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HI, I'm Stacy and this is Finlay....

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finley newbie
3K views 26 replies 10 participants last post by  uzanybug 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi. I'm Stacy and this is Finlay....

Hello everyone.

Finlay is lots of fun. He was very active in his little travel cup at the Petco and has beautiful healthy color and bright eyes. He's a little smaller than most of the other bettas at the shop, but maybe that just means he's younger. He's my first pet, so I'm just learning.

He's a great companion-fish. He follows what I'm doing in the room and pays attention whenever I'm close by. He will jump up for his pellets before I even drop them into the tank, so he basically jumps and eats off the tip of my finger. His aim is getting better. Yesterday, I fed him a live house spider, and boy, did he get excited about that! I play with him with a mirror for a few minutes a day, so he can stay active, since is tank is so little.

I live in a small room and Findlay lives in a 1/2 gallon tank, so we're both a little cramped. I'm changing or partially changing his water very 3-4 days, and keeping the room really warm for him. That's all I can do right now. I hope he can stay healthy. I would hate to do anything bad for him.

Looking forward to chatting with you guys and learning from each other.
 

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#3 · (Edited)
Thanks, Sena. It's fun to have a place to talk about my new passion and I hope to learn how to take good care of Finlay.
Is that a young betta in your avatar?
You wouldn't happen to know how to remove the huge picture from my first post, would you? If any moderator sees this, please feel free to help me out with that. I'm new and just learning.
 
#5 ·
Actually that is a plakat koi female betta, who died due to a bad store's lack of care :roll:

As for posts and pictures you can only edit them for 15 minutes after, then it "locks" so to say. The picture is fine ^_^
 
#17 ·
Thanks Sena

Actually that is a plakat koi female betta, who died due to a bad store's lack of care :roll:

As for posts and pictures you can only edit them for 15 minutes after, then it "locks" so to say. The picture is fine ^_^
I meant to reply before you went offline, Sena.

Sorry about your rescue fish. It's heartbreaking to see how little poorly living things are treated in some of these stores. It must have been hard not to be able to bring her back to health.

Thank you for your tip about the 15-minute limit to edit post. Very useful to know. Sounds like you know your way around here. :wink:
 
#7 ·
Yes he was my first:)
he was the last one at Petsmart who wasn't dead so I got him...and he's been through so much. I was not the best betta mommy (he's had ammonia burns, salt burns, bloat, you name it). right now he's fighting off velvet. He's a little fighter though so I'm praying he makes it!!
I have had a few since I first bought him but now I have just him and Toby, my delta tail. But Leo will always be special:)
And up close...he's not so pretty haha. But he's a special little guy I love him so much
 
#8 ·
Poor little guy. Velvet sounds like no fun. Sending happy, healthy fishy thoughts for Leo your way. Don't be too hard on yourself. We all have to learn and I'm sure you've always tried your best for him.
Yet, I know what you mean about feeling like a bad fish parent. I'm learning so much, and realizing how much there is to learn. Someone gifted me Finlay's 1/2 gallon tank and told me it would be perfect for a betta and 1-2 snails. (Fortunately for Finlay, I was too broke to get the snails.) I hung on her every word about food, water changes, and everything. I appreciate her introducing me to fish keeping, but I'm so glad I looked beyond that advice or I still would have been doing water changes only once a week. Now, I'm roasting myself with a heater in my room to keep my fish warm! This seems like a wonderful community of people who love their fish and want to be good fish keepers. I hope I can get a bigger tank, a heater, thermometer, some real plants. Finlay has a holiday wish list. He's a wonderful fish. He really pays attention whenever I'm around and isn't lost in his own fishy world. I think that's the neatest thing. I now have his picture as the wallpaper on my phone!
 
