got new fishies

Well, after a ton of tedious questions about my fish tank, I finally got some yesterday. When last we heard, I had put my betta, Peter, in my 10 gallon tank, awaiting non confrontational buddies.

Picked up 3 neons..the tiny ones, and 3 white clouds. When I floated the bags in the tank Peter flared at them both and then kind of just went on his merry way, just coming by once in a while to check. The neons were just ignoring him and wondering, I guess, when they were going to get out of the bag, BUT the white clouds went NUTS. Every time Peter went by their bag they would go crazy...spinning back and forth and slamming themselves so hard against the inside of the bag trying to get at Peter that you could actually hear them hitting the bag with their noses. Out of the tank came the bag and BACK TO THE STORE THEY WENT. I traded them in for 4 extra little neons. After I released them all into the tank, everybody just kind of went about their own business. Up until later this afternoon. I looked into the tank and saw one little neon just kind of bobbing near the top of the tank...not a good sign...THEN here comes Peter. He slammed into the little guy, grabbed him with his mouth and basically flung him to the side. The neon was down for the count, not quite dead, but on his way. He started a spinning nose dive to the bottom of the tank, lay there for about 5 minutes and expired. Poor little guy. When I looked closely at him I noticed that Peter had ripped a strip of skin off of the side of him. Ouch. Peter then proceeded to the back of the hidey log I have in there and started stalking the rest of them. He is now back in his 1/2 gallon tank. Alone. Once again at room temp. which is about 60F. Too bad. So sad. I feel no sympathy. I know he's just a fish and can't figure these things out, but you get what you pay for.

I wonder why he would all of a sudden freak out like that? If he didn't like them, territory and all that, I would think he would have showed how he felt right away, not sit around and stew about it for a day and a 1/2, like a person, then go postal. Weird.