Betta for my friend

[Tempestuousfury]

I'm going to buy my friend a betta for Christmas. She has no experience w/ fish, but I'll fully set the tank up for her. Should I buy her the betta even though she doesn't know much about them? I really want her to get into the hobby, and I believe that the betta would be a wonderful start. Your thoughts?

 

[alitheia_agapi]

You could always do that, plus buy her all the things she'll need to take care of it, like water conditioner, etc. Then you could write up a list of all the things she should do for a happy fish, also explaining why she should do them. I did that for my sister & it worked out pretty well.

 

[aquarius]

you can get her a betta and a book on how to take care of them. of course she has to be willing to commit to this, otherwise the fish will suffer. so maybe you should ask her first if she is interested in fish keeping

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I'll set everything up and get her everything but the turkey baster. I'll give her the URL for this forum and tell her all that I know (which isn't much). I can't buy her the book b/c the expenditures on the bettas themselves will be too high for me, but there are tons of books on them at the library.

She is willing to go to Petsmart and choose the fish. She likes it b/c it's known as the Siamese Fighting Fish and she wants to check the fish out.

 

[White Whale]

Yes, if you plan to get your friend a betta, may I suggest this:
- an introductory book on Bettas
- additional water conditioner
- BettaFix (just in case)
- small jar of freeze-dried bloodworms
- long tweezers (preferably plastic)
- a 3" fishnet
- Marina Betta Kit by Hagen (these are pretty cool)

Hope this helps convert your friend into a bettaholic!

 

[White Whale]

you can get her a betta and a book on how to take care of them. of course she has to be willing to commit to this, otherwise the fish will suffer. so maybe you should ask her first if she is interested in fish keeping

Good point. Maybe She should introduce her friend to the betta and then do the "oh, I have to pick something up from outside, please watch my fish for a while, thanx!" sort of thing so they get acquainted.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

That'll be a bit steep.
So far I'm getting her:
1 male betta,
1 betta hex,
water condintioner (for bettas),
1 net and betta food package.

What are the tweezers for? I have a dual and haven't needed anything that I don't have (except turkey baster).

What is betta fix? I've got frozen brine shrimp, will that do? Tubifex worms? (Stick on the sides?)

What is "BettaFix?"

 

[White Whale]

That'll be a bit steep.
So far I'm getting her:
1 male betta,
1 betta hex,
water condintioner (for bettas),
1 net and betta food package.

What are the tweezers for? I have a dual and haven't needed anything that I don't have (except turkey baster).

What is betta fix? I've got frozen brine shrimp, will that do? Tubifex worms? (Stick on the sides?)

What is "BettaFix?"

Cool, hex will do fine.

Tweezers can be used to feed the betta one bit at a time to help keep the water clean, and is also useful for picking up guck in tight corners.

Brine shrimp is wonderful! I never thought of that. )

BettaFix is an all-purpose medicine for the first sign of disease.

Looks like you are all set. Maybe find out your friend's favorite color?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

That's why I'm taking her shopping. For the tweezers, I dump a small pinch of the food on top and slide a few pellets (at a time) into the small hole.
I'll have to get the BettaFix myself, and for my friend. Thanks for your help!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi temp

What a sweet present! I just know she's going to love it!

I hope you'll be introducing her to us, on the forum, very soon.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

That could be arranged... She's online a lot anyways. If she gets really into it, I'll make sure she registers here.