Gwenz

I think my Q tan has finished cycling. It's been cycling for 5 weeks. My water readings are :-

NitrAte - 5.0
NitrIte - 0
Ammonia - 0
PH - 7.0

Has it finished cycling?

If it has I'll be going to my lfs' on the weeked to get a betta. I have 3 lfs near me, all three sell bettas. I'll be going to all three to see if they have any bettas (sometimes they don't have any). One of them, Pets At Home, has realy pretty bettas with nice colours but some of their fish are ill, another one of my lfs has many bettas but it is further away and the other gets their stock in on wednesdays and they sell the bettas really fast so I'm not quite sure where to go. I think I'll check them all.

Another Question -
What do I feed bettas, how much and when?
I have Freeze dried blood worms that I feed to my other fish. Will he eat these? Should I get some small pellets to feed him?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Gwenz

Butterfly

sounds like your good to go!!! You need very tiny betta pellets. Some will eat flakes. they love blood worms but anything over a couple of times a week and they tend to get constipated. Hope that helps.
Carol

Gwenz

Thanks Carol. I can't wait now!!

Gwenz

Butterfly

Me too!!!

Gwenz

I'll have to post some pictures when I get him. Probably saturday now!

Gwenz

inari

also for what they eat sometimes u just have to see what they like sometimes they will eat whatever comes their way other times they look at u like" u want me to put that in my mouth?!??!" they can be pick so just be full warned

chickadee

yes i would say you are cycled!! Good for you! Now go get yourself a fish girl!!!!

I can hardly wait to see the tank and meet your Betta. Just do what Carol says and get him some tiny Betta pellets. Hikari Betta Bio-Gold and Ocean Nutrition's Atison's Betta Pro are both the right size.

Rose

Gwenz

Ok I'll see if I can find them. I'm not sure if we have them in UK though. But I suppose it's worth a look. I might find them online somewhere.

Big day tomorrow. My mums taking me to 3 diffirent fish stores to see the bettas they all have. Can't wait!!

Two questions -
1) At what temperature should I set the tank at. I put it higher during the cycling but I've brought it down a bit. It's currently at 26 degrees C (78 degrees F). Is this temperature OK?
2) How often should I feed him Freeze Diried bloodworms and how many?

Thanks again.

Gwenz

0morrokh

The optimum temp for Bettas is 80 degrees F. I usually recommend keeping the temp at 78 if there are any other fish with the Betta.

chickadee

Zip it up one degree Celsius and keep it around 27 C or 80 F.

If your fish will eat bloodworms the meal can be fed two times a day if you wish to put them on a bloodworm diet. Each meal should be no more than 6-7 worms 6 for smaller fish 7 for a larger one. I would not try to combine the pellets and bloodworms in any one day. You can feed pellets one day and worms the next if your fish will let you. I am very afraid that the fish makes the decision what the food will be when it comes to Bettas. They may only eat pellets or only eat worms or they may love both but that would be very unusual. If you happen to get a Betta who will only eat pellets the meal is 3-4 pellets and they can have that portion two times a day. No matter what your fish does choose to eat, you should try very hard to get them used to eating a bit of pea or carrot a couple times a week. This is a treat not a meal unless you have them on a veggie fast due to constipation. If you get them used to veggies from the start, you may never have a constipation problem. Introduce the veggies to them when they are really hungry and you don't get much complaint and then after they have tried them, usually they will eat them.

Hope that this helps. Good luck and keep us informed.

Rose

Gwenz

Thanks for everything Chickadee, you've helped me a lot to get everything ready for the betta. I couldn't have done it without your help.

I was thinking I could ask what they are feeding the betta at the lfs and take it from there, but will buy some pellets as well.

Here is a picture of the Q tank. this is where he'll be until the other tank is cycled.

Gwenz

Attached Images

Fish 002.jpg (67.4 KB, 32 views)

chickadee

Very pretty tank thank you for send the picture. Your betta will be fine and happy there until he can go into his permanent home. I believe he will be a lucky little buddy.

Good luck and happy Betta shopping. The happiest days are when we add more babies.

Rose

inari

idk what ur other tank is like but i think he's not gonna want to leave his tank to go home ;p

Gwenz

Thanks. I'm actualy leaving now to go to the lfs. The time has come!!

Gwenz

Gwenz

I bought my Betta this morning and called him Flash (why, I don't know! )

I've posted a few pics of him.

I've noticed he hasn't been moving around much yet but he might just be settling in. Hope he's OK.

Gwenz

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	Flash arrives.jpg (21.8 KB, 28 views)
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divakeeks

What a pretty fish!!! I'm sure he will love it in his new home! Congratulations on your beautiful baby!

0morrokh

He's beautiful! Congrats on the new fish! He does kinda look like a flash.

Gwenz

Thanks everyone. I bought him because he looked pretty with a few different coulors in him.

I said this earlier just after I'd bought him. It's been 3 nearly 4 hours now and he's still in the same spot and not moving. Is this normal? He only moves when he goes up to the surface to breath, but then comes straight back to the same spot.

In my lfs the there wasn't much light (I think they turned them down because it is a hot day and the water temperatures in my lfs were realy high) and only a few above the tanks. It was hard to see the fish properly but I saw Flash and all his different coulors and knew that I wanted him. The man that I talked to at the lfs (he is the boss/manager of the store)said he is one of the healthiest they have, but they have been having problems with some of the tanks. They have been treating the tanks and now they are fine.

I bought Flash and I didn't notice until I got him home that the ends of some of his fins were coulorless and that his top fin looked as if it is stuck together. My mum thinks that because he isn't swimming much and that he doesn't have any colour at the tips of some of his fins, that he might be ill or something and maybe he caught something when they had problems at the lfs. What do you think? I hope he isn't ill, I haven't had him long.

Gwenz

P.S. - You can maybe see what I'm talking about on his fins in this pic...

Attached Images

Flashed.jpg (28.2 KB, 17 views)