[anitsirk92]

I am adopting a betta from my boyfriends brother who no longer (aka never really did) have time to take care of her. She was kept in a small unheated vase (probably about .5 gallons) and is fed a diet of strictly freeze dried blood worms. I plan on putting her in a divided, cycled, heated ten gallon tank (currently with no other betta)
I feed my bettas a combination of frozen baby brine shrimp and NLS pellets with the occasional freeze dried blood worm as a snack.

My question is should I take any special care when bringing her home? I don't want to shock her too much by changing so much of her environment all at once. Or will she be just fine? She is a very cute, active girl and I'm excited to add her to the family and give her the proper care she deserves

 

[SeaKnight]

I would just take some extra time to acclimate her to the water (so as to not put her into shock) fast her for a day or two (to allow her system to "detox") and keep the lights low, if possible, for a few days.... This is what I do with all of mine (regardless of where I get them from)...

 

[VivianKJean]

+1 to the above.

 

[yogosans14]

Make sure the divider is not see through! They will jump over it

 

[VivianKJean]

The divider can be see through, just put a bunch of plants up against it so that it blocks most of the other side.

A see through divider has nothing to do with wether a fish will jump over it or not. Bettas are jumpers and their natural behaviors are to jump from one puddle to another. The best way to prevent your fish from jumping the divider is to make sure that it is very tall and that the water level at least reaches 3 inches below the top of the divider.

 

[anitsirk92]

I have the divider set up so there are three sections. The middle section being a tiny section holding only the heater and filter so even if she does jump over she wouldn't get to the other side. And as of now she will be the only fish in the tank. Also I have thever water level low enough that she shouldn't be able to jump over the divider. My question was about her. Should I do anything special when adding her to the tank and should I feed her the same as my other bettas

 

[VivianKJean]

That set up sounds fine.

Do as SeaKnight said. Take extra time acclimating her (float her cup in the water until the temperature in the cup reaches the same temperature as the tank, then ever 10 minutes for an hour remove some of the water from the cup and replace it with tank water) and keep the lights off for a few days (if you can, obviously if you have live plants you need to have the lights on). You can feed her the same food you feed your other fish. If the pellets seem like they are too big then you can cut them in half. the NLS pellets are super easy to cut in half.

 

[SeaKnight]

Once she is "Detoxed" I would begin feeding her as you do your other fish just give it a couple days before introducing the next new food, so that she becomes accustom to not only the new diet in general (going from strictly freeze dried to something else) but also, the variations in the new diet ( The fact that there will be Frozen as well as pellets etc..)... Personally, I would hold off on the freeze dried stuff until you are sure she is eating the Pellets and Frozen consistently... Don't worry if she doesn't take to it for a few days, it is normal for any animal to go off their feed while adjusting to a new environment, and an otherwise health animal/fish typically will not allow itself to starve.....

My suggestion is to start with
1) Pellets first
2) Brine Shrimp
3) Freeze Dried

Hope this helps......

 

[anitsirk92]

Thanks so much everyone! She will be well taken care of from now on!

 

[Aqua Aurora]

If you have an air pump/airstone system you can drip acclimate instead of cup floating/water pour in method, using the airline hose and pressure valve to restrict water drip, and a tall but not wide container to hold her old water and new water as it comes in. I drip all my fish even when moving them around tanks in the house.