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Rescued Betta

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fight rescued
4K views 78 replies 10 participants last post by  Sakura8 
#1 ·
Whenever I go to Walmart I cant help but to browse though the Bettas (Cant help it, love them!) While browsing today I came across a cruel act of another Walmart customer, they took a male beta from his container on the shelf and dumped him in with another male Betta, by the time I found the Bettas the losers (a little red one) fns were just about completely gone, being a softy I figured Id buy them in hopes that I coud save the little red one or at least give him a peacful place to die (the cashier actully let me have the little red guy for free, apperently, hes a betta fan :) )
So now I have the male who attacked him, a big blue guy in his own big tank alone (Ive been calling him King Kong, lol)
I have my originial Betta, Tihs, a female who lies with two ghost shrimp and two moss balls
and the new red one
Everyone is doing well, Tihs is happy as ever (LOVES food and harrasing her tank mates... she doesnt attack them, they just arent allowed to swim to the top), King is enjoing his freedom

But the little red guy, who Im worried about, has almost no fins, he can swim, but its a bit difficult and hes been breathing heavy...
anyone have any experiance?
already added water conditionor, temp is good, not sure about ph, but everyone has the same water...

I knew this guy probably wouldnt mke it, but Ive had him for 5 hours and hs a fighter, I want to give him theBEST chance possible...
NO filter in the tank, hes not strong enough and probably will never use one fr him
 
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#3 ·
1 tsp a gallon of aquarium salt will help prevent infection if you dont mind moving him to a smaller container, like the cup he came in, and lower water level so he can swim to the top without using as much energy. Darkness so he can relax and some good ol love :p Good luck :)
 
#4 ·
I got the darkness covered along with the aquarium salt, he was a bit stressed out from the dogs, people, and tv so I surrounded his bowl with a black book, hes calmed down a lot, hes swimming a bit every now and his breathing is not as rapid, hes mainly staying pretty much at the top, every now and then lifting his head to the top (like hes breathing)
I have him in a 1.5 gallon tank (its actually two but I only have 1.5 gallons of water in it), is it okay to leave him i that? or would a smaller bowl be better?
I hate to stress him out anymore by moving him and I think hes enjoying the freedom
 
#6 ·
No, I change 25% of water every day (habit from when I had goldfish and I enjoy it)
I try to comletely dismantle tanks once a week to clean rocks (my ghost shrimp are a bit messy, lol)

How long should I keep the aquarium salt (after a week can I change the tank water and then no more salt or should I put more in?)
 
#7 ·
Best picture I can get of him right now... worried about stressing him out and i have a sucky camera... plus its 12am, lol

 
#8 ·
Oh, that poor fishy! He really looks terrible but I once rehabbed a betta who looked very similar to that and he is still alive today and looking better than ever. 'As long as you are able to keep up with the water changes and he is otherwise healthy I think he should pull through. Good luck!
 
#9 ·
Put a plant or something in there so he has somewhere to rest OR lower the water level to about 3-4". Problem with that is you have to change the water every day. If you believe he has swim bladder issues, then you will want to stop the aquarium salt and try epsom salt instead, 1 tsp per gallon. But you'll have to do it gradually so you don't shock him. If you think he may be hovering at the top just so he can breathe and he can swim fine, then keep him in the aquarium salt. Poor little guy, I hope he gets better soon. Good that he has a loving home now.
 
#10 ·
I have a fake plant in with him, he swam around and investigated it a bit but he was really tired afterward, Id like to put a moss all in with him but I dont know how they do with the salt..
Ill see how he is in the moring then decided whether or not to lower the water, I do have a floating lilly pad (fake plant) in Tihs's tank...should I put that in with him
Ive also seen floating leafs at petsmart, never trie one but suppcidly they attach to the tank so they float midway... bettas cn rest on them... should I take a trip to petsmart and get one?
 
#11 ·
You could try the floating lily pad if you wanted. I just got two of those leaf things and put one in my HM's tank. So far he's ignoring it but that's just him. I hear a lot of other bettas love them, you could try one. I'm not sure how moss balls do with salt either.
 
#12 ·
Ill run by petsmart on my way dropping my bf off and grab one to see how he likes it if he doesnt like it Ill let Tihs or King try it out, or give it to my sister for her betta Adam, lol, either way it wont go to waste...
hopefully I can refrain from getting another betta :/ just cant resist looking at the lonely ones in the back
Hopefully this guy makes it... now I just have to give him a name...
Any ideas?
 
#13 ·
Something that sounds courageous and tough because he'll need all the courage and guts he can get. Hehe, Superman or Hercules, something heroic like that maybe. He looks so sad still, like he can't quite believe his good luck at finding a home, like he thinks it may be a dream or something. I'm so glad you're giving him a good home and a fighting chance. :)

When I went to get my betta leaves I literally jogged in, grabbed them without looking down at the bettas on the shelf below, and went straight to the cashier. If I don't do something that drastic, I'm like you, I feel so bad for the ones stuck in the back where no one can see them. I so hate when they stack them like they're cans of soup or something.
 
