About Betta Fish

READ THIS BEFORE ASKING! We will delete questions which do not follow these rules. This is a blog for new betta fish owners, mostly. Help! Here is a guide on betta fish diseases and emergencies, including treatments: Here.

[spectrology]

sad fishy found left behind in a dorm room…. the student said they couldnt figure out how to take him on the plane & planned to come back and feed him, but was OK with me taking him instead!

[spectrology]

@justmaghookit has been a great help in helping me find the right stuff i need for this fish. im a bit new to it, but i know the basics and want to give him the best! got him a 10 gallon tank; time to treat the water and install some lights!

[spectrology]

got a heater going & im warming it up for him! spooning the new water into the old every few minutes to get him used to it. already added the water treatment w that good good bacteria into the new water too!

[bettablogging]

An update to yesterday’s post. I’m glad to see he’s doing well. :)

[bettablogging]

Inactiat?! Did you just post?!

Uhhhhhhhhhh

Hi! This isn’t a comeback. I’m off writing and doing some other things since I graduated near about 3 years ago. Was diagnosed with a genetic disorder but it’s not so bad with physical therapy. 

Even if my fish are gone, I’m diligently maintaining this URL to help new fish keepers. If I need to, the resources provided on this blog will be independently archived from tumblr and hosted seperately to keep them alive with a snapshot of our community here.

I thought at least I’d pop in to say hi while I take care of a couple things planetside (administrator duties). I hope you’re all doing well. 💖 

[spectrology]

fishblr please help me i am trying to save a betta fish that is living in a fishbowl of its own poop (was left in a room after a student graduated) and need some help. i got a 10 gallon tank and filled it with distilled water. i understand i need to treat the water somehow but i want to get the fish out of its bowl ASAP. help!!! if you send me an ask i will follow you so we can message.

[bettablogging]

Hey there! You don’t want to use distilled water. Distilled water can be bad for fish for a number of reasons but I’ll spare you the details. You want to use a dechlorinator on tap water. Our blog here has a number of how-to’s to take you from here. Good luck, OP. 💖

[mosey-around20]

I like fish.

(Also click for ‘betta’ quality)

[bettablogging]

Hello! We recently got a betta for our 75 gallon planted aquarium; he’ll have some mystery snail and shrimp tank mates. From your blog, I’ve learned that betta need to be able to rest near the surface. We have some driftwood and rock piles set up; the rock piles provide a flat resting surface, but they’re still about 8-10 inches from the surface. Some of the driftwood is within 1-3 inches of the surface, but it’s not flat, and might be hard to rest on. Do we need to provide something more?

That should be fine! They just need to be able to get to the top easily to breathe, especially if they have longer fins. 

[bettablogging]

Hello! I have just acquired a little better fish and want to make sure I am taking good care of him/her. Currently I have him in a 1.5 gal tank with a what seems to be a pump that creates bubbles attached to the tank, as well as a set of 8 lights that illuminate the water. My question is about the tank temp, my home temp ranges between 60-72 throughout the day, currently. Is this safe for a fish? Also, I am wondering if the lights hurt his eyes, as they hurt mine if I look at them directly. Ty!

Hi! Congrats on your new fish! I’d recommend checking out our care guide to answer some of your questions, but as a quick note, these are tropical fish that should be kept about 80F, and will need a filtration system. Good luck!

[frostysaquarium-blog]

A beautiful boy ⭐

[bettablogging]

i didn't mean to come off as rude, sorry. i was just wondering since a few dragon age(?) posts have been getting reblogged to this blog

oooh shoot that’s me posting to wrong blog lemme fish that

[bettablogging]

so is this just like... not a fish blog anymore?

This blog was started while we were in college; as far as I’m aware we are now all working full time (and/or starting a family/other major life changes). Mari has her own general fish themed @aquariadise if you want something currently active. 

[wheremyscalesslither]

If you bought it, it’s not a rescue- it’s a purchase.

If you walk into petsmart/co/land and see a sick animal and exchange money to take it home you are NOT rescuing. You are making a purchase. That purchase unfortunately has a very short term effect- it has the awesome benefit of improving the life for one animal… but it’s not helping the long term issue.

When you hand over your hard earned cash to save one you see in the displays, you are directly contributing to them putting another animal in the same spot. It’s economics! Supply and demand! Your money tells them “hey people are buying our product! We need more!!”