#9 ·
Reply to Sunstar

Poor little guy. Velvet sounds like no fun. Sending happy, healthy fishy thoughts for Leo your way. Don't be too hard on yourself. We all have to learn and I'm sure you've always tried your best for him.
Yet, I know what you mean about feeling like a bad fish parent. I'm learning so much, and realizing how much there is to learn. Someone gifted me Finlay's 1/2 gallon tank and told me it would be perfect for a betta and 1-2 snails. (Fortunately for Finlay, I was too broke to get the snails.) I hung on her every word about food, water changes, and everything. I appreciate her introducing me to fish keeping, but I'm so glad I looked beyond that advice or I still would have been doing water changes only once a week. Now, I'm roasting myself with a heater in my room to keep my fish warm! This seems like a wonderful community of people who love their fish and want to be good fish keepers. I hope I can get a bigger tank, a heater, thermometer, some real plants. Finlay has a holiday wish list. He's a wonderful fish. He really pays attention whenever I'm around and isn't lost in his own fishy world. I think that's the neatest thing. I now have his picture as the wallpaper on my phone!
 
#10 ·
Thank you! Leo appreciates the thoughts! He's nearly died 3 times so I'm hoping this will just be another notch in his belt, so to speak haha. The only good thing is that I've learned a lot and am able to teach others now!
And don't worry about it! A .5 tank is good for now (and don't throw it away it can be a good hospital tank should he ever get sick!). You were smart to look for additional care- although I am sure your friend had the best of intentions and I am glad your friend introduced you to fish as now we have another betta lover on the site:)
I have tried my hand at real plants...that was a fail haha. But if you find that real plants dont work out, Petco silk plants are pretty good too!
Lol well a nice cheap tank is the 1.5 gallon Tetra cube from Walmart, or the 3 gallon tetra half moon tank (I have both haha). They are both very easy to heat- I recommend the Top Fin adjustable heater from Petsmart (save yourself money in the long run and go for an adjustable heater now...that way if you ever need to adjust the temperature you can! And it is not too expensive). With the 1.5 cube, you don't have to use the filter it comes with (in fact I actually recommend to not use it). But the 3 gallon is pretty nice, roomy and the filter is good. And it comes with a bubbler...instant betta fun (;
Haha I have a wish list going as well, I'm going to turn my 10 gallon into a hermit crab home and get another tank for Toby....I have so many haha. Finlay is so cute! And if you are ever looking for some good tank mates... Ghost shrimp are the way to go haha. Cheap if Finlay sees them as food instead of friends. Snails produce a lot of waste haha which is why I don't have one (I am sometimes lazy at cleaning the tank haha).
:D
 
#12 · (Edited)
Thanks Sunstar :)

.
.....if you find that real plants dont work out, Petco silk plants are pretty good too!
Lol well a nice cheap tank is the 1.5 gallon Tetra cube from Walmart, or the 3 gallon tetra half moon tank (I have both haha). They are both very easy to heat- I recommend the Top Fin adjustable heater from Petsmart (save yourself money in the long run and go for an adjustable heater now...that way if you ever need to adjust the temperature you can! And it is not too expensive). With the 1.5 cube, you don't have to use the filter it comes with (in fact I actually recommend to not use it). But the 3 gallon is pretty nice, roomy and the filter is good. And it comes with a bubbler...instant betta fun (;
Haha I have a wish list going as well, I'm going to turn my 10 gallon into a hermit crab home and get another tank for Toby....I have so many haha. Finlay is so cute! And if you are ever looking for some good tank mates... Ghost shrimp are the way to go haha. Cheap if Finlay sees them as food instead of friends.
Thank you for your kind welcome and for sharing your experience Sunstar! I should probably(?) shift to a Betta Care forum, if we post much more.

