I'm new to having a betta & just wondering what you all think! Please, let me know if there's more I should do, or what is good/bad....Thanks!!
I bought my first betta in October. He is a veil tail. His fins are blue, with a purple body, and a pink head. After going through several "rounds" with red lines on his fins (the fish store gave me antibiotics which worked, and I can't remember what the disease was called, but he came home from the pet store with it & I didn't know enough to know better), he's doing very well now.
He's grown from about 3 inches long when I bought him to 4.5 inches long now (yes he is a large betta!). His colors have gotten brighter. He is alone, in a 5 gallon tank. I do a 1/2 tank water change every 7 days (at the same time vacuuming the gravel) & a 1/4 water change twice a week. I add water conditioner & aquarium salt. His water temp is about 70-72 degrees.
He is a very active betta - unless sleeping, he often swims his tank, up & down, chasing his reflection, staring me down (if he's hungry), watching the room, etc. He will play games of zipping through the water, on various paths he's figured out. When he sleeps, he sleeps at the top of his tank, below the top of the water line. When he had a taller plant, he used to sleep in it (and I'm going to buy him a taller one again so he can sleep in it). I actually had someone in the pet store tell me there was no point in buying a 5 gal tank, because he wouldn't use it. But, that is why I went from a 2.5 to 5 gal tank - because he seemed to be "pacing" his smaller tank. He definitely uses the whole 5 gallon tank.
He eats freeze-dried bloodworms (the off the shelf, room-temp kind) and really not a lot else. I try to mix his food with flake food but he only occassionally will eat that. He hates everything else - and I've tried betta pellets, other flakes, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, and others. Only bloodworms are acceptable to him!
He loves to be talked to - will flip himself around to communicate, show me where his food goes (just off to the side of his tank), look for other people to come into the room, etc. He will scare himself in the mirror, and also likes to see colorful things that he likes to pretend are other bettas. He doesn't seem lonely, being the only fish in the tank. When I feed him, a lot of the time, he "attacks" his food - seeming to slowly sneak up on it, then "pouncing" on it at the last minute.
My one problem is the cloudiness of his water - no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep it clear. I change it a lot, use de-cholorinator, salt, it is not dirty. Just not very clear! Not in direct sunlight, so it's not algae (& I clean the glass sides of the aquarium as well).
Another question - once, before I began vacuuming his gravel regularly, at the water line, it looked like there was a red line through it. What was that? Ammonia?
So, what do you think? Am I doing all I can for him? What about the cloudiness? What are some other foods I could try with him?
Thanks!!
Molly
I bought my first betta in October. He is a veil tail. His fins are blue, with a purple body, and a pink head. After going through several "rounds" with red lines on his fins (the fish store gave me antibiotics which worked, and I can't remember what the disease was called, but he came home from the pet store with it & I didn't know enough to know better), he's doing very well now.
He's grown from about 3 inches long when I bought him to 4.5 inches long now (yes he is a large betta!). His colors have gotten brighter. He is alone, in a 5 gallon tank. I do a 1/2 tank water change every 7 days (at the same time vacuuming the gravel) & a 1/4 water change twice a week. I add water conditioner & aquarium salt. His water temp is about 70-72 degrees.
He is a very active betta - unless sleeping, he often swims his tank, up & down, chasing his reflection, staring me down (if he's hungry), watching the room, etc. He will play games of zipping through the water, on various paths he's figured out. When he sleeps, he sleeps at the top of his tank, below the top of the water line. When he had a taller plant, he used to sleep in it (and I'm going to buy him a taller one again so he can sleep in it). I actually had someone in the pet store tell me there was no point in buying a 5 gal tank, because he wouldn't use it. But, that is why I went from a 2.5 to 5 gal tank - because he seemed to be "pacing" his smaller tank. He definitely uses the whole 5 gallon tank.
He eats freeze-dried bloodworms (the off the shelf, room-temp kind) and really not a lot else. I try to mix his food with flake food but he only occassionally will eat that. He hates everything else - and I've tried betta pellets, other flakes, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, and others. Only bloodworms are acceptable to him!
He loves to be talked to - will flip himself around to communicate, show me where his food goes (just off to the side of his tank), look for other people to come into the room, etc. He will scare himself in the mirror, and also likes to see colorful things that he likes to pretend are other bettas. He doesn't seem lonely, being the only fish in the tank. When I feed him, a lot of the time, he "attacks" his food - seeming to slowly sneak up on it, then "pouncing" on it at the last minute.
My one problem is the cloudiness of his water - no matter what I do, I can't seem to keep it clear. I change it a lot, use de-cholorinator, salt, it is not dirty. Just not very clear! Not in direct sunlight, so it's not algae (& I clean the glass sides of the aquarium as well).
Another question - once, before I began vacuuming his gravel regularly, at the water line, it looked like there was a red line through it. What was that? Ammonia?
So, what do you think? Am I doing all I can for him? What about the cloudiness? What are some other foods I could try with him?
Thanks!!
Molly
i think..
