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New betta owner, some concerns (tails all split up and others)

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  kikuhoshi 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, new to this forum and owning fish, been looking around and this seems like the place to ask:

i have a 5L tank with a 'whisper' something filter (my friend got it for me) and some plastic plants. I put the beta in yesterday, after letting the water reach room temp, and adding some Betta Basics.
Within a few hours i noticed a couple tears in his tails, and now they seem to have grown quite a bit. He doesn't seeeem to be 'biting his tail', i'm guessing they're from the plastic plants, so i removed one (that was more.. spikey), but left the other to give him some places to swim around and hide, but i'm still concerned.. should i pull out the second 'plant' too? He does have a little castle that he chills under, so the tank wouldn't be completely sparse if i pulled it out...

also:
i've noticed that when he eats, and i'm not sure if he does this with everything, or just the few 'bigger' pieces i saw, but he'll gobble them up, then kinda spit them back out? whats up with that?

finally- what's a good 'lighting' schedule for him? i've been trying not to be turning lights on and off and all that, maintaining a rather continuous amount of light (or lack thereof), is this right? If i'm not home, should i just turn off the desklamp i have that provides most of his light?

i've attached some pictures- the green thing on the left is the lava-lamp i'm using to warm his tank until my "Marineland Shatterproof Submersible Aquarium Heater 10W" arrives. I've also put some tin foil between it and the tank to act as a shade and a heatsink, haha
the tank is sitting at around 23.5c.

also, you can see the current remaining green 'plant', the removed red 'plant', and a couple of the rips in his tail. there are more, it's just hard to capture with a 2 megapixel crappy cameraphone, haha

as for water testing, i do not have a kit yet- although the water here is pretty good (westcoast water).


finally- i guess fish are really sensitive to vibration, so i guess bass is a bad idea?

cheers guys (and gals!), thanks for the help :)
 

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#4 ·
the water shouldn't have been that different from what he came from.. i let him adjust (with the bag thing) for about 15 minutes, plus the tank was running overnight before i had him, and at the store he was just in a bowl... :S

yeah the red plant doesn't look safe, should i pull out the green one too? I've bit on a lot of 10 'silk' plants on ebay, so hopefully i'll win those and put one or two in, should i take out the plastic ones in the meantime? his tails are worse than they were yesterday i think... but he seems to like swimming around the plant..
 
#6 ·
alright, his tails are healing back, i haven't put the silk plants yet, so i guess this green one isn't too bad. Chicklet, you must have been right, thank you :)

It worries me that he's still not really eating... I'll put in just a tiny tiny pinch of food, and he'll pick at a bit, gobbling it up and spitting it out, and then leave it... but i'd come back in the morning and it'd be gone. Any idea why this is happening? He seems to be content- is building his bubble nest nicely and generally being quite active, just doesn't seem to want to eat in the prescribed 'two minutes'...
 
#7 ·
The sucking in and spitting ot is their way of chewing - the pieces are too big/hard (if it's a pellet). It's really nothing to worry about. As for the "two minutes", I don't follow that rule. I give him a few flakes and then leave for about 5-10 minutes. When I come back, I syphon out what he didn't eat.

Don't worry about him not eating too much in the first few days (I've heard up to 2 weeks). It seems to be common, during an adjustment period, for them to fast themselves. Just give him food 1-2x a day, to see if he'll eat. If not, scoop it back out and try again later/tomorrow. He'll eat when he's ready. :)
 
#9 ·
Ok guys, thanks a lot! i put in pretty much a single flake, and he ate that, leaving only a couple crumbs. What do you suggest using to remove anything he doesn't eat?

Also- can i edit my post up there to make those pictures resize or something? I can't find an edit button :S
 
#10 ·
I use a turkey baster I bought at Walmart for removing crumbs and waste, but he doesn't really leave any crumbs anymore.

As for editing, I don't remember. Give me a moment and I'll check. :D
 
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