Betta Fish Forum banner

Baby Betta Journal (07/04/13 - Mystery)

23K views 365 replies 27 participants last post by  sourjacks 
#1 ·
Hello everyone :)
So I wandered into PetCo today and happened by the betta area...okay, okay, I purposely poked my nose in over there :-D, and sadly :cry: noticed a lot of the babies and even some adults were dead. I had been thinking of getting a baby, and after about half an hour of kneeling on the floor and searching through all the cups, I saw this one, and instantly I knew he/she was the one. Just couldn't leave him/her to possibly stay there and die in a cup. So home with me he/she came! So very energetic, he/she was bumping into his/her reflection, following my finger and looking at me like "I didn't do it" with those big round eyes. So I set up a small (temporary) 1 gallon tank, heater, few hiding spots and let him/her acclimate for a while before letting him/her loose into his/her new home and boy was he/she off and running! Zooooooom he/she went! Already had two successful feedings today, I crushed up some Hikari betta pellets and he/she went right for the biggest piece first! lol. Anyway, I'm starting this journal so I force myself to steadily update about his/her growth. I'm very excited to watch our journey unfold together <3 Anyone have any guesses on the gender? I'm not good at figuring that out, not one bit. I keep wanting to call him/her a she though.

Here are some pics...quality isn't the greatest, had to use my phone he/she was not fond of the camera lens.

Meet Mystery!

(Preparing for the car ride home - made a little stow-away compartment in my middle console, was terrified he/she would slosh around too much!)


(Whew! We made it!)


(Reflecting)


(Meeting my new big sister! Although I think she was more interested in the bag full of treats.)


(Is it ready yet?!)


(...How about now?)


(WHAT IS THAT?! o_o)


(Home <3 ...for now)
 
See less See more
8
#3 ·
Oh good grief, I totally brain-tooted last night and moved all the pics after posting. That'll teach me to post things half-asleep. :oops: I can't seem to edit the first post, so here goes again. Sorry for the mess!

(Preparing for the car ride home - made a little stow-away compartment in my middle console, was terrified he/she would slosh around too much!)



(Whew! We made it!)



(Reflecting)



(Meeting my new big sister! Although I think she was more interested in the bag full of treats.)



(Is it ready yet?!)



(...how about now?)



(Waiting...is not going to be my strong trait :p)



(WHAT IS THAT?! o_o)



(Home <3 ...for now)




Also, little update for today:
Woke up, he/she was staring at me from my bed side table like "Gosh you sleep too long!" I'd love to put him/her on the computer desk, but I don't want the constant drawer banging to keep sloshing his/her water. Seems to be doing well, still zipping around. Ate a little breakfast, seemed happy about the food. He/she seems most interested in the thermometer. He/she just sits and stares at it then squeezes his/her way between the tank and thermometer before turning back around and doing it again. I assume it's some sorta game...fine by me! :-D Oh yea! Also saw him/her use the cave last night, that was nifty. Exploration! I do, do the nylon test and try to nail file any rough edges, but eh, I'm going to buy a smoother one maybe today or tomorrow. I need to baby proof the tank a bit better, silk plants, smooth hiding log, etc. But I didn't want him/her to have an empty tank last night. Wanted him/her to have something to hide in if he/she needed to feel safer. We're having a baby frog migration outside today, so if I can help it, I rather not use my car, I feel AWFUL running them over. :( Anyhoo, new pic!

(<3 Thermometer)

 
#5 ·
@Mar Thank you! :) I'm glad too, except when it comes to picture taking time. So hard to get a good shot as soon as I focus in he/she is already zoomed out of the frame, haha.

As far as the baby goes...I woke up a few times last night and he/she was swimming around. I hope he/she got at least a little sleep. I actually had a dream about betta fish lol. I think I'm spending too much time reading up and creeping around the forums. :lol: He/she seems to like the new silk plant, he/she is swimming in and out from between the stems. I took out the cave ball and the fishy is liking the extra swimming room too. But he/she is still completely in awe with the thermometer, I think he/she thinks the tiny balls on the bottom are food or something. So when I cleaned the tank earlier, I pushed the bottom into the gravel, now he/she is trying to bump the top where he/she sees his/her reflection, lol. Whatever, if it's entertaining for him/her, have at it. :lol: I also caught him/her 'eating' the tiny air bubbles forming on the tank walls, figured that might mean it was time for breakfast! Found 3 of the tiniest little chips I could in the handful of pellets I grabbed. Soooo cute to watch him/her take one in mouth and swim around with it poking out before chowing down on it!

