New Betta Owner

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chelsi.reber

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
26
Location
Washington
Hello Everyone,

My name is Chelsi & I'm the proud new owner of a beautiful male half moon dumbo Betta. His name is Falcor. The pet store said he was a baby. He lives in a 5 gallon palace just for him.

I use to have a 15 gallon wide tank years ago, but never had a Betta. So I am new to Betta's, but not new to tanks. However, it has been so long now that I feel like I know nothing about it now. I have to admit that I am having some trouble getting going on this tank. I am starting to feel like the more research I do, the more I realize that the pet store probably didn't give me the best information as a beginner.

Any advice for beginners is welcome. Thanks and have a beautiful day!:fish2:
 
Congrats! I hope your tank is cycled to keep you new baby safe.


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Welcome!

Yay you for getting a 5 gallon tank for a betta, that's a perfect size! Have you done a fishless cycle on the 5 gallon tank because that really helps keep the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites levels low? I would also suggest some low light plants like java fern or Moss balls. Bettas love a natural environment.
I'll be glade to help if you have questions, I'm a beginner too but I could share research I've done and the success I've had with my betta and planted 5 gallon tank. :D
 
Congrats! I hope your tank is cycled to keep you new baby safe.


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Unfortunately I didn't. I feel really stupid now for following the advice at Pet Smart vs doing the research myself. Also, the pet store didn't recommend the correct additive for the water, so I was not adding any good bacteria, not neutralizing the ammonia, nitrates/nitrites. I have since gotten the correct stuff that I needed, and gave him a double dose as recommended for new tanks. However, I fear that I realized all of this too late. I think (not positive) that he may have tale rot and/or swimming bladder disease. I honestly am not sure exactly what to look for or what to do for him. There is so much contradicting information on the web. Some one say to do one thing while others say not to. If you have any advice for me that would be wonderful. Have a blessed day.
 
Yay you for getting a 5 gallon tank for a betta, that's a perfect size! Have you done a fishless cycle on the 5 gallon tank because that really helps keep the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites levels low? I would also suggest some low light plants like java fern or Moss balls. Bettas love a natural environment.
I'll be glade to help if you have questions, I'm a beginner too but I could share research I've done and the success I've had with my betta and planted 5 gallon tank. :D
Thank you so very much. I think that I may have really messed up here. I did not understand what cycling meant, and should not have followed the instructions given to me at Pet Smart. They said just to let the tank run for 1-3 days before adding fish. Well they never said to add anything to the water. No good bacteria, no dechlorinater, no salt, no stress coat, NOTHING! I finally am just now getting the water quality to good but I think it may be to late for my little guy. He is swimming around just fin and eating, but he has some horrible big rips in his caudal fin. The white/pink color at the tips is turning a dark blue and all the tips are becoming very jagged like they are being bitten but he is the only fish in the tank. I put softer rocks in the tank, took out everything that could hurt his fins. Replace all plants with silk plants only (don't want to use live plants), fixed the intake so he is not getting sucked into it anymore. The water is covered with bubble nests all over so I know he is somewhat happy. I thought for sure that his fins were getting better since they looked like the rips were growing back.....however just today I notice a really huge rip in his caudal fin again. Yesterday I read that they can over flar and rip their fins, and he was flaring a ton yesterday. I just cannot decide if this is tail rot or just ripped fins. I am kinda freaking out. I am trying to find answers online but there is so much contradiction. Some say to use salt with every water change, others say only when treating them for something. Some say use betta fix, while others say it can suffocate them. Some say to use medication from the store while others say not to use an rx. Some say cut the bad part of the fins off, while others say it is not necessary. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so very much. Have a blessed day
 
Betta's are pretty tough. Looking forward to some pics so you can get some help. I have inherited some sickly Betta's and they bounced back.

There are links on the getting started for fish in cycles. Lots of water changes but it is possible to do.


