New Betta Keeper.

[BettaChick14]

Hi! I'm BettaChick14.
I'm very new to betta keeping I just got my betta, Luna about a week ago.
Luna is in a 10gallon tank by herself. She is very happy to go from that silly little cup she was in at the pet store to
a 10 gallon. Water stats are:
Amonnia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 5
PH:6
I have one real plant and one fake plant I feed her 2 bloodworms and a couple flakes per day.
When I got the tank, I filled it with decholinated water, out cycle in it. and cycled it for about a week or 2. Here are a few pics of her and her new home. And can anyone give me any tips for begginers?

 

[lilacamy931]

Hello welcome to the forum!

You have a gorgeous looking tank and an stunning betta! (love the name) You seem to be doing great so far, keep up the good work.

The only tip I may have is on feeding, what flakes do you use? Most on here will recommend betta pellets for daily comsumption with bloodworm as an occasional treat (as they can get congested easily!).

Also once a week or when needed feed a cooked deshelled pea as this will help keep their systems running smoothly.

Any questions please ask

 

[Tonym]

I would sack the fish flakes for Betta pellets, feed bloodworm twice a week as a treat and a pea if he gets constipated, The tank and Luna look great.

 

[BettaChick14]

Thanks lilcamy and tonym!
The pet store reccomended flakes but then again, Don't listen to your pet store!
I'll get pellets next time i'm there. Also I discoved that the flakes has freeze dried bloodworms
and i've heard that freeze dried can cause internal damage. I couldn't get a pic of her when she is flared but she is
very beautiful when she's flared. Also do you know what kind of tail she has? I looked though the files but I couldn't find her kind? Also the tempeture of the tank is 78 fareinheit.

 

[Curiosity101]

Hehe,
She is actually a he. And he is a veil tail by the looks of it.
He is also nice and spoilt! Good job!

 

[Morphkid03]

Hi! I'm BettaChick14.
I'm very new to betta keeping I just got my betta, Luna about a week ago.
Luna is in a 10gallon tank by herself. She is very happy to go from that silly little cup she was in at the pet store to
a 10 gallon. Water stats are:
Amonnia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 5
PH:6
I have one real plant and one fake plant I feed her 2 bloodworms and a couple flakes per day.
When I got the tank, I filled it with decholinated water, out cycle in it. and cycled it for about a week or 2. Here are a few pics of her and her new home. And can anyone give me any tips for begginers?

Welcome to the forums! That's a very nice setup for your fish, it's great to see someone have their betta in a nice big tank. I'm sure he's a happy camper.
(Just gonna point out that Luna is actually male. The easiest way to differentiate females from males is that females have shorter fins.)
Now as for the cycling, you haven't actually cycled your tank, as it takes usually around a month and requires a source of ammonia. There are some pinned topics on the forum about fish-in-tank cycling.
Your betta is cute and thumbs up on having live plants. I love them!

Also in regards to food, freeze dried bloodworms are good as an occasional food but the staple of a betta's diet should be betta pellets, which you can find almost anywhere.

 

[BettaChick14]

LOL!
Do you think Luna can still pass as a boys name?

 

[anusingh88]

Absolutely, just like the name Charlie

 

[BettaChick14]

Yes actually I ment to say we cycled it for about a week and then we bought Luna and keeped cycing. I was
to lazy to go back and edit...(hehe)

 

[Morphkid03]

Sure, why not? Won't hurt him!
The name Luna is great.

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm sure luna wont mind being called luna.

Also it isn't true that you can tell a betta is a male because it has long fins.
You can tell a relatively mature male of any tail type (except Plakat), is a male from the long tail.

But immature males and mature plakat males have short fins in the same way that a female does. Even the best breeders sometimes struggle and have to wait awhile longer than usual just to make sure which are male and female.

And although you are in a fish-in cycling situation. In a nice big 10gal tank and only minimal waste from a male betta. It shouldn't be as stressful as some fish-in cycling. I'd still agree and recommend reading the fish-in cycling topic.

 

[Morphkid03]

Yes actually I ment to say we cycled it for about a week and then we bought Luna and keeped cycing. I was
to lazy to go back and edit...(hehe)

Oh I see.
Have you tried getting him to flare? Just hold a mirror up to the tank... more then likely he'll spread his fins out and you'll see a "beard" come out from under his gills. He'll look almost like he's dancing. It's an intimidation tactic, since they do not tolerate being with males of their own species. Quite impressive to watch- for such little guys they sure have spunk!

Also it isn't true that you can tell a betta is a male because it has long fins.
You can tell a relatively mature male of any tail type (except Plakat), is a male from the long tail.

But immature males and mature plakat males have short fins in the same way that a female does. Even the best breeders sometimes struggle and have to wait awhile longer than usual just to make sure which are male and female.

This is basically what I meant, Curiosity.

 

[Assaye]

He he, Luna is a boy betta =P you can tell he's a boy because of the very bright colour and long fins. Females are duller with shorter fins.

How did you cycle your tank, as you don't seem to have a filter? If you didn't use some source of ammonia and if you don't have a good surface (like a filter sponge) for bacteria to grow on, then you'll start to find your ammonia and nitrite will rise because there will not be enough 'good' bacteria to deal with it yet. This isn't ideal, but as long as you're willing to do lots of water changes to keep everything at 0, then Luna should be fine.

You also don't have a heater (at least, I can't see one in the picture). Do you know what temperature your water is? Betta are tropical fish so like their water warm, around 24-27 degrees C. If you can keep it at this temperature without a heater then that's great but you might find it harder on cold days or in the winter. Getting a thermometre would be a great idea because then you know what temp the tank is at and can top it up with warmer water if you need to.

Other than that, you're doing great! Nice sized tank, great looking fish (looks like my Osiris!) and a great attitude towards fishkeeping.

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm not about to say that YOU didn't know this.

But if you're telling someone who is maybe a little less sure how to differenciate between males and females. Then you have to mention all the facts. Not generalise.

 

[BettaChick14]

I have a filter it's kinda hard to see in the pics though.
I don't live in Britan (I know some of the houses in Britan are very cold) my house is very warm!!!
About 80 fareinheit. But I have been reading the tempeture of the tank to control it though. If it gets too cold in the winter
then I will def get a heater. Sometimes he will flare on his own when i'm just watching him.