A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 Betta Fish!!

Hi!
This is a story about my experience with 4 very different betta fish

I was in Plymouth visiting Lisa *who is out of her wicked mother's house! woohoo!* and we all went to wally world there. The walmart there is green o.O

Anyway, ya we all saw betta fish, and i've wanted one for a very long time. so i chose the smallest most active one... cuz i have a habit of doing that with plants >.o But ya, i got a pretty red one, and we all named it Tourch!

He was doing very well in his lil bowl, and i had bought a vase, and i put my lil peace lily in with some tap water from my dorms in concord. So i let it airate over a few days, and then gently placed lil tourch in there. He died with in a few days >.< So i went to Petco, and asked what happened. The lady there said "Well the first thing you did wrong was get a fish from walmart... They're very poorly cared for there. The second thing is, the last time i checked the PH in water, it was at 9. So yeah, very base. Bettas like slightly acidic water.

So i bought a very large superbright red betta, and put it in with bottled "drinking water" from walmart. I named this fish "Apocalypse." That worked out very well ^.^ My friend Nichelle was also with me at the time, and she wanted a female betta, cuz she wanted to try mating them. So i bought her a female one. That was pretty interesting, cuz when we got em back, we were in the computer lab with them, and they were next to each other, and Apocalypse kept on making bubbles on top and going after the female through the glass, and the entire time, the female was trying to go after Apocalypse through the other glass. So ya remember everyone! a male betta with bubbles is a happy betta! Also a horny betta... but i won't get into that lol.

The next day i talked to Nichelle, and she said that the female kept on attacking her male lol. So she put in a black net until they get used to each other. But right now, they've mated, and the female is in a second tank, cuz the male is garding the eggs from her and gets very agressive >.< When the babies hatch, she'll need to separate the father from them, cuz he'll probably eat them.

So ya :p I went online and learned all about bettas, and that the food i had bought from walmart originally was crap. So i went out and bought some blood worms for it I read that they can't survive off the plant roots on its own, so i gotta feed it bugz as a main diet. So ya blood worms work ^.^

Then i was at my house, and i saw Gardenmom's lily that i couldn't figure out how to send her >.o It didn't look too happy in its pitcher in the window, so i took it and put it in with my Betta. I put the peace lily back in its pot all rooted and all that. So that worked out ^.^ Then i went downstairs to watch the 3rd presidential debate.

When i came back, my fish was missing from the vase o.O Nooooooooo! it jumped out!!! No peace lily to block the top now, so it was able to jump out >.< I found my poor lil Apocalypse sitting on the floor as dry as a bone

So the next night i went out and got another one. This is my current one, and i still don't have a name for it yet. I bought him last Wednesday ^.^ i put the cap for his original lil cup on as a cover for the vase, and i feed him blood worms twice a day. he's very pretty! If he dies... i'm officially giving up on bettas >.o But he's looking pretty good right now ^.^ Except for the fact that he's pooping >.< So i'll have to change his water when i get back from the weekend on sunday lol.

But ya He's a blinding white which fades into a purpleish blush as it gets towards the fins, and the fins are a very dark purple on the ends, and they eventually turn navy blue. His gills and eyes are a pitch black, and he has a bit of yellow on his forhead ^.^ He's so pretty!

Any ideas on what i should name him? Anyone else have betta stories they'd like to share?

~Phoebe

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a betta that color before. If you can ever get a pic of him before he commits suicide.. I'd love to see him!

Hmm.. names.. how about Lightening, or Storm?

Meg

Also, a very FRUSTRATED betta if you have glass between them!



Don't you just HATE when that happens?!?

Did someone say Betta? lol I've kept these fish for several years now and love them. Right now I have a small batch of fry (babies) from a pair.

I rescue most of mine from Walmart and no, they aren't taken very good care of there. However, our local Petco is even worse! I never buy fish there cause every time I've been there, I find dead fish in all their tanks. One day I counted 13 dead fish in one small tank! Now, come on, they should at least pull the dead fish out so the customers don't have to see them. PetsMart is the other place I buy fish, they take really good care of their tanks but I've heard that's not the case throughout the country.

Good luck with yours Nako.

you should ask the Petco when their fish shipments come in. Most of the time, with any pet store, they get their shipments in on the same day every week. Lets say ours gets the shipments on Tuesdays. Within a week, the week and sick fish will die off, which is why there are usually dead fish in pet store tanks. The best time to buy fish would be Mondays since they have survived the initial week and are strong fish. We have done this with feeder fish and have been very successful (I usually end up killing fish, but Stephen is good at keeping them alive). We've had some VERY large feeder fish now...some of them have gotten to 10 inches before we let them go.


When I was younger, I had a Betta. It was all purple. It was so fun to stick a mirror up next to his glass. He'd puff up. Anyways, he never jumped out of his tank and I never had a lid on it. So, that's really weird!!!

Hey Nako, how about Flame for his name? A flame is at it's hotest when it is white and at it's coolest when it is red. The mental picture of your fish reminds me of my stove (we have a gas range) and the flames are blue.

Hope your fish decides to live!!!

I had a really nice Betta that seemed smart(yes, I know it's just a fish--but he really did seem smart)....I really liked that fish.....Named him Moby, after Moby Dick--not the singer....He lived for quite a few months.....happy, and I'd change the water in the vase, and use distilled water--cleaned the rocks in the bottom all the time........

One day I came home and he was dead.....I was so sad.....I mean, okay it's just a fish--but I liked that fish, talked to him everyday(I hear the laughs, it's okay though guess I'm a little

loz... any living creature can be "smart" or at least smarter than others of the same species. and fish can be taught (conditioned) to do "tricks" with the right patience...

my sister-in-law had some that she gave treats to like a dog. one of them had to go to the top if she tapped a certain part of the aquarium and the other would "bubble" for her! neither were bettas (i don't remember what they were) but she was sure good with them!!

