Hello! I was encouraged to post a journal here- i found this forum a few weeks ago when I was doing research for my summer project, that is, a philosophy book on fish (well, on consciousness and the problem of other minds/human + animal relations)...I actually was first inspired for the project when I wrote a paper last fall based on one of my (and my first) bettas-my lovely Rousseau...

Anyways, around that time another of my fish died (resultant of the 3+ hour car ride back home once university ended for me) which hit me really hard...my mom had also basically adopted my two other betta fish at this point as they were in the kitchen and under her care.
(1) Nietzsche; a HM, always a more reserved, strange boi-when i first got him i thought he would die because he was swimming funny
(2) John II ;the namesake of my book project and named after my first EVER fish I got when I was 7. he was a red VT just like my current John, anyways John the 2nd is a real trooper ...didnt even mind an excursion to my university philosophy conference when I was presenting my paper on him! Handled the field trip (6+ hours + 2 more in the car) with no signs of stress or aggression, a very friendly and pleasant man...both have grown FAT and huge under my moms feeding
Anyways so my friend gave me her old 10g (my first ever real proper fish tank) and my original plan was to set that, actually try my hand at aquascaping (before that i had only had bamboo and a scraggly plant i had bought and it died within 3 days) so i bought a baby betta from Petsmart, they refused to sex it for me, so i took a more gender neutral philosophy name and went with Aristophanes - This was about a month ago and Ari was still completely colorless and grey with her baby stripes when i first got her, super super tiny with only the tiniest bit of red shimmer on her fins. I had noticed a few weeks prior that they had started selling babies, and after the slow and painful deaths of Rousseau and Karl Marx (I had personally watched Karl slowly lose his color, stop eating over the course of weeks, and then, convulse and die one evening) I couldnt bare to see anymore death ...i wanted to raise a baby. so behold Ari ...

Unfortunately, the 10g my friend gave me was too big for where I wanted to put it (and the only place I really can). My living situation is complicated right now, I’m living back at home until I move to a new continent for law school in September...my mom is not impressed w my newfound hobby and did not want me to set up my tank anywhere else, so im forced rn to keep Ari in my 1gal - i know its not enough even tho she still is tiny and gets lost among the sword plants and bamboo. i recently added back some hornwort too (watched her eat a stem and almost choke when i first got her) and the tank sits on my bedside table right under the window, so always lots of light and a stable 73-76 degrees. i want to move her to a new tank that i could actually (kind of) aquascape a bit, and i wish i could make the 10g work...(rn its sitting in the trunk of my car hiding)-ive been wistfully going to pet stores and looking at the rocks and such, i love the idea of using hamster tubing/clear pvc piping for tunnels and hides, and id wanna have lots of plants and simple, monocolored rocks...i could even make it a sorority (tho boys still have my heart) all of that would probably help with my motivation for my project too! Alas, i dont think thats in the books for now-my goal is to at least find ari a bit bigger of a tank soon, and (maybe) get more plants and find a small hide-i really like those floating logs but theyre like 20$ at Petsmart-ridiculous! Ive seen people make them out of hair curlers...also saw some cool things at the dollar store that would make for cool decor, like a makeup brush holder (like where u put eye liner in and stuff) its transparent plastic with smooth edges and large circular holes to swim through) -thought it would look cool with a darker, minimalistic style tank

Side note; Nietzsche (have had him for 10 months now) has started nipping his fins, probably because since my mom has taken over feeding him (the kitchen is her domain) his fins and coloring have blossomed-he had always looked sickly before and i guess he got annoyed with it finally-anyways im going to change his water and add more plants and put him in the vertical 2.5gal but i want to add betta fix to help with his fins, would anyone suggest that? i read somewhere that bettafix doesnt actually do much, or that it can make it harder for the fish to breath...also is it safe for plants? i also have some aq salt but i know i cant use that for plants

photos

1) Nietzsche before he ate his fins :(
2) Ari when I first got her beside my finger nail for size comparison
3) Ari when I first got her, showing her pale coloring and baby stripes! (Shes a lot darker and blue-er now, will post photos soon):



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Very good artificial. I think at this time and until you can set up the 10 gal. Ari will do just fine in a small environment. However I always recommend at least a 5.5 gal. for any betta since the tank can be filtered and heated with out any problems. This way water changes aren't stressful for my boys. I have seen baby betta in Petco and Petsmart but they have always been sexed and had full color. To sell something that tiny and not be able to tell the sex is just criminal In my opinion. It's like taking a Kitten away from it's mother at one week old and saying well they will either make it or not.

On your other question about Nietzsche 's fins I never recommend Betta Fix unless it is the last resort. Using almond leaves and water changes will produce the desired effect on him. I always takes a while to grow back fins but the best medicine for him is clean treated water. Make sure the tank is cycled and do 25% water changes twice a week and put in an almond leaf. This way your not using chemicals he is not use to that will stress him out even more.

