# New Betta's



## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

So ive had bowls set up for two bettas for months after saphire and ruby died and my local fish store kept trying to get me crowntails and failing miserably so i gave up. I recently decided I wanted some whether they were crowntails or not, so after lots of looking and traveling for the none common all red or all blue bettas, here are my two new boys. 

Pics arnt brilliant as they are domed bowls its really hard to get a decent pic, i may get them flat fronted bowls or cubed bowls as i love to watch them.

Boy 1











Boy 2











As of yet they are unnamed. I like coral for the peach one but the names too girly for a boy fish  I like cupid and casanova but not sure they suit the fish, so any ideas are welcome


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Cute bettas . I'd go with Fruit for the reach one, and Veg for the other one, cause im weird. :lol2:

What size bowls are you keeping them in?


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

8L for now but im after something bigger, and square like,
they look better through a flat surface, May get glass custom
cut and make some  I cant find cubes vases big enough for my liking.


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

James_and_Hana said:


> 8L for now but im after something bigger, and square like,
> they look better through a flat surface, May get glass custom
> cut and make some  I cant find cubes vases big enough for my liking.


There's some really good ones at my lfs, made for bettas. not too expensive either. Cant remember the name, though. :bash:

They're 5gal and got a small filter with not too much current.... cube shaped... gah


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## Salamanda (May 28, 2008)

very pretty:no1:


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

Oh, we had 10 peices of glass cut into squares and different lengths, siliconed them together into some wacky shape, measured the top and made a hood, WOW, it was brilliant!.


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## Tomcat (Jul 29, 2007)

Cool

So are Bettas not tropical?


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## Bradders100 (Feb 3, 2008)

They can be, but naturally live in puddles n stuff ^^


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Tomcat said:


> Cool
> 
> So are Bettas not tropical?


Yep, they're tropical. Like it at about 80 F. : victory:



Bradders100 said:


> They can be, but naturally live in puddles n stuff ^^


No offence, but this does my NUT IN. :bash::bash:

The rice paddies they live in are MASSIVE. In the dry season, sure, they're small puddles and this is why the bettas have evolved to be able to breathe air from the surface, but the rest of the year they are massive expanses of water.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Esfa said:


> No offence, but this does my NUT IN. :bash::bash:
> 
> The rice paddies they live in are MASSIVE. In the dry season, sure, they're small puddles and this is why the bettas have evolved to be able to breathe air from the surface, but the rest of the year they are massive expanses of water.


Totally aggree they are TROPICAL fish and all the people that keep them in little bowl are just plain mean a fish should be kept to THRIVE not the just survive!!!.:censor:


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

jacko19 said:


> Totally aggree they are TROPICAL fish and all the people that keep them in little bowl are just plain mean a fish should be kept to THRIVE not the just survive!!!.:censor:


 
Defferiently, my grandad travelled most of Asia, and went with his friend to look for him. None were found in 'puddles' but huge lakes and rice paddies, but they were huge and only during the dry season that they went small and that was only for a few weeeks!.


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

In the same way that it's now accepted that goldfish should not be kept in tiny unfiltered bowls, the same goes for Bettas. They should be kept in a properly filtered, _heated_ tank of minimum volume 15L. Just because they can survive in unsuitable conditions, doesn't mean they should have to. Here's my 16L Betta tank just to give you an idea of how much nicer it is for them to have room to manoeuvre plus a close-up of Beau.


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## jacko19 (Jul 16, 2008)

Trillian Bloody awesome mate thats how they should be kept


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## Jesterhead (Apr 9, 2008)

very sharp lookin tank! hope mine looks that well when its all done!

may I ask what filter yout using??


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Jesterhead said:


> may I ask what filter yout using??


Pretty sure those ones have trickle filters in the lid, done via spray bar. Could be wrong. 

Nice tank trillian.


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## malc68 (Jun 6, 2008)

i used to keep bettas had a lovely purple crowntail
sadly passed away


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## lewis14 (Jan 22, 2008)

I have a male betta now and ive had him for about 10 months. i got one because they are a good size and are carnivourous which u think is cool in a fish ! lol! They are nice bettas you got by the way!:2thumb:


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## alnessman (Mar 8, 2008)

great looking bettas :2thumb:


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## Coppyhill (Aug 10, 2008)

I have a querie about Betta's, how on earth do they breed and survive in the wild? I bought a male Betta and decided (in my madness! and ignorance) to keep him happy I would purchase some females for him to chase. hmmm, the evil wenches nipped his tail to shreds and I found him trying to hide in the plants to keep out of their way. I took the girls out (they are in a separate tank of their own now) and he is fully recovered and seems happy again!! So how in the wild do they manage to breed?


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Well given that they do actually live in large expanses of water they are able to get away from each other when threatened......which obviously isn't the case in a fish tank. When the time is right they will get together for breeding as is the case with many animals in the wild. Females can be just as aggressive as males and they will gang up to attack and sometimes kill males when housed together incorrectly.


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## Coppyhill (Aug 10, 2008)

Sweetcorn said:


> Females can be just as aggressive as males and they will gang up to attack and sometimes kill males when housed together incorrectly.


Thanks for answering that one for me! You ain't kidding about the female s being as aggressive as the males, my male has never shown any aggression toward the females but turn the lights out and the girls turn really nasty! 
I am lucky I guess that I had a spare tank set up to put the girls into.


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## Rain (Oct 9, 2007)

Seeing all this makes me want to get some bettas again. I loved mine, I've had 3 males (not in together for obvious reasons) and about 8 females who lived in my 350L tank along with loads of community fish. 
I might go break out my 24L fish tank, cycle it and put a male in it again. 

