A
talented, but weird female Dear
Faith,
This is a funny & sad story about one of my eight bettas that I
wanted to share.
I HAD a female betta named Glit. She was an aggressive betta,
so I had to put her in a divider.
She could jump really really really really high (about 2 inches) out
of the water! She was a ginormous betta (that's one of my
mixed vocab words :)). I thought she was gay or something,
cause she flared her fins & gills at my other female betta, and
what's even stranger is that she built bubblenests too!<:o.
I held food up about 1 inch and a half above the water, she would
jump and get it. I think that not
one person on the face of the earth wouldn't flinch when they had
the food swiped out of their hand by
Glit.
One day, my mom was doing the food thing again, and this time Glit
waited for a couple seconds and jumped without warning. She
got the food, hit my mom and fell to the floor. My mom tried
to scoop her up, and finally did. Glit lasted for about one
week after that, (...) but then started to pale and developed a lack
of appetite and activeness. I was worried. But the next day I
found her lifelessly looking at the bottom of her divider. I
thought she was just tired and resting. Then the day after that, I
found her coated in cotton-like stuff, but still in the same
position. Glit died shortly after. Footnotes from Faith:
Seems you really lobed Glit. The sad part is that you could have
easily saved her by simply putting her in bettamax for a couple
weeks immediately after her accident :((. Live and learn. PS: Kids,
don't encourage your bettas to jump, they are bettas, not poodles!
Encouraging their bad habit of jumping will result in their death.
AND cover your jars always!
|
Salmon in a
betta's body? LOL
Dear Faith,
First I want to say wicked job on
the site! It's hard to find a site with so much info, and such
nice graphics!
I have this dark red pet shop betta
with black fin tips that I picked up about a week ago. He is my
first betta, so I decided to try it out with a "mutt"
hehe I must say, he has really surpassed any expectations I had.
He is such a character! He loves to flare at his reflection, and
his colors get very rich. He also likes to play in the slight down
current from my Red Sea nano filter. This filter is just right for
his 2.5gal as it's max output is 15gal/h and is fully adjustable.
I placed him in the tank with a fabric amazon sword plant and a
nice squarish rock with a curved hole through the middle and 1/4
fine gravel. I think he may be so energetic because he's been
stuck in a cup for so long! Another favorite thing of his it to
lay across the curved inner surface of the rock like a hammock =]
Every morning, he is there, sleeping in late in his
paradise. Thanks for letting me share this strange little
fish!
Ryan
Footnotes from Faith:
Yes, bettas oftentimes like swimming against a gentle current, for
as long as they can get away from it when they are tired. :)
|
Pete Survived the Alcan
Highway (or, Betta are the best fish!)
From the beginning my betta Pete
has been through alot, but nothing compared to when I up and
decided to move to Alaska.
It was decided that Pete would travel along with us, in a pickle
jar (the pickles went into a Tupperware container lol) as it had a
lid, and was big enough for him to move around quite well. I did
punch holes into the lid so as to give him air mind you.
We drove and drove and drove, and Pete seemed to be just fine,
until I noticed the water was a little cloudy and gross.
Turns out I didn't wash the jar well enough and so we washed it
again VERY well. Things were fine with the jar and
everything, so when I saw that he was swimming around quite lethargically
I was really worried he was dying. Apparently betta don't
like to swim in ice water!! DUH me, I don't know what I was
thinking, it gets darn COLD in canada and the Yukon, so we ended
up wrapping the jar in a blanket or towel , and putting the jar on
the floor and turned the car
heater on full blast , on the foot setting. That helped alot.
Also, we slept in the back of the truck instead of hotels
(expensive!!) so we took the jar back there wrapped in a towel and
kept it between us to keep him warm. All in all he survived,
and is doing quite well despite my bad luck with glass bowls
breaking. Now hes in a plastic "critter box" thing, with
a ceramic log that he hides in, and a plastic plant he hangs
around when he wants food. We talk to him ALOT, and hes very
responsive, though I keep telling my wife to quit waking him up,
she thinks hes dead or something. LOL
Footnotes from Faith:
Well it's pretty obvious no other fish would have made it alive.
But I am not surprised Pete survived the trip. What really
surprises me, is that YOU did!! LOL. Next time, get a heat pack
from sport shop, place it inside a small hand towel (so it won't
cook your fish) and place the warm bundle on top of the betta jar
lid (not under it). Some heat packs can last up to 3 days, or you
can buy a 24 hour pack for each day of the trip (not sure how many
days you trip was, but you could activate a new heat pack every
day) - Beats the heck out of sleeping with the betta (mmm.... A
bit kinky, no? LOL)
|
|
Not a rain check!
