[Cythera]

Today we bought our first betta fish ever. I have cared for goldfish before and they lived to be 5 years until I had to give them away due to a big move across the country, and my husband has owned a red tail shark that died from old age and being ganged up on sichlids (sp?). Well I read up on some of the stuff needed for a betta and we were wondering if we got it all...
Our list is:
5.5 gallon tank
Betta Tank Water Conditioner
Gravel
A silk plant
Heater
Filter (came with tank)
Net
Light (came with tank)
Thermometer
And a baby betta from petco.
This is the first time in years I or my husband have cared for fish.

 

[lilyth88]

Baby bettas are hard to care for and require special food and more water changes. I'm sure someone will post on here with more specifics.

 

[Enkil]

Welcome to the world of betta keeping! ^_^ It is hard to have just one though. XD

You got a wonderful tank for your little one. They'll really enjoy the space.
I would suggest a different conditioner though. You can get Prime at PetSmart )I think PetCo carries it too). It's better and lasts longer.
You'll need some kind of hiding place/cave for your new betta. This helps them feel secure and gives them a place where they can hide.
Silk plants are good. You'll want more than one though. Live plants are also good. Anubias are easily taken care of (need nothing special) and you can leave them floating to give the betta a place near the surface to rest.
I wouldn't suggest using the net. It can tear a betta's delicate fins. With females you don't have to worry about this as much, but males have the longer fins.

How big is your betta? You may have to get something such as Hikari First Bites for the little one to be able to eat it. New Life spectrum as a small fish pellet that is also really tiny.

 

[Cythera]

Our betta is pretty small, like have the size of my pinky and I have small hands. We have Tetra Betta Plus floating mini tablets, and we bought the net to move the betta from the pet store cup to the tank because frankly, the water looks disgusting. We only have one plant for now mainly because by this point we spent $100 and anymore than that until next paycheck dips into money for diapers. Haha.

 

[Cythera]

I mean half of my pinky. Haha. Sorry.

 

[Enkil]

That isn't too terribly small. I've seen PetSmart sell them smaller. Just make sure the little doesn't have difficulty eating the food. If they do, you can try soaking them before feeding them to him or crushing them up first. Also keep in mind that their stomachs are the size of their eye. Overfeeding can lead to problems with their swim bladder.

When you can, I suggest the Prime and getting a "treat" to vary the diet. I bought a small bottle of Prime months ago and have 6 tanks with plenty of the bottle left.
Bettas need a varied diet. What you have should be fine for now so long as the little one can eat it. When you can, frozen foods as treats are good. I like to keep frozen daphnia on hand just in case any of mine get constipated because they work as a kind of natural laxative. They also enjoy bloodworms and mosquito larvae.

 

[Cythera]

Yeah we'll leave the bugs to my husband but the pellets we'll try and petco told me that cause our little one is so small try to soak the food first. We came up with a name even though we are unsure as to the gender because of how tiny it is. I was also told that babies should only be fed once a day and adults should be fed twice a day? I'm unsure if that's ture because again this is petco...

 

[Twilight Storm]

welcome to the forum

It would probably be easier to just link the post I was talking about what I did with my baby when I got him.

I would suggest not to use your gravel or filter yet, but it's up to you. Messing with the gravel on a daily basis would have driven me absolutely crazy.

Here are some pictures of my baby after a month as well as what I did to care for him. (post I made) Hope this helps. There are some other baby betta posts that should be pretty helpful for you here in the forum too
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=103691

It took me a while on the pictures in that thread because of technical difficulties. If you have any specific questions holler

 

[Enkil]

That isn't correct at all. Silly people. Feed small meals several times a day. It's a bit like any baby really. They're growing. You'll also need to keep the tank very clean so he/she can grow properly and remain healthy.

 

[Cythera]

Alright thank you. C:

 

[lelei]

Hello and Welcome to the wonderful world of being a betta mommy!!:wave: I am soo ready for our 2nd..lol like someone said, it's hard to have just one:-D

So we have had our 1st Sammy, for about 3 mons..and he's prob 6mos now..and he was not a baby, but a small lil guy..he has grown and is ready for an upgrade, so after I have his new 5 gal ready..I will be ready for our next fishy!!;-)

Yes, lots of plants, and a great hiding spot, for rest and sleep makes your betta feel nice and secure..your lil baby will have a great home, and will be very loved:cheers:

 

[Cythera]

Haha I have Flynn my son that was born two months ago and today we added little baby Tonks to our family.

 

[Enkil]

They're very addictive little things. Each has their own personality. At the moment, I'm up to 9 breeding quality males, 1 pet male, and 11 breeding quality females.

 

[Cythera]

Enkikl, that's a lot of fish. I have only ever owned 3 at a time and those were goldfish.

 

[Enkil]

lol It seems like a lot, but I love all of them. My girls are in a sorority which makes things a bit easier for me. My breeding boys are all in divided 10 gallon tanks. The only one with his own tank now is the one we bought for my daughter, Hannibal.

 

[Cythera]

I think the reason why we went with such a small baby was because we kinda wanted to be surprised with what we got, because the LO is so tiny there is barely any color (white w/ little bit of orange/red) while a lot of them looked just like this one there were white ones with little blue stripes too.

 

[Twilight Storm]

That isn't correct at all. Silly people. Feed small meals several times a day. It's a bit like any baby really. They're growing. You'll also need to keep the tank very clean so he/she can grow properly and remain healthy.

I did feed small amounts 3x a day and kept the water clean etc etc... what was I doing wrong?

 

[Enkil]

Aww. It sounds cute. I can certainly understand wanting to be surprised.

Twilight - I didn't mean you. Sorry for the confusion. You replied as I was typing. XD I meant the person who told them to feed only once a day.

 

[Twilight Storm]

Eek sorry for the misunderstanding Enkil. (but if I was doing things badly I'd want to know regardless!!!)

I almost always type novels and by the time I hit enter, there are like 4-6 replies that were not there before I started typing.... usually covering the exact same things people who type faster and less touch on lol

Cythera- Congratulations on the birth of your son! And your little baby fish should be easy to remember too if you keep track of fish "birthdays". (I consider the date I got my fish their birthday.)

It IS fun to watch the babies change, comparing pictures of how much they do, within such a short period of time is amazing to me. I'm used to watching other animals grow up but the bettas are so very different.