pepetj

Well, I went to pick up a nice gift, a juvenile Rainbow Shark at a friend's home tonight, ended with two unexpected male Bettas, which made it even nicer.

I placed each in a 3gal bucket, filled a bit less than half, added an Indian Almond Tree Leaf for shelter, until I set their respective homes tomorrow.

Living in the year-'round warm weather of the Caribbean spares me the need of heaters. I covered the buckets with plastic knitting grids (hope I named that right).

Good thing I keep spare seeded sponges all over! I believe these are Crown Tail Bettas -or at least have some Crown Tail in them, likely a year old but I'm not sure.

My experience is quite limited, Bettawise, to the classic Pla Kat betta.

Pics later on: I don't want to stress them any more than they are now.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

capekate

Congrats on your new betta boys Pepe!
Looking forward to photos after they are happily in their new homes and acclimated!

Lucy

Nice surprise! You're lucky not to have to have heaters. That gets expensive with multiple tanks.

CHoffman

Congratulations on the two new boys!!..How exciting..I keep waiting for a Betta to come along my way!!..I figure if one needs saving or needs a new home it will be easier to convince hubby..lol

pinkfloydpuffer

Yay, more bettas!

Matt

Congrats On Your New Boys

-Matt

Red1313

Tell me about it. lol. I think I might be cheaper to just order them all in bulk

Pic's Pepe Pic's!

shih-tzu mom

Pepetj- Congrat's on new babies and what do you think of the almond leaves? i'm thinking of getting some and would like your opinion please bella

pepetj

Indian Almond Tree Leaves are great for acidic/soft water fishies. I use them in my South and Central American Cichlids tanks, and in my Betta tanks.

I don't know about the commercially available leaves, since I collect them for free in my street. I guess commercially available ones are ready to use so you would save the par-boiling and dumping in frozen water part I have to go through.

They last safely for two to three weeks, release tannins and other organic compounds that will stain the water if you don't keep fresh activated charcoal running. My Bettas love this tea-coloured water.

The only problem I had was with a small cherry barb male that got trapped and choked to death in a decomposing leaf, which turns in a hardy net-like fiber tissue. In the tanks I keep small sized fish I replace the leaves before they go that far in decay, but I let that occur in the other tanks.

I "dose" by the leaf length: a 12 to 14" leaf for each 10gals of water. It helps in reducing pH much the same way as peat fiber does but lasts less than it. An advantage over peat is that it looks great as for "natura-like aquascaping ". I use a small suction cup to attach the end of the leaves and secure them in desired location, or, simply use a river stone over it and leave it over the substrate. If in a hurry just dump them in the tank and arrange them later on.

In the buckets housing my two new arrivals, an Indian Almond Tree Leaf provides shelter from the room light, a resting surface, and maybe even -not a proven fact- add its healing properties.

Some have reported that male Bettas turn more aggressive, but I haven't seen that at all. They do get more active though, it's like improving their quality of life.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Shawnie

whahooo betta babies....when are we going to see them?

Matt

Pictures Please.

Sorry If I Am Rushing You But Here On FishLore We Like Our Pictures

-Matt

shih-tzu mom

Thanks Pepe, well you have confinced me i am diff; going to get some for my betta's thanks very much, much appreciated. i beleive some places are selling'Betta Spa' and i think that is all thats in it for $40.00 here in Canada lol.bella

pepetj

Here are not so good pics of the two new boys. One is a Crown Tail, the other a Half Moon Tail. Not sure of their ages. Still housed in buckets as I acclimate them for softer waters. They were living at pH8.5, the first day (night before yesterday) I tampered it down to 7.8; yesterday at 7.2, today at 7.0. I am setting their home as we speak at pH 6.8.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Attached Images

	Male Crown Tail Betta.JPG (156.9 KB, 8 views)
	Male Half Moon Betta.JPG (175.4 KB, 9 views)

Lucy

How cute! They looks small or maybe it's just the pic.

I'm curious as to why you're aiming for such a low PH.

pepetj

Reason is simple. In small sized tanks, say 20gals and below I rather use 100% R/O processed drinking water, which is not really expensive in Santo Domingo where no one dares to drink water served by the city (5gals here cost the same as 1 liter in US: a bit over 1USD) not to mention the unexpected/never announced changes in water parameters as they manage the city's obsolete/insecure systems -mixing water from wells, rivers, storage tanks, go figure what else.

I use natural river sand mixed with Eco-Complete as substrate so I can keep low light plants -Anubias Barteri for Bettas- and seldom do I add fertilizers; then I add small amounts of trace minerals as needed. That keeps the pH at or around 7.0 but since I use Indian Almond Tree Leaves -available for free in my street- pH will go down to 6.8.

