lady d

Hi all! I'm so glad I found this forum. I just "rescued" a little female betta from my pet shop this morning. After cleaning out the tank/gravel/etc and letting the water sit and having Mary Tyler Moore (This is her name ) float in her cup for a while, she's been released into the tank. She's been swimming around curiously, so I think she's happy and was transffered with as little stress as possible.

The fish tank came with food (Nutrafin max flakes) so I put a couple in there. She put them in her mouth and then spit them out. She keeps doing this with the same flake repeatedly, so I think she *is* hungry. I also got Hikari Betta Bio-Gold "baby-sized" pellets and put one of them in there thinking that perhaps flakes just weren't her thing, and she did the same spit thing, so after a couple of minutes I scooped it out. This is my first female betta, I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but my male gulped down everything!

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!! congrats on your new girlie...try soaking her pellets in some fresh garlic juice from a jar of chopped garlic...its a hunger stimulant as well as a great healer...what size tank is she in and what are the water parimeters?

Martinismommy

Welcome to fishlore.....I'd try and stay away from the flakes and get her on Hikari freeze dried bloodworms....You may also want to offer her tiny peices of thawed frozen baby peas....Peel the skin off and cut 1 pea up into 6 peices...My boys eat 3 peices each this helps to keep them from getting constipated....The pellets are fine too and like Shawnie said you can soak them in garlic juice...

lady d

She's in a 5 gallon tank, the temp is about 75 and the pH is at 7 those are the only things I've tested. Is there something else I should be checking? I haven't attached the filter as the sales clerk told me that it might be too hard on her, but I bought a tank with one because those were the only big ones they had.

Devon

Welcome to FishLore, & congrats on your new girl!

Water parameter readings (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) & tank information (size, age, temperature, etc) will be helpful to us about her appetite. However, you mentioned that you just got her this morning -- I never even bother feeding new fish the first day because they generally have no interest in eating after the stress of being put in a new tank. Bettas in particular are sensitive to their surroundings and tend to withdraw when they're unsure of themselves. You may just have to wait a day or so to see if she gets her appetite back once she's more comfortable.

Martinismommy

Put the filter on and get it running ASAP....You will then need to start 50% water changes daily until the tank is cycled.....You should bring that temp up to 80 ..... 75 is way too cool for a Betta fish.....

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore lady d.

First here are some great articles:
http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/bet...care-guide.htm
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummaga...tank-setup.htm

Betta's can be finiky eaters, and sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to find what a particular Betta will eat. Generally, they seem to like freeze dried bloodworms. Hikari is a brand of freeze dried bloodworms many on this forum recommend. Also, soaking their food in some garlic juice seems to help. You can use the juice that comes in those little jars of chopped up garlic that you can buy in the supermarket. Or you can buy a product called Garlic Gaurd and put a few drops on their food. An added benifit is that the garlic helps keep them healthy. You can also put a few drops in the water to help insure good health.

You didn't have any Aquarium info in your profile, so I just wanted to ask some questions and give some suggestions to help ensure success.

1. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? If not please read this:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

2. Did you know that a Betta should be in at least a 2.5 gallon tank, but in reality a 5 gallon tank is the prefered minimum size.

3. Did you know that Betta's need a filtered tank?

4. Did you know Betta's need a heater in the tank?

Hopefully I didn't overwhelm you. I know if your not familiar with all of this, it can make your eyes glaze over, but once you get organized, it's really pretty simple and painless.

Feel free to ask any questions. The people on this forum are all very nice and love to answer questions!

Good luck

nitz

You might want to consider buying a filter that doesn't create a big current as bettas generally aren't used to currents in their water. That isn't to say they won't get used to a current. So getting a filter with an adjustable flow would be good and slowly increasing it (this isn't from personal experience but I've read it on the forum somewhere).

Also, do you have a heater? I've heard that bettas do better in water that is from 78-80F. 78 should be the lowest and 80 being ideal.

EDIT: Looks like I've been beaten to the punch...

lady d

Thanks so much guys~ I turned on her heater and the filter, and I'm going to wait until tomorrow to try again with the food.

jdhef

Wow, I'm a slow typer. There were no replies when I answer this thread. Sorry for any repeat info.

Also as stated, keep the water temp at 80. At lower temps, Betta's are prone to disease.

Devon

It's most important to understand the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle in order to keep happy, healthy fish!! Please read : http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

EDIT: LOL... again with the slow information, good to know I'm not the only one!!

jdhef

Yeah I said it was because I'm a slow typer, but I'm really a very fast typer. It's the spell checker correcting every word that takes so long.

Lonely Angel

First off, may I just say good for you giving your new betta a real tank! It is what bettas need to be happy and healthy, not a bowl or some of the tiny containers marketed for bettas.

Most of my bettas weren't interested in eating the first ay they came home, so just give your girl some time to settle in. On the other hand, she may be one of the picky eaters that will only accept a specific food. If she still refuses to eat pellets after she's settled in, I reccomend that you buy some freeze dried or frozen bloodworms (Hikari brand is best) Frozen bloodworms are the one food that all of my bettas will eat happily.

If your filter doesn't have an adjustable flow, you can take some filter floss or filter pads and tie them to the filter where the water pours out. This reduces the current caused by the filter and makes it easier for your betta to swim. Some bettas enjoy playing in the filter current, but at first her muscles will be weak from being stuck in a little cup. Also, if she does start playing in the current, make sure she has some place still to rest.

Congratulations on your new girl! Do you have any pictures of her to show off? We all love looking at everyone's cutie pie bettas!

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore and congrats on your baby girl! They really do love the thawed, frozen bloodworms. The Hikari brand is what we prefer to use.