[Aside]

you may have seen one of my like seventeen threads asking for help with my new betta Dahli. If not I just got my first betta from Petco. He's adorable.

He's currently in a kritter Keeper that's a little more than one gallon. (I originally took measurements and thought it was 1.5 but then realized I was doing measurements from the outer walls) It's heated and I have conditioned the tap water. He seems to be doing better, his fins are more open and he no longer swims away from my finger. He doesn't swim up to it but he just kind of ignores it. Unless I move it towards him in which case he bolts. He's eating, possibly more than he should be, I love watching him gobble up his pellets so I always end up giving him some extra. He's getting about 3-4 pellets of aqueon betta food twice a day, right amount?

Anyway, he's tails are pretty beat up. He's a crowtail and has like rays that extend well past where is fin is filled out to. I know that that's what identifies a crown tail but the rays extend about an inch. The edges of the fin are very ragged. I was wondering if they would grow out.

I was at my friends house (she also got a ct the same time I did) and I noticed some clear growth on his fins.

Should Dahli's fins be filling in at all? If yes is there something I should do to help it along, perhaps a small dose of aquarium salt which I remember reading can help.


I'm planning on moving him into more space tomorrow. I'm going to the container store and I'm just going to put him in a storage bin for now. I hope that's alright for him. Once school is over I'm going to get him a bigger fish tank anyway. Right now I can't stand to give anymore money to the pet store near here. I went in yesterday prepared to buy a bigger tank because the heater i had was too strong for my tank (I figured out a solution by only putting in halfway in the water). The so called fish expert told him that betta fish don't need heaters and should be kept in small tanks anyway. I got frustrated and walked out so still no new tank for dahli

 

[Bombalurina]

Just want to check - are you sure it is safe for your heater to only be partially submerged? Some heaters come with a specific warning not to do that, as it can cause them to overheat and shatter.

Some crowntails' rays only extend a tiny way, others extend a very long way. It varies, so don't worry too much about that. However, if you think his fins do look ragged despite this, the best thing you can do to help them regrow is to keep his water clean and warm. Keep the temperature at 80-82, as higher temperatures will cause them to regrow faster. I would suggest doing small daily water changes (10% or so) as well as the required 50% and 100% weekly changes need for a one gallon tank.

If you can get hold of Indian Almond Leaves, that's great. If you can't, don't stress over it. Clean, warm water will do the trick. I wouldn't bother using salt for this.

As to your food question, I don't know what size the pellets are, but you want to be feeding him enough to fill up his eye. So if four pellets are bigger than his eye, cut it back to three. I'm guilty of overfeeding slightly too, so I always fast my bettas on Sundays.

If you don't want to give money to local shops - and I can't blame you - try local classifieds instead.

 

[Aside]

I didn't think of that. I'll go check the instructions on the heater now.

I actually already ordered some indian almond leaves it's just going to take a while to come.

 

[Myates]

Definitely make sure whether or not that heater needs to be fully submerged.. as for the food, that is a good amount to feed.

 

[Sheldon31]

Sorry to hi jack the thread but what are almond leaves for? I've seen them abouts when on eBay but they don't have any explanations for use.