Barney the Betta's New Home

Barney is finally well!  It took a lot longer than I planned, but Barney Betta is now in his new home.  First I bought a 5-gallon tank, as I had planned, but when I got it home I discovered that it didn’t have a place for a heater.  So I took it back to the pet store and exchanged it for one that did.  The tank that I ended up getting is another 10-gallon. I managed to make room for it, but everything is rather crowded now.

Barney is so happy in his new tank!  He has been exploring and loves to play in his silk plants. He loves the filter too.  I was afraid it might be too strong for him, but he loves to play in the current, so I guess not.  His color is beautiful, even though his fins are short enough that he looks like a female.  (Don’t tell him I said that, he might be offended!)

I put the excess gravel from the older, ten-gallon tank into the bottom of his new ten-gallon, as the substrate, and also put the filter media from the old tank into his new one for 24 hours. The Java Moss is a favorite with him, and so far it seems stay in the same place. I will add other decorations later.

Barney also loves his new food, bloodworms.  Now when I feed him he not only gobbles up everything in sight, he asks for more.  Don’t worry though; I make him wait for his next meal before I give him more.  My corydorus catfish, Freckles, is in the tank with him.  I put him there a few hours before I added Barney to his new home. I am hoping that Barney will accept any new tank mates when I add them.  I am thinking about getting some algae eaters.  Isn’t that what otos are?

I now have two 10-gallon tanks.  Barney and Freckles are in one, and my Platties, Pepper, Polly, Patsy, and Penny, along with my other Betta, Benji, who is a beautiful combination of red and blue, with the emphasis on blue, are in the other.  BenjI is getting along fine with the platies. What other fish, if any, can be added to either tank?

 

Everyone sounds like they are doing so well!!!
Carol

 

HI Butterfly. Yes, they are all doing great. I am so happy that I found this site and was able to save Barney, as well as learn how to take care of all my fish. Every one of them is very special to me.

You have a lot of fish tanks. Do you have a fish room or are they scattered through out your house?

 

Now we are waiting for PICTURES!!!! They sound happy. My only comment is you may want to watch the platies in the tank with the betta so they don't nip the fins. He won't see them as threats so he will probably just let them do it if they start.

It really tickles me that Barney likes the Java Moss. They love to sleep on it. I hope you continue to have good luck with it as they really do love their little "pillow".

Don't forget.....pictures !!!!

Rose

 

Yes pictures!!!!! ;D

The tank with the Platys is heavily stocked but should be ok as long as you do plenty big water changes (definately no more fish in that tank). Just like Rose said watch them to make sure they're being nece to each other. oh also what are you feeding? Cause Bettas and Platys need different diets...Platy's need mostly vegetarian stuff while Bettas need lots of protein.

Freckles is lonely without friends so you should get 2 more of his species. After that I don't think you would have room for Otos. It depends on what the adult size of Freckles is (what wype of cory is he?)

 

Congrats! You got another aquarium! I need to get my betta a 10 gallon aquarium too.. :

 

Thank you Rose.  Yes, I will watch the platies to make sure they don't bother Benji.  It did look like Patsy took a nip at Benji's fins when they were both heading for the same piece of food.  I haven't seen any other problems though and BenjI is swimming around like normal and his fins still look great.  I am going to get him his own 5 gallon tank when I find the right one though.  I certainly don't want to have him definned and attacked by fungus.  I still feel awful that I didn't notice what happened to Barney sooner.  I still have room for a 5-gallon, although it will make my little space even more crowded.

Omorrokh, if I take BenjI out and put him in his own 5-gallon would I be able to put Otos in with the platies? I will be getting Freckles some buddies as soon as I find some corys that look like him.  By the way, I feed the platies TetraMin tropical flakes first, then I feed BenjI some bloodworms.  Of course, both the platies and BenjI eat some of each, but I make sure BenjI gets his four worms.

Thanks Stradius011.  Your Betta will be very happy when you get him the ten gallon.  It is so much fun to watch my Barney and BenjI explore.  I don't remember if I read where you said, or not, but what is your Betta's name?

As for pictures, I will have to wait until I figure out how to get pictures from my camera phone onto the internet.  My daughter will have to show me how.  (I am a 55 year young grandmother)

CherryRose

 

Well I am a 57 year young one and I believe we have someone here on the forum who just learned how to download from a cellphone but it may be different.

The only thing about having bettas in with the fish like tetras, danios, platies and such are that the bettas do not see them as threats and will let them nip at them and not fight back. If it was a barb or gourami, there would be a fight; but the bettas just do not see them as enemies.

