Betta Fish Forum banner

Back to Bettas!

31K views 461 replies 21 participants last post by  Schmoo 
#1 ·
My re-introduction to fishy fun started when I came upon Petco's baby bettas. (It has been years since I've had fish, but I've always wanted to have them again someday) I curiously looked into the jars, only "window shopping", not really expecting to get one. Well, I saw this pretty, shiny, multicolored, pale little thing who was so TINY. I found my heartstrings being pulled, and before I knew it, the little guy was in my shopping cart along with my intended purchase of dog food. Soon, little baby betta got the name Flash!
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
Four days later...

Three days after adopting Flash, I was back at Petco for some food for little Flash (I had been reading up on how to care for these fragile little guys!) when I perused back over by the baby bettas. I told myself I was just looking, but I knew I had an alterior motive. I really wanted to get another one! Amongst the dreary, grey babies, this little red, energetic fishy caught my eye. Somehow I managed to just walk out with the food and not the betta. However, the whole next day, 10/20/2014 while I was at work, I was thinking about the little thing and so what did I do? On the drive home from work, I stopped back and adopted baby betta number two! It took a couple days to decide on a name (Dragon for a boy? Ruby for a girl?) when finally the name Lava was decided upon.
 

Attachments

#3 ·
Here are some pics of Flash on 10/20/2014, the day that Lava was adopted. In a couple of days, it seems like he'd changed so much! I noticed what might possibly be the beginning of marbling near his head? Also, a mysterious notch had formed in his tail. It didn't seem to affect him, though! I was beginning to learn that Flash was full of energy and spunk!
 

Attachments

#5 · (Edited)
10/23/2014

Pics from 10/23/2014... ONE WEEK "ANNIVERSARY" of having Flash!
So many changes in such a short time!
 

Attachments

#9 ·
#14 ·
10/26/2014

BuBbLe NeSt!!
Flash made his first bubble nest on 10/26/2014. I guess it means we know he's a boy! Here are some pics of his first attempt :welldone::welldone:
He also is flaring his gills in one of them- so cute!
 

Attachments

#15 ·
10/27/2014

Lava's ONE-WEEK "ANNIVERSARY"! Lava has now been here a full week. I'm starting to have my suspicions that S/he is a female... to me, the body type is female, she doesn't flare, she's more "stripey", just totally different from Flash. After posting pics here last week, some thought perhaps Lava was a male, but I'll put these new pics up for some examination...
 

Attachments

#16 ·
10/27/2014 #2

Also, on 10/27/2014, Flash and Lava got moved into a bigger tank. Thanks to helpful tips from this site, I was able to construct a divider. My first installation wasn't very secure, and I was suprised to walk into the room to find Flash in Lava's side! I watched for a moment, and Flash was flaring and darting like crazy, but Lava- ever the laid-back fishy, took it in stride. I then moved the silly boy back to his side, did some re-adjusting of the divider, and all has been fine since :)
 

Attachments

#17 ·
just so you know females will sometimes make bubble nests too, its not a gender only thing.
im glad they got a bigger tank! what size is it? also is your heater set to around 82 degreees? baby bettas need a little warmer water.
my last suggestion is to get some silk, or easy live plants (anubis, java fern, java moss ect.) because bettas love their plants! they are cute! that last pic is adorable!

edit: oh yeah! make sure they cant jump over, youd be surprised how far the can jump lol
 
#18 ·
just so you know females will sometimes make bubble nests too, its not a gender only thing.
im glad they got a bigger tank! what size is it? also is your heater set to around 82 degreees? baby bettas need a little warmer water.
my last suggestion is to get some silk, or easy live plants (anubis, java fern, java moss ect.) because bettas love their plants! they are cute! that last pic is adorable!

edit: oh yeah! make sure they cant jump over, youd be surprised how far the can jump lol
I didn't know that females made them too, lol, you learn something new every day :) I'm definitely slowly but surely adding things to the tank to make them happier... today I got a background sheet, a moss ball, and tonight I have been looking on Amazon at plants and caves etc.
 
#19 ·
10-28-2014

The tank is getting some sprucing up... a backdrop and moss ball has been added, and I am looking at all kinds of other decor.
But the biggest news is that Flast re-built his bubble nest in his new home! It's only been a day since their upgrade, and he's already hard at work. Cutest of all is that the nest is right at the divider... I think he has some fond feelings for his roomate :love: At least I hope... I don't want him to get too stressed out or frustrated that he's so close to the fish on the other side!
 

