My newest Baby (oh dear! Its the betta bug!!)

[BabyKittenCandy]

Yep.. ive caught the Betta bug! Meet my newest baby Jorah:





I didnt actually plan on getting a veil tail at all but this lil guy wormed his way into my heart. After leaving the fish shop I spent the next 4 days arguing with myself over if i should buy him since I had promised myself something fancier but realised if he was sold when i went back in a week to see thier crowntails I would be gutted so I went back and thankfully he was still there!!

But saddly, you cant just have one! LOL! Having looked at plenty of other patterns colours my hubby has given in and said I can set up my bow fronted tank, which is big enough to divide and house two more males!! My sister bought me a new filter as a congrats on doing so well at your first year at uni present and I had a spare heater, so im all set!! Just awaiting hubby to re-inforce the worktop where the tank will go.

Does anyone else have the betta bug/keep betta's?

[Pinkshadow]

aww it's cute <3

[skysnolimit]

I have the Malawi Cichlid bug really bad ^.^;  I've been interested in bettas quite a few times though, but never had the opportunity to keep one.  I do think that yours is the happiest betta I've ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!  *misses my fish*

[LaneyAngel]

I love Betta's, spent about 6 years where I was never without one
waiting at the moment til I finish moving before I set up my tank, as my moronic father has a habit of using fly spray and killing my fish

[TanzeOdin]

I've loved bettas for quite some time But I have some fish in a tank at home, and I really don't have space for another tank so I didn't have one for awhile.
Then! I went up to my grandma's house, and she had one in /horrible/ condition. He had a bad bacterial infection, and pretty bad fin and tail rot.
My grandma is not a woman who mistreats animals at all. She used to live on a farm with horses and all, she loves animals. This came from an ignorant man at the pet store, who said that she had to keep him in shallow water or he would not be able to reach the surface for oxygen. She fed him betta tablets for a few days every week.
Minutes after I first arrived at her house he flipped over upside down and we all thought he died and got sad, but two minutes later, he flipped over and kept trying to swim. I grabbed the pitcher my grandma leaves water sitting out in(for days at a time) and poured some in and he lived!
That afternoon we went to a store to look at canaries for my great-grandma, who wanted one for her birthday. I found a crown-tail, who looked every color of the rainbow and really healthy.(the betta from before was just the standard red) I convinced my mom to buy him. And later convinced my grandma to make a trade-off for the healthy betta, on the strict condition that she takes good care of him, feeding him daily and all.
Fortunately, she really has! She even ventured onto the internet(*gasp*!) to look up things that would help him out more. And the lil guy I brought home, named Chesim(after a movie, I just saw the title, if you guys know what it's about that would be great) has made a full recovery. I feed him Tetra fin betta flakes(I like pellets better but oh well, couldn't get them at the time) and blood worms. He's really lively now, unfortunately, I don't have a tank for him, he's in a 1 gallon bowl. But I change half the water weekly, and he's with a plant that keeps the right amount of oxygen. He seems fine in that, even without a picture. His fins are growing back, and he's showing some bits of teal scales among the red. I'm really happy that it all turned out okay He even recognizes me now, and won't puff up at the site of me like he used to

[BabyKittenCandy]

Aww Skysnolimit, Thankyou! He is a very happy lil boy now!

TanzeOdin; the puffing up is flaring and is actually good for them.  In a one gallon with no filtration, his water should be changed completely once a week and 50% in the week too.  One gallons are also pretty hard to heat to the correct temp, I would recomend upgrading him to a 2 gallon or more as soon as you can.

[TanzeOdin]

Aww Skysnolimit, Thankyou! He is a very happy lil boy now!

TanzeOdin; the puffing up is flaring and is actually good for them.  In a one gallon with no filtration, his water should be changed completely once a week and 50% in the week too.  One gallons are also pretty hard to heat to the correct temp, I would recomend upgrading him to a 2 gallon or more as soon as you can.

I know it's good to let them puff up every now and then, he does it at my other fish when he's close to them. But I'm at my dad's for the summer, and my mom wouldn't have changed the water for him. I'll change the water more often, so thanks for the tip! I'm going to try and get a job starting the first week of Sept, so I'll try for a better tank with my first paycheck.(Unless I can convince my dad...hm..)

