[TheLillin]

Hiiiii! My betta and I are new here! My name is Ashley and my Betta is a no name for now! I got him on February 28th, and was quite unprepared. I was actually going in to find a cat collar, but got sucked into the aquarium displays at Petco. Well. That's generally a bad place for me.

You see, I tend to have a bad track record with fish. But all the Betta's there were giving me either evil stares for poking around their little cups or a good imitation of puppy-dog eyes. And I eventually found this guy. He wasn't who I wanted, actually. I wanted a gorgeous white one with blue iridescent spotted scales. But, funnily, my mother thought he looked weird/wasn't that pretty/wasn't needy. So, in quickly scanning the shelves (there were about 200 of them lined up in 3 different displays) I saw a cloudy cup with things floating around in it and a dull blue Betta floating upside down. I think I was just as startled when he was when I picked up the cup to move it around and he went jutting around inside. I had thought he was dead! So here he is in all his glory.

Can anyone tell me, in plain english and no abbreviations, what color and type he is? He's rather interesting. And right now I have him in a 1 gallon centerpiece "tank" with NO heating, but I am working on that. I figure he was in a cup for however long, he can stand to be in this for a few days. I don't WANT him to be confined. And also I have this floating plant now, can anyone tell me what it is/how to get it to be anchored at the base to my glass bottom? Shall I rubber band it to a clean rock or is it too delicate for that?

Also, he isn't visibly eating yet. I have given him betta pellets, crushed betta pellets, and even tried some old goldfish pellets to see if he likes stuff that sinks and doesn't float. he has shown some interest in things sinking, so hopefully he'll eat tomorrow.

 

[Capricorn]

Welcome! He's a gorgeous find.

He looks like a delta tail from the photo, but we'd really have to see a full-flaring photo to be sure (perhaps a hiding super delta or halfmoon). His color looks like turquoise to me.. maybe even a butterfly (see the band of white on the edge of his fins?)

He's very pretty, I'm a little bit jealous. xD

 

[TheLillin]

Yes! His cup was labeled delta, but they also had him as a half moon before that (there was a sticker over a sticker) But he seems to be this flared all the time, so I am assuming he is not fully flared? Or is he just agitated? I hope not because I am hoping he is liking his new accommodations.

So does butterfly indicate coloring? He does have a translucent white band around his fins, however when you get him in the light it turns the same teal color as the rest of him. he also looks steel blue with light from above, and in direct light he looks bright green. Unfortunately I haven't been able to capture either extremes.

 

[Capricorn]

It's possible that he sees his reflection in the glass and he's reacting to it.. it shouldn't be anything to worry about. If you want to catch him fully flared, try grabbing a small mirror and holding it up to him. it should only take ten or fifteen seconds to figure out what he actually is.

As for the coloration.. from the first photo he looks like a butterfly (the white/clear band of color), but you're right now that I look at the second picture. I do think he's turquoise, though! A lot of metallic colors have a habit of looking different in varying light. So he's at least turquoise, and maybe a butterfly as well.. maybe someone else will pop in here and offer an opinion up.

 

[Malvolti]

My instinct agrees with above, either Blue or Turquoise (hard to tell if the camera is picking up the color accurately, mine never does) Delta Butterfly. It's possible he's a lazy halfmoon and not spreading his tail but for now I'll stick to delta.

You can probably tie the plant down if you want (best to use fishing line) but it is probably fine floating.

Many Bettas don't eat at the start, they need to settle in first. Howl, one of my boys, would only eat freeze dried bloodworms for over a month before he even looked at a pellet. Just keep trying and I wouldn't worry until after about a week.

Different tail types look different when flared or not. Veil tails for example always have their tails mostly closed because they are too heavy to always keep open. Most of the Deltas, plakats, halfmoons I see tend to keep their tails more open. As was mentioned the best way to find out is to get him to flare for a mirror and compare.

 

[TheLillin]

The camera was actually very surprisingly true to color with these. his head is obscured in shadow in both pictures, though. It is either a charcoal black or very dark blue. I have him in a cylindrical bowl so it's very hard to get a full and well lit shot of him. Thanks so much for the advice! I will try the mirror trick in the morning.