Jiffy.... My fish couldn't do that, but everytime I'd go talk to him(even without the food in my hand), he'd float there and stare at me--as if he was really listening to me.....lol Guess that didn't really make him all that smart come to think of it, but he sure was a good listener, and he never once talked back!!!

loz, he knew you, that makes him talented for a non-mammal/non-bird!!

We have two males, seperate tanks,
One is called Rainbow, he's red and blue
and the other one is called Blue, cause
he's all blue..

They both are the one's with the shredded tales,
very, very beautiful.

I have gold fish stories, but no betta stories, they've both been perfect gentlemen, and mine are just like what Loz said, they come over and look at me, and I say Hello guys and they are lookin'g right at me, like, "here we are!!! Let's go for a walk!!!"

I have Betta fish food and bloodworms as a treat.
NO betta supposedly can live in a tank with peace lily roots as I've understood anything I've read, and Yep, found out bubbles = happy!!!!

****Pheobe, sorry to hear about your fishes!!!
I know it's hard to loose them....
Hope this big guy makes it!!!!

Weezie

Please remember (Pheobe already found out) bettas are meat eaters. Their native environment is rice patties in Thailand. They eat mosquitos which is why they have cute little upturned mouths.

Also please remember that bettas are labrinth lunged, which means they really do breath air. It's important to make sure they have water exposed to the air.

Although they can survive in a small bowl because of the labrinth lung thing, they are really much better in nothing less than one gallon. In a gallon jar/bowl, the water should be changed at least twice a week. I didn't like doing water changes so often so I got a cheap 10 gallon from Petco for like $10. Only had to do water changes once a week. If you have anything smaller than a 1 gallon bowl, the water should be changed every other day or they can get fin rot.

Also, they are tropical fish and do best when the water is at least 82 degrees. Any lower and they become lethargic and not as fun to watch! They also need plants (fake ones are totally fine) to rest on. However, beware. If you buy a fake plant, they can rip their fins on it even if it seems it is not sharp. They sell really nice fake plants that look like a corkscrew val and they come in black and pearl at Petco... one of my favs!

HowD everyone!
Wow lotsa stories about bettas here ^.^ Ms. Weezie, i never thought of using blood worms just as treats. Right now, i have a mixture of bloodworms, flake food, and Tetra Pellets. I like to add variety so his stomach doesn't get used to just one thing. Cuz i've learned with pets that if you keep em on one diet, and then change it on them, they'll get really bad stomach problems, like diarrea, or even blood clots >.o So ya, if i run out of one, the other two will do well, and if i don't have enough money to get the others *if i don't have 2 dollars lol* then i can feed him still

Oh! as a warning to all, DON'T get Aqua Culture Betta pellet food >.< None of the 4 bettas i've had posession of have liked it.

And i missed a 5th fish i took care of! And with good reason too lol. Its another story

So ya, after Apocalypse fell to his doom off the top of my dresser >.< I went to petco to get another one like i had said. this one was a blond color, and very swimmy and active. I did everything the same way i had done it with Apocalypse, and this fish liked to do this weird thing where he'd sit on the bottom, and do the death somersault o.O Then it would float to the top upside down... So i thought it had died immediately...

I put in the net to get it out so i could bring it back to petco, and complain to the lady, cuz she told me it would be fine... I had a feeling it would be a weird one. So i dip the net in, and it looks right at me! It then springs to life, and starts swimming around all happy. So i put the net away, and continue on the computer with school work. I look over, its floating upside down again >.< i get the net, and it looks me right in the eye, and swims around all happy again!


So this time, i get him with the net, and put him back in his lil cup and take him back to petco. The lady's like "I thought you promised this would be the last one!" and i said "this fish is evil! He f***s with my brain!" and she looks at it. Its just swimmming around all happy like all the other bettas. And she's like "ummmm sure... you can go look at the other ones if you wana trade in." and i'm like "ya i'm definately gonna!" And then i got this one! Still haven't named it yet lol.

But ya o.O That fish really made me mad! and seeing as its 2:00 in the morning and i have a class at 8, i'm gonna go to bed! lol Night everyone ^.^

~Phoebe

I would love to have fish again, but I'm afraid that Coho, Thumbs, or Snot would eat them!!! They've been sooo bad lately! Thumbs is constantly on Stephen's desk, which is a big no-no in our house....and those cats know it too. And then today I come home and Coho is on the top of our bookcase!!!! That cat knows better!!! I didn't notice him up there at first and sat down at the computer and all of a sudden I saw him and it scared me totally! So he got spanked and yelled at. All the while, Snot is just sitting on the floor like "I'm a good girl, pet me". Ugh...silly cats. :rolleyes:

Phoebs, it sounds like the evil fish you had contracted an internal parasite. It's cause by eating live blood worms or other live food. The death roll thing is called flashing. They are itching trying to get something out of them. The belly up thing can be caused by swim-bladder disorder (many overfed goldies get this). I think this can also be caused by internal parasites. The poor fishies can't stay rightside up! Although you probably could have treated it and had it survive, it's better that you traded it in.

It could very well have croaked on you right afterward.

Hisgal... you are wise, oh cat owner. I have a girlfriend whose bettas kept contracting fungal infections. The poor things were getting messed up. Then one day, she realized that it was only the bowls without covers that had trouble. her cat, although not eating fishies, liked to drink the water. Everyone is well protected now and there have been no outbreaks since.