Attachments

#20 ·
10/29/2014

I've heard that young bettas can experience color transformations but this is the first time I've had young bettas and have never witnessed it before... am I seeing some marbling appear on flash? I have no idea, lol. Plus, the jury is still out on whether Lava is a male or female, but do I see ovaries? My novice eyes can't tell!:hmm:
 

Attachments

#21 ·
10/30/2014

Failure & Frustration :frustrated:
I tried to make a betta tube today. I had lots of mesh left over from making my divider (I got a 6-pack at Walmart). First I tried the tying-it-with-thread method and that was very difficult... my thread was so small and thin it was like tying with a piece of hair. Then I tried to melt the plastic together (I had read that it might work...???) but NOPE. Ugh. I was so excited for Flash and Lava to have their tunnels!
I am thinking next step is glue, but I didn't want to buy any. If I were to decide on glue, what can I use? Or maybe I should buy fishing line??
 
#22 ·
10/30/2014 #2

On the positive side, Flash and Lava got some new decor! Here are some pics of Flash...
(Playing hide-and-seek in the last one :lol:)
 

Attachments

#23 ·
10/30/2014 #3

Here is Lava in his/her new cave...
 

Attachments

#24 ·
10/30/2014

Lastly today, when I was shopping for the new decor, I went to Petco among other stores to shop around. Of course, I had to stop by the baby bettas. It was so sad... there were 8 babies. Of them, 5 were dead, 2 were very sickly (skinny, clamped, one with bent spine and one with velvet I think), and only 1 that looked active and healthy. Those poor things :sob:
I also went to Walmart, and Petsmart. No babies there, whew.
 
#25 ·
I'd try fishing line or invisible thread with a needle and stitch the edges together. Then you'll just need a knot at the start and the end. The needle will make it easier to tie the knots. I think if you use regular thread it will get algae or mold being wet all the time and break apart.

I love your journal name!
 
#26 ·
I'd try fishing line or invisible thread with a needle and stitch the edges together. Then you'll just need a knot at the start and the end. The needle will make it easier to tie the knots. I think if you use regular thread it will get algae or mold being wet all the time and break apart.

I love your journal name!
Thanks for the tips! I really love these tunnels and can't wait to suprise my fishies with them :-D
 
#27 ·
10/31/2014--happy halloween!

Happy Halloween!

It's funny how different these two fish's personalities are! Flash is either hyper or grumpy, I can't tell. Whatever it is, he's always patrolling, darting around, flaring at Lava through the divider... just a nonstop guy!
Lava, on the other hand, is so friendly and passive. S/he can look at Flash through the divider, while Flash is flaring away and frantically swimming, and it's almost as if s/he shrugs his/her shoulders like "yeah, I see you. So what?" And then just swims casually away. Lava also likes to get as close to me as possible when I'm up against the glass. It's mostly because I think s/he expects food, but even if I don't have any, s/he sticks around almost as if to investigaste.
Niether of them show any fear of me, and both get excited when I come into view... hoping for food, I'm sure! They are smart, taking food right from the end of a little feeding tool I fashioned (a plastic fork which I took three of the four tines off of). They will even jump up OUT of the water to get it! I don't make a practice of having them jump because I don't want them to jump out some day when I'm not there... but I guess sometimes I'm just too slow for them and they want to get at that food!
 
#28 ·
10/31/2014 #2

I've decided I'm tired of writing s/he or him/her, lol. For now, I'm gonna refer to Lava as a she until she shows me otherwise! Anyway...

In addition to their different personalities, their eating styles are so different, too. Lava is a gulper; as soon as the food is dipped in, she gulps it down. If it falls down behind her and she doesn't see it at first, she makes a super speedy bee-line down to it and it never touches the gravel. And I swear, she never gets full! I have to make the decision of when to stop because she will probably never stop!
Flash, on the other hand, is slow, picky, and spits out food all.the.time. It's almost like he can't swallow pieces that are no problem at all for Lava. (I feed them frozen BBS and frozen bloodworms... tried crushed betta pellets when I first brought them home, but they got ignored.) He especially spits out BBS. Sometimes he makes one or two more attempts and sucking it down, but usually it comes back out.
I've taken to feeding him right above his hammock. Since I've never seen him lounge in it, it is more of a feeder now. That way, if he spits something out, it lands on the hammock instead of the gravel. And he also then gets to graze on his leftovers- which he does- I wonder if he needs them to soften up first? I've included a photo of his unique, specialized feeding style:
 

Attachments

#29 ·
11/1/2014

To help correct the pickiness of Flash, I asked on the betta care forum and from the advice, I think I'm going to only give him the option of pellets... I don't want to make him be too hungry, though, as he's only a baby still... Lava on the other hand, took to pellets today very easily! YAY for small favors!

The fishies got a water change today, and new plants! Now I'm pretty sure the decorating is complete. They have places to hide, and sneak through... I hope I made them happy! Some pics of their spruced-up digs:
 

Attachments

#30 ·
11/1/2014

Interesting observation this evening about Flash's scales. They are so pretty all of a sudden! There is now a distinct area of shiny scales around his whole body except for his head. It's like an irridescent sea green, or teal; is there a name for this coloring? I'm quite sure he's not a dragon scale (although wouldn't that be AWESOME!) Is he still just a multi-color cambodian? Lol, I am still trying to learn all the terms :hmm:pics below!
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top