I'm really considering heading over to Petsmart later and buying the 5.5 gallon they have on sale and splitting it for the baby and the other betta I have who is currently in his own 2.5. Not 100% sure what I want to do. One big tank for the two or 2.5 of their own. I kind of like the idea of having separate in case something happens in one tank it doesn't affect the other one. Although one 'big' tank to take care of seems easier? Decisions, decisions!

Anyhoos, onto the pictures!

(Food? Food? IS THIS FOOD?)


(Just swimming around enjoying the fresh water...does he/she seem like he/she's darkening in color? Maybe it's the lighting)
 
#7 ·
Aw! So cute! Glad you picked up the cute little one!
 
#8 ·
@mybabyjets, Thank you! Hopefully someday you'll be able to find one to raise. :)

@BettaLover1313, Thank you! :)

 
#9 ·
Well, sadly my 1 year old betta died last night. :cry: Not really sure why, he was swimming around then what seemed like all the sudden dropped to the bottom of his tank on his side and couldn't get back up. I moved him over to a little cup that had just enough water to keep him submersed but where he could move his head and breathe at the top. I saw him trying to swim up even in a bit of water and he couldn't. So I watched him for a little while, walked into the other room to get something, came back and he was still. My poor little Zen. :cry: I tossed the idea of burial or flushing and I just couldn't put a fish into the ground...it just seems...not right to me to bury something aquatic in dirt. Hopefully he's having fun swimming around in little betta heaven.
SIP Zen <3

So I guess nature decided for me, as the baby has now made a new home in the 2.5 gallon. (After I rinsed everything 3-4 times in hot, hot water and let set over night) He/she seems to be taking to it very well. He/she went right into the log, zoomed out and yep, you guessed it went right for the thermometer. Big shock, lol. And now he/she even has two to play with. My only concern is I know the actual heater on the bottom gets pretty warm, I don't want him/her to get burned :/, I may have to make some sort of fence in front of it since he/she keeps going behind it. I swear, there's plants, a nice floaty log, a log on the floor to play with but oh no, we have to play with the thermometer and heaters. lol. Just like my dog, bought her tons of toys and she rather play with an old soda bottle or one of my hair scrunchies. :lol: Oh and I wanted to call the baby Mystery, seeing as I have no clue what he/she will grow up to be, but I keep saying he/she...someone suggested I call him/her Heshi (he-she) to make it easier...I juuuuust might!

(Getting ready for our new home)


(Oh hi there o_o)
 
#10 ·
So sorry to hear that you lost Zen :(

Good to hear that the baby is still doing well though.
 
#12 ·
@BettaLover1313 - Thank you, it was very sad to lose him. Hopefully he's perched in a little log in fishy heaven. :) That was his favorite place to spend his day.

@mybabyjets - It does look pretty big in the pics huh? lol. I swear it's only a 2.5. The baby probably thinks its huge, he/she looks like a tiny little blip in all that space. :lol:

Speaking of the baby, he/she is doing wonderful. The tank is now on my desk, being bigger and sturdier I'm not as worried for the water sloshing. Every time I look over there and think "hmm where'd he/she go" its like the baby senses it and comes running to the front of the tank like "HERE I AM!". I don't think there's an inch of the tank he/she hasn't discovered. Taking pictures was not an easy task, out of about 25, 3 are good enough to upload. Yes, we decided to be a pain in the tushy today. :p Also I had my finger above the tank steadying the camera when the baby swam over, backed up a little, considered for a moment and jumped up from the water to "bite" my finger before quickly darting under the nearest leaf and staring up like "Woah! That was NOT food!" Also, it seems like he/she is developing a sort of dark patterned band going around the middle part of the body with dark flecks as well. Perhaps a marble of some sort? I'm so anxious to know what the adult coloring is going to be! Still no clue on gender, does anyone have an idea/guess?

