A Few Stupid Betta Questions

[Korki Buchek]

My story begins about three months ago at Petco. As I searched through row upon row of poor veil tail bettas in those terrible plastic containers with dirty water one piqued my interest. He was smallish, red with teal spots on his face, and looked calm compared to the other fish that were turning round and round to flare at their neighbors (also in those terrible plastic containers). I picked him up, got all of the supplies I thought I needed: 1.5 gallon bowl, small rocks to put in the bottom, a plant, tap water cleaning tablets, a bottle of that mediciny stuff you put in to prevent (or cure) bacteria, and a small heater in case he got cold. I set him up in the bowl and he lived happily ever after, or so I thought. I fed him, played with him, taught him to do tricks and took care of him. A cold streak hit and I began using the heater. It lasted for about a week and he seemed to like the temperature and became more active when the water was a little warmer. One day the heater made his water a little too hot and I found him dead in the bowl. The heater soon died as well probably from foul play, but I won't admit to it.

About a week ago I got another fish, and I want to make sure this one doesn't end up the same way. Unfortunately, he doesn't look to be off to a good start. I have a handful of questions that will hopefully help this one live a little (or maybe a lot) longer.

1) He won't eat anything. I've tried worms, pellets, flakes, and the little pea mush with garlic salt on the end of a toothpick. He won't even try to eat from the top of the bowl. If something falls down he sometimes chews on it and then spits it out. The toothpick with the pea scares him. I'm hoping this is just stress from being moved around, but how long will he last without food? If he gets hungry enough will he start eating? What else can I do?

2) It looks like he can see his reflection in the bowl and it is scaring him. He sits in one corner of the bowl a lot staring at the glass and sometimes tries to bite the bowl, realizes he can't and then swims away. After a little while he returns to the corner and starts the process over. Can I do anything to prevent this like covering the bowl with something? Should I try that or just let him get used to the reflection?

3) Whenever I put the medicine drops in the bowl, the water gets cloudy and looks like it is dirty. Is this normal?

4) Would the heaters suggested in the FAQ section work for a 2 gallon bowl (I had to retire the old bowl after it also died from suspicious causes)? If so what temperature should I set it at? I hear around 78-80 is best, is that right?

5) I'm pretty sure I should take the gravel out of the bowl and put something in so that he can see the food that falls down. What should I use?

6) How many pellets per day do I feed him? The pet store people say three (which I assume is wrong) and the container says somewhere between 6 and 12 per day (which I also assume is wrong), bettatalk says as many as he can eat in 5 minutes.

7) Anything else that I need to know to keep him healthy and happy or any stupid betta tricks that I can teach him?

Thank you for helping me save my new wet pet.

Sincerely,
Korki Buchek (Kazakh pop superstar of famous song "Bing Bang")

 

[matty101]

Ok dont have all the answers but most.....

1) Don't use the pea. The movement of the water will probably frighten him. Just simply make sure he is directly infront of the food (which should be a good quality pellet food ie Hikari/Atison's) and drop it in. Let 1 stay there and observe him to see his reactions. If he puts his nose up to it and swims away, it means he's not interested. If he doesn't move when you place the food inside, he may not have seen it or is not interested or in the mood to eat. If he tries it (ie eats then spits) and leaves it, that's good. That meant that he doesn't like the taste and isn't used to it, but keep applying it. Just a quetion, does he have red eyes? If so, he may be albino which is a blind fish and blind fish need to be fed carefully. Msg me back on that one.

2) My betta used to be like that. He used to see his reflection in the bowl and would run off to realize that he sees it everywhere. I personally just left him but in your case, to keep him less stressed out, put a towel or blanket over top so that he cant see anyone. This provides shelter and a safe feeling for him. To remove the towel, slowly pull it off from the top so that he doesn't see you. Do that untill he's more comfortable and then just keep it off. May takes weeks.

3) What type of medicine is it? Is your tank filtered? If not, you may overdose or that's the way the medicine works. Does it clear up afterwards?