Good luck with your charges and keep up the journal. It makes interesting reading and I would be interested to also find out if Ari is a boy or girl.

Thank you! I am embarrassed that I cant keep Ari in a bigger tank right now, but I am working on it rest assured. When I move to England she will probably go to my bestfriend who will have room for the 15gal or he wants to get a bigger tank sometime in the future...or i’ll find a way to ship her to England with me, and then be able to have as big a tank I want mwahaha-shes a sweetie. and i say sweetie because now its very apparent shes a female (white ovipositor visible) but yes a month ago she was too small for me (untrained eye) to definitely know, and Petsmart here in Canada has a new policy where they will refuse to sex any animal in their store...dont really know why when the sexes are “listed” on the tanks and cages already?


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The reason they don't sex the fish is because people will come in and ask for a male or female and the untrained clerk doesn't know the difference. Then when it gets obvious they didn't get what they wanted they go back on the store with a law suit. So they will not sex their betta. When the shipping cups come in from most breeders they are sexed and the cup marked. If they buy from a local breeder they get unmarked cups or bags. In the older betta it's very easy to tell the sex on sight. But babies as young as you got with no color and no other tell tail markings they won't even try. All they know is it's a baby betta. For that matter they don't even know that it's a baby betta or guppy.

She is there for you to study and enjoy. treasure every moment you can with her.

Came home today and found Ari swimming strangely-she cannot keep herself submerged (but has been exerting much energy attempting to swim to the bottom only to float back up) and also is struggling to remain upright-she looks paler and her tail is clamped...she is also extremely bloated (her stomach looks white and huge). I'm trying not to panic and chalk it up to overfeeding-I have been feeding her a lot of freeze dried bloodworms the last two weeks, and I have noticed in the last few days she has been looking bloated. I am going to give her a 100% water change tomorrow-plus maybe skip a day of feeding and see if the bloating goes down. I added the hornwort back yesterday, could she be eating that and having digestive problems as a result? I know constipation can affect the swim bladder which explains her erratic swimming...she ate fine this morning and seems to have plenty of energy despite the erratic swimming I came home to. I'm just paranoid...reminds me too much of Rousseau and Karl :(

Nietzsche will also have a new tank + water change tomorrow-really hoping that clears up his fins. Might move him back to my domain (my bedroom) so my mother cannot complain about anything haha.

Sorry Ari is not doing well. If fasting doesn't help you might post a thread in Diseases and Emergencies with photos and the section sticky.

Good luck.

Thank you! Ari is about the same today-still looks pale and clamped. But not as bloated. Water temperature is also a stable 80+ which is great, I always struggle with drafts and such. Decided to skip today as well and feed her tomorrow (with the 100% water change, couldnt do it today, work went longer than expected ect. ect.) Will post pictures tomorrow! I really want a good picture of her but shes so small and I stupidly used black gravel so its almost impossible to see her sometimes let alone get a good picture.

On the upside I did get a picture of my moms beautiful boy Blush. Hes huge. Biggest boy Ive ever seen. I keep telling my mom to move him to a bigger (proper) tank and tried showing her all the research I’ve accumulated on Betta care-but she says that its “bad to change their environment”, I’ll keep working on her...



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Do you have anything other that freeze dried for Ari? I don't know if you saw my answer in my thread on feeding, but many believe that feeding too much freeze dried contributes to bloat/constipation. Reconstituting is supposed to help, though. I haven't feed freeze dried in years so can't really comment with knowledge.

I feed a variety of frozen, live, NortFin Betta Bits and Fluval Bug Bites. The latter is pretty small; almost too small for my Giant gene Betta.

Blush is lovely!

Thank you!

I do have pellets that I have always fed to my other fish, they just sink quickly and were too big for Ari when I first got her (very cute with her swimming w a big pellet but stressful for me to watch when i realized she couldnt eat it). That being said, I think I will stop feeding her the freezedried and try to get her back on the pellets IF that is what is causing her SBD. If shes better by tomorrow after the two days of fasting I think its safe to say it was the blood worms.


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Have you tried flake foods for her? Flake floats longer and is easier for them to bite off. I know that a lot of people here feed pellets and don't know why. I always recommend the Omega One Betta Buffet which comes in both flake and pellets. It is a complete betta diet. No fillers. I also recommend the Bug Bites, and North Fin. These are complete mixes with the best nutrition for betta. With the Omega One I feed flake food to all my betta and have never had any problem with bloating or any other stomach problems with them.

I feed live food to my boys also but only as a treat.

With the size of Ari unless you get very small pellets she may have trouble eating them. that is why I would consider flake for her.