New to Bettas - new to fish!!

[BettaKat]

Originally Posted by teeneythebetta

Yep, he's a crowntail (CT). is he black?

Hi there, no he's blue with a bit of red... tried to get his coloring, but couldn't get it right... in these photo's he was swimming so fast... I had a mirror next to him so he was puffing himself out... hehe! Is this cruel... I mean, does this make him unhappy???? It somehow looked like he was playing... :)

Perseusmom, thanks for the tips... I will definitely keep that in mind, my tank is about a 5 gallon tank... I'm in South Africa so we work in liters, but that sounds about right...
I do have a thermometer, so I will be sure I use it to test the new water temp before add it to the tank... I will keep you all updated on how it goes...

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by BettaKat

Hi there, no he's blue with a bit of red... tried to get his coloring, but couldn't get it right... in these photo's he was swimming so fast... I had a mirror next to him so he was puffing himself out... hehe! Is this cruel... I mean, does this make him unhappy???? It somehow looked like he was playing... :)

Perseusmom, thanks for the tips... I will definitely keep that in mind, my tank is about a 5 gallon tank... I'm in South Africa so we work in liters, but that sounds about right...
I do have a thermometer, so I will be sure I use it to test the new water temp before add it to the tank... I will keep you all updated on how it goes...

I've heard it is stressful if done too often. Like you don't want to leave the mirror there 24/7. I heard it's okay for them occasionally :)

[BettaKat]

Thanks and noted! Ye, I was worried I'm actually stressing him out... I only really did it so that the photo's came out nicely with his fins showing clearly.

I will try to get a betta photo of his colors... like I said before, watch this space... loads more photo's to come... hehe!

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by BettaKat

I will try to get a betta photo of his colors...

Haha I see what you did there.

[jeremywadejunior]

Originally Posted by BettaKat

I am a bit nervous about the first tank clean... I don't want to shock him by perhaps adding too much cold water or something... So I guessI need to be very careful! Any tips???
He seems very happy, and I'm so very glad! I will add photo's asap! :)

I always have covered pitchers of conditioned water sitting in my room. This way, the water is able to get to room temperature (close to the temp in the tank) and it is ready for me when I do my water changes. Using a small thermometer to check the temperature prior to water changes it good too. You'll get quite used to these water changes over time and you'll come up with your own routine!

[jeremywadejunior]

Originally Posted by BettaKat

Hi there, no he's blue with a bit of red... tried to get his coloring, but couldn't get it right... in these photo's he was swimming so fast... I had a mirror next to him so he was puffing himself out... hehe! Is this cruel... I mean, does this make him unhappy???? It somehow looked like he was playing... :)

It's healthy for them emotionally and physically as long as the mirror isn't there for extended periods of time. I've heard that 5 minutes of mirror time a day is a good amount. I think my guy enjoys it because he gets to defend and patrol his territory from his evil twin ;)

[BettaKat]

Originally Posted by jeremywadejunior

It's healthy for them emotionally and physically as long as the mirror isn't there for extended periods of time. I've heard that 5 minutes of mirror time a day is a good amount. I think my guy enjoys it because he gets to defend and patrol his territory from his evil twin ;)

I like the way you put it "patrol his territory" - thanks for the advise... its fascinating seeing him puff himself out... I think its so awesome... I can't wait to get into a routine with him etc... still got so much to learn... thanks for all the tips...

[jeremywadejunior]

Originally Posted by BettaKat

I like the way you put it "patrol his territory" - thanks for the advise... its fascinating seeing him puff himself out... I think its so awesome... I can't wait to get into a routine with him etc... still got so much to learn... thanks for all the tips...

You're welcome! Feel free to ask questions whenever you like. I agree; bettas are very fascinating fish! :)

[KevinPham123]

Great looking CT my friend ! :)

[BettaKat]

Well, my first water change has been done... got one of those "vacuum pumps"to suck up all the muck in the gravel... I battled getting it going at first, but eventually worked like a charm... got rid of 50% of the water into my "fish bucket" (after taking Larry out and putting him aside in some of the tanks water) - he was not happy with me I might just add... and boy is he fast when I tried to catch him in the tank... I didn't want to freak him out, so I went as gently as possible... but this took a lot of time as well!

So, he was in my jug, set aside... just chilling out, and I started with the vacuum pump, eventually getting rid of 50% water, I put the ornaments, heater , thermometer inside this water ready to be cleaned. I washed the ornaments inside the old tank water, got rid of the "slime" (once again, I don't know all the terms), and put them back in the left over water in the tank.
I then broke the filter apart, and rinsed the filter "sponge"... man was that gross... (also in the old water from the tank) I then started adding my treated water to the tank... I finally got the exact liter capacity of my tank... it is 8 liters... :) is this big enough??? (don't know Gallons... sorry).

I let Larry wait for about 30 mins before I added him back into the tank... as I also wanted to ensure that the temp was just right, once it was back to normal (this took about 30 mins, as I said...) I added him back to the tank... HE SEEMED SO HAPPY! What I mean is, he was swimming, exploring his territory again, in the barrels around the plants, puffed up a bit to me, then swam away, all around the tank... I would like to think he was so excited! I feel so relieved that I DID IT... and all worked out okay!

Please give me tips if you see anything that I might have done that you don't agree with...?

Also, when should I do a complete water change, like which entails ringing the gravel and everything, or should it just always be 50% water changes, and never really a complete change?

Thanks guys!!!