Petco baby bettas?

[lilyrazen]

My plan to move Vilkas into a smaller tank fell through, and I have an extra 2.5g that is sitting empty!

Have any of you raised a baby betta from Petco or know how to do so and what I would need?

I was thinking about buying one so I could get a fish that I have no say in (I'm reeeeealy picky about my bettas) and I could have a little fun rasing him/her.

If not, I'll probably pick up a veiltail or something, just because I've been having some strong feelings towards vieltails recently.

[Sakura8]

I have raised one baby betta so far. She started out as a very small pineapple VT and now is a slightly larger bossy brat in my sorority. For success, I would advise you get one of the larger babies. The very tiny babies are usually on the brink of starvation because the pet stores are unable to provide the proper fry food for them. As an example, the last baby betta I bought was literally just a bit smaller than a nickel and it died overnight.

All you need is clean water. Be sure to keep it at 80-82 F, as babies need just a bit more warmth than the adults. She may need special small foods like New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula or even Hikari First Bites. Frozen baby brine shrimp is another good food for baby bettas.

[lilyrazen]

Okay, sounds good. I just got a new heater that allows me to set it that high, so that's a plus. I can look into what food I can get, and if I find one I'll look into it!

Thanks a ton!

[Sakura8]

Sure thing. Good luck!

[MrVampire181]

Hundreds lol.

But your guys are pretty much teenage bettas when you get em from PetCo. They just need some decent space, clean water, and a little more food.

[Sakura8]

Right. How old would you say the average "baby" betta from Petco is, MrV?

[MrVampire181]

Hmm anywhere from 5 weeks to under 3 months old. They haven't hit their final growth spurt yet.

[Sakura8]

Pretty young to go through the rigors of shipping. Thanks, I've always wondered just how old the "baby" bettas were.

[MrVampire181]

Any fish over one inch can ship. Still I'm not a fan of it :/ I don't ship unless they're show size at 1.5 inches for males and 1.25 for the girls.

[Sakura8]

Yeah, and your fish go from nice clean waters TO nice clean waters. The Petco babies go into tiny cups that aren't changed often enough.