sutro the betta

[sutrobetta]

Sevilla!

Should I make a separate tumblr blog for Sevilla?

Our little girl is so feisty and fast. She eats out of my hand which is exciting for me :) just so cute!!!

[sutrobetta]

Sutro is doing better!

Thanks to the tumblr community and advice Sutro's tank and fins are much better :) he is not so shredded up and his tank is balanced after such a huge bacteria bloom. Here is a before and after pics!

We after the bloom cleared, we changed the water every other day, then every two days, for two weeks until the water parameters showed no ammonia and nitrites and low nitrate. We added seachem stressguard and made sure the water was very clean :) I'm so glad he is looking healthier. Thanks again for all the advice we received!

Another note! Yesterday we welcomed home a newly adopted red crowntail named Sevilla! She is speedy, fiery, and adorable. She is named Sevilla after our favorite honeymoon location :) She lives in a 7.7 gallon cube with a fluval LED light that is at a warm 80 degrees. Her ph is 7.8, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and around 25 nitrate. Ahhhh in love again :)

[sutrobetta]

Cloudy Tank!

Sutro's 10 gallon tank has immense bacteria bloom! Poor thing couldn't breathe and put nerite and zebra snails were all at the surface above the water because of lack of oxygen. We have been told it should clear on it's own, but it has been a week. Not sure how long to wait for it.

For now, Sutro is hanging out in a mini small TEMPORARY tank with a plant, a couple catappa leaves, and his hidey jar. Our snails are also in a separate temporary tank.

His stress stripe is gone, he is busy making bubbles, eats well, and he seems comfy.

Any advice would be helpful for next steps! We have been using stress guard for his fins, but generally they are still looking pretty ripped up :(

[sutrobetta]

Sutro's fins

So my little boy's fins are still looking ragged and this past week it seemed to have gotten worse. His fins have grown considerably and I'm wondering if he is irritated by their weight?

We have kept his water warm and the parameters in check and have seachem stress guard to use on his next water change. He doesn't seem to have any redness or whiteness surrounding the ripped edges. I hope he is comfortable. His coloring has deepened, though so I'm curious about that.

I do hope he is fine. He eats well and swims around curiously. He also has been making bubble nests. We just put in a spider branch and rearranged his decor and plants a tiny bit. Pictures to come :) but if anyone can reassure that I'm not hurting my Sutro, I'd appreciate it! Thank you!

[sutrobetta]

Sutro is so wonderful. And SO blue!

We have caught the Betta Bug.... and preparing a tank for another betta!!! Wee love what his tank adds to our living room, so next is decorating our room! Updates to come, but in the meantime does anyone have advice on seeding a new aquarium? Has anyone had success doing it?

But for now, we are busy adoring our blue Sutro :) look at the bubble nest he made before a water change!

[sutrobetta]

Sutro's palace is so dreamy!

[sutrobetta]

He is too beautiful!!!

[bynscoolzone]

every aquarist ever be like

[sutrobetta]

Water changes?

So we were advised by several people that water changes every other day will help keep Sutro's water is in good condition so his fins can heal. Any other nuggets of advice? What do you think of his fins?

[fauna-fin-blog]

Betta Fish Perks

>When they use objects for purposes other than what they’re intended for, like hiding behind the filter or heater >Finger=food >Bubble nests! “Mom I made that!!” >Aquatic dog >Poking their head out of hides like “whazzup mother” >Never ending staring contests you know you can’t win even when they look away u know they didn’t blink >The exciting event of when they get new stuff >WIGGLE >Beauty and grace

I know there are so many of these but I had to

[sutrobetta]

Its growing!

[sutrobetta]

Sutro's bubble nest

So in the month that we have had Sutro, he had not made a bubble nest. However in the past week (and really I mean few days), he has made two! The first one got all broken up during a water change and I felt so bad! But I came home from work and saw he was busy today building!

Can someone tell me if this is good news? I've heard it means they are happy, but he was recently sick. We were out of tow for the weekend and our auto feeder let too much food out! So we think he got super sick from all the food. We of course cleaned his tank and checked the water parameters and he looks way better! We chose not to feed him for a couple days. He was so pale!