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Advice

Okay it sounds like he's just has a ripped fin that keeps reopening because of the flaring, I would check to make sure he's not seeing his reflection to much. This can happen if you use a tank light which I wouldn't use at all in a betta tank because they come from darker water and the light stresses them out. As far as fixing his fins, you did good with removing any hazzards from the tank. I think the next step is to treat his fins, I like to use ick meds, I know it's supposed to be used only if they have ick but I feel like it does a good job healing fins. Also the aquarium salt is a good idea if they are sick but don't use it all the time and only a very small amount, if you have a 5 gallon I'd say just add a teaspoon. Then when you do your weekly water change the salt will be removed. You only need the salt for a week as medication.
 
Okay, let's try this again. This is the first pic that I tried to upload 9/22/16. His fins did start to get better after this but are getting worse again. This is with a tank light on.
 
If at first you don't succeed; try, try again.
 

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Okay sorry for all the posts. I finally figured it out. This is the first time that he had a fin issue. I made lots of changes since then and he was getting better. This pic was taken around 9/22/16. This is with the tank light on. It is a glass tank and his reflections shows on 3 of the 4 sides almost all the time except the pitch black. I only turn the light on when I feed him, so it is usually on less then 10 min a day.
 

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These were taken in the last hour. This is with no tank light on. The light is from the dinning room light. He fin looked almost healed (except the funky blue color at the tips of his caudal fin). Now this is what it looks like. Yesterday he was flaring a ton and attacking the tank walls everywhere he can see his reflection. I put a towel over the tank to see if that would block the reflection and it didn't. Any suggestions of how to make that better for him? Does this look like fin rot? I am doing his PWC today (every saturday), so I haven't fed him yet. 2 days ago he wouldn't eat, but yesterday he ate just fine. I have also notice that he kinda tips to one side when he floats or lays on stuff. Is that normal?
 

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Okay it sounds like he's just has a ripped fin that keeps reopening because of the flaring, I would check to make sure he's not seeing his reflection to much. This can happen if you use a tank light which I wouldn't use at all in a betta tank because they come from darker water and the light stresses them out. As far as fixing his fins, you did good with removing any hazzards from the tank. I think the next step is to treat his fins, I like to use ick meds, I know it's supposed to be used only if they have ick but I feel like it does a good job healing fins. Also the aquarium salt is a good idea if they are sick but don't use it all the time and only a very small amount, if you have a 5 gallon I'd say just add a teaspoon. Then when you do your weekly water change the salt will be removed. You only need the salt for a week as medication.
Thank you so much. I posted some pictures of him so everyone can see what his fins look like. I am not sure how to get his reflection gone. I did notice yesterday that he was not only flaring a ton but was attacking the glass where his reflection is. After reading that flaring can cause ripped fins I want to take care of that ASAP.
 
For the reflection problem which I also had issues with it had to move my tank from being in a corner to being in the middle of a wall where the sides are not against a wall and then I put a background on the back of the tank. This helped reduce the reflection enough that my betta Benjamin stopped attacking the glass.

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Oh and may I ask what you are feeding him and how much and how often? If he's kinda laying around and swimming funny he could have swim blatter which my betta got from eating cheap betta pellets. (I made tons of mistakes in the beginning)

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I also wouldn't be to worried about color change unless he starts getting pale. Bettas get pigment loss when sick or not cared for in the right way so if your betta gets darker colors that might be a good sign not a bad one. You can check out my before and after picture of my betta, he did a real 180 color change lol

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Oh and may I ask what you are feeding him and how much and how often? If he's kinda laying around and swimming funny he could have swim blatter which my betta got from eating cheap betta pellets. (I made tons of mistakes in the beginning)

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I feed him National Geographic betta pellets. They were the only one that didn't list fish meal in the first 3 ingredients (that I could find). The first 2 wks I was feeding him 3 soaked pellets twice a day. Now I feed him 3 pellets once a day. I fast him once a wk. At first i was letting the pellets just float and he snap them off the surface. But recently I read this could cause swim bladder. So I've been making them sink onto his hammock and he eats off that now. I also am making sure I soak the pellets for 2min. And I feed him one at a time. Giving him time to eat his pellet before he gets another.
 
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