One of my first fish-y purchases was Petco silk plants. Finlay's current tank is so little, I didn't want to crowd him, and so I put the second silk plant behind the tank instead of inside. When I first did that - you should have seen him - he kept looking at it and trying to get to it. At night, he rests atop his silk plant that has bigger leaves. I think he likes to be near the waterline without having to work at it when he's resting. I'd like to find/add some water lettuce and see if he could snack on that. He has such an appetite and I would hope that something veggie would not have the restrictions that I put on feeding him pellets. I'm still learning before I commit to the food plants. The ghost shrimp you suggest do sound cool. The way he went after that spider though, I'm afraid he'll make a meal out of whatever live things I put in the bowl with him.

Thanks so much for the heater advice. Adjustable does sound like the way to go. Finlay's next tank will be a 2.5 gallon, I hope, because I think the temperature regulation will be easier and more stable. I'm so afraid if I try to heat the 1/2 gallon, I'll end up cooking him. A friend has already told me that Finlay will have a Petsmart gift card on the way, and I hope I can improve things for him soon.

Thanks again!
 
#13 ·
Lol well you can always PM me if you want lol.
Aww! He must have been wishing he could get to it. Veggies are actually not that good for bettas. They are naturally insectivores in the wild and will only eat plant roots and such if they have to (like when kept in those horrid plant vases). Lol well ghost shrimp are only about 30 cents so if you get one and he eats it it's not a big expense haha. And Toby does that too, he rests on his big purple plant the lazy boy lol. Some bettas are more aggressive than others, it's a hit and miss!
Trust me, it is. I have 2 non adjustables in my closet right now in case of malfunction. Lol good thinking! Try wrapping a towel around the tank? I did that to Leo's QT tank on the trip back home from college and it kept him from freezing haha (that's in my experience though...not sure what others would do). Aw Finlay is a lucky little betta! It's all about learning and luckily bettas are hardy enough to survive (;
And always happy to help!!
 
#18 ·
Thank you. Who's your cutie friend?

Hello and welcome to the forum! :-D

Finlay is a very handsome fish! I like his shade of blue.
Thanks... and Finley says, "Thanks!" The LED flashlight really brought out his color for the photo. He's got so much personality. I had to come to bettafish.com to find people who understand that my fish really does pay attention to what I'm doing. Most people I talk to think fish just swim around and don't even know their person is in the room.

Your little furry friend in your avatar is such a cutie. Does she have any furry friends at home? Do you have any guinea pigs? The adorableness of the guinea pigs always gets me at the pet store. Someday, I won't be able to resist the guinea pig rescue pet adoptions where I live.

I should have been spelling it "Finley," not Finlay. :doh!: Oh, well.
 
#16 ·
Finlay and I say, "thanks" Oldfishlady

Thanks for the warm welcome Oldfishlady! Your posts have been so helpful to me, especially the water-changing advice. Finlay says "thank you." I was really impressed when I read about how you helped Oliver's keeper unclamp his fins. Your posts were the reason I decided this is a great community to help me care for Finlay. I've already read about oak leaves, tried feeding a house spider (a hit with Finlay) and exercising him a little each day with the mirror. Thank you so much.

Finlay started building a beautiful bubble nest that I first noticed yesterday. No lady-fish around, so I guess he's just an optimist :).

One quick question: I notice that members have different status (bronze, gold, silver, etc.) How does one "move up"? Does it mean higher expertise? Is there a way to view a list of the more expert members' posts about betta care?

Thanks again. Glad to be part of the community here.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum and world of betta keeping. Your set up sounds good for him! As long as you dot exercise him to much, you should be good. I excersise each (6) males once every two days for avout 2-5 mintues each. Congrats on your beautiful find.
 
#23 ·
Welcome to the forum.
Sorry you're having problems with your roommate. Hope you can work everything out.

Status doesn't mean anything except the number of posts members have made. It has nothing to do with expertise.
I appreciate the welcome! and the info on how the forums work. Your from Indonesia -- that's cool. My cousin is dating a girl from your country and she makes us delicious dishes to eat. I hear it's beautiful there. Are bettas popular pets? Are there wild bettas there?

