Cherrry123

I went to Wal-Mart and bought a betta. It just said Male Betta on the top of it. I brought him home and it's bothering me that I don't know what kind he is. I named him Charlie and I really want to know so here are some pics of him and his tank.

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Barbrella

Charlie is a veiltail.

janoue

Looks just like my veil tail Doubleya

Coryd55

Yep he appears to be a veiltail. Most fish stores(even LFS) dont sell anything other than veiltail. Most of the big chains sell only them. My local petland has a few CT's though.

chickadee

Yes he is a most beautiful Veiltail. They are becoming scarce in some areas actually. Some stores have stopped handling them due to the popularity of the Crowntails and I think Veiltails are beautiful. Their tails fill out more as they get older. They actually will be very fully finned when their fins are completely mature. I think they are gorgeous. I had a Veiltail for my first betta and I remember him very fondly. They also seem to be very sweet natured bettas.

Charlie is a lovely boy and you can be very proud of him.

Congratulations.

Rose

Cherrry123

Yes right now we are cyclying a 10 gallon tank for him. We might try to find a female betta to put in it because he looks really lonley. But what bothers me is that no Lfs sell female bettas.

gammerus

Call around and you should be able to find a female. About half of the petsmarts and LFS will carry females.

Cherrry123

My sister and I are going to Petsmart in like two weeks to pick out fish for her 14 gallon, so I'll buy a betta then if they have any.

Barbrella

Do you mean you'll put a divider in the tank? You can't keep a female and male together.

chickadee

Yes please be aware that the proximity of the two can also stress them both unless you put something up in front of the divider to keep them from being able to see each other constantly. Bettas do not get lonely, they are used to being alone and if you feel they must have another fish with them it really should not be another antabanoid (betta, gourami) or semi-aggressive fish (shark, barb, danio, angelfish). They are also not good with tetras of any type but the Cardinal Tetra. (Tetras are fin nippers and will eat your bettas fins)
They ARE compatible with Cories, Catfish (Otocinclus), and Loaches that I know of as those are the ones that they get along famously with in my tanks. They also get along well with Plecos because the Plecos are night time fish and they never see them but for your size tank a Pleco is out of the question. I think they would get along with Rasboras or White Clouds but it does depend on the betta.
When you add fish to a betta tank ALWAYS be prepared to remove the fish if a problem occurs. Every betta is different and some of them will NOT tolerate ANY other fish in THEIR water. I have had bettas who accepted tankmates who really were the problem makers and caused the tank upsets and then I have had bettas who killed everything I put in with them until I just gave up and let them have the tank to themselves. Every betta will determine his or her own likes and dislikes and there is no way of knowing ahead of time so this is why if you insist on trying the addition of others, you have to have a backup plan or you may find yourself with war in your tank and be frantic. You WILL have war at some point and some dead fish if you mix two bettas or gouramis with bettas or some of the semi-aggressive fish with bettas. This is not a scary story that I am telling you to scare you, it will happen. If you read far enough back in this very forum, you will find examples of people who decided to give it a try anyway and had disaster after disaster.

As I have said before I cannot make up another person's mind for them, but I would be not doing what I am here for if I did not point out the dangers involved with some of the combinations.

Rose

Barbrella

Right. We tend to put our own emotions in our pets and don't always do them a favour that way! Like all territorial, aggressive and solitary animals, bettas do not want or need friends.

A betta would much rather have a hamster tunnel or other toy than another fish of any kind in his tank.

Blub

Cherrry123

Oh wow never knew it, so I think I might get twto-three corries then. I never knew they were that aggresive. I hope he will like corries, or will it have to be something smaller due to my tank size? Or I could always put a divider in like Barbrella said. Thanks! So no other bettta unless there's a divider.

Barbrella

In a 10 gal tank, you could have a betta and 3 corydoras, IF, as has been said, your betta can tolerate them.

Cherrry123

He seems friendly, just afraid I got him yesterday, and basically all Charlie does is stare at his reflection. Is that normal?

chickadee

So far that is very normal. He is really not acclimated yet and unless the tank is cycled already (through the nitrogen cycle) you should postpone getting the Cories until it is. The betta is not going to like an uncycled tank and the cories would probably die. If the tank filter is already cycled and your ammonia levels are 0, nitrite levels are 0 and nitrates are less than 20 then you can get your cories for your tank. They are just more fragile with respect to water quality than bettas but all fish really need a cycled tank.

Rose

The alternative is doing a 50% water change EVERY DAY.

Cherrry123

Well this is what we are going to do. Buy some filter cartridges(cant spell) and take the one from my 14 gallon out and out it in my 10 gallon and put the new cartridges in the 14 gallon. I read somewhere that, that is the same thing, basically.

Blub

Cherrry123

Ok thanks!