The only things that have really changed are the bubble nests. His tank parameters are close to optimal, he is swimming like normal, and still has an appetite. Are bubble nests a good sign???

[sutrobetta]

Sutro being the coolest fish ever 🐟💖

He is doing much better and his fins are slowly on the mend. Doing water changes every other day and keeping water parameters in check! Our little guy loves to swim to us in the mornings! We are playing with mirrors now and his flaring is very disarming;)

I'm keeping an eye on what might be the beginnings of a bubble nest. We will see though. He hasn't tried to build one yet.

[bettasarepurebbys]

Every fishkeeper’s dream

[sutrobetta]

We love Sutro!

So, we are learning so much about caring for our lovely betta. We did a TON of research in the past few days since we noticed Sutro's fins looking ragged. I got some advice from myaquariumclub.com!

It turns out our tap water is awfully high on alkaline. So we are using purified water now. We have even started daily water changes just to be sure that his water is free of yuck. Hubby got Sutro a bunch of stuff to help us take better care of him.

We double checked our readings and saw nitrates were present but under 20. Still getting the hang of reading these test strips. We immediately put in his new filter and did another small water change. We bought a test tube ph check as well as an electronic ph tester to reassure. We got some new ammonia test strips as well. Everything looks ok as far as those tests. No ammonia, nitrate is kinda low but present. Bummer about our tap water being a high ph level, but even our ph is at 7.12 now. Also the tank seems a little cloudy but I’m assuming that’s okay?

Other than our water parameters being more what we want to see, Sutro is still swimming around and I saw him flare a couple times! He lounges on his plants and today we fed him a little tiny piece of freeze dried mysis shrimp along with a couple pellets.

I hope we are doing okay.

[sutrobetta]

HALP

Nitrate and nitrite is at 0 but we took our water to Petco to get tested anyway. Sutro was showing some slight fin issues and I got very worried. Turns out our water ph was highly basic. We tested our tap water and found out to use purified and now our ph is ok. 

So now, my issue is that the advice we initially got from the expert at the store did not include avoiding disruption of the nitrogen cycle. He said to use a treatment called melafix but that you have to take the carbon out of your filter. In our panic to save our fish, we took out the filter media completely. Now I know we are screwed and I need help to find out how to keep our nitrogen cycle going. 

Our fish hasn’t had his filter media in for a little under 24 hrs. When we took it out we did a 25 % water change but I dont know. I just want to do right by my fish! Please help with next steps. Does my fish still have good bacteria?

[sutrobetta]

Sutro

Hello! Meet Sutro! He is our new rose petal betta. He lives in a 10 gallon tank with a filter and an aquarium heater at a constant 78 degrees Fahrenheit. He likes to cuddle with the leaves on his live plants, rest on marimo balls, and cling to the sides of his decor. He hasn't made any bubble nests yet and I'm hoping that's okay. We have had him for a little over two weeks and have begun a routine of weekly tank siphoning and decor rinsing.

We are very new to having a betta! So any expertise and advice will be welcome:) we are OBSESSED with Sutro. Attached are some photos of our cutie as well as his tank and his supplies. Suggestions are appreciated.

When we first got him at the pet store, he was a very light blue with some beige-ish orange when he would let his fins flow loosely. A few days later he became a darker blue and his face became black :) So pretty! We can just sit and stare at him for hours.

He used to flare a lot toward his old filter, probably because he would see himself. We got concerned because he would do this all day every day and we didnt want him to stress out too much! My husband got him a new filter that is clear and also has a gentler flow. Sutro seems to swim easier now, too. However, (and maybe my hypochondriac self is overthinking and sutro is still adjusting)he has not been interested in flaring at all. He did flare at one of our friends who visited yesterday. He has a beard, so I'm wondering if Sutro was being macho Haha

Another thing I'm curious about is if colors change a lot and suddenly. Yesterday I was worried all day about a white stripe that appeared on the side of his face. We introduced a few snails, zebra and nerite, could that be it? He seems indifferent to them and not bothered. But the white spots are there. Please have a look at our pictures and throw your knowledge at me :)

Otherwise, Sutro explores and swims and cuddles. We are in love and hope we are doing a good job of keeping him healthy and safe.

Thank you!

Sutro, V&V