'Surprise' Extra Betta Sent - What to Do?

[deb_unlimited]

New betta

Pics please!

Here is the link to pics of my new betta.

AquaBid.com - Closed Item # fwbettashm1358122516 - SUPRE RED HM MALE # 2 - Ended: Sun Jan 13 18:15:16 2013

You can see why I fell in love with him and made a bid, even though I had NOT planned on buying anything! LOL Anybody else been there??? He arrived with the mail carrier Monday around noon. I could not believe how small the bag was and how little water there was for him. The water was very yellow which scared me but he seems to be just fine. He was packed extremely well in an insulated box with a heat pack. So far he spits out the betta pellets. I gave him a little piece of frozen brine shrimp last night. He still hadn't eaten any when I left him. I'm going to email the shipper to see if she knows what they feed them in Thailand. This betta is magnificent compared to my little Petco betta, cover your ears Gandalf! And yes, the new betta is Saruman! Discovered Tolkien 40 years ago... Good luck with your new babies!

 

[Laurie]

Wow! He's gorgeous!

 

[GulfShrimplet]

Here is the link to pics of my new betta.

AquaBid.com - Closed Item # fwbettashm1358122516 - SUPRE RED HM MALE # 2 - Ended: Sun Jan 13 18:15:16 2013

You can see why I fell in love with him and made a bid, even though I had NOT planned on buying anything! LOL Anybody else been there??? He arrived with the mail carrier Monday around noon. I could not believe how small the bag was and how little water there was for him. The water was very yellow which scared me but he seems to be just fine. He was packed extremely well in an insulated box with a heat pack. So far he spits out the betta pellets. I gave him a little piece of frozen brine shrimp last night. He still hadn't eaten any when I left him. I'm going to email the shipper to see if she knows what they feed them in Thailand. This betta is magnificent compared to my little Petco betta, cover your ears Gandalf! And yes, the new betta is Saruman! Dishttps://www.google.com/news/i/?hl=en&source=mog&gl=uscovered Tolkien 40 years ago... Good luck with your new babies!

Magnificent and breathtaking!!! What a gorgeous deep red color! Can you tell I luv red Bettas?

All my Bettas were packed with very little water, less than a cup. I haven't had one that had yellow water though.

You might want to try bloodworms. Bettas go gaga over them. Be careful to avoid breathing them in or touching them. I think they are mosquito larvae. I would by some freeze dried especially for Bettas to avoid diseases. Get well soon, Saruman!

I'm going to have to rent LOTR videos (no way am I going to try again to read all that!). I must be missing something!

 

[GulfShrimplet]

Bettas are on their way to the their new home








Bettas are on their way to the US!!! WooHoo!

 

[molliwopp]

Kool. Hope they get arrive safely!

 

[GulfShrimplet]

Kool. Hope they get arrive safely!

Thanks.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Can't wait to see them!!!

 

[jmay33]

I bought this tank for my Betta at Walmart. It came with the filter(not an awesome one, but definitely sufficient.) it was $35 I had extra lights. I think it's really pretty though. You could get a cheap fixture or use a desk lamp etc. The heaters at Walmart aren't a bad price either. I'm on a budget so I always check there first.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

I bought this tank for my Betta at Walmart. It came with the filter(not an awesome one, but definitely sufficient.) it was $35 I had extra lights. I think it's really pretty though. You could get a cheap fixture or use a desk lamp etc. The heaters at Walmart aren't a bad price either. I'm on a budget so I always check there first.

Your tank is very pretty.

I got the replacement filter for an old tank coming by UPS so I'll be able to use and old tank. So hopefully I won't need a new tank as the old one has a stand I need to use because I have no furniture space to set it on.

 

[ktomminello]

How long have they been kept together? This will absolutely not work in the majority of instances, ESPECIALLY not in an 8 gallon tank.

If you are having to keep an eye out for aggressive fin nipping, it doesn't really sound like this is working out too well at all...

ABSOLUTELY NOT in an 8g, I agree, but I have had this "school" of betta for about 2 years now, they were bought individually, kept separate for the first month I had them. Set up my 20g and planted it heavily and grouped the females, once my bulbs grew out a little and my cuttings were rooted down I added a small male. I set up one of my 40g breeders and added schoolers and otos. I let them get comfortable and added lots of drift wood, lava rock, cavelike ornaments and a bunch of silk flowers and plants, waited a week and introduced my betta school. Yup, fins got nipped, yes, the first few weeks were spent watching and rearranging decor to make them happy, and after the first 2 weeks everyone had settled down in their own spots.

As far as in an 8g, you could keep a mated pair no problem, especially considering once a betta pair is grown the female is no longer fertile and as long as you plant heavy/ decorate lots, just don't expect to see the female, in a mated pair they generally stay small and love to hide in leaves that are curled up, dense root systems and java moss. I'm going on my past first hand experience.

If you're someone who has sometime to study behavioral patterns of your fish and do extensive research you can make most any set up work. I'm obsessed and have bred successfully 2 times. I'm done breeding for now, I have no more room. I agree, for your normal person, I would NOT advise my arranging to. However, as stated before, I do think a mated pair would do fine in an 8g, as long as there is a lot of hiding places, and in the worse case scenario a diy divider will take care of that

That's my story and I'm sticking to it Oh- the other thing about this 8g thing- high bioload means changing a gallon of water a day at the least....

 

[GulfShrimplet]

Your tank is very pretty.

I got the replacement filter for an old tank coming by UPS so I'll be able to use and old tank. So hopefully I won't need a new tank as the old one has a stand I need to use because I have no furniture space to set it on.

