I Have Been Bad.

[GSD]

So yesterday i went to a local lfs for some live food for both community tanks, and happened to find some bettas, in okay condition but looking pretty sad. After much debating with myself i decided to take three for an empty divided tank, (it is 12 gallon tall split into 3)

None of them are particulally special, and i was supposed to be waiting to get some from the betta lady in the next few weeks, however I am not wanting to breed until next year anyway so no rush i suppose.
The first is a large deep red male VT, with clear fins and blue streaks running through them.
The second is a dark yellow/ bronze/black VT who will not stop attacking anything in sight.
And the third is a plain red/blue VT with white streaks running through his fins, but he was so quiet and he is pretty when he flares.
I promised myself no more VTS too

Anyway the yellow has a large split in his tail fin, what do you use to treat them as i havn't found anything amazing for it yet, melafix?
Also they will not stop flaring at eachother, despite the divider being faded they must be able to see eachothers reflections/shape of the other fish. Will heavily planting make them feel any better, or is it mainly due to them being unsettled therfore are flaring at everything? My other bettas tend to egnore eachother through the divider

I will never step into a lfs again

 

[pammy172]

There is a saying, by Confucius I think:

"this thread is useless without pics!"

lol

They sound lovely - and we do need pics!!!

 

[GSD]

Argh i have spent about 10 mins trying to get a decent pic of them, they will not sit still
I will go have another attempt!

 

[GSD]

Excuse the terrible photos, had to use phone camera
The flash seems to have washed all of the colour out of them. But anyway you will get the idea

Excuse the tank, its pretty bare at the moment as i only set it up yesterday (its cloned for anyone worrying about cycling) , but i am going to buy alot of plants today to help fill it out and make them feel better, i hate bare tanks. I plan to cover the walls of the divider with planting. I am aware the pexi glass needs some more sanding to make it less see through, and this will be sorted tonight, as again i wasnt expecting these arrivals.

Firstly, the red and white male. He does have some slight tears, but nothing that cant be fixed. He is constantly flaring at the moment, at everyone and everything. Hopefully he will settle down. He is very active though concidering!

Now for the yellow, who is half the size of the red and white, and also is totally washed out by the flash and busy defending his bubble nest. He has some black edging on his fins im hopeing is colouring and not fin rot or similar.

And the little blue/red/white one. He actually looks nice in real life, if abit skinny and weak but nothing some meds and bloodworms wont sort out.

 

[pammy172]

Wow!!!!! beautiful - I am sooooooo jealous!!

And Confucius say -

"This thread is now complete!"

 

[GSD]

Thanks Pammy Hopefully they will look even nicer when settled and the fins are fixed

It took about 20mins to get a decent photo

 

[mychilly]

I admire what you did.

 

[PhishyPhriend]

I'm impressed you were able to get such handsome looking fish like that at your lfs! Lord know around here finding nice looking fish is an issue.

Nice choice! They're lovely!

 

[BlueGuppy]

Wow you got some beautiful fish. I really like the yellow/black one.

 

[GSD]

I'm impressed you were able to get such handsome looking fish like that at your lfs! Lord know around here finding nice looking fish is an issue.

Nice choice! They're lovely!

I was actually suprised to see them too. Normally they only get red or blue and thats it, which is why when i saw them i took them despite them not looking all that great, however with all the space they seem to be doing alot better (even if they are constantly flaring) and 2 out of 3 have bubblenests which is a good sign!

Im just slightly worried about the current at the moment, as i have two filters running as the original filter could not power all 3 compartments. In the right hand side (yellow fish) the filter is really weak so he is fine, however the left hand side fish (blue/red) has abit more current to deal with due to the filter being abit better (elite stingray of anyone has one) and im not entirely sure how to weaken it without stopping filtration getting to the middle tank.

Thanks for the nice comments

 

[liz2]

I love the yellow one might have to steal it, trying to work out where u live....

 

[LionMom]

I love the yellow one might have to steal it, trying to work out where u live....

Me too!!! They are all nice looking, but LOVE the yellow!!

Google Earth, anyone?

 

[pammy172]

Must admit I think the yellow is my fave - and yellow's not my fave colour!! But he is just gorgeous.

 

[Syphoniera]

They ARE pretty fish, GSD, and - speaking from the peanut gallery - I'd think Melafix ought to be great for the split fin, without harming the fish in the other compartments, generally using a reduced dose for bettas, as I'm sure you know.
I'd also think once you have a good wall of sturdy, bushy plants in front of the stronger filter, the flow should slow and no longer be stressful to the fish in that compartment, although it may, of course, take time for them to root/grow in to that point.
Of course, thinking is not my forte, lol...
I don't suppose there's any way of partially deflecting/redirecting the flow off toward the centre section, so it's not directly blowing up the one betta's tail?
Bettas don't tend to like/benefit from a lot of water current, as you say, and, personally, I'd worry about that too...
It seems so hard to find suitable HOBs for bettas, never mind arranging a triple-sectioned tank like that...
But so obviously worth the trouble.

 

[ct_hulhu]

Nice! Lucky fishies. I especially like the red & white one!

I was almost bad yesterday. My bf and I went to Petsmart yesterday to pick up another plant and cave for his up and coming puffer tank. We tried another local independent store with no luck, again. Anyway, I was checking out the bettas and from the back of the female shelf I saw the most stinky rotten (as in cute) face I've ever seen looking back at me. She's a little silver/grayish thing with reddish fins. Also displaying vertical stripes and looks as though she's about to pop with eggs. She looked like she might have a touch of velvet or something, not sure. Absolutely adorable though. If I had a place for her she'd be here. And her name would be Matilda, Margo, or Betty.