4) Yes you should use a heater. Not only does it make the water a nice temperature for the betta but he will become more active and genrally, will thank you for it. 78-82 is my preference but anywhere in between in great

5) Simply put a white piece of paper underneath the bowl/tank and make sure there's no gravel. That way, if he ends up in the corner, he may notice it and pick at it. Also, removing gravel, IMO (in my opinion), helps you personally to see ow dirty the tank base is. You'd be surprised how much "stuff" is a the bottom of your tank.

6) This depends on what type of pellet it is. Are they baby pellets (small) or larger pellets meant for adults? I personally feed my bettas Hikari Betta-Bio gold Baby pellets and they love it. It controls and helps to bring out your betta's true colours and is a very healthy staple food indeed (staple food meaning eaten on a regular basis). I feed my bettas 5 pellets each but not 5 at a time. No no no. That would mean he could at too fast and have constipation. I feed both of my bettas, 1 by 1, hand feeding the pellets.

7) Try to get him more comfortable and then teach him tricks such as jumping for food and following your finger.

 

[Ravenwing]

1) He won't eat anything. I've tried worms, pellets, flakes, and the little pea mush with garlic salt on the end of a toothpick. He won't even try to eat from the top of the bowl. If something falls down he sometimes chews on it and then spits it out. The toothpick with the pea scares him. I'm hoping this is just stress from being moved around, but how long will he last without food? If he gets hungry enough will he start eating? What else can I do?

Yes, if he gets hungry enough he will eventually start eating. Most likely he is just really stressed, this happens with most new fish. Personally the longest I've had mine go with out food is 1 week. His body should be streamline, that is no really pudgy tummy and no sunken in tummy either.

2) It looks like he can see his reflection in the bowl and it is scaring him. He sits in one corner of the bowl a lot staring at the glass and sometimes tries to bite the bowl, realizes he can't and then swims away. After a little while he returns to the corner and starts the process over. Can I do anything to prevent this like covering the bowl with something? Should I try that or just let him get used to the reflection?

I agree with matty101, try to put something around or on the bottom of the bowl to cut down on the reflection. Some nice silk plants might also help with this, so if he does get scared he has a place to "hide".

3) Whenever I put the medicine drops in the bowl, the water gets cloudy and looks like it is dirty. Is this normal?

What kind of medicine are you using? Normally you shouldn't have to add anything to the water other then a water conditioner. Which, has me curious as well, you said something about tablets? The only kind of these I've seen have the water conditioner and the food together? Personally I use this: http/www.petsmart.com/global/product_det...030068&Ne=2 and I add a drop of "Stress Coat" - it's not required persay, but it does help keep my tail/fin bitter from getting infected.

4) Would the heaters suggested in the FAQ section work for a 2 gallon bowl (I had to retire the old bowl after it also died from suspicious causes)? If so what temperature should I set it at? I hear around 78-80 is best, is that right?

It is harder to heat a less then 5 gallon tank, personally (I know this isn't the "approved" method), I simply heat the room they are in, I've found that it keeps the water temperature stable, (my tanks are about 72) and there's no chance of a heater mishap.

5) I'm pretty sure I should take the gravel out of the bowl and put something in so that he can see the food that falls down. What should I use?

I would suggest taking the gravel out, I use glass beads myself (you can find them in the craft dept at Walmart for around $1. Dollar Stores usually sell the glass beads as well.) It looks pretty, my fish like to push them around, and I can see the bottom of the tank a lot better.

6) How many pellets per day do I feed him? The pet store people say three (which I assume is wrong) and the container says somewhere between 6 and 12 per day (which I also assume is wrong), bettatalk says as many as he can eat in 5 minutes.

Personally I give mine 3-4. Depends on a few factors, how big your fish is, how active your fish is, to list just a few. The key thing is not to overfeed. One of my bettas refuses to eat pellets, but they love bloodworms. Again, I agree with matty101, pick up some Hikari pellets. (Unless this is is what you already have) The other thing you could try, is go back to the pet store you purchased him from, and ask what they were feeding him. The longest I've had one of mine not eat food when I first got him was a week. Others will eat right away...depends on the fish....

7) Anything else that I need to know to keep him healthy and happy or any stupid betta tricks that I can teach him?