Visited Finley today and it was heartwarming to see him get all excited to see me. My friend who is taking care of him says Finley has a bond with me. Imagine that! I know I miss him lots. It's much easier to get attached to a fish than I ever would have thought!

Going to pet-sit in a couple of days and will be able to bring Finley AND keep him warm. My roommate is still giving me the cold shoulder over my leaving a lamp on to warm the tank and I'd been using a space heater at night because it's only 67F in my room. Too cold - he would get sick. Hope to bring Finley home permanently soon with a bigger tank and a heater of his own.
Thanks again.
 
#22 ·
Welcome.
When you get Finlay back, buy him a small heater for his tank, room temperatures fluctuate quite a lot and he might not like it much, plus try and keep him away from spiders, he might catch a bug from them.
But glad to hear that he is interacting with his owner, you have chosen well, Bettas make ideal pets, they can be so entertaining, oh last thing he does not like the mirror, it puts him into fighting mode, he thinks it is another male in his tank, he can get stressed.
Enjoy Finley he certainly looks a lovely fish.
Ray
 
#24 · (Edited)
Thanks for your concern....



Finley doesn't seem particularly aggressive, and I thought flairing for a little bit would keep him from being bored. But if you think it is too much stress, I'll bear that in mind. And, yeah, I guess a spider could have parasites or something, so you're probably right. Thanks for your concern/ advice.

Fish-keeping is completely new to me. I got interested in bettas because I saw this beautiful little guy in a giant plant vase on someone's desk and the lady told it was an enclosed ecosystem. I was enchanted by the lovely little creature and never forgot. Someone gifted me a betta bowl, and I was so excited. I learned too late that in my climate, I need a set up with heat. How important is a filter, if I don't have plants and am good about water changes?

Finlay seems like such a lively little guy with loads of personality. Visited him today; and hope to be able to bring him home soon.

I'm curious: Your avatar is a clown fish, I think? Do you have salt water tanks? I hear that is for the very dedicated. How long have you been interested in fish-keeping?
 
#25 ·
Hey UZ ,
Just wanted to say hi an welcome to the site .
Everyone here is very nice an more than willing to help with new ppl an questions about caire. Hope you enjoy your fishy .I am a new to bettas but not to tropical fishes me an my son recently adopted 8 !!! OMG lol . So now Im in the betta forum meetin ppl an learnin to ;-) God bless
charlie
 
#27 ·
Wow 8!

Hey UZ ,
Just wanted to say hi an welcome to the site .
Everyone here is very nice an more than willing to help with new ppl an questions about caire. Hope you enjoy your fishy .I am a new to bettas but not to tropical fishes me an my son recently adopted 8 !!! OMG lol . So now Im in the betta forum meetin ppl an learnin to ;-) God bless
charlie
Thanks for the warm welcome and happy holidays to you and your "school" of fishy-friends, Charlie!
 
#26 ·
Welcome!!

Just had to pop in and say hi xD

Using a mirror to encourage him to flare is perfectly fine and gives him some exercise, it's not too much stress as long as you don't over do it, like leaving a mirror next to his tank or making him flare for long periods of time. Just use common sense. :)

Personally, for a 1/2 gal, I would suggest doing a full water change at least twice a week (every 3 days should be okay), I don't really find partials necessary for such small amounts of water. A less stressful way of doing changes is by "cupping" your betta with a small plastic cup (I use the one mine came in) do the change, and acclimate him back into the water.

Don't worry, all of us experience a learning curve where we learn what bettas really need vs. what we've been told, I certainly did, and now my boy has a 5.5 gal NPT with ghosties and a heater xD I spoil him (that and I'm lazy and don't like doing a ton of water changes, been there, done that)

Filters are not very important with bettas and are completely optional, however, if you want anything bigger than a 5 gal, you might want to get one if you want other fish and don't do live plants (100% changes on large tanks are a royal pain)

Hopefully you get him back soon :) best of luck with your buddy!
 
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