[Kalamani]

Hi all! I am a new user, aswell as a first-time Betta owner. :-D
I had found this little fella at our local Wal-mart, hidden behind the usual reds and blues I always saw on my routine of checking their Betta stock.

My sister has owned two Bettas for a few months now, so she helped me with my setup, and food. Making sure the water was safe for him and whatnot. I currently only had a gallon bowl for him to be in, but I'm certain it's alot better then the grimy little cup he came in.
I'd like to comment that our Wal-mart isn't very good with their fish-care, the water the bettas are in is usually nasty from sitting there for so long. Not to even BEGIN on how sometimes I find starving ones, that have passed.
A month before I found my little fella, I had found this gorgeous female; she was a irridescent white with little blue spots, ADORIBLE. But sadly, she had long since passed before I came along.

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More onto the point;
I have a, what I assume to be, a black butterfly veiltail. The water in his cup, when we tested it with a strip, it had been on lethal levels. Would that hurt him in the long-run even if he is okay right now?
His back fin is quite a bit torn, whether he bit it himself or got into fights with other fish I'm not sure. We've used some "Bettafix" in his bowl, so hopefully that'll heal it right up.
I've had him home for a few hours now, he seems for the most part, healthy. He likes swimming around his bowl, and swimming into his plants.
Is it normal for him to sometimes just run into them (Like quite literally, he swims into them and scares himself)? He also tries to swim through the glass.. Hehe, he's a curious little guy so far.

I took a total of three pictures of him, one right after we switched him to his new bowl (He was stressed and his colors light), and the other two are a few minutes ago, when I coaxed him to sort of flare with a hand-mirror.
(I apologize if the images are a bit big. )

When he first got home:

After being home for a few hours:

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I have yet to think of a name for him; waiting to see more of his personality before I fully decide. I love him tons though! I think he's so beautiful, even if his tail is screwed up right now. Sorry that the post got a bit long, I rambled a bit. :lol:

 

[Pataflafla]

I think he's gonna turn into a beautiful boy. Have you put any aquarium salt into his water to help him feel better? I recommend 1 tsp/gal for no longer than 10 days. Frequent water changes, warm water, and high protein food will help his fins and overall health too.

I don't think he'll be too affected by his walmart experience so long as he's taken care of well now.

I hope his fins grow back quickly so we can see how pretty he really is.

 

[YoshesMom]

hes beautiful! and he does look black ive never seen one like him what a great find how about Midnight? or Knight or midknight dont worry his fins will grow back just fin and hes already STUNNING

 

[Kalamani]

@ Pataflafla: Thanks, we actually do have the aquarium salt, but my sister and I both weren't sure on how much to put in there when we were setting up his bowl, so we didn't. Now I'll make sure to tell her though when she's awake. The current "food" that we have for him is what she uses for her own Bettas, something called Tetrabetta (Floating mini pellets, hehe), and then Bloodworms that're freeze dried. Is there anything else I should add in/exchange with food-wise?
I hope his fins grow back fast too. I feel like I'm obsessing too much over him already. I'm already thinking on getting him a bigger tank, and every thing that goes with getting a new tank. *cough*

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@Rachael: Thank you so much! I think so too, hehe. I was actually really shocked when I moved the blue/red Betta from infront of where he was, and saw him. I like those names alot, actually - but my sister had suggested "Spazz", cause when she went up to his bowl to look at him, he tried to attack her through the glass. Fiesty! We'll see if it sticks though. "Midnight Spazz" sounds pretty good too.. Mm.. ;P
I'm going to be taking SO many pictures of him once his fins grow back, it's really sad that his back fins even got like that. My mom, when I showed her, thought he was a female at first! I'm sure he took a blow to the ego with that.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I really LOVE your avatar Rachael. Is that one of your Bettas?
I love Pataflafla's too.. The colors that bettas can come in is just mind-blowing.

 

[Larsa]

Yes thats a butterfly boy! He looks midnight red :3 I hope you put a thermometer in that bowl or tiny filter. ;P

 

[Larsa]

Edit: [/B]I forgot to mention, I really LOVE your avatar Rachael. Is that one of your Bettas?
I love Pataflafla's too.. The colors that bettas can come in is just mind-blowing.

how about my bettas? :3 Mine are vibrant and I use a food called new life specrum to help enhance color!

 

[Shimizoki]

He looks great... errr, will look great... umm <insert compliment here>

oh and welcome to the forums.

 

[Pataflafla]

The current "food" that we have for him is what she uses for her own Bettas, something called Tetrabetta (Floating mini pellets, hehe), and then Bloodworms that're freeze dried. Is there anything else I should add in/exchange with food-wise?
I hope his fins grow back fast too. I feel like I'm obsessing too much over him already. I'm already thinking on getting him a bigger tank, and every thing that goes with getting a new tank. *cough*

His food sounds to be good then. Just keep the bloodworms down to maybe once or twice a week since they're more of a very healthy and rich treat. and fasting one day a week is a very good idea too to let everything go through their systems.

I'm going to be getting Ratchet some bloodworms next time I'm out to Petsmart to see if he likes them.

