Best advice for a happy long betta life?

Hello all!

Well, after some drama surrounding whether my tank was cycled enough the verdict ended up being yes! Quick specs: Fluval Flex 9 2.0, low tech planted tank, 0/0/0-10 ppm (those plants love their nitrate!), 78 degrees F.

Went to the local fish store today with the intention of getting a plakat or crowntail. And then I saw my new buddy - he'd been there at least two weeks (I think a little more) while all the other betta stock had turned over multiple times. Every other time I'd visited, he'd been resting in the plants for sale, kind of wedged in there such that you couldn't really see his fins! Today, though, he was active and feisty and won me over - even though he was basically the opposite of what I came in looking for!

Say hello to Percy (not pictured: his mystery snail sidekick Byron)!

Now, I've read all the stickies on the forums and rummaged through reddit. It seems like advice regarding betta splendens is as varied as they are.

For the experienced keepers out there: what are your top "I wish I'd known this sooner" pieces of advice? I want to be the best guardian possible to my new friend.

Percy thanks you in advance!

P.S.: why is fish photography with your phone camera so hard?

Hello all!

Well, after some drama surrounding whether my tank was cycled enough the verdict ended up being yes! Quick specs: Fluval Flex 9 2.0, low tech planted tank, 0/0/0-10 ppm (those plants love their nitrate!), 78 degrees F.

Went to the local fish store today with the intention of getting a plakat or crowntail. And then I saw my new buddy - he'd been there at least two weeks (I think a little more) while all the other betta stock had turned over multiple times. Every other time I'd visited, he'd been resting in the plants for sale, kind of wedged in there such that you couldn't really see his fins! Today, though, he was active and feisty and won me over - even though he was basically the opposite of what I came in looking for!

Say hello to Percy (not pictured: his mystery snail sidekick Byron)!

Now, I've read all the stickies on the forums and rummaged through reddit. It seems like advice regarding betta splendens is as varied as they are.

For the experienced keepers out there: what are your top "I wish I'd known this sooner" pieces of advice? I want to be the best guardian possible to my new friend.

Percy thanks you in advance!

P.S.: why is fish photography with your phone camera so hard?

Click to expand...

You are on the right track, my friend I'm of the opinion a 5 gallon is the minimum for adult fish and your tank is a good deal larger than that. If you decide to get any additional fish I would recommend setting up and cycling a quarantine tank first and keeping the new fish in it for at least a month before introducing them to the betta.

Hi,

Percy is absolutely gorgeous!!!!

I agree with Joshaeus in that it looks like you are already ahead with that tank, the fact that it is already cycled, and that you have live plants.

The first thing that I would say is that if something seems wrong, do not panic and start reading from a lot of websites that recommend throwing a lot of meds into the tank when you are not positive about what is really going on (I did this at first, like, a lot). It's best to get advice (like you are doing now, lol) from a trusted source. So many web sites give the same incorrect info, ad nauseam. They repost the same bad info that they got from other sites, and the cycle goes on and on. It's best to stay away from otc antibiotics as much as possible.

The second thing that I wish I had really realized is that excellent food goes a long way in protecting the immune system. If you can feed frozen foods (brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, daphnia if you can find it), that is great. If not, stick to really good pellet foods, like Ultra Fresh Betta Pro Shrimp Patties (since Percy has some red coloring, he may need the extra beta carotene to keep him really healthy). Other brands I use are Fluval Bug Bites betta formula, New Life Spectrum Thera + A - the small sized pellets, North Fin Betta Bits, or Omega One betta pellets (I stay away from flakes as I find that they can cause bloat).

And another thing that I learned after the fact is that it's really good to keep some aquarium salt and methylene blue on hand for fin and body problems. And don't skip water changes. With only one tank, it really doesn't take a lot of time or effort to do a water change every week to keep his water as pristine as you can.

I think these are the biggest things that I got wrong at the beginning. Hope this helps!

Hello all!

Well, after some drama surrounding whether my tank was cycled enough the verdict ended up being yes! Quick specs: Fluval Flex 9 2.0, low tech planted tank, 0/0/0-10 ppm (those plants love their nitrate!), 78 degrees F.

Went to the local fish store today with the intention of getting a plakat or crowntail. And then I saw my new buddy - he'd been there at least two weeks (I think a little more) while all the other betta stock had turned over multiple times. Every other time I'd visited, he'd been resting in the plants for sale, kind of wedged in there such that you couldn't really see his fins! Today, though, he was active and feisty and won me over - even though he was basically the opposite of what I came in looking for!

Say hello to Percy (not pictured: his mystery snail sidekick Byron)!

Now, I've read all the stickies on the forums and rummaged through reddit. It seems like advice regarding betta splendens is as varied as they are.

For the experienced keepers out there: what are your top "I wish I'd known this sooner" pieces of advice? I want to be the best guardian possible to my new friend.

Percy thanks you in advance!

P.S.: why is fish photography with your phone camera so hard?

Click to expand...

Hi Mircalla, thank you for rescuing Percy, it's beautiful and worthy of the namesake. I am not experienced enough but I am learning from your thread. I will comment that more lighting and selecting the object on your phone camera makes it easier to focus on your fish. You are lucky to have Byron the snail too. My source water is waaaay too soft to have a snail!

P.S. Welcome to Fishlore!

Hi, your pictures are actually very good! You could try a phone tri pod and or a remote control for the shutter.

I second the healthy food recomendation. I learned from a member on this sight that flake fooods are not ideal for any fish because they nutrition leaks into the water very fast. "When Fishfur said it it was much more scientificly explained" Rose of Sharon had great food recomendations, I want to ad Aquatic food inc, Also Daphnia is a very healthy food with madicinal benifits, if you cant find live, look for frozen, if you cand find frozen look for freeze dried but soak before feeding.

The other thing I learned here is catalpa or almond leaves, the benifits outway the fact that im not crazy about the color tannins add.