My New Baby

[LadyVictorian]

Hey, so going into petco today to get Aquarius his first live plant and I see a baby I couldn't pass up. It nearly broke my heart it's just so darling and I can already see color coming in. Looks like either purple or blue with red at the end of it's fins. I really hope this little one makes it because it's my first baby betta ever though my hopes are not high and I am not dead set in thinking it will survive. I figure it's about 50/50 for it but I am going to do a shit load to insure it will somewhat make it. I'll give details now and get pictures up soon.

First off it's tiny, I got New Life Spectrum Betta Formula because I think someone mentioned it for babies once on this forum. Already fed the baby and it ate one so far though they still look kind of big so I'll be crushing them up as well. I figure three pelets three times a day or two three times a day?

Also I don't know the gender, age, or fin type of the baby. I'm making a wild guess and saying it might be a delta or plaket. NOT SURE, if anyone knows it would be great. Also I think it might be female but again NOT SURE because it's still so young but it's just an educated guess from looking at the fins so far. I don't know age either so it would be nice to get a rough estimate for age. I want to track this baby day by day to see what the chances of survival are. It's so beautiful honestly and so sweet. I'm hopeful because it already ate one pellet today and tonight I'll try to feed two more once it's moved into it's new tank.

Also I put stress coat into the tank, should I add some aquarium salt? Will that help or no? I intend to do daily water changes since the keeper tank I got is tiny. I also put one plastic plant in there for cover. Is it a good idea or no?

Final since I don't know the gender I don't want to name it and I don't want to name it even more because I don't know if it will live but I have some names I thought up...not sure which to pick.

Males:
Artex
Atraeyu

Both:
Atlantis

Female:
Namari


pics soon of the ammonia levels in it's cup, of the baby, of the baby's temp tank, and then of the baby in the tank and I'll keep it updated daily. Also wondering if I could float it's tank inside Aquarius's tank. It's a pretty tiny tank and I don't think he would mind. Or would that be too stressful for both fish?

[LadyVictorian]

Ammonia levels. YIKES is at east a little over 4.0


The tiny tank I have set up, it's not much but it's better than a cup and if the baby makes it I am getting a 2.5 filtered tank for it.


The baby.

[DragonFish]

Oh my goodness, that ammonia!! o_o Ugh, that should be ILLEGAL >_< Darn Petco.....

He/she is very cute though! Congrats! Sometimes you just can't resist when they call to you. xD
It looks a little older then some of the babies I usually see, so hopefully this one'll hang in there! Looks pretty healthy for being in that terrible water, geez....
Lets see.....here is a little bit of info on Babies I have bookmarked. I think it covers most of the basics, including your feeding question: http://bettacarecentral.weebly.com/baby-betta-care.html

Good luck and keep us updated! Hope this one pulls though! :)

[LadyVictorian]

Yeah and this was the smallest of the 4 that were there. I wanted to take all 4 home but I would have had to keep them all in one tank and that would have been too risky. Plus I would only keep one. Had I had homes for the other babies for when they grew up then all of them would have come with me. The oldest was a blue female, so she was old enough I have hope. Another was about the same size as mine but on it's side and floating at the top so I think it was a bit late for that one, then the last was also the same size as my baby only lighter, almost white with two brown stripes. My baby has been brightening up since it's not in a heated little tank. More of the fin looks purple/red and the body is brightening into a nice bright blue though most of the baby color is still there. Wow this betta will be beautiful when all grown up. It's been eating so well too. I have fed it twice today and it ate everything I put in there. Very active too and loves exploring everything in the tiny tank. I think once it get's a bit bigger I'll buy it a 2.5 gallon tank but till then it's alright in the baby tank. Better that it isn't trapped in a large place where reaching the surface might be hard for a tiny baby. I'll get more pictures soon, it's so in love with it's new tank and soooo tiny. I have my fingers crossed for this one to pull through and make it to adulthood. Can't wait to see what it will become.

[DragonFish]

Aww.....those poor babies. D: I really, REALLY wish Petco would stop selling them. As adorable and fun as they can be for us more experienced keepers who know what we're doing.....its really so sad to think about the conditions these delicate babies are kept in at the store, and then the possibility that they'll just be sold to someone without the proper knowledge to care for them....

I've been going back and forth over getting a couple of babies for my new setups....I had finally decided not to, but now you're making it really tempting, I have to say....xD Your little one is so cute, and he sounds like hes doing so well....and then I remember back to when I bred and how great it was raising those babies....ugh. Why must they be so darned cute?!

[Perseusmom]

Adorable !!! Yeah I agree why have they started to sell these babies, not enough money being made on the grown Bettas...sighs.

[lelei]

Congrats on the new family addition..soo adorable, cannot beleive the ammonia was so high..that is a disgrace..Thank you for taking in this little life, and giving him a good home LadyV:)

[LadyVictorian]

I'm taking more pictures today after I change the babies water. I wish I had something better to take pics with, the colors are coming out really nice on this little one. It's like overnight in a nice heated tank with a full belly those fins just brightened up to this beautiful autumn red/orange. Baby sucks up everything I put in there too. This morning it got breakfast and gobbled up the pellets almost instantly. I have been crushing up little pellets just to be safe so baby doesn't choke. Spent most of the night curled up in the tiny plant next to the heater and the tank is at a very stable 80 degrees. I am shocked how fast this little one is bouncing back, when I first brought him/her home they didn't move much, now they are swimming all over the place and even took a second to pester Aquarius xD

[Pilot00]

Clean and warm water, with a good diet can make wonders! Keep the little fella as safe as possible plz!

[LadyVictorian]

Oh I am, baby is being coddled and despite the fact I DIDN'T want to name it until I knew for sure it would survive I was talking to friends online and now baby has a name that works for both genders and just seems to stick. Both because of babies situation and because of these cute little red fins that are coloring up baby is now named Phoenix. Nix is such a trooper I really hope it continues to go this well.