[Luv007]

I know we all do what we can for our pets.  I got two of mine from the humane society hear, and one was a deaf puppy with a lot of medical problems.  The third came from a flea market and the lady had the puppies in her car at 10 oclock in the morning.... in the south.  NOT a good plan.  Then the fourth one was a vday present from my husband to calm the third one down.

We make sure out dogs have everything they need, but we don't have the money to spoil them extravegantly or anything.  Basic grocery store dog food and whatnot.  It sounds like you love your fishy and took him out of a bad place, so you are doing what you can.   I'm sure when you're able, you'll spoil him a bit more.

[TanzeOdin]

Heheh, I try
Speaking of spoiling... I'm a plant addict. I have 2 with issues I can't seem to find the answer too >.< They don't seem fatal issues, but I wish they were healthy plants. Was thinking of starting a forum about it to see if anyone knew anything >.<

[BabyKittenCandy]

Glad to help and im sure he will appreciate your hard work to get a bigger tank! Even in a one gallon with the water changes he will be much happier than in a pet store!

A lil inexspensive treat for him is the inside of a cooked pea mashed up, Jorah goes nuts for it!

[Luv007]

I would never have guessed that a betta would like the inside of peas!!

[TanzeOdin]

I've never heard of that as a treat, but I did feed Chesim the inside of a pea once. I over-feed him a bit after getting him. I really couldn't resist..he was really skinny when I got him. He still is, and always goes nuts when someone walks by to the point where people ask if I feed him at all >.<
But yeah, he got constipated, and I read to feed him the inside of a cooked pea that was frozen first. I'll have to try giving him more, I didn't know he'd like it x3

[Mutt]

Okami and I have kept a couple of bettas, I gave up on them after my last boy a blue veil tail called Sergeant introduced a disease into my tank which killed him and my other fish off within a week or two despite my best efforts to cure them, I managed to save just one neon tetra.

Before that I had little Popeye,

I'm considering keeping bettas again once I have a little more space (should have that in a few weeks) I'd need to buy a new setup for them though. I miss how Popeye used to attack my hand whilst I was doing maintenance on his tank and how he'd act when it was time to feed him.

[TanzeOdin]

I love how bettas are missible though, they each act differently and such. Makes them so loveable.

[Victoria]

Wow! I have the betta bug too! They are just to gorgeous to just have one!!

[TanzeOdin]

I'm going to start begging dad for a new tank for Chesim. I have a few questions though, um.. Is it okay to put snails in with bettas? I heard it wasn't, because even store-bought snails can carry lots of diseases that would be bad for a betta. And what type of gravel is best? Right now I have Chesim with some thick stones, very smooth of course.  But if I get another tank, that won't work. And what type of heater/filter would be best?

[BabyKittenCandy]

Mutt, Popeye's colouring is beautiful!!! They are very characterful fish!

Okies, from what I know, Snails... if you wanna use snails go for Golden apple snails, they are larger and very docile. If you are worried about diseases I would quarantine them for 2 weeks (tbh, this should be done with any new fish/plants etc, Plants cos they can be hiding water snails, which are the sort you dont want, small, bad for betta's and breed like wildfire!)

Gravel is more a personal choice. Some people dont use it, some people use sand (I have no experience with sand!) Jorah has what is known here as shrimp gravel, its between 5-7mm big. As long as you rinse it well before use it should be ok to just use most kinds of natural gravel. Im not sure where you are based, but try and go to a specialist fish shop rather than a big place that doesnt really have much of a clue about the pets they sell. Since betta's dont really disturb the gravel like fish like goldfish do I think the choice will be personal tastes/preferences.

Heaters again, depending on where you are.  know in the USA, you can buy preset heaters for tanks for I think it was about $15.00. Over here in England heaters mostly start at £18.00.  The tank size will denote how big a heater and indeed how big a filter you need. A filter is handy, but they arent a total must have. Basically, betta's make a lot of ammonia, which can make them sick, hence the water changes. The filter allows a build of in it of bacteria which break down the ammonia into nitrites (which are also bad!) and further bacteria make that into nitrates.  The filter basically means you dont need to water change as often, though you should still do about a 50% change once a week. Tbh, with Jorah's tank I do 50% changes weekly for 3 weeks and on the 4th do a 100% change and clean the tank well with warm water.

