New betta owner

[jesstanner]

Okay so I just bought my first betta fish yesterday (his name is pez which is fish in spanish), and I put him in his new tank today after acclimating him to the tank! I love him so much! I just joined this website a couple hours ago and I've now been pouring over all these different threads, you're all so cool! I've just got some questions that if you guys could help me out answering would be great!

1. I keep seeing all these abbreviations for betta fish types, like CM and MG...what are these?
2. Are there any really good betta info sites you could send me to?
3. What kind of betta is Pez?
4. Any tips or advice that you can think of for me? Any and all is welcome! Thanks! :)

P.S sorry the picture isn't the greatest, all my others are on my camera

[Bettaluver4evr]

He's a beautiful betta! For your first Q, I don't know what CM means, but MG means mustard gas. Mustard gas is a mix of yellow and another color, usually blue or purple. :) Your betta is, for example, a veiltail betta tail type. We call it VT for short. CT means crowntail. HM means halfmoon. DeT means delta tail. DT or DBT means doubletail. PK means plakat. Then there are mixes, like HMDBT (Halfmoon doubletail) or CTPK (crowntail plakat.) There are loads of other mixes too, but just some basics! :)
For your second question, I reccomend this site! It really has everything you need to know. :)
Pez is a beatiful Veiltail. :)
Hmmm... well, what do you have? Tank, tank size, decor, heater, filter, etc? I personally reccomend at least 1 gallon containers, but the forum itself is a fan of 2.5 gallons tanks at the very least. Bettas need toasty warm water (78-83 degrees farenheit) and filters are nice to keep water clean. :) Water conditioner and food are definite musts too! Hope this helped. :)

[CrowntailxKing]

I prefer 2.5 over anything else for a single Betta, but I did buy a MicroBow1 which is a one gallon tank. It's pretty nice! Comes with a filter and a light for $30.

[Tisia]

this list covers at least most of the abbreviations, with pictures ^_^

[jesstanner]

I have Pez in a 2.5 gallon rectangular aquarium. I'm going out today to buy a filter and a heater because when I bough Pez I had my dog with me who was getting pretty excited about all the fish food :). Thanks so much for the links and info, I had no idea there were so many kinds of betta fish! Last question though:
I've read on other websites that betta fish don't like a lot of light? This seems to be partially true for Pez, but where I have him now (a corner on my desk that doesn't get much light) I don't really get to see him. Is this light thing true? Or can I move him somewhere with more light? I have a tropical freshwater tank meaning I'm not totally new to fish ownership so I know no direct sunlight but what do you guys reccommend? Thanks again!

[tracyalexa]

So far, only one of mine doesn't like light so I keep his part of the tank covered. The other ones do fine with it. I have read though that if you do have a light be sure to shut it off at night! Welcome - Pez is very pretty!!

[LolaQuigs]

Congrats on your new fish, he's lovely! This thread has everything you need to know about general care and maintenance of your betta, but it sounds like you're already off to a great start!

Are you talking about just general ambient light? Unless he's sick or really stressy, I don't think the room light should be a problem at all (as long as it's not sunlight...keep him out of direct sunlight). If you're talking about his tank light, just give it a try and if it seems to stress him then don't use it. If you do use it, don't leave it on for more than eight hours--it's nice to mimic a natural day-night cycle for the fish, and too much light can lead to algae.

[Canuck Fins]

When you go to get your heater, also get a thermometer that attaches to the glass inside the tank, it makes it easier to monitor the water temp.

It's also very important to have a place for your fish to hide, whether that's a pot or plants or an ornament.

And your picture is fine! These speedy little critters can be pretty tough to photograph! :)

[Atolon]

Congrats on your new betta. I also joined this site a few hours after buying my first betta.

Betta keeping is very fun and addicting, I started from one and now have 3.
Good luck with yours!

[Arashi Takamine]

Welcome to the forum! Pez is absolutely stunning. I hope you post more pics of him!