And ironic I would want to put fishing line in a fish tank. Are there any plants betta's like in particular? I'm going to keep my eye out for something that is leafy and full. I considered buying the betta bulbs, but wasn't sure what they would look like grown, if they did grow.

 

[Capricorn]

Java fern is a great betta plant.. though if you can get them online, they're much better than buying them in petco/petsmart. I have Java ferns from both, and the one I bought online is much larger and healthier than the petco ones (though both are doing well).

Anubias is a fairly hardy plant as well, though it can grow to be fairly tall.. I think duckweed is another that people like to use? Water wisteria, too.

In Nettle's tank I also have a couple silk plants since his java ferns don't reach the top of the tank.. these are set so that he can sleep in them. I've found that he likes to nest near the surface a lot of the time.

 

[TheLillin]

The quality of the pictures are horrible, but it shows what happened the first time I held a mirror up to his bowl. his tail flared way out and actually I could only get a picture of his right side where his fins were tucked on the left a little bit farther extended than the right side. And of course the little bugger is darting around the small thing and I couldn't get a good shot of it. Those are actually not fully extended pictures... And the last picture is a true representation of his other color extreme. He is in between that and an aqua-blue turquoise.

 

[Bettaluver4evr]

Judging from the last pictures, I'm guessing your stunning boy is a half moon! That means his caudal fin *the big enourmous one* spreads to form a perfect 180 degree spread. He is also a butterfly, which accounts for the beatiful band of white on his fins. This is a beautiful trait, I have a BFHM (butterfly halfmoon) as well. THey're gorgeous! It's wonderful that you rescued him, and he should be perfect in a 1 gallon tank for a while. He's gorgeous!

 

[turtle10]

Halfmoon! Yay! His spread is gorgeous, and in the last pic you can see how intense his coloring is. Definitely not a dull betta anymore

 

[Capricorn]

Yes, halfmoon! Which means you also got a deal on him if he had been marked as a delta, they usually charge more for HMs. xD

 

[TheLillin]

Yep! I got him for about 7 dollars and the halfmoons were about 16! I was shocked at the difference and was NOT going above 8 dollars for a fish that might not live more than a few days.
I have been a very bad caretaker for fish before, and it wasn't even my fault! When I was like 8 years old my parents let me get 2 bettas, so long as I got the divided tank that was basically 2 pint sized areas. They actually lived 6 months with just me feeding them and I don't even remember changing the water often!

My latest experience with fish was an accident. Apparently my prom's theme was Underwater Romance, but the only thing "underwater" about it was centerpieces with goldfish and flowers floating in the water. Very pretty, but I could only keep them alive 2 weeks. I think I killed them by changing the water too much. So I am cautiously optimistic about this one! But this is why I have not named him yet...

 

[Capricorn]

Nah, the goldfish thing wouldn't have been your fault... they're very messy and require a large space and excessive filtration (I keep them myself xD). They were probably already stressed being in a vase or bowl.

I think now that you've found a place with reliable info you'll be just fine. I always wait to name my fish, too.

 

[fleetfish]

He's gorgeous! Welcome to the wonderful, colourful world of bettas
As long as you keep waterchanges up to schedule and feed him good, high protein foods he will last for a long time. Oh, and stick around here, we love to help new fish owners.

 

[JaspersANGEL]

Colorful yes! Betta's are beautiful and ur boy is the perfect example of this, I'm so jealous!

Betta's are pretty resilient for fish so u should have no problem with him, unless u completely ignore him for month's on end.

And welcome to the addiction..bet'ya can't have just one!...

 

[TheLillin]

I'm actually already thinking about getting another when I acquire a 10 gallon... Either that or find some fish "friends" for him and plant the tank. I'm not sure yet. Ha. I will likely need a lot of advice on that when the time comes. Oh, and he is starting a bubble nest..

 

[Bettaluver4evr]

Awww, that tank will make him so happy! And yay, hes' a beautiful happy fish. Bubble nests = to the fish.