Another baby rescue!

[Meggie6347]

Hey everyone! So I am redoing my old science teacher's tank at school...I think it's about 20 gallons...doing sand, wood (already have the manzanita), and live plants...but i didn't know what fish I was going to put in. Until now!

I rescued a baby betta a while ago...I don't know exactly...maybe a month...and she has improved and grown at a very quick rate and I released her into the ten gallon...well..I wanted to get another baby betta, so I have her in the net in my ten gallon like the last one...and when the time comes, I will release her into the ten gallon as well and keep rotating..I am hoping that by raising them together they will get along better living all together

So that's my plan for the tank at school...a sorority tank made up of rescued babies that I raised myself!

I will try to get a picture of the new baby and an updated one of the last one tomorrow morning..

thanks for reading, check tomorrow for pics!
Meg

[Gracie8890]

Awesome! Sounds great! Would love to see pics

[DragonFish]

That sound like a neat idea.....but be careful! Not all the babies you get will be female, and you'll have no way of knowing completely for sure what is what for a good couple of months at least, and even then you may end up with a surprise male later. I hope you have a plan for the males you'll likely end up with as well!!

[Meggie6347]

Thanks for the responses! I am prepared for males...some are old enough to where you can make an educated guess on if it's going to be male or female but there's no guarantee..I have at least one or two homes to give males to if that ends up happening..

I really enjoy raising the betta babies from petco...It's so satisfying because I feel like I'm giving them a chance for a good life when they didn't have much of one to start with in their situation...


Alright, so this is a picture of the first baby betta when I first got her about a month or so ago...she was pretty skinny and sickly looking...


And this is her as of this morning: she has grown and improved so much in such a short time! I'm pretty sure this one is female, although I'm not sure of her fin type...so now she needs a name








This one is the new one...looks crowntail, hopefully female!


I apologize about the waterline; I haven't topped it off yet...it evaporates so quickly! The babies are getting fed frozen food (usually brine shrimp) about 3-4 times a day...the temp is about 81 (as you can see in the pic)...

I went in to Petco yesterday to get the baby and wanted to buy some more food for a bit more diversity for the babies...I wanted microworms, but I would have settled for something else just as good...well I asked the "aquarium specialist" if they had any, but she said they didn't carry them...I told her they were for the baby bettas because that's what I feed them. Guess what she told me? "We have small betta pellet foods you can feed them." O_o Um....I just said I only feed them real food? And it's a baby, they need high protein! haha last time I had a baby on pellets, it never grew. Next time I go to aquatouch or the pet shop I will try to get some microworms, but for now, brine shrimp it is!

The first one usually has a really full belly, but I haven't fed her yet...Last time I fed her was last night before I went to bed...but even so, you can see how much healthier her tummy looks than on the first day I had her! Now it's time to work on the little one

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures! Comments are appreciated! And if you can guess on the first betta's gender and tail type that would be great, too! I think I see that white spot, but it's just so tiny I can't tell!

Thanks for looking!
Meg

[DragonFish]

Awwwww, so cute!! A little baby CT! I have such a soft spot for CTs...xD <3

Oh yes, I can totally understand where you're coming from there! I've almost brought home babies a couple of times, remembering how enjoyable it was when I did a little breeding a few years back, raising all those adorable little babies, training them to feed right from my hand.....I really miss my babies. <3 Haha, maybe fir Christmas I'll get a couple KKs and rescue a couple babies!

Ugh, Petco.....such cluelessness. ;P I can't say I'm surprised though, I mean they're selling betta fry in tiny little cold cups. Can't really expect the poorly educated employees to understand the needs of a baby betta....they generally don't even know how to properly care for adult bettas!
I'm pretty sure most chain stores don't sell cultures though....you'll probably have to go online to find those. If your babies are taking to frozen though, you can also try cutting up some frozen bloodworms and krill along with the brine shrimp. Could also crush some pellets and see if they'll eat those along with the frozen. ;)

The first betta is a little young to say for certain about gender.....he/she does look female, but there is still time for it to surprise you and turn into a male! xD It should be easier to tell for sure in a month or two. I would guess, based on pictures, that shes a VT though.
Fantastic job though! They're both clearly in wonderful hands! I look forward to update pictures over time! :)

[Meggie6347]

Thank you very much! That's very kind! It's also nice to be reassured that they are being well taken care of and that they're happy

I think she is female...especially because in the third picture of her now, I think I can see a little white dot, but not sure...

Aqua touch and the pet shop are both privately owned stores...which is why I like them! Especially aqua touch because it is only focused on aquariums. It's a fantastic store! They keep their bettas in tanks (like more than ten gallons, generally 20+ gallons) and they all seem extremely happy! They carry a wide variety of plants and fish that you don't see very often. Think they have microworms there, and I'm pretty sure they have them at the pet shop...when you have microworms, how do you keep them alive? And do you feed them live? I only ever have had frozen...not even freeze dried...unfortunately aqua touch is about an hour away

I might pick up some frozen krill if nothing else...I know for sure chain stores here carry them...I'll just have to cut them up a lot

Thank you so much for your response!
Meg

[DragonFish]

Sure thing! ;)

Young males can display a similar white spot as well, so I've found its not ALWAYS the most accurate way to determine gender...xD
But, I do agree; body-shape wise she does appear to be a female though there is still a small chance that she could turn out to be a surprise male in the next couple of months....you never know! xD She still looks fairly young with her Camouflage stripes and all.

Yeah, privately owned stores that maybe specialize in fish and aquariums sometimes have cultures/live foods available....but at places like Petco and Petsmart and whatnot you're not going to find anything besides frozen.
I'm not entirely sure how to do a Microworm culture, I've never done it before, but from what I understand its fairly easy.....the Breeders section of the forum will likely have a few threads on the subject. But yes, you do feed them live and wiggling. xD

If they're eating and doing well on frozen foods though, thats great! :) Yeah, I've been meaning to pick up some more krill for my adult boys....the last time I fed it was a couple of years ago, but I do remember they really enjoyed it and from what I recall from my research its pretty high in protein. Might be a little more prep, cutting it up and whatnot, but I bet they'd love it. xD

[Meggie6347]

Thank you! I will be sure to try to get my hands on some krill! I don't mind the prep work...would have to be on the weekends though because between school and practice I have almost NO time haha

Bummer about the white spot! *Please be female!*

I was having issues feeding the new little girl this morning...could only get half a piece of brine shrimp into her..she seems a bit more shy than the first one was...but while I'm at school my mom does the feeding for me, since I like to feed them at least 3-4 times a day... *I love my mommy* ..she actually got her to eat four brine shrimp..tonight I got her little belly decently swollen with them. She still seems a bit shy, but she is getting a little more used to her surroundings, I think...I think she might always be the more shy one ^_^

And then I have the blue one...who jumps for her food before I even have it ready... I really should name her, haha since this is for the science class, and some of my best friends are doctor who nerds in that class (including the teacher), I think I want to name them all doctor who related haha