I'd Like To Introduce You All To ....

Rocco - my first betta !! Went to my lfs to get a heater and see what bettas they had, and this guy was just sat there in quite dirty water, but looking very alert and just begging for me to bring him home. I was going to wait until the weekend originally, but decided i'd best get him out of there as there was already 2 dead bettas there

Anyway, i'm quite excited about getting him - he seems really curious about his new home, swimming around a lot and flaring once or twice at the bikes i have as the background (cut from a poster to fit the tank )

Nice, colorful betta, and unique idea with the background!

Congrats on your first betta. Looks like he's leading the race in the first shot.

Congrats!! He's lovely!

You're a Vancouverite too!! SWEET! Another Vancouver betta lover!

Aww he's cute! Got very bright colouring!

I like your background! I did something similar with a magazine

I love his colouring and his name

They do have a way of beckoning you to take them home don't they though? He's got booootiful colors, a very appropriately macho background and name too.

Yeah, they do. I wanted a blue guy orignally, but when i saw Rocco there i just changed my mind !! Somone else in Vancouver !! I thought it was mostly Brits on here (although i only moved here last June from Plymouth).

Do bettas like fresh veg like my tetras, or do they just prefer food that (used to) move a little more?

He sure is handsome
post some piccies another time when he is flaring I love it when they do that! lucky devil!

Hikari makes pellets for Bettas and those are good. I give them freeze dried bloodworms and if you look around in here, you'll see more about the live stuff. Mine turn their noses up at daphnias and shrimp brine. Cheap dates!

I have a connection to fresh clean live blackworms. Kept clean they are a high protein live meal that almost all my fish love. Not kept clean they are a breeding ground for bacteria, like any other dying/dead food.

Betta often like a little blanched pea. Blanch, peal, smash a piece between your fingers and feed what they will eat. These will help keep your Betta from constipation. A fast day a week will help that too.

My Betta seem to have decided on Tetra BettaMin Tropical Medley if I insist on feeding them dry food. Each keeper seems to have their own favorite dry food.

Sue--can you get worms and stuff from baitshops? Someone suggested that to me but I was hesitant for the reasons you mentioned. Don't want to play around with diseases going in there and me getting something too. Just curious.

happyannie, My lfs takes pride in being a good local pet shop. They keep their worms very clean, rinsing them every day. It is necessary to rinse them and change the water correctly every day. I started with them, with advice from Inchworm for my Coradoras, an insectavore.

My wild caught cory supplier, deducing that I was having trouble getting to the shop often enough for my worm stock, set me up with one of the two blackworm suppliers in the States. As I was told yesterday when I picked up a 4 week supply (1.5 lbs for $18), if his worms weren't clean half the fish in the country would be sick. I asked him because of the recent postings advising against blackworms. But, he said, after they leave him some places don't continue to keep them clean.

I think I would be skeptical of fish bait for Betta, maybe for large carnivores. Also, blackworms are a special river worm with fresh cold water from the mountain ice melts. They are not earthworms. My blackworm supplier gets his worms from the CA Forestry Fishery at our local river--I think that's what I heard from one of the keepers. BIG vats of worms in cold water being washed and changed every day.

Ask your lfs if they have blackworms. If they do, ask when they were last rinsed and cleaned. See that they are fat and dark not grey or with slime. If you find a supply check back, and I'll give you some clues to keeping them.

Ok, I just happen to love that color in bettas! I have a half giant plakat like that and a CT with those colors. That VT happens to be a very good find

I'm glad you posted that jollysue as it's right on topic and something not all of us know about. We hear the live food discussed so much but don't know how to access the good stuff. Not being any place remotely near the Rockies, I think I might just go for the frozen stuff even tho they are ewwww. Thanks for the enlightenment for me and other readers!