baby betta care

[ameliagypsy]

I rescued a baby betta from a friend who bought the fish not knowing the care it needed, so I offered to take the baby. I have baby in a heated one gallon unfiltered tank with a plant. I had a small internal filter in the tank but it made the water wayyyy too hot. I'm doing partial water changes once a day and so far baby eats anything I throw his/her way (crushed omega pellets, crushed flakes, frozen baby brine shrimp, bloodworms) and is very active around the tank. I've had him/her two days and baby is already coming out when I come into the room When baby gets bigger I will move him/her to a heated, filtered, cycled five gallon.

My question is how hot is too hot for a baby betta? My heater is keeping the tank at 85-86 degrees and while I've read babies like to be warm I'm worried it might be too warm.

Also, can anyone estimate how old this baby is? For names, I'm thinking Fujimoto if its a boy and Chihiro if its a girl.

[homegrown terror]

probably five or six weeks at the most if it's a boy. maybe a little older if it's a girl. he/she doesn't have any color yet!

[registereduser]

Right now looks like a boy to me

All I know is they are sensitive to ammonia more than other fish so keep an eye on that. They eat like piglets! The 2 I have had the pleasure of keeping seem fine with the usual 76-80 range.

The first one was back in January and she died of the ammonia. The second I just recently bought and he is quite tiny but seems to be thriving on regular sized pellets. He swims around with them in his mouth while chewing

[OrangeAugust]

He (I think it's a he because of the length of his ventrals) looks twice the size of a baby I saw in Petco the other day. I couldn't believe how TINY it was!

[babystarz]

I keep my babies at 80-82 degrees. I would say 86 is getting a bit too warm.

[ameliagypsy]

Thanks! I'm working on lowering the temp. I have had a really hard time finding small heaters that are adjustable... anyone know of a good one? If finding another fails, could I reduce the heat by putting the heater under the gravel or would that make it hotter? It's a submersible betta heater made by Marina.

You can't quite tell in the pictures, but in certain light you can faintly see a blue/green iridescence around the edges of his fins. Today he has a little more color and the lines are going away. I'm so stoked to watch this little guy grow!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to when I should transfer him to the 5 gallon?

[ameliagypsy]

Originally Posted by OrangeAugust

He (I think it's a he because of the length of his ventrals) looks twice the size of a baby I saw in Petco the other day. I couldn't believe how TINY it was!

This little one is DEF. bigger than most I've seen in Petco stores. I'm glad because before I saw the little guy but agreed to take him I was worried he wouldn't be big enough to eat any food I could provide.

[teeneythebetta]

Talks about special care, feeding and age/growth.
http://bettacarecentral.weebly.com/baby-betta-care.html