Baby Betta Fish Help??

[durfchick]

Hey guys!
So, yesterday I went to the petstore to get a new filter for my big fish tank and saw that they had some baby betta fish! They looked well cared for, so I thought "why not?" and bought the last 2. I have never had baby bettas before, only adult ones when I was growing up so I was kind of confused at what to do, but I put them in 2 separate tanks and put in some water that was the same temperature of the water they were being kept in. So, I was hoping I could get some help from you guys, and I have a few questions...

1. What do I feed them? I keep seeing people saying that regular betta food in unsafe so what should be fed?
2. Should they be kept together? I don't know the gender... or really how to tell, or their age, but they are both approximately one inch long, maybe a little less.
3. One of them is a little colorful, a bit of red and blue but the other one is not colorful at all... does that mean anything?
4. are there any other things I need to do to make sure they are both healthy and happy? I really want to raise these babies right, and see them grow up to be beautiful bettas.

Any advice or help or information would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all!
Jen

[registereduser]

Mine died after a few weeks, I'm pretty sure it was the water. It was very high in ammonia. Then I learned about tank cycling so that's what I'm doing now before bringing home another betta.

All I can tell you is babies are much more fragile than adults.

<<<<there she is in healthier times.

[gossipgirl1031]

I have had good success with mine. I've raised 4 of them to juveniles which are now in bigger tanks. My babies were teeny tiny when I got them and just could not fight the filtration in the bigger tanks. I'm still doing 1005 water changes on them every 3rd-4th day (depending on my schedule-I have pneumonia right now, so it's a little harder). Biggest tip-keep them warm! My little ones tanks hold at about 80 degrees. I have an interesting method of heating them since they are in small containers. All are kept seperately & the secondary sex characteristics are beginning to really show. In the beginning, I was feeding them NLS baby pellets 3-4 times a day. As they are getting bigger, we've cut back to twice a day. they are voracious eaters and very active. Keep them in covered tanks since they jump. As far as coloring, it takes awhile sometimes to really show up. So, I wouldn't worry yet. For pictures, check out my profile page. I need to update them & will soon. Any further questions, let me know. I'm not an expert or anything, but I've had pretty good luck.

[gossipgirl1031]

I still have 5 "babies". I'm going to miss having the little ones after they get big and go to their new homes. I'm only keeping a couple.

[dramaqueen]

1005 water changes every 3-4 days? lol

[styggian]

I fed mine crushed New Life Spectrum pellets (my staple food for all of my bettas- and the shrimp!). Unfortunately, I lost them to a temp plummet when it dropped below freezing here and I didn't up the heater to compensate :/ They were doing SO well until the water hit 70. I did a water change with warmer water and increased the thermostat so my others would be okay. I started the babies floating in their cups, then moved them to a breeder enclosure when they got a little bigger. The first baby I got is doing well, despite being runty and with an arch in her back.

[wolfiegreen]

Ive had mine for about a week and a half he was white when i got him but has started to get some color (blue) just give yours time and he might start to show some nice colors.
Gossipgirl what is this interesting heating method??

[gossipgirl1031]

Originally Posted by dramaqueen

1005 water changes every 3-4 days? lol

I must have not hit the shift key on that 5 to get a % ;) Too funny-typos are hilarious!

[gossipgirl1031]

Originally Posted by wolfiegreen

Ive had mine for about a week and a half he was white when i got him but has started to get some color (blue) just give yours time and he might start to show some nice colors.
Gossipgirl what is this interesting heating method??

I have the youngest ones set up in my bathroom which is the warmest room in my basement apartment. The air duct feeds directly into that room. Then I have an oil heater that I plug in and keep the door closed. Then they have under the tank heaters (for the really cold times or when I'm not home to supervise the oil heater). Each tank has a thermometer and it reads around 80 degrees. Makes getting ready in the morning or cleaning, hot for me, but comfy for them. I also store my pretreated water in gallon jugs in there for water changes. It's weird, but has had a good success rate.

[dormfish]

Good luck! I've never had betta fry before, only guppies and platys.