My camera decided to kick the bucket, just as well, he/she got very mad at the lens. So yea, they're camera phone quality again.

(Playing hide from the camera)


(A moment of vanity? - excuse the water spots)


(o.o oh poo! you caught me!)
 
#13 ·
Well, the little fishy gave me a bit of a scare last night. After getting ready for bed I wandered over to the tank to check on him/her and he/she was wedged in the corner by the floating log, unmoving. So I poked the water, nothing. Wiggled my finger around infront of him/her, nothing. Moved the log, still nothing. My heart sank. So I stood there, waiting for him/her to take a breath and finally we got head movement. WHEW! Don't scare me like that! Guess I must of woke him/her up.

First thing I did when I woke up was rush over to make sure he/she was alive. Yep, relaxing by the moss ball.

Debated on putting in the new filter today, but figured the water needed a changing and might as well give it a shot. Ended up doing a nice full water change this morning since I bought a small Whisper 1-3 internal filter last night. I keep getting a film on the surface of my water, drives me bonkers, even with small every other day water changes. So I thought, hm, maybe I can do something to get a small current going so the water surface has movement. Yea, didn't quite work out. The baby didn't mind it, I don't think. He/she swam around, swam behind it, under it, through the current, but then I saw the water pouring down knock him/her around a bit and out it came. But not before the baby tried to swim into it 2 or 3 more times. Typical kid, they want to play with the stuff they aren't supposed to. lol. Anyway, it's just as well, this air pump's noise was sorta driving me batty. Maybe I'll just get an air stone/bubble wall sort of thing. This little fishy seems to like bubbles, maybe it'll give him/her something else to play with besides the thermometer.

What else is there to report...hmm...OH! I went to Petco last night. Almost came home with another fish...almost...might just go back to get him. Poor little gorgeous white male suffering from either finrot or ammonia burns? The fin tips were all blood clotted looking. :( I might just go rescue him. Was surprised to see that within 2 days that about half their betta stock was gone, I'm hoping to new homes and not because they died. I just wish I could figured out the gender of this one so I knew if I could house them in a 5.5 together (divided of course). Anyway, got the baby some freeze dried bloodworms, came home, dropped a small one in the tank and watched. Expecting him/her to grab it and carry it around like it does with the tiny pellets and chew happily, I was quite surprised when in one gulp it disappeared into his/her belly! I swear after he/she chewed it up he/she did a sorta "ooo that was yummy!" wiggle. Maybe it was my imagination. Either way. We had another little one this morning for breakfast and quite enjoyed that too.

He/she seems to be in a relaxed mood today. Just hanging around on the plants or in the log. Caught him/her gazing at his/her reflection earlier. Its cloudy outside today so I just have the shades half open, no lights on aside from the computer screen. Keeping it sorta dark in here incase he/she needs sleep. Can't be good for a baby to zoom around 24/7 without some sorta rest.

(Just hanging out by the moss ball. *pic with flash)

 
#16 ·
So cute! I want a DT! Your's looks like a black/white marble right now, beautiful!
 
#17 ·
Thank you! I hope so, I'd love to see either a dark blue or black/white marbling. Total sucker for those. :lol: But I will love him/her no matter how he/she turns out of course. :love:
 
#18 ·
Glad to hear that you're having fun with your little betta!

Dragoon has scared me like that several times where he'll be sleeping (Mr. I Never Stop Moving) and motionless and I thought he'd died or something was seriously wrong, but then he'd move and look at me as if to say "What?".
 