I rather keep pH below 7.0 if the fish original environment is soft/acidic; they usually thrive in those parameters. Most info out there says that Bettas usually like low-currents -although I have had my share of fast-swimming/strong-currents loving Bettas already, Edda (in my signature) was a remarkable fast swimmer; Eddy now is learning to go "jogging" in his tiny 5.5gal, it's so hilarious to watch him.

I just make sure that KH remains around 2.5-3.5dKH while GH stays around 5 to 6dGH. As far as I know this is good for their health and takes just a bit extra effort so... why not?

Pepe
Santo Domingo

capekate

Hi Pepe
Your new betta boys are cutie pies. I was curious myself about the Ph level and did some research. This is what I found in a number of sites.
Ph Levels usually run around 6.8-7.4 slightly acidic to neutral is fine tho they can adjust to a higher PH level.
I also found, which was interesting and worth passing along was that the chemicals used to adjut Ph has been observed to cause Betta's to become sick and even die. I felt you should be aware of this and maybe do some research on this yourself just to clarify.
Good luck with your new betta's cant wait to see the tank set up!

CHoffman

I understand not using your city water...If it's not safe for drinking and they change and add stuff without notice I couldn't imagine it would be safe for the fish..That's awesome that RO is cheap for you since your city water is unrealiable....RO water is lacking in trace minerals though right...and that's why you add them??..

pepetj

I use the following methods to safely tamper with pH, either alone or combined:

a) CO2 injection
b) Peat fiber filtration
c) Indian Almond Tree Leaves
d) Mixture of R/O processed drinking water and tap water
e) 100% R/O processed drinking water to which trace minerals are carefully added.

I don't recommend anyone doing this. I have been reading about this for a few months now, and I ruled out the following methods:
a) DI pillows
b) chemically based formulations (e.g. sulfuric acid is usually present in the liquid presentations)

I also run checks on ORP or REDOX potential: that tells me if I'm in or out of healthy range as far as dissolved minerals in the water. An easy way to do this without an ORP meter is by adding Methylene Blue to a sample of tank water in a disposable cup: if the dark blue color fades, even if just a bit, your water is likely OK.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

capekate

Hi Pepe
after reading your post again, I realized you were using natural methods of lowering the Ph and not chemicals. You seem to have really done your homework on this one and I do not doubt your success with it. I really wish you and all those little betta babies the best of luck!

pepetj

Thank you Kate. I wish the best for my fishies too. This is more than a hobby to me. Taking good care of this wonderful creatures brings the best of me as human.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Matt

I Cant Wait To See Some More Pictures Of Your Boys

I wanna See Them Flaring

-Matt

pepetj

The Crown Tail male Betta is some character... he moves around his half side of the tank as a King, with a slow pace, taking for granted his beautifulness, this guy stares at his own image and then some, kind of narcissistic -not flaring to fight the "other me" he sees mirrored... His side is facing the princesses side (Betta sorority) so he ignores the other male sharing the tank, and of course, shows off for the ladies. So it was easy to name, King... Crimson... but with a K: Krimson

The Half Moon male Beta is another story. This is an incredibly energetic fellow. He seems to be training for the fight of his life, picking on his mirrored image for a while until he noticed the glass thermometer -red dyed alcohol- what a display of swimming around top speed, applying brakes, flaring at it, and so far he's the only one trying to find his way to the other side.

I hope the divider holds there.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Attached Images

	Mister Krimson.jpg (70.8 KB, 6 views)
	Boxer.JPG (382.9 KB, 8 views)
	Mr Krimson and The Boxer.jpg (72.3 KB, 7 views)

pinkfloydpuffer

I love your bettas...
And changing the C to a K in King Crimson is a neat touch.
King Crimson is amazing.... and I'm sure King Krimson is too

fishlover78

congrats!

fishlover78

they're beautiful bettas!

Shawnie

your boys are truely handsome fellas!!! are you as in love with the boys are you are your girls? do you notice a difference in personalities? I know my girls seem more vicious and the boys are more of lover with people!!

krimson looks like a veiltail tho...

pinkfloydpuffer

I think Krimson was the crowntail... but you're right, I overlooked that. The other one is a veiltail, not halfmoon.

Shawnie

"The Crown Tail male Betta is some character... he moves around his half side of the tank as a King" hence why I thought the crownie was named king..

but I have brunette moments often

Martinismommy

They are both very nice boys.....I'm a little concerned about that divider though....Can you add some gravel to hold it tighter before it tips over? Good job on the almond leaf! I use those also and love them!

One of your boys is a Veiltail not a halfmoon...Handsome one at that!

pinkfloydpuffer

I'm a bit confused, LOL! I think I'm just confusing myself...

But I think that the crowntail is called King Krimson, after the band King Crimson. And the veiltail (or socalled halfmoon ) is unnamed...