r/bettafish

I swear my litlle dude doesn't take a bad picture. Be great to see your fancy guys to humble him a bit.

i used watercolours & pencils :D

I remember my pink guy blowing up so much, but here's my first one done, a client paid me to do 4, I'm really excited to show the others once they're done too but figured I'd let you guys see the first one!

Ty for viewing Vector’s bubbles

The internet lied and spot-treating algae with hydrogen peroxide wiped out all the shrimps/snails that shared the tank with him. And by that I mean the ones that he didn’t manage to eat first. Ideally I could get more skrimps bc they’re whimsical and fun but I’m hesitant to hand him another seafood buffet.

An omnivore would be ideal since I need something that will clean up plant matter as well as leftover food.

Tank is 30g and *was* heavily planted but the hydrogen peroxide really did a number on those too. It’ll be heavily planted again eventually once stuff bounces back/gets replaced.

Thankfully Leland is okay! Losing him as well would have destroyed me. I’ve done two 5g water changes and it looks like I’ve got a bacterial bloom going so I’m gonna let it rest before testing the parameters/adding anything else.

Leland pic for tax

It always amazes me

Anyone else believe in the conspiracy that pet store chains leave them sad and sick in the cups so you'll feel guilty and want to save one? Anyways, look at this handsome guy!

Inside is just my betta (comet) and my 2 Amano shrimp, one of which is rarely seen because it seemingly hates light.

I have 3 Anubias, the new red tiger lotus which I’ll be planting, grass, tons of floating plants (moneywort, frogbit & red root floaters) and then his little moss hammock (Christmas moss). All other moss is flame moss.

He is food trained to his hammock so when/if he goes blind he knows where to eat.

I’ll be eventually upgrading to a 20-30 long, but I’m waiting on availability of one at a good price. I want the seapora 20 long, but I can’t get it anywhere locally, or anything similar.

I’m hoping that brown algae eventually goes away 🫠 it came on the plant and I should have dipped it. Shrimp have somewhat eaten it.

Hello! I'm a new betta fish owner and I have been very anxious since this morning when seeing Opal not acting his usual self. Whenever I'd wake up he'd be swimming around the tank chilling, but today he's now acting very lethargic and I'm unsure if it's ICH or smth else and how to help him.

My dad said to leave the tank be because I had planned to change the water once a week, and I feel so bad because maybe he's right because a lot of things are going downhill and I don't know if I should do more or stop trying so the tank can recover. and to let Opal be because of stress perhaps?

I also did see my plants have brown spotting after the first 2 weeks of everything being fine.

My girlfriends mom kept this betta fish for a little over a year and a half. They kept it in a 2 gallon bowl with no filter or heater. I took care of the fish for a week while they were on vacation, and learned that his living conditions in the bowl were very poor. I really wanted to give him a better life and they did not want to put him in a tank so I offered to do it myself. I did lots of research and went out and got a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater, filter, driftwood, live plants, everything a betta needs. I know you need to cycle a tank before putting the fish in but I couldn’t stand to keep him in the bowl so I put him in the tank and made sure to acclimate him slowly by floating him in a cup on top for 30 minutes. I made sure to keep the ammonia low by doing water changes every other day. Fast forward a week, and he hasn’t eaten a single pellet of food. He has been extremely lethargic and barely moving at all since I put him in this tank, spending all his time hiding. At first I thought he was just taking time to get used to the new tank, but after a week I knew something was very wrong. The first 2 pictures were him in his bowl, and the next 4 are him after a week in his new tank. After looking into it I fear he is very sick and won’t make it much longer. My girlfriends mom thinks he would have just been better off in the bowl, and thinks she was taking great care of him to begin with. The situation is making me feel very guilty. I tried giving the fish a better life, but to her it seems like giving me the fish was a mistake.

Please help me understand what went wrong, and if there is anything I could possibly still do.

I am planning on getting a new betta of my own for my tank I made. I would hate for this to happen again. I just wanna be able to give one a good life.

Please give me advice!!!

Was taking a look at the grotesquely small tanks at my grocery store and found this cool sticker on one, it was cool to see that people are showing care for bettas!

what do I do.
UPDATE: he is out, I used pliers to crack it. The scales on his back and stomach are completely gone and there’s an indentation where he got caught, he’s in a holder container filled with tannins.

Alright kind of a long sappy post. So I bought this little man after my previous betta of four years, Wernicke (Vern-ick-key) passed away. Wern was a wonderful fish. Angry as all heck, full of energy. He would come greet me fully flared every morning until I gave him a teeny pellet. Then he would wiggle all happy and he’d make the biggest bubble nests ever. He was about a year old when I bought him from my LFS. He also had a shorter tail and the store said they were struggling to sell him (cause he wasn’t the prettiest - their words). But I loved that fish for four years and gave him the best life I could. It was really really difficult watching him slow down. It’s crazy how you can see them aging; he looked elderly by the end. It was upsetting. I lowered the water, I bought him a little floating 3D-printed house. I tested water parameters daily. Time comes for all of us though: I couldn’t out-pristine old age. He passed and I felt just shattered (and that whole time was difficult as I had just lost my grandmother).

I would wake up and instinctively look at his tank and wince when he I wouldn’t see him. So when my friend came to visit and decided I get a new betta idk, I should have waited maybe… but at the time I thought it would help for a bunch of reasons. What I failed to realize was that I wanted Wernicke back! And these fish are personable. I wasn’t gonna just be able to replace him. Anyway. I got to the LFS and I see this guy. All they have are long tailed splendens and then this single alien hybrid. And there’s a reason he was still there… he was definitely sick. But he reminded me the most of Wern and I wanted a “special,” betta. Idk. So stupid in hindsight! (I promise this story has a great ending).

First few days… he’s sick (looked like a swim bladder issue). And ofc he’s scared. Hiding and fleeing from me when I approached. I was struck with regret. Not only was he nothing like my previous betta, but he was also like genuinely at the time struggling to swim. I thought about returning him but felt horrible at the idea of him going back to a small glass .5 gallon vase, probably to be passed up on just to wither away. So I did some research on his condition. I treated him, accepting that there was a chance his wonky genetics meant he was permanently disabled.

Every day he got stronger. Every day his personality came through a little more. No. He’s not Wernicke. He’s his own fish. He doesn’t have the same “I want to watch the world burn,” rage of Wern. But he’s curious and nimble and absolutely swims up to me now. He’s a little cheeky (I must sound crazy). And he’s a GLUTTON! A single pellet will not satisfy my boy. But I’m being strict with not over feeding even if he’s so cute when he wiggles. I love him. He made me realize that buying fish can’t be for the human. It has to be for the fish. He made me realize I need to think way more before committing to an animal, even if I had the exact same species before. He made me appreciate his uniqueness. Meet Thomas!

No school, no emails and my own moss hammock.

I got him last week from petsmart and the only red he had at the time was on his big fins so he’s definitely getting a bunch new vibrant blue and red colors and I am stumped on a name. Any ideas would be great!

For fun what would you name her?? I have a few names in mind but would luv to hear more suggestions 😊