#19 ·
@BettaLover1313 - I am having fun, as well as a few anxiety attacks, lol.
Right!? The faces they give us sometimes! I was on the phone with my friend and I'm all "OMG my fish is dead!" and he's like "just leave it, it's late, he/she's probably sleeping" and I'm all "yea well *I* won't be able to sleep until I know that for sure!" >.> *pokes fishy*

He was actually doing the motionless thing a little bit ago so I leaned on my desk and put my face near the tank and he swam over and started talking to me, so we just had a little conversation. I asked him what else we could add to the tank and he went and did a parameter check, came back over to the front of the tank and moved his mouth as if to say "well I'd like another plant in the corner and uhm how about another thermometer! can never have to many of those!"...yes little fishy, yes you can. :lol: I need to see if I can find some little local pet stores rather than the big chains like Petsmart and Petco, I'd like a different variety of decorations. :| I know I can order online, but I'm one of those "I must touch it before I buy it!" people.

Oh and I think my fish is a he. I was noticing him head-butting his reflection so I held up a mirror to the tank and it seemed like he was doing that sorta pacing bettas do when they flare. Do females do that? I don't know, but until told otherwise, I shall refer to him as a he. :)

(checking out the plants. I seriously need to go buy a new camera >.<)
 
#20 ·
I believe I've read in different topics that females do flare and pace, but my memory might not be serving me properly on that one since I mainly read about boys since I have two of them XD.

Dragoon likes talking too! He claps his mouth constantly at me whenever I'm near the tank (I think he's trying to tell me that I need to feed him again XD). It's a cute little trait he has though!
 
#21 ·
Huffle Puffles' Baby Betta's Journal

@BettaLover1313 - Yep, you're right, I looked it up and they can flare too. Hm...there went that theory! :lol:

Let's see, let's see, what did the lil' stinker do today. I think he's starting to understand feeding time. When I shake the pellets jar in front of the tank he looks up and waits now. So that's pretty cute. :D Right now he's playing hide and go seek in his log, goes in one end and pops out one of the random 4 holes only to go back in and pop out a different one. Wonder if he thinks he'll end up someplace different each time. :-? Been watching his tank and thermometers. I turned the heater up, I think with my fan on and the ac going it's not letting the water hit the right temp. But it's a 50 watt in a 2.5, I'm worried I might end up cooking him. But so far, the temp is only slowly going up, seems to have stopped around 77ish. I wanted to pick up a little 25 watt Hydor heater, Petsmart had them on the site but of course not in the store. :| Oh well. Guess I'll have to order online.

Went over to Petsmart today to pick up an air pump and some bubble stones. Also snagged a cute little log with silk plants on it they had on sale that I'm going to rig the airstone in. Hopefully it'll work out well. I have to hand it to this particular Petsmart, they never have a huge overstocked selection of bettas, they all get their own row, no stacking the cups and none of them are dead in the jars and when they sit for too long, they discount them greatly. They had all their female bettas on sale for 99 cents and $1.99 (I think) for the crowntails. If only I had a sorority. The cashier asked how my betta was doing. I guess you know you go to a store too much when the cashiers start to remember you. :oops:

and on to the pictures!

(Oh hi! Don't I look naked when the flash shines on me?)


( I can TOO fit this whole thing in my mouth!)


(No more pictures, please)


(It was storming today and my fur-child is not comfy with that, so I sat her on the desk so we could watch the baby fishy together. I lol'd when I saw the pic and the fishy in the background looking all "WHAT IS THAT!?")

 
#22 ·
You have a very cute dog!

Yeah, the Pet Smart employees know me for my dog, Lucky. I think they forgot that I bought a betta from them XD.
 
#23 ·
@BettaLover1313 - Thank you, she's pretty much like my kid. Probably more so in she gets more attention than an actual child probably would. :-D Funny thing is, I didn't even buy my betta there, I was just buying a bunch of supplies and the cashier had asked what sorta fish I had. Now she remembers. lol.

It's been one whole week with my baby! I'm so excited. I was so worried he/she wouldn't last 24 hours and here we are one week later still going strong. Did a water change today, rearranged the tank, put in all the new goodies. My moss ball fell apart :-( so I tore it into pieces and used some of it to line the floaty log and the other I stuffed into the opening of one of the logs so the baby wouldn't swim into it and get stuck since the other end has the bubbler. Overall I'm pretty pleased with the tank. I try to make one corner very full so if he wants to hide he can and the other side I try to leave sorta open for swimming space. It's a big change from where I started with bright purple/blue/pink plastic plants. I would really love to have real plants, I had bought five and killed them all within 2 months, so I gave up on them for a bit. But, the baby seems to really like it, he's been doing laps exploring everything. :-D

My old camera decided to cooperate for a bit:

(I love his little eyeballs)


(New tank setup and a happy baby - piece of paper was temporary for the pics)




(Checking everything out)




 
#25 ·
Your tank looks great!
 