I started breeding Bettas back in the
mid 80’s. I was doing fairly well. I had no less then four
breeding tanks going at once. But one week after setting up the new
breeding couples, I could not figure out what was wrong. None of my
Bettas wanted to breed. I tried everything for a couple days and
nothing seemed to work, they just were not interested. So I finally
decided to put everyone back in their holding tanks and jars, feed
them really good and try again the next day running all eight
breeding tanks hoping that a couple nests would be built.
That
day at school it was particularly gloomy as a huge storm rolled in
and it started to rain just before lunch. To my surprise when I got
home all but one of the females had jumped the divider and seven of
my breeding tanks had full bubble nests bursting with eggs. I was
never so busy for the next few months.
I
remembered this a few months ago and I remembered how much I liked
breeding Bettas as a kid and with the mention of it from a friend we
are going to give it another go.
P.S.
I like your new Betta Room.
Footnotes from Faith:
the above way of trying to spawn is not the way I recommend you
guys do thing. Moving bettas back and forth between holding tanks
and breeding tanks daily would be VERY stressful for bettas.
Having divider that betts can jump over is also not a good
thing... Having said that, I thought the story was cute so I published
it :)
|
Betta Jacuzzi
I'm a newbie at bettas. Maybe that is how I was able to
discover a new toy for bored bettas in their jars. I have
recently ordered a quality pair from Faith, but this story is about
a pet-store betta I got some months ago.
I have 10-gallon aquarium designed mostly for plants and assorted
rasboras. In outfitting it, I got an air pump and manifold, thinking
I'd put several aquaria in a row and get air to all of them. I
used airstones and skinny
tubing so that the air stones would sink. One of them was
sitting there unused, so I plopped it into the betta's jar, thinking
that even though bettas don't require it, it couldn't hurt for as
long as I set the air very low so that only gentle streams came out.
The betta (I'm now calling him "Bubble Boy"--you know that
movie about the guy who lived in a bubble?) discovered it very
quickly and started laying on the airstone, letting the bubbles wrap
around him, just like I would in a jacuzzi. The bubbles collect on
his fins, under his body, under his gill covers, and then rise to
the surface. It's sort of a massage he's getting all the time.
He also sips the bubbles like a scuba diver would sip bubbles out of
the regulator. He has pretty well abandoned his bubble-nest
making and the mirror in favor of the jacuzzi. I wouldn't
recommend this for a breeding male--he might very well not be
interested in the female! Next I expect him to want tiny
little cigars.
J. Hafner
Footnotes from Faith:
I do not recommend you guys add airstones to your betta's set-up,
unless you can regulate the airflow in such a way that it is 100%
gentle and does not in any way disrupt your betta. So unless you really
know what you are doing, I'd say DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!
|
Be nice to your finned
friends
A cute betta story for your
site Faith.
After getting one shipment of 6
fish from Faith, I was instantly addicted to bettas. I now
have 13 fish. Every time I go to the fish store, I save
the ones that need help, the ones who look sad or sick.
The reason I do this, is to put my knowledge of betta health
and diseases to work. Faith's website has taught me the
ins and outs of bettas, and because of her site, I have saved
quite a few pet store fish lives. Read Faith's website
everyday, and I personally guarantee you will end up like
me...with a fish room full of recovery sad cases, and turn
their sad lives in to spoiled brat happy lives. All my guys
have plants, rocks, friends, and clean water. Every
betta should be treated like a little person. They do have
brains, and they do have memories. Be nice to your finned
friends, and they will be nice to you.
GILLIAN, NJ
Footnotes from Faith:
No, I did not pay Gillian to plug the site every other line LOL
:)). Thanks Gillian!!
|
Darth Betta
Recently we purchased a
turquoise crown tail male betta and placed him in a tank with 4
guppies (2 male/2 female), 3 clown loaches and a suckerfish. He is
quick to flare up and has large gills. One morning a guppy had
half of his tail missing. Hmmmmm (he is still alive). Then a
pregnant guppy also had half of her tail nipped off. She was
stalked by the betta and eventually died from the stress of
being bitten to pieces. Three days later after coming home from
school a female guppy died after having all of its fin nipped
off. At the time to vacuum the gravel 2 days later,
the second male guppy was killed because of a deadly case of fin
nipping. We took him out that night when he wanted to finish the
job on the fist victim and put him in a "gold fish"
bowl. He was pissed!! Now he's in a 5/8 gallon tank and as mad as
ever. Well, let's see from a cup to a 12 gallon tank with a
filter, gravel, plants, victims to a 5/8 gallon tank with one
plant. Now, after killing 3 guppies we call him DARTH BETTA. Use
the fins....