Once he's no longer stressed you could try and see if you can give him some exorcise with the mirror. I also have trained one of mine to follow my finger across the top of the water... Right now it sounds like yours might need some quite time (talk softly to him and he'll learn to trust you


I hope my answers helped a little bit.....good luck with your new finned friend!

 

[Korki Buchek]

Thank you both so much for your replies. They definitely help. I got him to eat a little last night by leaving some pellets in for about 15 minutes. When I came back they were gone and don't appear to be in the bottom of the tank. I think he might just be shy.

His eyes aren't red but they look a little different from my last betta. They were a little bugged out when I first got him but have since returned to normal and they still have a little brownish ring around the actual eye (on a blue fish). I thought at first that he was blind and couldn't see the food, but he definitely goes up to it, smells it, and leaves.

I have the following stuff:
1) Food: Hikari Bio-Gold Pellets (I will grab some of the smaller pellets from Petco this afternoon); freeze dried bloodworms, some flakes that came from the same store as the fish (they said this is what they fed the bettas).
2) Water Conditioner: Jungle brand Bowl Buddies Water Conditioning Fizz Tabs for bettas. They sit in the bottom of the bowl and fizz and make a tiny bit of blue looking stuff that dissolves after a few minutes.
3) Medicine Type Stuff: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals brand Splendid Betta BettaFix Remedy. It is supposed to work on fin rot, velvet, and bacterial problems (according, again, to the Petco people). The active ingredient is 0.2% Melaleuca (CAS#8008-98-9) The box suggests putting about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon in every day and to change water once a week. It claims to be good for curing bacterial problems or preventing them if used regularly. My other betta had quite a bit of fin rot when I first got him and this stuff seemed to work wonders. His fins were back to normal within about 10 days.
4) Bowl: A 2 gallon Glass Drum Bowl
5) Cigarettes: Camel brand Filter Tobacco Cigarettes (he's up to a pack a day now). I keed, I keed.

I have three more questions if anyone wants to field them:
1) The blood worms have some warnings on the bottle that say that you should avoid touching them, avoid being near them for extended periods of time and avoid eating them. Outside of eating them, is it really dangerous to take them out of the bottle with your fingers or should I be wearing a haz-mat suit and using pliers?

2) I got one of those little plastic "sea caves" that are mainly used by small children in their aquariums. It is basically two square pieces of plastic with a larger rectangular piece on top but remains open on two sides. He hasn't been using it, but he swims through it from time to time. Should I leave it in?

3) Will a plant be alright in a bowl without filtration? Last time I tried and the plant died after about 2 weeks leaving the water disgusting basically overnight.

Thanks Again,
Korki Buchek (Bing Bang, Bing Bang Bang)

 

[Kyrielle]

3) Medicine Type Stuff: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals brand Splendid Betta BettaFix Remedy. It is supposed to work on fin rot, velvet, and bacterial problems (according, again, to the Petco people). The active ingredient is 0.2% Melaleuca (CAS#8008-98-9) The box suggests putting about 1/2 teaspoon per gallon in every day and to change water once a week. It claims to be good for curing bacterial problems or preventing them if used regularly. My other betta had quite a bit of fin rot when I first got him and this stuff seemed to work wonders. His fins were back to normal within about 10 days.

You might want to change the water a little more often than once a week when you're adding medicine to the water. If you let too much build up, it might kill the fish. Since new water doesn't come into the bowl, the medicine is still in the water so you end up piling dose after dose on top of each other. Bettafix is more diluted than other medicines with Melaleuca and that's probably why your old betta was fine with the treatment. But since your new betta is pretty stressed out right now, it would probably be better to change the water before you add a new dose of medicine.

I have three more questions if anyone wants to field them:
1) The blood worms have some warnings on the bottle that say that you should avoid touching them, avoid being near them for extended periods of time and avoid eating them. Outside of eating them, is it really dangerous to take them out of the bottle with your fingers or should I be wearing a haz-mat suit and using pliers?

2) I got one of those little plastic "sea caves" that are mainly used by small children in their aquariums. It is basically two square pieces of plastic with a larger rectangular piece on top but remains open on two sides. He hasn't been using it, but he swims through it from time to time. Should I leave it in?

3) Will a plant be alright in a bowl without filtration? Last time I tried and the plant died after about 2 weeks leaving the water disgusting basically overnight.