#26 ·
Awesome tank Huffle! The baby is so cute, I lvoe how curious they are. Mine would insepct the driftwood constantly and pick little pieces of food off of it. The other would hunt around for snails...she still does =p
 
#27 ·
Day 09

@Viva - Thank you. They do have quite the personalities for being such itty bitty lil' things!


@BettaLover1313 - Thanks! I'm actually really glad I took a picture because today I took it all apart to clean it, and couldn't remember how I had everything. Tearing the moss ball apart and using it for liner was a baaaad idea, had floating particles EVERYWHERE -_-

@Mar - Thank you! :) Me too! Can't believe it's already been over a week.


So I decided to clean out all the floating particle stuff from the tank and while the baby was sitting in the cup with me waiting for the water to heat back up I snapped a few, okay a lot, of pictures. I was noticing that all the dark spots, what I thought was going to be marbling, seem to be disappearing, even the ones on the lower fin, there's only two little specks left. Will be quite interesting to see what the final color shall be. :shock: I did a rough estimate on age today, using http://www.bettatalk.com/fry_growth.htm, estimated he's about 5-6 weeks old, leaning towards 6 since he's a good 3/4 of an inch.

Color on third day: http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums...ysterys Journey/HangingAround_zps11387bb6.jpg

Now:
Picture Time!

(Hey, hey you! Is my tank ready?)


(Got some decent shots of fin/head details)
.face.


.top fin.


.back fin.


(Vanity)




(U-turn!)


(Can we tell what gender yet? Still no clue, still referring to him as 'he'.)




(Fishy kissies!)


lol, as I am writing all this I looked over to check on him. Not in the floaty log, not in the dark log (which I positioned so I can now see inside), not by the thermometer or the heater, hmm, where'd he go? *Out he pops!* Removed the moss from blocking the entrance to the new log with silk plants on it...he was hiding in there -_- I tell ya, he finds everything! :lol:
 
#322 ·
@Viva - Thank you. They do have quite the personalities for being such itty bitty lil' things!


@BettaLover1313 - Thanks! I'm actually really glad I took a picture because today I took it all apart to clean it, and couldn't remember how I had everything. Tearing the moss ball apart and using it for liner was a baaaad idea, had floating particles EVERYWHERE -_-

@Mar - Thank you! :) Me too! Can't believe it's already been over a week.


So I decided to clean out all the floating particle stuff from the tank and while the baby was sitting in the cup with me waiting for the water to heat back up I snapped a few, okay a lot, of pictures. I was noticing that all the dark spots, what I thought was going to be marbling, seem to be disappearing, even the ones on the lower fin, there's only two little specks left. Will be quite interesting to see what the final color shall be. :shock: I did a rough estimate on age today, using http://www.bettatalk.com/fry_growth.htm, estimated he's about 5-6 weeks old, leaning towards 6 since he's a good 3/4 of an inch.

Color on third day: http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums...ysterys Journey/HangingAround_zps11387bb6.jpg

Now:
Picture Time!

(Hey, hey you! Is my tank ready?)


(Got some decent shots of fin/head details)
.face.


.top fin.


.back fin.


(Vanity)




(U-turn!)


(Can we tell what gender yet? Still no clue, still referring to him as 'he'.)




(Fishy kissies!)


lol, as I am writing all this I looked over to check on him. Not in the floaty log, not in the dark log (which I positioned so I can now see inside), not by the thermometer or the heater, hmm, where'd he go? *Out he pops!* Removed the moss from blocking the entrance to the new log with silk plants on it...he was hiding in there -_- I tell ya, he finds everything! :lol:
If he is a she, you should name her Vanity. (You may already know the gender but I have only red to pg 3). Sooooo.... Back to reading
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top