Got myself a new betta buddy

clearjade · 12-29-2003, 09:11 PM

He is in a 5.5 gallon with a fake silk plant, natural river rock-type gravel and a heater. He's red with bits of shiny greenish-blue bits on his scale and he has quite the healthy appetite.

He will be my one and only pet until I leave Toronto towards the end of next year. My roommate has agreed to adopt him when I leave and I am coaching her on tropical fish-keeping 'cos she got herself a betta as well

I haven't named him yet though, he looks healthy enough but being from a local fish ship (Big Al's) I'm giving him a couple weeks to settle in and show any symptoms if he does have something wrong.

Denise · 12-30-2003, 09:26 AM

Congrats Di!

He sounds like a beauty!

So far, it sounds like he is doing great. It is good you are monitoring him because I know bettas that come from large fish stores have a tendency not to live long. I hope he continues to thrive and eventually you can name him.

Brandy · 12-30-2003, 12:59 PM

Wahoo congrats Diana, I love bettas,,,,

clearjade · 12-30-2003, 07:51 PM

He is a great fish

He eats like a pig and swims right up to me and wiggles his tail at me for food, lol! I showed my roommate and she thought it was too funny!

Big Al's is pretty good for fish, I think the chances of a betta from them surviving is pretty good compared to a big chain store with a small fish section like Petsmart or Walmart.

My roommate didn't want too many ghost shrimp in her tank (the store gave her 7) so she gave me 3. Her betta doesn't bother the shrimp, mine was harassing them and biting them for a while but he's leaving them alone for now. I also got two filter clams and a small mystery snail to keep him company

The clams are slightly open and I can see their little translucent tongues poking out, the snail is just zipping around the tank with it's little feelers all over the place!

I want to take pictures of them, can anyone teach me how to take pictures of a fishtank? Brandy, you've gotten good pictures of your fishes before, how did you do it?

With any luck Mr. Betta will live a long and happy life

Brandy · 12-30-2003, 08:30 PM

well hmm,,,I dunno,, certain days its different,,lol
for the big tank, we shut off the tank lights and any lights that are in the background, I find taking pics at nght are better but it depends on the camera, our camera gives off enough light to light up whatever you are taking a pic of,

i try to get way above or below the flash that way if the flash does show up in the pic its not covering the fish

clearjade · 01-01-2004, 10:27 PM

I'll try taking pictures sometime, I don't have a digital camera so I can't preview pictures so see what I'm doing wrong and I don't want to waste a whole roll of film on blurry flashes. Maybe my roommate will lend me her digital camera

One shrimp is R.I.P. now, it jumped out of the tank and was on the table for a while before I noticed him laying there. By then he'd dried out and turned crispy but was still kicking so Josh put him back in the tank to see if he'd live but he finally died and the snail ate him.

So far Mr. Betta is keeping an eye on things in his tank, he keeps the remaining two shrimps in their place. The bigger shrimp tries to swim to the surface and Mr. Betta chases him back down. He also checks on the snail periodically, he's not being too aggressive, just making sure everything is in order, lol!

He also LOVES frozen bloodworms from Hikari! I've heard about bettas being picky eaters but he gobbles down his Bettamin flakes and bloodworms like candy

I should stop feeding him, his belly is getting quite round and I don't want him to bloat. It's hard to resist feeding when he swims right up to the side of the tank and dances around for food and attention.

suzoo · 01-01-2004, 11:58 PM

So is his name Mr. Betta.. or are you just calling him that until you choose a name? I was thinking you should call him "Big Al"... since you got him there

clearjade · 01-02-2004, 11:00 AM

Mr. Betta is his temporary name until I can (hopefully) think of a better one

I could call him Big Al, hmm

Chinnie Girl · 01-05-2004, 09:48 AM

Aww Congratts! It sounds like he's doing pretty good. I love Betta's. There so pretty. Fish can be pretty addicting, LOL. Im sure he LOVES blood worms. Mine go nuts over them. They all love Masqueto Larva, I think that's what it's called. I lose my female betta this morning. I was treating her for velvet but she didn't make it.

clearjade · 01-05-2004, 05:13 PM

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about your female, Courtney, what kind of meds did you use for treatment?

Fish are really addicting, you are right! But they can also be quite delicate when it comes to sickness and treatment. I don't have a hospital tank set up yet, but so far everyone has been healthy. Since I only have one betta, he can be isolated and medicated without the problem of cycling a hospital tank and setting up another filter and air pump

I haven't tried the mosquito larvae, the bloodworms are midge fly larvae, I'll try the other varieties when I get more money, lol! Do you feed frozen or freeze dried, Courtney?

I am ready to name him but I spotted a very tiny hole in his tailfin, I don't remember seeing it before so I am keeping an eye on it and hoping it's not finrot. So maybe I will hold off on the naming for a while longer.

Also, I can't find the smaller ghost shrimp, he might have jumped or could just be hiding. I don't think anything in there could have eaten him.