Thanks Again,
Korki Buchek (Bing Bang, Bing Bang Bang)

1) Some people are highly allergic to bloodworms (especially live and frozen, but some people have had allergies with freeze dried as well), hence the warning. I have freeze dried bloodworms and I don't use gloves or anything special.

2) If you want to. You could put some plants around one opening so he feels a little less exposed.

3) Yes! A plant would be great. I suggest java ferns since they can grow in almost any condition.

 

[matty101]

my question now...my small tank with a platy and 2 guppies gets dirty quickly, but it has no gravel...can i still add plants. If so, which is best to clean up or break down food?

 

[Kyrielle]

Plants won't really break down food. They absorb some of the ammonia/nitrates in the water.

You can still add plants I think. Java fern doesn't require or prefer a substrate and can live in low light, no CO2, and no ferts other than what is already in the water. All you have to do with java fern is tie it to a rock or a piece of wood or decoration so it can take root there and sink. Anubias works the same way. I'm not sure if it's as hardy as java fern...but it is pretty hardy nonetheles. And then there's also java moss which can be tied down to a piece of wood, slate, or decorations. The moss can grow pretty rapidly and may overrun the tank eventually.

 

[Korki Buchek]

I just came home from Petco and bought everything but forgot to get the baby bio-gold. I guess I'll have to make a trip back later on.

I came back with more questions of course.

1) I couldn't find Java Firms so got lucky bamboo. It has some decent stalks with places where the fish could lay if he wanted to and also some pretty good leaves for bamboo. I know regular bamboo is not poisonous to betta, is the "lucky bamboo" different? Can it be put with the betta safely.

2) The water looks to be a bit too cold, Petco insists there is no heater that will heat a 2 gallon glass bowl. Are they lying as usual?

3) I got an elite mini filter, how often should I change the water if I use it regularly?

Thanks again,
Korki Buchek (Check out my song Bing Bang on Interwebsite).

 

[Korki Buchek]

I found out the problem with my fish. He is too cold. I put a thermometer in his tank and it is in the 60's. Way too cold. I moved my space heater over there so hopefully it will heat up. Otherwise I may have to get a legitimate space heater and just avoid putting it too close to his tank.

Also, the filter does not appear to move the water at all. How can I tell if it's working?

Great Success!

 

[dogfood]

You can safely use small heaters in a 2 gallon bowl. You could either go with the 7.5W Hydor Mini or a 25W like the Stealth. Personally I'd go with the latter if it fit into the bowl, if not use the flat Hydor Mini but you must remember to unplug it if the room temperature gets too warm like in the summer because that heater does not have a thermostat at stays on 24/7. Heaters with thermostats will turn on only when the water temps drop below what you set it to.

Thank you both so much for your replies. They definitely help. I got him to eat a little last night by leaving some pellets in for about 15 minutes. When I came back they were gone and don't appear to be in the bottom of the tank. I think he might just be shy.

Yeah this happens a lot when you get new bettas. Sometimes new bettas are scared and won't eat the food right then and there, but go away for a few minutes and the food will be gone when you come back. Do this a few times and eventually they'll get the idea that you can be trusted and they will start to eat in your presence. Sometimes they'll cautiously surface to snatch the food then dart to the bottom in the beginning too. Once they fully trust you they'll hang around at the surface when you approach waiting for more food flapping their side fins really fast even if you've already fed them. The final sign is when they start snapping their mouth when they see you.

As for plants you can use Java Moss. It's a low maintenance plant and provides nice cover for bettas and also helps remove nitrites and ammonia.

 

[Korki Buchek]

Fish was too cold. The heater is slowly but surely heating the tank up to an appropriate temperature and fish is looking much better. He also ate several small worms but no big ones. This leads me to believe that the regular worms and pellets are too big for him. I will get some small ones tomorrow since Petco (where the pets go) is closed now.

Also, I got the filter working and it moves the water around. This is good because the fish seems to like the food better when it's moving. (Maybe he does have bad eyesight?) I am concerned though that he may not be able to rest if he has to keep swimming in order not to get pushed around by the filter. Should I turn it off occassionally, or just leave it?

