Hey, New Betta Owner :)

[Kennykid2002]

Hey guys,
I'm new to this forum. Not new to forums in general as I am mod in several, but I just joined this one to learn a bit about my new betta :)
Btw, sorry for the long intro, but if you're a fan of reading :P

Realized there is no intro subsection in this forum, so hopefully this area would be adequate. (Thought about the Lounge section, but looked more like an offtopic section to me)

Anyways,
My name is Kenny, 20 yrs old. Had some goldfishes way back when. They all died after a couple months because I was young and didn't know what responsibility was haha.
But just recently me and my friend thought it'd be a good idea to get a fish for a new hobby.
So I was shopping around, at walmart, saw some bettas and thought they should be pretty easy to take care of.

Got a Crown Tail there, and bought a small fishbowl from walmart and some gravel, got home and set it up. At first he seemed pretty feisty at the store but when he was home, he seemed bored out of his mind. So I did some researching, and realized the bowl was way too small for him, and he was prolly miserable.
So, I had a large bubble bowl vase (1.5 gal) and put him in there for a while, and he seemed better...but he was still floating around doing absolutely nothing for hours, so I guess he was still unhappy
And then I remembered my cousin had a bunch of fish tanks, and a 5 gal unused tank, so I got it from him, cleaned it thoroughly (Since it was used as a salt water aquarium, didnt use cleaning products, just lots of water and elbow grease)
I popped in a bowl buddy, and let the filter cycle for a day, and got a heater for it too, and some plants.
After that, I put him back in the container I got him from and put him inside the tank to get him adjusted to the temperature and released him.
And since then he's been a lot happier and more curious.

Since my crowntail is black in the front, blue and red fins, my girlfriend said it looked like those things hanging off a carpet, and carpet turned into Aladdin, and so he was named.

So, shopping around petsmart, I see they're having a sale on bettas...and my girl has this idea and says "Why don't you get Aladdin a girlfriend?" and thought "why not?" and thus, I have Jasmine (Yeah, cute eh?)
Only realizing later theres a LOT involved in breeding...and reading up on it
(My buddy has a spare 20gal that I can have when I do decide to put them together)
Anyways,
Currently Jasmine is in the original 1.5gal bowl, and seems content. She swims around more than Aladdin did when he was in the bowl. She seems docile and friendly, but when she feeds...she is one mean eater! :D
I try to cut back on feeding her, because looking on websites and forums, she seems bloated.

So far ive been feeding them freeze dried blood worms and shrimp
and some floating pellets, but theyve lost interest in all the food except the blood worms.
They bite the shrimp and spit it back out, guessing its hard for them to swallow, so i cut it shorter, but they still prefer the blood worms, they dont even look at the pellet food anymore.

Anyways, had Aladdin for about 2 weeks, and Jasmine since friday.
Glad to be a part of this forum and hoping to learn a lot.
Thanks for taking he time to read! (if u did)

pics of Aladdin and Jasmine will come later when i get home :)

[denaliwind]

Welcome to the forums and the hobby! Sounds like quite an adventure you have already been on! ^^ They're entertaining fish with very distinct personalities. Breeding is definitely a complicated process for the more experienced of handlers, so many things things to prepare and to maintain. You should look into frozen foods or different pellets, freeze dried foods are risky and often lead to digestion problems, especially when fed on a regular basis. Frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and daphnia are a great alternative and if you don't have the time for feeding frozen, then having them around for a treat is a great option, just supplement their diet with some pellets (or flakes). Even wingless fruit flies or other small insects can be apart of the menu. Either they aren't fans of the pellets you have or they just need a smaller pellet. If your little ones get bloated, frozen daphnia will make them poop, or just fast them for a day or two. ^^

I look forward to seeing pictures! :D

[Oldfishlady]

Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of Betta keeping....be warned...it is addicting... as you have found out...lol.....didn't take long to get the second one....laffs......

Look forward to pics.....

[Kennykid2002]

Whoa, sorry people.
I totally forgot about this haha

Anyways,
Quick update

My girlfriend decided to steal Aladdin and keep him for herself at her house,
So I decided to get a new male (His name is Jasper, and is a Veiltail)

& I visited a local fish store, and bought some live blackworms and brine shrimp
Currently, Jasmine is a fatass and will eat a LOT of anything haha.
Jasper prefers the blackworms over the brine shrimp, but occassionally will eat a few here and there.

I think I might introduce the pair separated daily for an hour or so and see what happens, i'll stock up some vinegar eels just in case they really do breed.
Would really be excited to see something like that.

By the way, Jasmine has been making a layer of what seems like slime/mucus on the top of the water, is this normal? It's kind of like a really thin layer of skin.
I just usually siphon it out with water changes and it usually appears again a day later, just curious because I've never seen this before.

Anyways, photos: (Sorry they didn't really show off their fins at the time)
Jasmine (Fatty? haha)


Jasper

[Jessabell]

I like your *story* and your betta lol. Welcome!