A Few Questions In General

[walker001]

Hi, i have had my bettas for about a year now. I am a sucker for the poor things when I am shopping for my big tank. Something about the poor fellas in those petrie dishes.
And that comes to one of my questions.

Why are they always in blue water at the store? My first was the sickest looking of the bunch and was solid black. After 3 days at home in his own tank being fed well, he turned a beautiful dark blue with his fins blending from blue into a dark red. My second one was also the worst in the lot at the store. He was white. Looked like a sickly albino. Got him home, about 4-5 days later hes is a little white on his body, and starting around his gills forward he starts pink and is a light red around his snout. His fins are all a nice pink color.

Second question, do all betta change colors when they are brought home from their little prisons?

Third question, I have seen mentioned that aquarium salt is a good additive for them. Is this true and how much would be acceptable per gallon?

Fourth, What are the optimal temps for these guys? I always do 100 % water changes. I just find it easier. Small 3.5 galllon tanks w/o filter. Put fish in holding, dump out old water, run water and hand sift the sand substrate to clean it and refill and add dechlorinator, then put fish back.

The problem I ran into was I made the water too hot this weekend when I changed it. When Blu went back in he had an instant bad reaction, kinda cramped in a U shape and looked about dead. Instant panic, I scooped him up and ran to my 55 gallon. Since he sunk to the bottom and laid on his side, I cupped him upright in my hand since he was still breathing, just not moving. I held him about 20 mins, and he started feeble fin flapping. After making sure I hade cooler water, I put him back in his tank and hoped for a good outcome, but didn't expect it. The next morning, he was frisky and waiting for breakfast.
I would hate to run into this again. So, what is an optimal temp to keep them happy and not flash fry them.

Walker

 

[Taridan]

Why are they always in blue water at the store?

Second question, do all betta change colors when they are brought home from their little prisons?

Third question, I have seen mentioned that aquarium salt is a good additive for them. Is this true and how much would be acceptable per gallon?

Fourth, What are the optimal temps for these guys? I always do 100 % water changes. I just find it easier. Small 3.5 galllon tanks w/o filter. Put fish in holding, dump out old water, run water and hand sift the sand substrate to clean it and refill and add dechlorinator, then put fish back.

The problem I ran into was I made the water too hot this weekend when I changed it. When Blu went back in he had an instant bad reaction, kinda cramped in a U shape and looked about dead. Instant panic, I scooped him up and ran to my 55 gallon. Since he sunk to the bottom and laid on his side, I cupped him upright in my hand since he was still breathing, just not moving. I held him about 20 mins, and he started feeble fin flapping. After making sure I hade cooler water, I put him back in his tank and hoped for a good outcome, but didn't expect it. The next morning, he was frisky and waiting for breakfast.
I would hate to run into this again. So, what is an optimal temp to keep them happy and not flash fry them.

Walker

1) I do not know why their water is blue... my first thoughts were maybe its to help their colors look better, second and third are maybe its trying to simulate the 'rice patty' water their ancestors originated in, third, and probably more likely, so that any waste products on the bottom of the container are harder to see. No customers want to see poo in with their fish. XD

2) When betta's are in their 'little prison' they are pretty much always stressed out, and sometimes depending on the store and how they are stacked, sometimes slowly suffocating as well. When betta's get stressed, they show it by color changing. I've found most reds tend to bleach out, and most blues seem to darken, not sure about the other colors. Once you take them home and they perk up and start feeling better, their color will come 'back' to them, and you should make of note of their typical color... then, if their color changes, its an indication something is wrong and you can check for stress factors.

note: Marbled fish, while part of this, are also an exception, because even when they are perfectly happy, until they are fully grown, their marbled patterns often change.