Footnotes from Faith:
Crowntails are very aggressive and I do not recommend them for
community tanks !
|
Betta abuse and pet stores...
A couple of days ago, my sister
and i got our first bettas from a LPS. I don't know about her
(hers is a red), but it was love at first site with mine (mines
blue...and shiny. He looks like a crowntail ;)). To make a long
story short, hers didn't eat. We tried pellets at first, but then
I bought it baby brine shrimp, but it still wouldn't eat (and it
stank!!!). Now he's doing better, and my Bubble Gum is great. But,
turns out we brought them when the shipment just came in. I
visited the LPS again today, in hopes of buying a female, but i
changed my mind.
I was really a
mammal person, I've had hamsters, gerbils, etc. and never paid
much attention to fish. And, to be honest, i didn't really believe
Faith when she wrote about the way they're treated in pet stores.
But today, i saw one with fungus, a couple with dropsy, quite a
few dead and a bunch with God knows what!!!! one was floating
around in such dark brownish water that you couldn't see him form
the side!!!
From now on, I'd
rather pay $24.95 for shipping. Its inhumane!!!! I'm so glad
they're not my bettas.
By the way,
can't we report it to the ASPCA or something???? Its animal
abuse!!!
Oh, and a little
piece of advice: If you still decide to shop at an LPS, pick out a
betta that you like (or a few, in case someone buys one) and watch
them there every day for about three or four days and if they
still look O.K., then get one.
Katinka
Footnotes from Faith:
yeah, I can't believe how badly most pet stores treat their
bettas! Just the other day I was at an indoors swap meet and a
lady was selling fish there (???). She had 3 bettas in small cups,
one of them was dead and in a bad state of decomposition (not sure
how much she intended to sell him for ?), the other one was
covered in fungus. I asked:
ME- Are you aware your bettas
are sick?
HER- Oh yes, I am treating them. I just got a bad batch that's
all.
ME- what are you treating them with?
HER- medication
ME-(thinking: duh!) what kind of medication (I was not about to
give up)
HER- Bettamax
ME- (I look at the jars and they are crystal clear) (very blunt)
No you have not.
HER- (getting pissed) Yes I HAVE
ME- (just as blunt) No you have not. Had you treated these jars
with bettamax, the water would be green right now and it is not.
It is clear as can be.
HER- (still in denial and starting to feel she is out of her
league) I am telling you I put bettamax in there but it was this
morning and the bettamax dissolves and turns clear after a few
hours.
ME- (thinking: never have heard such a bunch of crap. How far is
this lady willing to go to cover up her lack of care?) No it
won't. I use bettamax on a regular basis as a preventative and I
can tell you for a fact that the water will remain blue until the
next water change. Unless you have a carbon filter that is, which
you don't on these cups.
HER- (finally backing down) - well OK, I did not treat them, but I
am going to take them home today and treat them there.
ME-Well you do just that. By the way, I am Faith of bettatalk.com
HER- (now very embarrassed)- Oh, yes a lady friend told me all
about you and your site...
This is the way I handle
things. Polite, but firm. I gave her advice on how to best help
the fish, and gave her the opportunity to implement changes. If
changes are not observed, then you can lay the real pressure on.
Find how by clicking here.
|
| A betta that did
not lose his marbles! ;)
Hi Faith~
My first ever betta had a strange habit, a FAQ a while back reminded
me. The FAQ was about betta noises, and you wisely concluded that
the clicking heard by the asker was probably marbles shifting.
I think this is a noble assesment because my betta did just
that. Every time I cleaned out His Highness's tank (usually in
the evenings) Otto would spend the entire night rearranging his
marbles just the way he liked them. Otto lived in my room, and
the first time this happened I jumped out of bed and turned on the
lights to see what was going on. This fish was obsessive
compulsive and would keep me up making loud 'clinking' noises.
He always made sure his marbles were in his favorite arrangement to
spread himself out on- just in time for his morning nap.
|
| Jeremiah, the
frog bum nibbler :)
Hi Faith ^_^ I have a pretty cute
little story about my blue Crowntail Jeremiah...
