My New Betta Zsa Zsa

[NickAu]

I got suckered in by a Betta.
 
I was in LFS yesterday and saw a tank full of bettas, At first I was in shock OMG all those males in the same tank what the heck.
Turns out I was wrong they were females. Anyway all the fish looked happy and healthy and basically paid no attention to me except for 1, As soon as I approached the tank it came to the front and started " dancing" and showing off, It was a poor looking fish virtually no colour and stress stripes, I felt so sorry for it I paid the 7 bucks ant took it home. I did the acclimatise thing, and put her in my tank. I did put her in a Qtank but she seemed to stress even more. I also fed her blood worm and a few baby cherry shrimp.
 
Say hello to Zsa Zsa.

 
Not the best looking fish is she. See why I felt sorry for her? Clamped fins no colour and those stripes, poor baby.
 
 
Now.
Just 24 hours latter.
 

 
 
She now shares a tank with Trigonostigma hengeli Rasboras ( 11 ) Striped Kuhil Loaches ( 5 ) Apple snails  ( 2 ) and a pair of BN plecos.
 
When the light hits her just right, She has stunning blue eyes they almost glow. And I am a sucker for a blue eyed beauty.

 

[Wildbetta]

Pretty girl you ended up with.      Bet she is glad she made the effort to get you to notice her.  

 

[NickAu]

Given a few weeks in water.
PH 7.2
AMM. 0
Nitrite. 0
Nitrate 5.0 ( I am due for a water change)
Temp. 26 deg C.
 
Good food , I think she will do ok. She loves the plants.
 
Oh well I best give the idea of keeping shrimp in that tank up, other than food for Miss ZsaZsa. She has nailed 2 babies so far, And is in " Hunting" mode. Just as well I can get cheap RCS, I have no problem with tossing  a few live shrimp ( say 5 )into the tank every 2 weeks if it keeps her happy.

 

[Wildbetta]

Yeah shrimp normally do not work out well in a betta tank.  It can work but it is rare and is normally done with the larger shrimp -- ghost/glass, amano, or bamboo.  I bet she does love the tank with all the live plants and all the good food you are feeding her.  
 

 

[NickAu]

Yes, I don't think the Rasbora's are happy because now they have competition for Atison's Betta Pro, They love the stuff they almost jump out of the water for it thats how fast they dart up to get it,  I normally only put in 12 pellets, so the fish normally get 1 each.
 
 
 
They also love brine shrimp, Blood Worm, Black worm, and small chunks of raw fresh water cray. I don't feed flakes as my Rasbora's wont take them, And I wont feed a Betta flake food. I sometimes put in some Loach wafers for my Khuli's, algae wafers for my BN Plecos, And some veggies also for the Plecos.
 
Its fun watching the striped Kuhli Loaches eating blood worm or attacking a bit of cray meat.
 
I will teach the betta to go to the other side of the tank for her dinner, And hand feed her, That is not hard to do with bettas.

 

[AquaPit]

Hi Zsa Zsa! Great Story!

 

[LyraGuppi]

She's pretty, even with the more subtle colours.

 

[NickAu]

 
She's pretty, even with the more subtle colours

Thanks,

 
Pretty girl you ended up with.

I did.
 
I swear this is the same fish, I think she likes her new home.
 
48 hours later.

 

[NickAu]

It has now been a week since I got madam.
She has eaten most of the small RCS, seems to leave the adults alone. She leaves the Rasboras alone but seems fascinated with the Kuhli Loaches.
 

Anybody take a guess at how old she is?

 

[guppiegirlie]

Wow she's a beauty!

 

[LyraGuppi]

Beautiful!

 

[RCA]

Beautiful fish and great photo, well done. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a before and after picture to the store, saying if they kept them well, more people would be interested in keeping them properly?

 

[NickAu]

I did that, They also asked me to write up a basic Betta care sheet, I don't think they were to happy when I said things like betta fix are rubbish, That a betta should be kept in a min 5 gallon cube.
 
I told them things like this are rubbish also because its too small the fish can see each other and that causes stress.

 
Anyway here's madam.

 

 

 

[Ltygress]

Random moment...
Nick, I just saw your signature line and that made me burst out laughing!

 

[NickAu]