BETTAs

[LPN2639]

Hi
I have 2 bettas in my kitchen. A red one I call Raspberry, and an indigo blue one I call Blueberry. Have had them both over a year. They do great. I add nothing to the water. I have well water. Have live plants in the bowls with them. They are in separate bowls on my kitchen bar. They eat good.

I feed them the little black pellets. What else do bettas like. I am sure they are getting sick and tired and want a treat. Any suggestions?

Also last night I bought a new betta. He looks like a white ghost with dark blue and lavendar trim on the fins. Also a hint of pink. I put him in my 10 gal with zebras but I was worried about him since its a new tank and I have been losing fish left and right due to ammonia build up which I have been trying to treat for over a week now. Anyway now he is in a little round bowl on my office desk.

How big of a home do the bettas need??????? I know they sell them in the little cups. I hope that I have him in is o.k. It is a round bowl about the size of a cantaloupe or grapefruit.

Thanks.

 

[fishweed]

I would have thought that the bowl a size of grapefruit is a bit small - my ex-betta was the size of grapefruit segment.

It would be like keeping a horse in a stable for 23 hours a day or a cat in a house or us living in a caravan. It is possible but there are nicer ways to live.

Do you give it plants to eat/ play in?

 

[LPN2639]

Yes you are right. I will get something bigger soon as I can. I have one plant in there now that has a bit of a root.

Do you know any good betta websites? What type of water do they thrive in (Ph, temp)?

And what else can I feed them besides the pellets????

 

[bettacove]

pH= they can tolerate a wide rang of pH. I think maybe 6.5-7.5 but iam not too sure on that one.
Temp= for them to thrive it should be 78-84
Freeze dried foods are good. They like freeze dried bloodworms, daphina, ect. You could also get frozen foods.

here are some sites:
www.bettastarz.com
www.bettasrus.com

ashley

 

[deucebigalow]

Bettas

Can somebody tell me why betta's commit suicide??

Mine jumped out of his tank last week (i did have a tank with another betta on the same bench??)

 

[deucebigalow]

bettas

i asked an owner of an aquarium and she said it was quite common??

 

[fishfreek]

Mine jumped out of his tank last week (i did have a tank with another betta on the same bench??)

Bettas are very agressive fish aganst their own gender and kind. Two male bettas in a tank as you know will fight to the death. Having them where they could see eachother can cause stress. Its possible one jumpped in an effort to get to the other betta and kill it.

Ill let some of the more experenced betta keepers on here pickup from there.

Welcome to the site.

 

[bettacove]

Maybe he wanted to see what it was like on the other side?
Thats why its good to keep lids on, they can jump pretty high!
Sorry aboot your fishie!
ashley

 

[deucebigalow]

not having much luck....

i dont seem to be having much luck with my fish

i have just bought a 150lt tropical tank setup last week and put my first fish in yesterday (3 anglefish and 2 buenes aires and a thick lipped gourami) and my three anglefish died within a few hrs

could anybody help me with this?? the aquarium owner (who i have probably annoyed to all ends already with my ten million questions!!) has only offered the suggestion that they went into shock from the move

please, help me....... :?

 

[deucebigalow]

by the way....

by the way guys, dont hink im weird and post messages on the net at 5.30am, I live in Aus! 8)

(Thanks for the sympathy Ashley, he was such a pretty fish ).....

 

[deucebigalow]

by the way....

by the way guys, dont hink im weird and post messages on the net at 5.30am, I live in Aus! 8)

(Thanks for the sympathy Ashley, he was such a pretty fish ).....

 

[bettacove]

How do you put them in the tank?

ashley

 

[deucebigalow]

how i put them in the tank

i floated them in their bag on top of the tank for ten minutes then let them free??

 

[Somethingfishy]

To some extent the aqurium owner is right. It would also have something to do with the fact that Angels are fairly fragile when it comes to water conditions. The tank, you say was setup last week, you put quite a bioload onto the tank amd filters and stuff. That is probably what killed your Angels, they could not take the sudden rise in ammonia and nitrItes. I had that as well where I put 4 Angels into a tank that was fairly newly setup an they also all died.

Sorry for your loss, leave the others as they are for about a week, let your bacterias develop and build up then add your 3 new Angels.

 

[deucebigalow]

thanks for the sympathy and advice but i did go to the aqaurium today and got my water tested - dumbo over here put sea shells in the tank (not knowing that im not supposed to - OOPS!) which had increased the PH levels to about three times the amount it should have been :| im lucky the others survived (maybe advice to others that are starting up!!)

so, as much as i would like to have blamed the fact that these fish are fragile, it's my own stupidness to blame for this one

 

[ashesofyou]

Bettas in the wild are jumpers... just naturally. When one "mud hole" or rice patty dries up or becomes too shallow they will jump out of the water and flip-flop on the ground to get to the next one. It's how they survive in the wild, so it's just a part of who they are... the best advice to a betta owner... keep them in a temperature controlled enviroment (they like temps around 78-80) and make sure their aquairum has a hood, or similar cover at all times. Also, they are labrenth (sp?) breathers, so access to air is a must. Bettas don't like peace lillys. If you want a betta and a peace lilly... put the betta in an aquarium, and the peace lilly in a pot beside it lol! Every time I see one of those set ups it makes me so mad lol!

Point blank, bettas jump... just natural, the best you can do is keep their water conditions good, so they won't be tempted, and keep a lid on the tank incase they are

 

[fishweed]

You probably need to do some 'fishless cycling' - read the messages on the forum as there are some really useful tips. Also surfing this site will encourage you to keep fishless cycling for a little longer. You can always arrange and re-arrange your plants so that you have a stunning planted aquarium. We waited eight weeks before getting our first fish - thanks to this site. Patience is a virtue

 

[Ramrebel]

betta question #2
I've had a male in my 5 gallon since 11/02. he was fine. noticed he might be a bit bloated in the front underneath. between his mouth and bottom fin. looked like he was slightly pregnant. never noticed one way or the other before, my gf seems to think this just started.

added 3 females to the tank to keep him company. after 1 day, found him dead with THAT area either ruptured or eaten away. it was JUST that region and very cleanly missing

coincidence i have no clue all i know is my pretty male is dead and the three females are fine.

should I get another male? help plz.

thanx,

Ed

 

[bettacove]

Its hard to say what was wrong with him since I can really see it. Did u notice anything else unusual?
He could have died and the females stared picking at him, I don't think they would have killed him.
weird

ashley

 

[deucebigalow]

patience doesnt seem to be my virtue (if only i new!!)

unfortunately, patience is not my virtue (heheh) and i put another 20 fish in my tank - a mixture of mollies, another gourami, silver sharks, red swag some tetras and i cant remember the name of the other (oops!) and i had 5 of them die within a couple of days (the neon tetras, a silver shark a red swag) the rest of them are fine, swimming away happily (for all i know anyway!!) and i took the lid of the top today to add a couple others and the other shark jumped for his life too - poor bugger

i really think i should give them a rest but i just cant help it - i see things i want and i buy, buy, buy.....