Finally, I noticed three strange things on him. First, he has what appear to be white ends on the two small fins (don't know the proper name) that extend along the sides of his body. Not the fins that he moves very rapidly to swim, but the other two that I don't think he can move. It looks like the fins split about 1/2-3/4 inch from the end and the blue part is sort of curled up while this white part sticks straight out. It doesn't look like fungus and is perfectly shaped like part of his fin. Is this normal, I'm a little affraid that it is the cartledge from the fin that is exposed or something. Also, he does have a red ring around the eye itself. He is dark blue so albino (and blind) is probably out of the question, right? Finally, he has tiny holes in his fins. They aren't at the edges but a handful in the middle of his fins. They don't look big enough to be bite marks (though its possible as I've never seen actual bite marks) and there doesn't look like any fungus in them. They are on both his tail fin and the long single fin that goes underneath the body. Has anyone else had this? Is it just "wear and tear"? Was the pet store running a covert, multi-million dollar, betta fighting ring in the back of the store using unaggressive veil tails?

Oh, and in case you're still reading, I used to go to this fish shop in Washington State when I was in high school (I can give you the name in a message if you're interested because the guy actually does have a good selection of bettas). The owner used to sit outside all day on a bar stool feeding pigeons. You had to walk down this little alleyway to get to the shop and it was a little bigger than my studio apartment. In the shop there were maybe 5 or 6 veil tails and crown tails on display at all times, and then a huge selection of the smaller finned fighters (I think they were male Platak?). He actually had a great selection of colors and sizes and all kinds of equipment that he kept basically stacked up in the rafters. The further back in the shop you went the more fighting type animals. There were some crazy looking snakes, chickens, this big spiders that weren't common friendly hairy tarnatulas, scorpions, angry pitbulls at one point, etc. My friend talked to him and he said he never fought any of them and saved most of the larger animals from breeders who were fighting them. In any event, we all got fighting type bettas and trained them with dentists mirrors. But when the big day came I couldn't bring myself to put my poor little guy in the bowl with another fish. My friends made fun of me for months. Anyway I had no idea how to keep him but he still lasted almost a year before my college roomate accidentally killed him. That is my cool betta fighting story of intrigue and emotion.

EVERYBODY DANCING NOW. (Great song by C and C Music Manufacturing Facility).

 

[Kyrielle]

Finally, I noticed three strange things on him. First, he has what appear to be white ends on the two small fins (don't know the proper name) that extend along the sides of his body. Not the fins that he moves very rapidly to swim, but the other two that I don't think he can move. It looks like the fins split about 1/2-3/4 inch from the end and the blue part is sort of curled up while this white part sticks straight out. It doesn't look like fungus and is perfectly shaped like part of his fin. Is this normal, I'm a little affraid that it is the cartledge from the fin that is exposed or something. Also, he does have a red ring around the eye itself. He is dark blue so albino (and blind) is probably out of the question, right? Finally, he has tiny holes in his fins. They aren't at the edges but a handful in the middle of his fins. They don't look big enough to be bite marks (though its possible as I've never seen actual bite marks) and there doesn't look like any fungus in them. They are on both his tail fin and the long single fin that goes underneath the body. Has anyone else had this? Is it just "wear and tear"? Was the pet store running a covert, multi-million dollar, betta fighting ring in the back of the store using unaggressive veil tails?

The white parts on his ventral fins are quite normal (mine has the same colouration only with red and white). Bettas have different coloured eyes. The lighter bettas will have a silverish blue iris, and darker bettas tend to have a rusty brown iris. The pin holes in his fins might be the beginning of fin rot, and one of the easiest ways to treat this is to keep the water really clean especially since the rot is just starting to show. If it gets any worse, you can try a 15-20 min aquarium salt bath in another container. Do this a few times daily and there should be improvement. If it STILL gets worse, try some anti-bacterial meds.

As for the filter, see if the flow can be adjusted. If it can't, you can probably put a few fake plants or real plants in front of the output to slow it down a little.

 

[matty101]

the pin hole holes in the fins could also be him quickly darting around and ripping his fins a bit...my betta is like that..he darts around too much and rips his fins...pin hole size...