Then they put another animal in the same habitat with the same conditions previously.

I know it is difficult, but sometimes it is best to not bring them home. Instead, contact the manager directly and see if they will accept help. If they don’t, which is many times the case for the poorer taken care of stores, then you can contact corporate directly and explain the situation. Although not 100% successful, many times they will take care of the issue.

Now I know what you’re thinking- you have to pay for an adoption/rehoming fee from rescues and shelters, so what’s the difference?

The difference is in where the money is going. In a pet store situation, the money rarely goes into improving the conditions of the current stock of animals since many of the chain pet stores believe they do not have to provide adequate housing and correct husbandry because “it is the animals’ temporary home, not their forever home.” In a store situation, you’re handing your money over to line the CEO’s pockets.

However, in rescues and shelters the funds are allocated back out to the animals to improve their lives and to be more effective in taking care of more animals in need.

So if you are looking for a rescue type situation reach out to your local rescue organizations, but please, don’t continue to give your money to a store if they aren’t caring for their animals well. Please don’t just ignore the issues either- reach out to the appropriate authority to help change the way the animals are cared for.

[bettablogging]

I've seen some things on here about not buying bettas in cups from places like Walmart to protest the bad fish care. I plan on getting one tomorrow actually, but my mom wants me to "save a life" of one at Walmart. If I get one and take proper care of it will it live a long happy life? I just want them to be happy and I hate seeing them in little cups like they're kept there.

It might live a long happy life if it’s too far gone. But you’re not saving a life; another fish will just take its place and the cycle of dead bettas will go on and on. Is there no way you can order a fish from a trustworthy seller?

-Mari

Edit: if it’s NOT too far gone, of course,

[justnoodlefishthings]

Someone: “something is wrong with my fish please help"  Me: “ok what’s the water chemistry look like?“  Someone: “I just tested it and it’s good" 

Me:

[justnoodlefishthings]

this shit right here, folks

[screwyouandrew]

“Good” doesn’t tell you shit. If anything, it tells you that the parameters are likely not ideal. If someone doesn’t want to tell you the parameters, there’s probably something wrong. A person who is truly confident about their parameters being “good” would tell you the exact numbers instead of trying to hide them.

[plantanarchy]

And “good” means different things to different people like I know if I get a 0/0/x reading, it’s “good” but I’ve known people to get spikes of ammonia and nitrite and think “well it’s not that high so It’s ok”

[bettablogging]

(Same anon as before) the temperature of the 2 gallon tank is about 78°, and I feed him about every three days. He was perfectly fine yesterday so i dont know whats going on.

Feed him more often for now; do you test the water?

[bettablogging]

My betta looks dead. He s alive, I know that, but his tail isnt as full as it used to be and he just lays on the floor of his tank. I'm finally buying a filter tomorrow, do you think that would help?

In the long term, yes, but it takes time to cycle and you’ll need to start doing some serious water changes until then. I can’t say much else without knowing about the tank/temp/etcetc. Poor guy.

[bettablogging]

I can't afford a filter for my 1 gallon tanks, but my betta seem happy enough, even though i have to do full water changes nearly every week. What should i do?

Without a filter you should be doing more than that. Every few days is probably more realistic. You’ll need to save up for a bigger tank, a filter, and a heater if you don’t have one. If you can’t afford that basic care, I’d sit and think strongly about rehoming.

[bettablogging]

I've never cycled a tank before and hope to put a betta in the 10 gal but I'm worried adding the bacteria isn't enough/the right thing to do? I added the whole bag (from petsmart) which said would fully cycle a 20 gal... I do plan on adding gravel and fake plants to my tank- would this also mess things up?

I’d suggest reading a good cycling guide!

[bettablogging]

I got my second betta (half moon) a few months ago, and he was suffering from fin rot. I cared for him until he was healthy, but ever since he got better his fins have grown so large he is unable to swim because they weigh him down so much..I have provided him with big plants that reach the surface, so he can rest on them and still reach out for air. His appetite is great and seems interested whenever I go to him but only swims when he wants to rest on a different spot or when I feed him...

That’s very common. We breed these fish to a point that is nearly unlivable for them. He should build up more muscle mass in time, otherwise just give him resting places and hope for the best.