Tumbleweed

Here is a pic of my daughters new Betta. Just thought you might want to see him. He is in a 10gal tank and I will have a few neons with him to keep him company later this week.

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Phloxface

He's beautiful! You don't see green Bettas often!*

You might want to reconsider putting neons in with him. I've heard they tend to be find nippers and would find his long tail irresistable.* Try Otos or Corys as tankmates instead. They are very gentle and keep the tank clean.

Tumbleweed

Thanks that might be a good idea.

chickadee

I am so glad that someone suggested that you reconsider the neons. Tetras of all kinds are very beautiful but they do love to nibble on the long flowing fins of the bettas and since the bettas do not see them as threats, they allow them to do it. Soon you would have the worst case of finrot that you can imagine and the betta would probably die. Otos and Cories do make much better companions, but do be aware that the betta has become used to the tank being his, and there will be a territorial problem and so you will need to provide a lot of hiding places for the peaceful little fish you put in there with him. He has never been taught to share his space, never having had roommates, so please be patient and know that this is going to take some time.

Rose

Tumbleweed

Don't worry Rose I will. Thanks for the advise.

ChrisRamo

I love green bettas and thats a good one.

poefox

Very admirable fish. Rose is right...while some people have kept bettas in community tanks it doesn't always work--maybe about 40 to 50 percent of the time, which is not when you think about it a good chance. It depends a lot on the betta and a lot on the other fish. So unless you have a backup plan and another tank you can put either the betta or the neons into I wouldn't recommend it either.

ChrisRamo

Tumble do you think you would be able to get a pic of it posing?

Ive heard putting a mirror by the fish so it see's its reflection does this... Give it a try id love to see wa it looks like dude

Tumbleweed

yeah I can give it a shot tonight.* This beta is the mellowest betta I have ever seen.* It just longes around the tank all day and night.* By the way, it doesnt' seem to like eating the flake foodBetta pellets, or maybe it is just ot hungry, but do bettas like frowzen blood worms?* I was going to give that a try and see how he responded

ChrisRamo

Heres a really useful bit on bettas dude hope it helps

And for you rose....not sure you need help with bettas though

chickadee

Have you tried reading the Betta Care Guide at the beginning of this board?* Also, I would never show a betta a mirror to make them flare.* It puts them in a stressful situation and causes their hearts and nervous systems to overload if it is not moved immediately.* Breeders use that trick to get publicity pictures and I have done it but it is very stressful for the fish and he will flare on his own probably more than you want him to when he is good and ready.

I do not know if you realize it but a true green is very hard to come by. I expected Alexander to be green and he was for the first few days until I started to give him color pellets and he turned kind of teal colored with black on his head and royal blue edging on his fins. So if your little guy stays green you are very fortunate. I do not know about the frozen bloodworms. It would be my suggestion to find out what they were feeding him at the place where you got him and see if you can continue UNLESS it is flake food. Bettas do not have the mouth to eat flake food. Freeze-dried bloodworms usually tempt most of them and all of mine are now eating them. If he is small though (you did not mention his size) then perhaps he is not full grown and needs a small betta food. Some of the pellets are too big for even big betta mouths (Wardley, OmegaOne, Tetra) I have only really found two brands of betta pellets that really fit their mouths - Hikari Betta Bio-Gold and Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro or Atison's Betta Formula. Other kinds can be fed but should probably be broken up a little to make them smaller. Bettas are the worst PICKY eaters though and I thought I would go bankrupt trying to feed 5 of them when they all decided they did not want to eat what the others ate.

Keep us informed of your progress and let us know if we can help.*

Rose

JMatt1983

my betta has never flared his gills in the 5 months that i have had him, but he does like to stretch out his fins all the time

Tumbleweed

Thanks Rose. I gave him some more Betta Pelets this morning and again tonight and he decieded that he wanted to eat this time.

poefox

I think that he might have been wary maybe or not sure about what you were doing. Bettas can also be picky about HOW they're fed too. Rusty prefers me to drop in one pellet, let him munch it up, and then likes to be free to look around for where I'll drop another one in. If I drop one in before he's done he will odds are refuse to look in the right place.

Tumbleweed

Yeah Rose I woke up this morning and took a look at him with my daughter and found he is now blue with a red head. My daughter thought that it was a different fish at first.

Isabella

Beautiful fish Tumbleweed I love the color As for Neon Tetras, you're all probably right. However, my neons never even tried to nip at the fins of my angels. In my experience, neons are the most peaceful fish I've ever seen.

chickadee

As far as I know Tetras do not have a problem with other fish, but betta fins are SO tempting to fish that are really otherwise no problems in tanks whatsoever. Guppies and Tetras seem to be the worst offenders other than the obvious aggressive gouramis and bettas who are definitely out. However there have been reports of trouble with platies and swordtails as well. I just find that it is much better to err on the side of caution and only suggest the fish that I know will work which are Otocinclus and Cories. They will not cause a problem at all. The only problem may be that you may have a naughty betta who will not accept ANY other fish around him and then you have no choice at all. If you want the best of chances the other fish (otos or cories) should be well established in the tank BEFORE the Betta is put in the tank so he feels like he is entering into someone else's territory and must share. If he is there first, he thinks the whole thing is his and he is less likely to share by a long way. In that case it is better to leave him alone or at most add a snail who he is not going to be able to injure or intimidate in the least. He may try to chase the snail but when he has bounced off the shell a couple of times he will stop. My Alex loves his snail and regularly rides him like a pony. Marty loved Ivory and misses him. I should get him another one but his tank is unfortunately having a pond snail outbreak and I may have to do another clean-up so I do not want to get another large snail just yet.

Rose

Tumbleweed

Thanks yeah I picked up some Corys tonight and but them in the tank with him. He came up to them and gave them a good look, then swam away and just went about his daily bussiness.