Bronx mom

Hi everyone,
Last week my 14 yr old daughter came home from school with 2 baby bettas in a very small plastic tank with a partion keeping them separate. Well when i came home from work there they were much to my suprise, but before i could get upset she told me that there was a science fair in her school and these seniors were using these bettas as experiments, pitting them against each other to fight. She grabbed the tank went over to her adviser and told her what they were doing and decided that she was going to take them home, and she just TOOK them home. My daughter is a fish-napper. The kids were confronted and told that it was animal cruelty and the subject of her just fish-napping them did not even come up. And so the story goes i have orderd another tank 6 gallons with a divider and plenty of plants to provide hiding spaces for them along with the heater and everything else. OMG! This is not what i wanted, prince Jimmy is growing and very happy and now we have 2 more. But i guess when we raise our children to be conscience of moral issues we have to put our money where our mouths are to that one.......................and suck it up. Now i am a freakin fish lady! Just wanted to share, they have no names yet as im still getting over the shock, will keep you posted.
by the way as far as cycling goes i can use some of jimmy's rocks in the new tank right? how long will it take to cycle that way and how much do i need to use?
thanks,
Bronxmom

genie

I am laughing b/c you only have 3 bettas and I bought 3 in the past 2 weeks! I am the fish lady. Yes using cycled tank rocks will get the cycle started. Will probably still take 3-4 weeks. Just keep up on the testing and water changes and your new rescue bettas will be fine. I would use as much as you can without making the other tank look funny or be bare.
I am so proud of your daughter and her fish-napping! I guess that you are proud that she is doing what she was taught-- standing up for those who cant speak for themselves.

Phloxface

Thank God for your daughter! She sounds like a great kid! I hope those seniors get in trouble for this stupidity! This is not a science experiment. Everyone knows male Bettas fight. This is just plain animal cruelty!

Welcome to the crazy fish people's club! I have 7 of them so far...
You can cycle the tanks with the fish in it as long as you do water changes daily and keep a close eye on the parameters.
All mine cycle their own tanks. If you can get BioSpira it will go faster but you can use a good handful of gravel and some used (dirty even) filter media from your other tank and this will speed things along. I've cycled tanks in about a week this way.

voiceless_kat

Hoo- ray for your daughter, Bronx Mom............raise her allowance ............that is a great story, especially when it is a kid who did the resuce..... it is so good she brought that crulety story to light and rescued the fish!! And great that you accepted these fortunate bettas into your home! ( you must be very proud!!!)

They are so fun, and if you are lucky enough to have healthy fish...........you will enjoy them even more. Way to go, both of you!!! Ten thumbs up!!

COBettaCouple

Tell your daughter we love her & she's wonderful! It's great that she reacted like that to animal cruelty by older kids that don't have half of her maturity and conscience. She's already a betta rescue veteran now.

Maybe name them Robin Hood & Little John since she 'fish-napped' them.

You can use some of the gravel from the cycled tank put into a pantyhose 'bag' knotted up at the end at hung in the new tank. also if you can pull some filter sludge from your cycled tank, that would help the cycle in the new tank.

we've only got 3 bettas at the moment, but that's going to change soon so while we're way behind Phloxface, we also welcome you to the crazy fish people club - you're now infected with MTS and a full-on case of the Betta Bug!

Bronx mom

Demi read all your post, and craked up! she agrees with a raise in her allowance : and has decided to name our new red betta, robin-hood, and our blue betta little john, she likes those name and thought they were fitting. lol. thanks for all the great words you guys are a riot! pics will be coming soon!

bronx mom & Demi the fish-napper

COBettaCouple

LOL.. you're welcome.. great to see her attitude and we wish you both the best of luck with your Bettas. Looking forward to their pics and may they fit their names and be characters!

chickadee

Good for you all! Demi is a great girl and she has a great mom too. Glad to welcome Robin Hood and Little John and it is so good to hear that Prince Jimmy is doing well and loving his home.

Just think it has really not been that long ago that you didn't know what you were going to do with him and now he is a part of the family.

I do not know how long I can stay on tonight folks we are having a horrible lightning storm and have flooding in the center of town and have had 3" of rain today already today and it raining buckets right now. All the fish are on the bottoms of the tanks and will not even come up to eat tonight I wonder if the weather affects them?

Rose

COBettaCouple

I'm not sure if there's scientific evidence of it, but i believe the weather does affect them when the pressure in their tanks is altered by atmospheric conditions. I guess some show it more than others. Our first Betta Super Mario would build a bubble nest EVERY time a rainstorm was approaching, but our other Bettas don't seem to show that kind of awareness. Maybe some are more sensitive to pressure or react stronger to it, i'm not sure. Maybe your fish are feeling the charge in the air from all that lightning?