3) can't help on this one... sorry 6

4) optimum temperatures are between 72 and 82 degrees farenheit, which to my hands feels sort of like tepid bath water. XD from what I've read, some people with smaller tanks do not add heaters, and just let the water rest at room temperature. you don't want the water to feel 'warm' to your hands, but not 'cold' either... other thing you can try is take note of what the water temerature is in the tank before you empty it, then try to match that with the new water.

 

[amio]

Why are they always in blue water at the store?

It's methylene blue. Anti-fungal stuff.

Second question, do all betta change colors when they are brought home from their little prisons?

Not all bettas. But most. Out of stress.

Third question, I have seen mentioned that aquarium salt is a good additive for them. Is this true and how much would be acceptable per gallon?

Prob'ly half a teaspoon. Or less.

Fourth, What are the optimal temps for these guys?

23-30C (74-86F) Something like that.


Hope the one liner info helps.


John

 

[Betta_luver]

I hope you don't put this fish back in right away after putting in the dechlorinator. I used to do this and my betta died when i just put him straight back in. You need to let it sit for 40-60 minutes.

 

[flautist]

either your betta died of something different, or I have been lucky. I always put mine in about 5 minutes after adding the dechlorinator, and I have never had any problems. In fact, I have 3 bettas that are all approaching 2 years old, and one that's about a year old. They are all perfectly healthy.

 

[ILM]

1. The water is blue from mythelyne (spelling?) blue which is a fungicide and also toxic. There used to be a product made called Betta Fix that used to be a kind of cure-all for bettas--has a little mythelyne blue, some antibiotic, some parasite stuff. Turned the water blue and a whole lot of stores used it regularly in those small cups to keep the bettas from getting sick quite as fast. Of course, medicating a perfectly healthy body is not a good idea for anything living. But it was easier for the stores (one little pill could be mixed with 5 gals of water and distributed to all the fish). Since the manufacturer went out of business about 2 years ago, lfs are probably now using just plain mythelyne blue.

2. Most bettas will not be happy nor in peak condition in the lfs since they are seldom kept in conditions optimal for bettas. If you ever get bettas shipped to you, they will usually be quite pale after their shipping ordeal but should develope their true colors in a few hours. I've seen bettas that look pale yellow in the stores develope lush, luminous colors once they get "home" into a REAL tank with clean water, heated, and get fed regularly.

3. Lots of fish people advocate putting a little aquarium salt in the water all the time. I don't. I reserve the salt for medicating since bettas don't need the salt to stay healthy and, as with all medicines, I only use the salt when I need to and since the fish (and other things in the tank) haven't grown immune to salt, it is more effective just using a little. Why spend extra money on additives that the fish doesn't need to stay healthy?

4. 78-80F degrees is optimal for bettas. They can survive at a slighly lower temp (75-76) but are more susceptible to disease and don't live as long.

What I do for water changes is: (1) fill up gallon size water bottles with cold tap water (most good water pipes in buildings are made out of copper which sheds in hot water--copper is not good for fish and other living aquatics) and condition it, set it aside--I do this as the final step of tank cleaning so the bottles are all filled, conditioned and at room temp by the time the next tank cleaning comes along (yea, I have shelves of water bottles). (2) unplug the tank heaters as soon as I home on all the tanks that are getting cleaned that night so the tank cools down more toward room temp (my room stay close to 70F degrees normally). By the time I've changed into sloopy clothes, had a bit to eat, gotten all the gear together, made sure no one is using the facilities I'm going to be dumping water out in (etc.), it's been a good hour or more. Then I proceed to clean the tanks. The new water is at room temp but the fish's water has had enough time to cool down sufficiently to be close to room temp too--so the fish doesn't freak. I don't dilly-dally and get the tanks back up and runnin as soon as possible so the heaters can go back on. The only time I've filled 1.5 liter bottles of water and floated them in a heated tank is when I have a sick fish or for baby fish tanks.

I know other folks have used a spare tank to heat clean water in but I'd need a LOT of water. And I've been doing it this way for many many years now and the fish aren't hurt by this system.