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I know it's more than a bit late, but thought I'd mention it could be the added salt killing your plants. I've killed off plants before, doing salt treatments over extended periods for Ick. Are these some type of brackish betta that you have to add salt? Because if not, this addition of...

I know this is thread necrophilia on a VERY old thread, but, in case of new-to-betta readers who might not yet have worked through what bettas need yet, I wanted to add that even regular sized bettas need swim room and should have plants to swim between, around and through, so that they aren't...

Totally agree with RichardA - I have Pugnax/Forest betta, and that looks like a young 'un from this angle.

If you have no top breathers, you might find that a thick layer of floating plants will both block excess light and suck up nutrients in the water column that algae might be getting to before your plants - although, annoyingly, it could also be triggered/worsened by a shortage of specific...

Is there any possibility that the flakes were something toxic that fell into the tank, perhaps from the ceiling or elsewhere? White flakes don't sound much like fish food, but do sound possibly like paint or plaster or some such thing... Were you able to determine if it was soft or hard, or...

This may be a bit late to make suggestions, but in such a case, I'd put an ad in my local fish forum offering free cory fry...

I was wondering if you'd added a tiny drop of Pimafix or methylene blue to help reduce the chances of fungus? Fry are always so exciting! Edit: also, if you had or had considered cultures of, for example, Walter or microworms? They drop to the bottom and are very handy for fry and small fish.

Different otos sometimes have different tastes. I heard they'd generally go crazy for tinned sliced French beans - which none of my veggie eaters ever seemed interested in. My regular otos like cucumber that my Zebra otos are not so interested although they'll eat them when desperate...

I'd suggest lots of plants, if I may? Not only will they help with the water condition, but especially in a small tank, a betta needs some interest and things to swim around and between. Such curious and intelligent fish...

LadyRiv, if it makes you feel any better, I currently have only one splendens and a few betta tussyae. Pretty bad for someone with 16 tanks going and various schemes for having more...

Best bet with freeze dried foods is apparently to soak the heck out of them, as the OP does, to be sure they won't cause an impaction. Lots of people feed them, though I don't know if I would, but then again, I've always got frozen and live foods for my fish, though my bettas most often get...

I currently have have only 2 splendens, Cygnet, a Combtail I've had in a 5 gallon Walstad for about 4 years now (the age at which I lost my [sold-as-Half-Moon] hyperactive Silk, my 1st-ever male betta, who had a 15g, and Confetti, a Crowntail [who initially couldn't swim, having no fin...

Not sure where you are or anything, but if you have (and belong to) a local fish forum, you may find that many people sell or will offer you lovely cuttings/runners, and you may also find great deals on 2nd-hand tanks and all sorts of things. I'd say 10g absolute minimum myself, and would...

This may sound silly, especially as the suggestions above likely have it covered, but is there any way he could be snagging it on the filter? Is there very much suction on that sucker? Having strips of tailfin come off from the base does sound rather odd... is it right at the meaty area...

Good choice on going with the 10g! Happy to hear that you're planning on planting the tank, as bettas love swimming through and around a good thick growth of plants, which also help maintain water quality, as you probably know. Don't know if you're aware of this or not, but if you get a...

It's not only cheaper in the long run to go farther/spend more for stock more likely to be healthy and to not require expensive meds and potentially infect other fish, but saves endless stress, heartache and labour. Personally, I've quit spending an eventual fortune on 'cheap' unhealthy fish...

I could very well be talking through my hat, but luckily I'm used to that, so - are you fishless cycling with fish food or ammonia, and if the latter, doesn't that tend to trash plants?

From the Peanut Gallery, lol, have you considered: Pennywort, which can be rooted/floating, or rooted and growing gracefully along the surface - without clinging to arms or rapidly overgrowing the surface in the manner of the evil Duckweed; Cardamine Lyrata, similar to the former, but more...

Actually, I have both Pennywort and Cardamine Lyrata, and I'd swear the pic looks like Pennywort, which is sturdier and slightly different from the otherwise similar Cardamine. It's nice to have both, in part because Pennywort can also function as a floating plant.

I don't like the male bristles either, but my female bristlenose is a pretty girl. Granted, I'm her adoptive 'mum' but, still...

Just wanted to interject that I've had fish eat young fish - or mortally injure young fish trying to eat them - that were very obviously far too large for them to even consider it. That includes a minnow that ate regularly, and had not previously attempted to eat an even smaller fish in the...

