First Betta Tonight :) I couldn't wait...!!!

[cballas]

LoL I got overzealous & bought one from the family owned FS. The bettas always looked perky & water clean, only 10-15 were there, and the staff was great.

I picked the smallest one VT, I'm pretty sure he's male.
He's adjusting to his new tank now, so the light is off, I will have pix tomorrow.
He started flaring at the filter current & tank wires immediately LOL He nipped the plants.
Edit: He just ate 3 pellets! :)
But before I put him in, I placed his transport bag next to the 10G danio tank (also bought 4
leopard danios for my 2 "glo" ones) & he wasn't flaring, but was looking quite intently at the other fish. lol
I also bought a plant with large leaves for him to lay on, and gave him a tiki man w/ an open
mouth to hide in.... I bought a "Betta Wheel", a faux wood floating log w/ a hole, but
I think it's too big for the 3G.
I'm moving him to the 10G when I get a 20G though.
I bought him the same pellets the store fed him, and also some color enhancing pellets too.
A snail hitched a ride on the plant so I'm sure he'll enjoy that snack LOL

His coloring is opal-ish. White, blue, green, purple, pink mixed...I love opals & he was the only one
w/ this coloring. :)

[Lion Mom]

Sounds BEAUTIFUL and I can't WAIT for pics!!!

CONGRATS!!!!

[cballas]

Actuallly...Under the Marineland lighting, he is top half green/lower half purple...Weird!

I turned the filter off for now...Do you think it's too strong? He's hanging up toward the top of the filter
away from the biowheel exiting water...But then again, he did just eat, maybe digesting? lol i feel like
a new mom...

[Max99]

I just got one last night also!

[cballas]

LoL Max I know I saw your post & went "Oh cool another new owner!"
I hope yours does well

[JorgeBurrito]

Originally Posted by cballas

Actuallly...Under the Marineland lighting, he is top half green/lower half purple...Weird!

I turned the filter off for now...Do you think it's too strong? He's hanging up toward the top of the filter
away from the biowheel exiting water...But then again, he did just eat, maybe digesting? lol i feel like
a new mom...

One of the things that sucks about the marineland filters on their small aquariums is there is no way to turn the filter flow down. You want to leave the filter on so your tank will cycle. Your best choice is to rubber band or otherwise attach an aquarium sponge or filter material to the water outlet which will diffuse the flow a little bit.

Make sure and keep up with you water changes and don't overfeed. That is the two biggest things with Bettas.

[CodeRed]

Do a filter baffle!! You can make one with either a pop bottle or a sponge (: It'll slow down the water flow enough that your boy isn't getting tossed around.
Also, congrats on getting him!! Sometimes, you just can't wait any more :P

[cballas]

Ok thanks guys :)
Im turning it off for a few hours tonight while I sleep & he sleeps, I turned it on for a sec & he woke up like "whoaaa wth ?" lol I'm good w/ water changes & will be careful not to overfeed.
Ill do the sponge buffer w/ rubber band tomorrow. :)

[Lion Mom]

Originally Posted by cballas

Ok thanks guys :)
Im turning it off for a few hours tonight while I sleep & he sleeps, I turned it on for a sec & he woke up like "whoaaa wth ?" lol I'm good w/ water changes & will be careful not to overfeed.
Ill do the sponge buffer w/ rubber band tomorrow. :)

I don't know for SURE, but I'm pretty positive the tank won't cycle with the filter being turned on & off. What I did with my Eclipse 3 was I took out the wheel & cut a couple of small pieces off of an AquaClear sponge & stuffed it in the holes of the water inlet - worked like a charm!!!

[Alex09]

If the tank is in your room and you have a hard time sleeping because of the filter, just do the sponge baffle. It makes it silent and works like a charm!