If you can find a proper specialist fish shop they should be able to help you with the size heater and filter you need. Do some research though, you may well find it cheaper to buy a new complete set-up (tank, heater, filter, light) than to buy individual bits and if you do it that way, the heater and filter should be the correct size for your tank

Hope that helped somewhat, if anything is unclear feel free to ask away

[TanzeOdin]

No, that's great. Thanks so much for the help. I like the look of sand, I just worry about it sometimes. I'd never do that for my goldfish, but I wouldn't want it to rustle up and get into Chesim's gills or anything. I don't know if that even could happen >.< But I always worry about stuff like that.
Side note: Any ideas what to do about the gallon fish bowls when I have something better? I was going to give one for my grandma's betta, since she has a vase and is being stubborn about buying one. But if I can convince someone to buy a second 2-5 gal tank then I will. Then I'll have 2 fish bowls I'll feel bad about keeping fish in >.< I'll probably keep one for quarantine or if someone gets sick, though I don't think they would. I just want a few more things for my goldfish, and I'll probably get some more stuff for Chesim.

[BabyKittenCandy]

I think with sand, you need to move it about regularly to prevent a build up of gasses that are produced by the bacteria that will live it in. However, if you are totally taking the tank apart each month and giving it all a good clean (sand/gravel included) it might well be ok.

The gallon bowls I would certainly keep one, they would be handy for quarantine purposes for snails/plants and for treating your fish in if he does ever feel a lil under the weather.  If you have bowls plural I would certainly give one to your Grandmother but yes, do try and encourage her to get at least a 2 gal with a heater etc, I would have thought If she had ventured online and done some research on her boy she would have seen that he should be in a bigger tank with a heater. 

Goldfish.. I hope they are in a nice huge tank ^^ They are messy dirty fishies

[TanzeOdin]

It's a 10gal, we don't have space for much more, just 2 goldfish and a plecco x3
I'll see about convincing her to get a 2gal, and if not I'll give her the gallon. I probably won't go with sand then, I like to do full water changes monthly, and cleaning the tank up if it needs it, but I think sand would be really messy trying to clean. That and with the school year starting I won't have the time >.<

[BabyKittenCandy]

2 Goldies in a 10 gal is fine Esp with the Plec to help ^^

Yeah, im not confident on trying sand out, im sticking with Gravel Full changes monthly will be great long as u try and get in a 50% change weekly too ^^

Yeah, gonna be fun when I go back to uni ^^ Just getting my third tank sorted atm, lol

[TanzeOdin]

I always get uber excited when setting up a new tank, and getting to decide what it'll look like and all. I'll see about going out sometime, but my dad works all the time so it'll probably be Saturday >.< Um.. how often should I do water changes for my 10gal? I was never really sure and never really got a definite answer online. I try and do a full change monthly, but 50% weekly seems a bit much. And time costly >.<

[BabyKittenCandy]

Trust me, me saying 50% weekly is lax.. fanatics say they should have 2 50% and 1 100% changes a week! I personally feel this is too much for them! But they do need a weekly change and very very max maybe a week and a half but yeah, this is the thing with having pets, especially betta's, they take a lot of comittment and for proper care do need really regular water changes. If you get a Siphon changes dont actually take too long, esp in a 2 gal

For Goldfish, I would say a 50% change once a week, thats what I do for my 15Gal tank and they do seem ok, but then I do monitor water conditons with test kits etc.

[TanzeOdin]

I don't mind 50% weekly for a 2gal, though I did some looking, and pet stores seem to have kits for 2-5 gal, for $20-$40.(The ones nearby anyway) And so it looks like a 5gal kit from Wal-Mart with a heater will be my best bet. Sadly though, dad won't be willing to buy one for my grandma =S I'll try to talk to her about it.

[BabyKittenCandy]

Even if you end up giving your Grandma the 1 gal tank you will be helping a lot Just convince her to do very regular water changes

A 2 Gal is nice for your betta but if the money stretches bigger is nicer for them! Mine have 3.5 Gallons each, which is plenty and a 50% change really doesnt take long, so it should be fine. Just make it a regular thing on a set day/nite perhaps?

[TanzeOdin]

It's strange, but the kits for 2-.2.5 gal  are about the same price as those for 5gal. I guess because they all have the same things, just a bigger tank. My next worry is where to put another tank XD My room is pretty small, and I refuse to subject any fish to my brothers banging on the tank all of the time. If I can get it, I probably won't set it up or anything until I go back to my moms, it will probably only be another week. Something like that, thanks for all of your help x3