I have pygmy cories breeding like crazy in a tank with overly coarse-sized - but smooth-surfaced - polished quartz gravel. Clearly, their little barbels are not worn down by this. It makes sense to me that it would be ROUGH surfaces, rather than LARGE ones that are damaging to them to be...

Hi, Iron Man, I think one point made with the Neon Tetras needing room related less directly to bioload (although different sorts of Neons sold as such may also differ greatly in size and I had some real beauties which reached 2 inches and were proportionately large-bodied) and more to the fact...

Well, congrats on the babies! I think a 2-week spawning cycle must be more common than is generally specified, at least in some cories, since my pygmies seem to spawn every two weeks. (I know I always wanted herds of pygmies, so I've been in heaven - they're pretty darned hard to come by out...

Have you got, or can you get, one of those styrofoam coolers and lots of ice? Perhaps if you can re-freeze them, they can be salvaged - they're so expensive... Edit: typos on sale now, however, 3 for the price of one, limited time only, I hope... Re-edit: didn't see that was posted yesterday...

Is the tank actually 6ft. tall and 18 inches wide, or 6ft. long and 18 inches wide? If it is actually that tall and narrow, I'd be interested to know how set-up and maintenance are done - my mind boggles at the thought, but I was kinda boggled when I came here, lol.

Darn good point and thread - I have a beautiful little dwarf plec which apparently lives almost exclusively on bogwood and who I almost never see. I worry sometimes that the so-elusive little thing may have died, be sick, starving, since he/she rarely if ever seems to eat anything I put in that...

*Sends hugs* You did the right thing for him, though, and he suffers no more. If you belong to a local fish forum and are looking only for pet stock, you might think about getting one from another forum member who has been shown to produce healthy fish. Apart from avoiding the constant...

Are Netty and Bronzecat still going? They also had gorgeous fish, only I haven't seen any posts put up by them forever... Edit: I am the Typo Queen!

Some people have done well with Zebra Danios, but others definitely haven't. I have heard that they are rather rowdy fish and can be very nippy as well if not in large enough groups. Because they're so active they also need a good tank length, and if you've already had a discouraging...

I'm with lilacamy931, better safe than sorry, especially as various Water Boards are apt to add different things at different times. But only water treatments that state on the label they can handle not only chlorine but chloramine are sure to - not all dechlors do...

Hi, guys. I've a betta in a 15 gallon Walstad (heavily planted by definition) tank with White Clouds and otos. The temp is a compromise, around 77, which seems agreeable to all fish concerned. The White Clouds were actually initially intended for a cool-water tank, but they turned out to be...

Just thought I'd mention that bettas are generally categorized with tetras, catfish and other 'sensitive fish' where med doses are concerned and, personally, I generally use a reduced dose when treating mine with almost anything but antibiotics. It generally seems to work out well as far as...

I have White Clouds in with one of my bettas, never had a problem between them. Of course, he's a very good-natured fish.

Hi, Shih Tsulover, you do have very beautiful fish which look healthy and well-cared for. Mine currently are most often getting Omega One flake, Hikari Micro Wafers, (unlike the BioGold and the Micro Pellets NOT specified as GM and are hopefully not) frozen Hikari bloodworms (managed to get...

Speaking as Not An Expert, only from my own experiences, reading and from what I recall generally of hours of internet searching: I'd go for live plants, myself. The more live plants, the healthier the tank and inhabitants, overall. Plants, of course, process fish wastes, and sufficient...

Female, here, although I must say the extreme disparity in favour of female betta keepers I expected certainly wasn't present, even with a misclick involved. Surprised me just a little, though, come to think of it, I don't know why, since so many guys have posted on here.

Hi, lycaena, I was wondering about the 'coral-ish thingy' you mentioned - that IS an inert substance, and also nothing long fins can catch/tear on? Crowntails can develop curly ends on their fins from, apparently, a number of causes, including age (long male betta fins apparently typically...

If he's not interested in eating them, they should be ok for a while - but so much depends on the individual betta. I had endler cross guppies in with Silk, my best-natured male betta, (sold as a half-moon but has never flared in his life, or at least in the 3? -ish years I've had him, so...

Bettas are surface breathers, gaining some benefit from their gills, but dependent on being able to reach the surface for air. Personally, I'd lower the water level to the point where he could reach by standing on his tail, and give him that much chance. If he's always been sickly and...