Jeremiah is a VERY mean fish. In fact, he's SO mean, that he's
HAPPIEST when he's mad (especially when flaring at Esther and Vashti,
my ladyfish bettas). When I first attempted to put him with an
African Dwarf Frog, he
stalked it and nibbled it repeatedly on the bum (thus his name,
Jeremiah FrogNibbler). I decided he was destined for a life of
solitude, so I decided to leave him in a tank by himself (and of
course, found out that Crowntails are extremely vicious... makes
sense :P).
In any case, Jeremiah has a game he will play with me. He
seems to recognize me and will swim up to the side of his tank when
I come in the door. I will put my finger up to the top of the
tank and move it-- he will follow it wherever I move it. Then
if I put it in the water, just lightly, he very slowly swims up to
it... swims around it... looks at it, looks at
me... and then bites it! It's very funny and doesn't hurt, and
I think he really thinks he's hot stuff because he bites the finger
and it RUNS AWAY! Sometimes he will go as far as to flare at it
and then charge. But if I put
too much of my finger in the water, he gets scared and won't come
near it. He's actually a betta coward, ^_^ but I love him so
much.
Thanks a lot, for your informative site which has brought me out of
the Betta Dark Ages, and for reading this silly little story...
--Rachel, TX
|
Betta Cam Addicts
Hey, Faith! Awesome
site! I love it to death!
Anyways, enough on my likes, and
more on my Betta's' likes. :) I have 3 Bettas - Betsy,
Ponderosa, and Burbank. All three are rather lazy and just
stare at me when I work at my desk (which is where they are
currently residing). One day, I went to your site and
noticed that you had a new Betta cam up and running. I
clicked on the link, and sure enough - there were your beautiful
bettas swimming around and flaring and more. I thought to
myself, "Hmm...I wonder what my bettas would do if I put
them in front of the computer screen to see these fish?"
So, I moved all 3 jars in front of my computer and hit the
"play" button. It was hilarious! All 3
flared up and then sat there staring at the screen. When I
closed it, they all swam towards me as if to say, "What?
No more Betta Cam? What's wrong with you, Human?"
So, I turned it back on again, and they sat there
again...enjoying their famous comrades. We've made it
a ritual to log on to your site every Saturday for the enjoyment
of the 3....
Thanks so much for putting
your site up!
-Corinne
Burbank, CA
|
Caught bowl-jumping!
Dear Faith,
I love your site that I even visit it on a daily basis. It
has taught me so much. Through it, I have been able to properly
care for my bettas and eventually caught the Beloved Betta Bug as
a result! :-) (No regrets there!) :-P
Anyway, this story only emphasizes your current lesson/point on
the main page.
I had 2 of my male bettas Glory and
Sunset sharing one of those divided containers (each in their
separate part of course). Glory was (and still is) constantly
instigating flaring *contests* with Sunset. They would go back and
forth seeing who can outflare who and try to nip each other
through the divider. To my knowledge, I never saw Sunset jump, but
I knew Glory had a tendency to get all wiggly and get close to
jumping many times (and had actually succeeded jumping once in the
middle of a water change) .
Well, one day, I had just finished giving them their weekly water
change, put their colored divider in place, and gave them
each a pellet of food since I was going out and would not be back
to feed them for an extended period of time (but not a vacation).
For some reason, I had failed to cover their container with the
lid that came with it (and had even known for some time that
Bettas jump). *Shame on me* :-(
When I returned home very late that evening (or sometime the next
morning), I discovered, to my absolute horror, that one of them
had managed to jump into the OTHER's side and had obviously had
quite a fight. (I supsect Glory was the culprit.) Thankfully,
they were both still alive, but each of their tails were badly
damaged and there was nip marks on Glory's head. (Based on the
damage, it looked like Sunset had *won* the fight.) When I
saw the two fish looking rather weak and tired, I was overcome
with a mixture of anger, sadness, frustration, and panic.
Somehow, between scolding my *children* and weeping tears of
sadness over the painful damage, I managed to spring into action
and consult good ol' BettaTalk and got my bettas straightened out. After
a couple months Sunset's wounds healed and his fins re-grew.
Glorys nip wounds healed but his larger fins are still not
completely regrown. (I believe with lots of TLC and prayer, he
will get there.)
So the moral of this *Tail* is:
BETTA-->JUMP!......COVER BOWL!!!!!
(I hope everyone can learn and benefit from my story.)
~Julie~
Georgia
|
|