 

[Kalamani]

His food sounds to be good then. Just keep the bloodworms down to maybe once or twice a week since they're more of a very healthy and rich treat. and fasting one day a week is a very good idea too to let everything go through their systems.

I'm going to be getting Ratchet some bloodworms next time I'm out to Petsmart to see if he likes them.

I think I will fast him on Fridays, that way I can remember - since we always do "fish fridays". *facepalm*
I fed him a small pinch of bloodworms yesterday, Iunno really if I should do it twice a week or not. We'll see on if he can just settle on one pinch a week.

Is Ratchet picky? So far Spazz doesn't seem picky, last night he went right for the pellets, and an hour later some bloodworms. xD Though I assume it's probably cause he was just really hungry. *Shrug*

We did a little Aquarium salt into his water today, by the way.

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@Shimizoki:
Thanks, I think. :lol: I should of waited to start taking pictures of him till his back fin grew back, but I couldn't help myself. Plus it's always nice to have comparison pictures of when you first bring him home, to months from now. ;-)

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@Larsa:
xD I investigated the pictures, and there is a bit of red/pink reflected on the bowl from my camera (It's a rosey red-pink D. I'm planning on getting him a 2.5 gallon tank the next time I go to the store, aswell as another thermometer, that isn't as old as the current one I have. :lol:

I actually do like your fishies alot, especially Japan? I think that's what his name is.. He's the one in the album of "Japan" anywho..
And your avatar's fish makes me think of cotton candy. :lol:

 

[Pataflafla]

Ratchet ate his first blood worm today with a little bit of coaxing. He doesn't like to chase his food or stalk it, he just wants it dropped in front of him and he wants it to be brightly colored. He'll still eat the green pellets, but he'd much rather go for the red ones.

So far I only have 3 picky bettas, and those are just the ones that refuse bloodworms or red pellets. One of the picky females only wants to eat green pellets and doesn't even glance at a bloodworm and the other female will eat any pellet, but not bloodworms. The picky male has swimbladder issues, so he's hesitant to eat anything, so it's not too worrying.

I tried wriggling it a little bit to see if any would be interested, but it only worked for Ratchet.

 

[Larsa]

Yeah hia name is Japan creative, I know but Jappie is a his nickname. Cotton candy!? o-0 LOLz

 

[TheBlueBettaFish]

So pretty! I bet your proud of this little fella!

 

[Irishdancer]

I can't wait to see pictures of him once he's settled in and looking healthy! I'm sure his tail will grow back just fine.

 

[Kalamani]

@ Larsa:
Yeah, the light blue and the light pinkish-red, reminds me of cotten candy on your avatar's fishy. xD I'm weird with comparisons, I know. Jappie is a cute nickname though.

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@ TheBlueBettaFish:
Thanks, and of course. ^^ I'm very proud of him, and I love him to bits. I like waking up to see him every morning on my desk.

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@ Pataflafla:
Atleast Ratchet will eat it, and doesn't outright refuse it like the others. They knew what you were up to and wouldn't fall for it, eh? My sister's one fry still won't eat anything but live baby brine shrimp hehe. xD

It's really cute how they have such distinctive personalities, and likes/dislikes. My mom used to have koi fish, and they had personality, but not like this.

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@Irishdancer:
Yeah I hope it does, so far it seems to be growing back okay, just kind of slowly (haha). I noticed a bit of a difference today though! It seems not as jagged as when I had first got him, now it's starting to atleast fill in the spots, and will hopefully grow back to it's original length, whichever length that was anyway.

Every day when I put the mirror near his bowl for an hour, I take pictures. So it'll be fun to have a collage of his "fin-growth" process. ^^

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I plan on traveling moreso in town on my birthday next month, so Imma probably take a stop off at the petstore there (Only "sort of" petstore close to my house is walmart) - cause I wanna get him some better stuff (Plants, cave, heater, ect). Good news is I found one of my big tanks 10 gallon!

Right now for lighting I have my lamp focused on his bowl, but it's not touching the glass.
When I move him to the 10gal, I plan on giving him a lighted lid. But I don't really know if there is a difference between the lights, besides color? I can just ask my sister later.. Hmm..

Which reminds me; I was going to ask, is there any heaters that wouldn't put a whole in the pocket, but would actually work?
I know my sister has tried a few from Wal-mart that weren't so expensive, but they would either break or not work properly. I'm just afraid cause right now he's okay without any heating system (It gets hot during the summer time ), but during winter it gets really cold and I don't want him to get sick or die from not having a heater during the colder seasons.

Sorry I keep asking questions, by the way! ^^ I don't mean to be a bother, just curious and wanting to make sure I'm doing things right with Spazz.

 

[Pataflafla]

I have one of the submersible heaters from Walmart for I think 5-10 gallons. It isn't adjustable, but it keeps the water from going below 76*F and stops once it reaches 80*. An aquarium hood with lights will also help warm the water up a bit too. Mine usually heat the tank an additional 4* when the water level is completely full and when left on all day. I've had no problems with the heater not working or working too much.

I've got the 5-10 gallon heater in a 10 gallon tank, both of which are from Walmart.