#14 ·
I have actually been thinking of calling him Hercules!
lol, Im so hoping he make it, they really should put the betta fishes under lock and key, Im sure this isnt the first time this has happened.
My bfs mom is giving us a ten gallon tank so I think Ill do a female soriority, I know the females dont get bought a often (thats why I got Tihs, cant use her in a sorioity tough since shes aggressive withother fish)
Ill put updates and pictures up on Hercules in the morning after dropping the bf off :)
 
#16 ·
Walked by his taking mutts out, he darted to the other side of the tank when I turned the lights on but his breating seems good

And King popped up to say hi, not sure yet whether or not to add a ghost shrimp to his tank along with a moss ball... still pieces of Hercules in his tank and I cant help but to be a bit creeped out.. he actually really friendly to people which i different, took Tihs a couple days to warm up to me
 
#17 ·
It's good he can dart, I think. I'd be more worried if he was so lethargic he didn't want to or couldn't move if he was startled.

What size tank is King in? If it's about a 2-5g, then you can try a ghost shrimp but beware King might decide to have some shrimp scampi. Lots of ghost shrimp disappear that way . . .
 
#18 ·
Thats what I figured to, I went ahead and fed King earlier, he waited for the food to get soggy before eating it, havent fed Hercules yet, Ill probably crush the food up and feed it to him in the morning depending on how hes doing

They are all in 2 gallons, I figured Tihs would do that since she doesnt like other fish so I bought them expecting them to be eaten, now Im attached to these two so Ill have to go buy another to try with King, lol, going to wait till hes on a regular feeding scheduale first
 
#19 ·
If you have garlic, you can crush that and mix with a bit of tank water, then soak his pellet in that. Garlic is good for bettas, it boosts their immune system and helps them fight off parasites and infections. Also, it seems to stimulate their appetite.

Tihs sounds like a character, like a funny tough little girl. Hopefully King will like his ghost shrimp friend. Otherwise, I guess you can keep all the shrimp in their own tank. I've never kept any shrimp yet, I'm too afraid my bettas will eat them. Not sure I can handle seeing that, haha.
 
#20 ·
I have garlic every where, I love it and is good for the mutts, lol, I'll try that, do I jut put the mixture in or just the actual bett food?
Doesit matter how much garlic?

She is, hence backwards her name spells ****, lmao, she eats the hard food whole, just swallows it, if it doesnt go down when she first trys, she swims in circles till it does (dont mess with Tihs and her food!)

Hopefully King does, I cant but to feel sorry for him all alone, if it turns out he doesnt do well with the shrimp, Ill monitor him for a while to check, then Ill give he shrimp to my sisters betta (hes sweet and like other fish, lol)
 
#21 ·
I think you want garlic juice mostly, so maybe a clove or two of crushed garlic with maybe 1/3 cup of water and then soak his pellet in it.

Your girl is definitely a laugh riot. Creative name, I didn't even make that connection, hahaha.

Good luck with the shrimp and King, otherwise your sister's betta will be happy to have company. I guess if King does something to the shrimp he's making it pretty clear he's not as lonely as we think, haha.
 
#22 ·
Just one pellet?
Sorry for all the qs, lol

She is, drives me crazy, lol, my bf came up with the name, he acually has some echoice names but I wanted something a bit more appropriate, lol, either ways shes turned out to be a great girl, she was a bland brown when I got her and was pushed all the way in the back, now shes a pretty blue with black strips, she occasionally flares up as green and when I turn water out, or mess with HER shimp or moss balls she turns almost white.

lol, good point, either way though he seems happier now than he did cramped up in a small container half filled with water and another betta and a BUNCH of poop
 
#23 ·
Or however many pellets you give him. I wouldn't give more than 3 pellets at a time though. 2 is probably the best number. Little and often is the best way to feed bettas. And don't worry about the questions, I don't mind answering. :)

So your girl is not only a character, she's a chameleon too. So funny she gets almost white when you mess with her stuff. "Hands off, this is mine!" she says, hehe.

Haha, who wouldn't be happier after finally getting a new house that isn't filthy and filled with your own waste? King is probably ecstatic, I bet he'd kiss you if he could as a way of thanks. "Thank you so much for saving me from that horrible cup!"

Anyways, I'm off to bed. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to post them and I'll answer them in the morning if someone else hasn't already. :)
 
#24 ·
It may take him a few days to adjust from his ordeal. The last betta i got from walmart was about a week ago and he has only just started swimming around. Before he hid behind the filter. He had stress stripes and I added a rather large decoration/hiding spot so that may have something to do with it? He was slo missing 1/2 of his tail fin from rot.

Stress coat will help with fin regrowth and can also be used as a water conditioner as well.
 
#25 ·
Ive put 3 in the mixture, waiting for it all to get yummy now, when I walked by Hercules tank this morning he sawm to the bottom and is now resting on th rocks... Im actually stating to wonder about the SBD....
could it just be that hes having trouble swimming, hes having trouble adjusting?
Should I make the switch to espom salt jut in case?

lol, fits her to a T!

King did one better than giving me a kiss, he must have stayed up all night making a beautiful perfetly round bubble nest!
 
#26 ·
oh, and do I put the whole mixture, water, cloves food, everything in?
just like dump it in?
 
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