I just got to the laptop. Your betta is very handsome. I didn't even see him on the pic on my iPhone.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

I bought this tank for my Betta at Walmart. It came with the filter(not an awesome one, but definitely sufficient.) it was $35 I had extra lights. I think it's really pretty though. You could get a cheap fixture or use a desk lamp etc. The heaters at Walmart aren't a bad price either. I'm on a budget so I always check there first.

I just saw your beautiful betta on my 2 day old laptop! Couldn't see him on my iPhone.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

ABSOLUTELY NOT in an 8g, I agree, but I have had this "school" of betta for about 2 years now, they were bought individually, kept separate for the first month I had them. Set up my 20g and planted it heavily and grouped the females, once my bulbs grew out a little and my cuttings were rooted down I added a small male. I set up one of my 40g breeders and added schoolers and otos. I let them get comfortable and added lots of drift wood, lava rock, cavelike ornaments and a bunch of silk flowers and plants, waited a week and introduced my betta school. Yup, fins got nipped, yes, the first few weeks were spent watching and rearranging decor to make them happy, and after the first 2 weeks everyone had settled down in their own spots.

As far as in an 8g, you could keep a mated pair no problem, especially considering once a betta pair is grown the female is no longer fertile and as long as you plant heavy/ decorate lots, just don't expect to see the female, in a mated pair they generally stay small and love to hide in leaves that are curled up, dense root systems and java moss. I'm going on my past first hand experience.

If you're someone who has sometime to study behavioral patterns of your fish and do extensive research you can make most any set up work. I'm obsessed and have bred successfully 2 times. I'm done breeding for now, I have no more room. I agree, for your normal person, I would NOT advise my arranging to. However, as stated before, I do think a mated pair would do fine in an 8g, as long as there is a lot of hiding places, and in the worse case scenario a diy divider will take care of that

That's my story and I'm sticking to it Oh- the other thing about this 8g thing- high bioload means changing a gallon of water a day at the least....

I don't have the nerve for a tank like that. I enjoy the calm my fish bring, and I've gotten uptight in the past when my other fish attacked each other. So that tank is a no go for me. I'm glad it works for you though.

I do have a question. The bioload and daily water changes in the 8g - that doesn't apply to a cycled tank, right?

 

[ktomminello]

It's one of those perpetually argued aquarium philosophies- can you ever truly cycle a tank under 15g... With a single betta in a planted tank, my answer would be yes, but you'd need real vegetation, natural type of substrate, maybe a female fiddler, amano ghost shrimp, red cherry shrimp or a single MTS or single nerite snail. It's REALLY important to monitor parameters often in small tanks- nanos are ticking time bombs- I have to do small changes everyday on my 10g and under tanks even though they are cycled and filtered because of the messy, unstable nature of these habitats. I'm also a 'perfect parameter' obsessed freak. I've raised river giants from fry to 50g for my moms indoor rivers and ponds, and my favorites have been id sharks (pangasius), black lancer cats, giant upsidedown black cats, arowana and giant redtail, all of which are overly sensitive to parameter change... You'd be fine doing a 2g changeout once a week, I believe.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

It's one of those perpetually argued aquarium philosophies- can you ever truly cycle a tank under 15g... With a single betta in a planted tank, my answer would be yes, but you'd need real vegetation, natural type of substrate, maybe a female fiddler, amano ghost shrimp, red cherry shrimp or a single MTS or single nerite snail. It's REALLY important to monitor parameters often in small tanks- nanos are ticking time bombs- I have to do small changes everyday on my 10g and under tanks even though they are cycled and filtered because of the messy, unstable nature of these habitats. I'm also a 'perfect parameter' obsessed freak. I've raised river giants from fry to 50g for my moms indoor rivers and ponds, and my favorites have been id sharks (pangasius), black lancer cats, giant upsidedown black cats, arowana and giant redtail, all of which are overly sensitive to parameter change... You'd be fine doing a 2g changeout once a week, I believe.

I asked Dr. Tim's Aquatics if I could cycle the 8g the tank using their One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria and they said yes and to use the product at water changes to help.

I am using Fluval Shrimp Stratum in one tank and just Eco-Complete in the other. Both will be planted but I'm saving the shrimp for their own tank. Don't want to provide the bettas with expensive live shrimp snacks!

 

[Tetra1990]

I asked Dr. Tim's Aquatics if I could cycle the 8g the tank using their One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria and they said yes and to use the product at water changes to help.

I am using Fluval Shrimp Stratum in one tank and just Eco-Complete in the other. Both will be planted but I'm saving the shrimp for their own tank. Don't want to provide the bettas with expensive live shrimp snacks!

Aw come on! Expensive shrimp are the best! Back on topic though, it will all depend on the betta. Some won't give tank mates,in your case shrimp, a second glance and others will kill/eat every tank mate that you add.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

Aw come on! Expensive shrimp are the best! Back on topic though, it will all depend on the betta. Some won't give tank mates,in your case shrimp, a second glance and others will kill/eat every tank mate that you add.

From the video he looks pretty aggressive! I'd feed him shrimp when I have lobster 'just because'.

 

[jmay33]

I just saw your beautiful betta on my 2 day old laptop! Couldn't see him on my iPhone.

Thank you! I love him!!

 

[molliwopp]

I just saw your beautiful betta on my 2 day old laptop! Couldn't see him on my iPhone.

Lol these posts are more about your new laptop and iphone than his fish.

 

[GulfShrimplet]

The bettas are here! They arrived about 45 minutes ago.

I almost lost the female - I put them in separate uncovered cups while I transferred water from the tanks into their shipping water.

While I was in one room with the male, she jumped from her cup on the counter to under the kitchen table. I took me some frantic minutes to find her as she was three feet away (!) and white on a white floor.

Pray for her. She has kitchen chemicals on her. I should have washed her off before she went into her tank but it's probably too late now.