he's damaged), he is swimming around the bowl, and eating. He seems more annoyed to be in the bowl than anything. I'm wondering if Waffle is attacking Griffin? Or if Griffin has something I didn't come across on the internet?

Answer 1

Waffle probably had some sort of parasite and gave it to Griffin who is now sick  you could take him to your local pet store or even vet and get some medicine otherwise seperate them.

Answer 2

Bettas belong in a small tank alone and are very agasive

i put a btta in a tank with a nother fish and when i woke up the fish was on the floor. poor fish his name was abe never had a chance. : (

Answer 3

Ok, is it a cory cat or some sort of larger catfish? If it is a catfish that is not a cory, he may be attacking your betta. Also, if it is a cory cat, they are schooling fish. I suggest getting a few more of them once your betta is healthy. Most likely a fungus or a parasite.

Answer 4

....Talking Catfish have very sharp dorsal fins

....as the Betta is interested in the nocturnal activity in his tank, likely gets close to the catfish which, in turn, is startked and raises the sharp thorny spines that prick the Betta

...the Talking Catfish grow very large.....many feet long and wide!

...many tanks do well with the smaller Corydoras

...as the Betta adjusts to new fish mates he may also need some plants where he can rest with out being disturbed by the catfish

....java moss in a good, 'easy to care for', plant that floats on bottom, where Bettas can rest

....a small pleco is the zebra pleco, only gets 4"

Answer 5

if griffin had anything wrong with him then yr other fish would be bad too

as catfish are night predators this is probably why griffin got hurt dont keep them together at all or eventually 1 of them may die