Happy New Betta Owner

[KatieMR]

Hi! I'm new. I recently got a female crown tail betta fish, and of course I have a ton of questions and wanted to find a community that can help when problems arise! My fish's name is Chadashah. She lives with three marimo mossballs, some other as yet unidentified plant from Petco, and a miniature castle. We had a lot of fish when I was a kid (including gouramis, kuhli loaches, electric blues to name a few), but Chadashah is my first betta. I'm looking forward to learning more about fish keeping from her!

 

[Circus]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[KatieMR]

Thanks, Circus!

 

[dsch132]

Congratulations on your new betta! That "unidentified plant from Petco" part is so true...I get nervous about buying plants from the big chains unless I know exactly what I'm looking at because I've seen a few things that aren't even fully aquatic. Hopefully, your plant is something compatible.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Welcome to the forum!

Do you have any pictures of your new Betta? Would love to see some.

You can upload a picture of the “Unidentified plant” so we can possibly ID it for you.

 

[KatieMR]

Yeah, that is so true! I got it straight out of their plant display aquarium, so I'm pretty confident it is fully aquatic. I'm brand new to aquarium plants - we always had fake in the tanks we had when I was a kid. Since I have a really small tank I wanted something to help stabilize my water a little better. And I like the more natural look. I'm hoping I can do better with this one though, the last plant just melted away completely. . . . Except the parts that Chadashah chopped down herself. That was funny, in a sad sort of way. I got Seachem root tabs so hopefully that helps this one!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Any pictures of the plant? Usually Crypts are the most notorious for “melting” in a tank, so that could have been your old one.

Root tabs will not help water column plants, if that is what you have.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

welcome I am new here but not to bettas. happy to here you chose a female betta over a male. happy fishkeeping

 

[KatieMR]

Any pictures of the plant? Usually Crypts are the most notorious for “melting” in a tank, so that could have been your old one.

Root tabs will not help water column plants, if that is what you have.

Here are the pictures! The first one is Chadashah. The second one is the original plant right after I set up the tank and pre-melting, pre-destructive/bored fish. The third one is Chadashah pretending to be a beaver. The fourth one is the mystery plant. Last week, I planted most of it into the substrate, so it's not floating so much anymore. If you have any tips for helping it do better I'd love them! I do not have a plant substrate, just basic gravel. I am going to be upgrading to a bigger tank, since this one is so small, and I'm thinking about using a mix of the blue gravel substrate and Seachem Fluorite Black when I get that set up. The guy at Petco recommended root tabs and told me I wouldn't need anything else, so haven't tried any kind of fertilizer. I bought the tank before I did any research (yes, that was a mistake that I won't be making again!). It is working pretty well, but the light is a pretty wimpy, cheap LED. The tank does get a lot of indirect sunlight, though. I was hoping that would supplement the wimpy light until I can get something better.

 

[KatieMR]

welcome I am new here but not to bettas. happy to here you chose a female betta over a male. happy fishkeeping

Thank you! I am happy about it too! I do think I eventually want to get a male, but my roommate and I are enjoying Chadashah a lot and I have never once regretted having a female. She is such fun!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Second picture doesn’t look aquatic. (Could be bamboo)

The fourth picture looks like Moneywort.

 

[KatieMR]

Darn. I thought it kind of looked like pictures of green hygro. I was hoping it was my fault that it died and was hoping I could get some more of it once I have a little more experience with plants. I really liked the way it looked! I guess if it is not aquatic though, I will need to start dreaming of a different plant for my ultimate aquarium! Haha.

I did think the new plant looked like moneywort. Any tips for keeping it healthy in my current setup?