[BettaBaybee]

I took great pride in picking out a new baby Betta with my 7 year old today, but after reading some comments on here, looks like a lot of you look down on it because they are too young. I feel bad now because I didn't realize. Not my first rodeo with a Betta, though.... and this fish is tiny but it doesn't look to young to me, looks just about right. But now I figure, shoot, this fishy will have a better life with me spoiling it rather than floating around in an empty, lonely cup.:-( SO since I already bought it and we already love it (lol), we're going to make the best home we can for it. World, introducing......."Tiny".

I am saying "it" because I'm not sure, but I think I have a female. I wanted to come to you guys, the experts, and ask 2 questions: Do I have a female? AND if she is defin a female, can I get one more female to keep her company? I don't want her to be alone, I don't believe any species should live without another of their own, no matter what. I have a great apartment for them to live happily in with plenty of room. :-D

Any advice, greatly appreciated!

 

[registereduser]

I see no problem with buying the babies as long as you know how fragile they are.

As long as you change the water a lot or put her in a cycled tank she should be OK. I had one for my first betta and she died because I did not understand the nitrogen cycle and thought a filtered tank was good enough. WRONG! Babies are sensitive.

My Petco store is still selling babies even though I bet most of them die.

In the end I decided I only wanted males and only colors that I think are beautiful. You never know what you'll get with babies but I know some prefer the surprise.

 

[Olympia]

With warm water and lots of water changes s/he should be fine.
Can you get himher to eat crushed flakes? Any appetite?
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[BettaBaybee]

Just posted a pic of Tiny, hopefully it is enough for you guys to let me know if you think it's a female. Please, anyone know??????
She is spunky, seems fine, and ate like a pig the first time I fed her this afternoon after getting her home. I only gave her a few baby betta pellets and will feed her 3 or 4 times a week as the Betta pamphlet said. Some of you are mentioning filtration, and from my prior Betta experiences, I know they prefer still water. My plan is to change her water every week or two and replace it with spring water. No filtration, but watching the food amount I give. Hopefully these are all the right things to do!

 

[kfryman]

Whether or not you believe every thing should have company, bettas ARE solitary animals. They prefer to live by themselves, and the bettas they sell at the petstores that have long fins, short fins, were all breed to be aggressive, that is why they will fight so easily. Wilds are a bit different, some can coexist fine with others, while some are solitary. They don't need any other bettas or other fish to be happy, they need good care and attention.

What size of a tank are you using? And is it cycled?

The picture didn't work...

 

[BettaBaybee]

@ Kfryman, I wasn't considering getting another female just because I feel they shouldn't be alone, I was considering it because I read that females are ok to put together and that they actually do enjoy the stimulation of another fish. The good care and attention will come naturally, no reason to question that. If I wasn't willing to do so, I wouldn't have bought her. Again, I've had Bettas before. You should be able to view her pic on my avatar or in my album, I only have one pic uploaded.
Anyway, how do you know they are happier alone? Did you ask a Betta?

 

[registereduser]

Any advice, greatly appreciated!

or not :lol:

 

[Olympia]

Gah! No betta should only be fed 3-4 times a week, especially babies! This is another ploy by stores to sell bettas as pets you can forget about half the time.
You should be feeding your baby lots, at least 3 times a day. Babies need more food than adults actually, since they have to grow very quickly.
What size is the home? That should help us figure out water changes. Once a week will probably not be enough- young betta secrete a hormone that stunts their growth, and need tons of water changes to grow up healthy. (in the wild this hormone thins out the weakest in the group).
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[BettaBaybee]

@ Olympia, ok, thanks for the info, 3 times a day while they're babies, got it! Getting up now to go feed her! And by the way, anyone in "Petco" that just works there will NEVER be a trusted source of any animal info for me, especially aquatics. Half the time these people don't have a clue what they're talking about and have no business giving out info. They should direct people to awesome websites like this one, with people who know what they're talking about.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Okay well they are more fragile. The reason I hate seeing them being sold, is because they have yet to develop a proper immune system, and therefore the effects of being in a cold stagnant filthy cup is more than most of them can endour.

But, if you buy one make sure to know they are fragie babies :3

 

[BettaBaybee]

Oh sorry.....size of her home. A triangular BettaKeeper, looks like it holds a little over a liter. I bought the betta water to start with. Will get a gallon of spring water to use next and from now on. Is that ok?

 

[BettaBaybee]

Still waiting to hear.....does anyone know if I have a girl or not?? I'm dyin' here!! LOL

 

[Sena Hansler]

How come I don't see the picture D:

 

[Micho]

Only over a litre. . . ? That's tiny. .____. So roughly about a 0.25g tank?

:T How are you properly heating the tank? I highly suggest you invest in a bigger tank for this Betta.

 

[BettaBaybee]

@ Sena.... really?? You can't see my profile pic, or in my album? I only have one pic uploaded of her, that's weird. I'm looking at it right now in the thread and on my profile. Hmmmmmm......

 

[Sena Hansler]

Yeah that was what I was going to point out lol.

Trust me, 1 gallon will be good for medication and such... but the best bet is an adjustable heater in a 3 gallon - room to grow, less hazard of ammonia then a 0.25 gallon (which you basically need to clean every day to twice a day!) And have the water level to about 2 gallons - I do this for some of the weak swimmers, the SBD bettas, and youngin's


as for your avatar, I cannot tell. It seems to be a bit young to tell the gender..

 

[BettaBaybee]

@ Micho, it's one of the "BettaKeepers" mini tanks, the triangular one. You can see a pic online, there's a bunch of them posted if you Google BettaKeeper. My home stays at 74 - 76 degrees, I'm not really sure why everyone keeps saying that they use heaters. Bettas usually do fine within that temp. Maybe once Tiny gets bigger I will purchase a larger habitat, but she is really really tiny. Shouldn't this be plenty of room, for now?

 

[Sena Hansler]

errr.... the room temperature may be 76 but the water will be 75... I know this ;-) my room's temperature for my fish is at 82, and the water is at 77!! Now imagine if the heater turned off for the night time... the temperature in my room drops to 75, making the water about 70... they do better in 78-82

I suggest at LEAST a 1 gallon. Because of ammonia.

Never upgrade a tank to a fish's growing size - always have the tank for the fish's adult size a gallon will work...

 

[thekoimaiden]

@ Micho, it's one of the "BettaKeepers" mini tanks, the triangular one. You can see a pic online, there's a bunch of them posted if you Google BettaKeeper. My home stays at 74 - 76 degrees, I'm not really sure why everyone keeps saying that they use heaters. Bettas usually do fine within that temp. Maybe once Tiny gets bigger I will purchase a larger habitat, but she is really really tiny. Shouldn't this be plenty of room, for now?

Ask a breeder. No they don't. Water temp is usually a few degrees lower than room temp. That puts your water at roughly 71F. This is too cold for a betta. Most breeders keep their tanks around 80F. Betta are tropical fish and need heaters. The babies especially because it promotes healthy growth.

As for the size of the tank. We suggest you get a larger one not just for living room but to dilute wastes. When fish eat they produce ammonia which is toxic to them. In a small container of water, ammonia builds up fast and does kill fish (I see this most often with goldfish in gallon bowls). It will also dilute the hormone that babies produce to stunt growth. The water should be changed daily to prevent the buildup of this hormone.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Babies are bad for that :lol: I know this!!! outof a spawn I had MJ and three others were double the size of the others...