And, for the record, as has been said, they do not live in puddles! They simply make do with the puddles whilst they wait for the wet season to come again!


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

They are very addictive and such characters too. 

We separate our fry once the aggression starts which is normally any time after 8 weeks but a recent spawn with Pks had to be separated at 4 weeks......god they were feisty little buggers :lol2:


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Tell me about addictive  I only went to get some sand yesterday and came home with another two :blush: im officially out of room now!!! they both have tatty looking fins at the moment but one looks like it may be a crowntail the way they are starting to grow so that would be a right bargain :no1: the other one had a baby pink body in the shop and bag and once id got him in his tank he looked like he was blue bodied :bash: thing its just different lighting lol


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Oh no......you're on the slippery slope now!!!! You'll have tanks everywhere soon.

It is amazing how they colour up so differently once you get them home and settled. His fins should heal up nicely with good clean water now :2thumb:


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## ip3kid (May 21, 2008)

James_and_Hana said:


> Tell me about addictive  I only went to get some sand yesterday and came home with another two :blush: im officially out of room now!!! they both have tatty looking fins at the moment but one looks like it may be a crowntail the way they are starting to grow so that would be a right bargain :no1: the other one had a baby pink body in the shop and bag and once id got him in his tank he looked like he was blue bodied :bash: thing its just different lighting lol


lol, do you buy aquarium sand, i know a cheap alternative...

play sand, works the same, sinks to the bottom, no clouding

i use/d it my aquariums


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Deffinatly on that slippery slope  Ill love him regardless to colour! hehe

Yeah I use aquarium sand, I struggle to get it round here though! Ive been told play sand is okay to used but id have to wash it lots more to get the clay out of it? and washing aqaurium sand 6 times per bag is annoying enough


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

We used to use substrate. Some tanks had gravel and some had sand but as we have so many now we don't use any except in the girls sorority tank. We had a couple of tanks that no matter what betta we put in, within a couple of days their fins were sticking.....don't have that problem now and cleaning is so much easier. The still have silk plants and coconut caves etc


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Sweetcorn said:


> We used to use substrate. Some tanks had gravel and some had sand but as we have so many now we don't use any except in the girls sorority tank. We had a couple of tanks that no matter what betta we put in, within a couple of days their fins were sticking.....don't have that problem now and cleaning is so much easier. The still have silk plants and coconut caves etc


I did think about leaving them bare bottomed, my turtle tank is and it looks much brighter! Only i have a little ornament in each one which would look wierd without being fixed into a substrate in my eyes. But we will see how long it takes before I hate the sand and change my mind :lol2: Do you have any pictures of your slightly large *being an understatement* collection? :flrt:


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Lol.....a good tip with sand is to use a turkey baster to pick up the poop and stuff (obviously don't use it after to baste your turkey lol).

Here's a few of our breeding boys......the purple butterfly halfmoon is the one I'm really concentrating on although we have fry at the moment from all but the last one (he's abit shy of the girls lol):flrt:


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## blackbat67 (Jul 1, 2008)

i love them all, Sweetcorn 

i think i'll get one this weekend - i do have that spare tank standing empty (well, apart from water and some plants lol)


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Thank you :2thumb:

I'd definately recommend getting one especially as you have the tank and everything ready. Don't forget to show us some pics of the lucky Betta when you get him :2thumb:


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## blackbat67 (Jul 1, 2008)

haha well it's quite a big tank for just one betta... may divide it and have two  or have some cory/shrimp/tetra in there  haha


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Good idea.....most of ours are in divided tanks. Ours got on fine with corys, ottos but I would steer clear of tetras as they can be fin nippers!!! Nothing worse than having a beautiful fish only to find half his tail missing :sad:


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## blackbat67 (Jul 1, 2008)

ooh ok lol thanks for the warning - would hate for anything to spoil the Beauty of the Betta  i'll stick to some lovely albino corys


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Sweetcorn you have stunners there!!:flrt the third one!
Here are my boys 
Candy <3



















Needs name with & without flash



















Needs name, pink without flash, blueish with flash :S



















Needs name


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Awww they are gorgeous. I love their colours......but don't they change lots with different lighting. Looks like Candy has a bit of an attitude :lol2: great flare!!!!

You'll have to come up with some names........my hubby despairs of me cos I've named every single one except the fry......I can't come up with that many :lol2:


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Lol I name everything im terrible xD
Candy is actually a sweetheart, he loves attention he's always swimming following me and wanting attention, thats the only time ive seenhim flare he was flaring at the red focus light on the camera :lol2:


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

:lol2: Mine usually swim away when they see the focus light.......probably fed up with me taking so many pics of them!!!!

Really cute when the babies start flaring and showing off....they're so tiny :flrt:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

jacko19 said:


> Trillian Bloody awesome mate thats how they should be kept


Thank you very much. :flrt:



Jesterhead said:


> very sharp lookin tank! hope mine looks that well when its all done! may I ask what filter yout using??





AshMashMash said:


> Pretty sure those ones have trickle filters in the lid, done via spray bar. Could be wrong. Nice tank trillian.


Yep, just as AMM said. The filter is in the lid and is one of the wet/dry trickle types with an intake filter pipe attached to an impeller. 



Sweetcorn said:


> Oh no......you're on the slippery slope now!!!! You'll have tanks everywhere soon.


Tell me about it! I have six plus a Q tank. :blush:


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

:lol2: You're way past saving now then !!!!!


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Sweetcorn said:


> You're way past saving now then!


I know! :whistling2:


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