You could put 2 otos in each of the 10 gallon tanks if you wanted to. Freckles will bond with otos as well as other cories. I have a lone cory and put 2 otos in with him and they get along famously. If you want to go ahead with more cories though there will not be room for otos with Barney and 3 cories unless they were Pygmys and then you could have Barney, 3 Pygmy cories, and 2 otos. Remember though that each time you add fish you should quarantine the new ones for 14 days or you could introduce a disease to the tank. I know that we all think it probably won't happen but I put some otos right into the tank one time and had a sick one and I could have lost my whole tank.

Rose

 

Thank you again Rose, you have been so very helpful.  Its so nice to have found this caring group.  I will be sure to quarantine any otos I get for the two weeks.  I will use my new 5 gallon as soon as I get it, then I will transfer BenjI to the 5 gallon and the otos into the two ten gallon tanks.  Don't worry; I will be sure to cycle it before I get the otos.  I am still working on how to transfer cell phone pictures to the net.  My daughter is busy right now, but it probably explains how to in my cell phone manuel.

CherryRose

 

I believe we have someone here on the forum who just learned how to download from a cellphone but it may be different.

that was me... ;D

Well, normally there would be no reason not to have Platys and Otos in a 10g. However with 4 Platys the tank is already pushing its limits. I have found that Platys are messy little buggers and jack up the nitrates. Which means unhappy Otos. Sick with finrot. I speak from experience. Poor Mist still has ragged fins from it. So while it's your choice, I would probably not recommend putting Otos in there just because the water quality isn't going to be perfect no mater how big of water changes you do. And also my Platys developed a taste for Oto food. So the little otos went hungry while the Platys waddled around completely bloated. So just be warned......
What are the nitrates normally in that tank? And is it planted?

Oh just a fyI if you can get it the Omega One brand makes much healthier flakes than other companies. See if you can get it somewhere...they sell it at some Petsmarts. Your Platys would love the veggie flakes and color flakes.

Well, if you can figure out how to download them if you could post a pic of the Cory someone might be able to identify him.

Oh also just one more little side note it is generally recommended that Pygmy Cories be kept in groups of 6 or more because they are true shoalers, more so than the other Cories, and they tend to be very timid otherwise. (oh just so I don't look like a hypocrite yes I am getting more Pygmies for my 20 gallon ) Anyway Pygmies are hard to find so idk if you could get them anyway.

 

Hello again. I have uploaded pictures into pix place. How do I get them from there to here?
CherryRose

 

When you type a reply there is a place in the lower left corner that says Additional Options.... Click on that and a drop-down will appear with a box that is like: Attach:.....................Browse (more attachments)

Click on the gray Browse button and it will open up the pictures area.

Click on the picture you want to load and on the picture screen click on OPEN in the lower right corner (that page will disappear)

If you want to add another picture, then do NOT touch the Browse button but click on (more attachments) right behind the Browse button and another Browse button will appear. Press THAT BROWSE BUTTON to do a second picture.

Then do the same for the third and so forth. You can have up to 10.

Hope I explained it okay. When you see the area, it may make more sense.

Rose

 

Okay everyone. Hope I do this right. If so you will see Barney, Benji, and Freckles. I'm not sure what order they will be in as I don't know if I can tell when I attach them.

Those are way too small. Let me try again.
The first 4 should be of Barney, then Benji, and then Freckles.

 

Beautiful Bettas! ;D BenjI looks just like a Betta I had once.

I'm not sure I can tell what Freckles is from that picture. A side view would be great if you can get one...if not don't worry because I have Cories too and I know how hard it is to get pics of them because they won't stop swimming!

Oh, have you checked planet catfish for Cories? I have a great link for you, it has tons of pics of Cories and you can click on them for info about them...maybe you could find Freckles on there (don't know why I didn't think of it before). well I'm rambling hold on I'll look for the link. . . . .

 

check it out, maybe you'll be able to id Freckles

 

Hello, Barney & BenjI (and Freckles!) it is nice to meet you and welcome you to the Betta community. We are growing by leaps and bounds lately and we value each and every member.

You two are gorgeous. I love the blue BenjI - there are many blues in bettas but never the same one exactly twice. You are such a pretty blue and you have such nice fins. You also look like you like to have your picture taken as it looks like you held still. Very nice. And Barney, you are lovely! I bet you are the little stinker of the two. It looks like you did not want to be a movie star and have a picture taken. That is okay...most of mine are that way too. We still got a good look at you and we like what we see.

Seriously, they are beautiful and you can be very proud of them. They look healthy and happy. Thank you for the effort it took and for sharing the pictures with us. We do love pictures!!

Have a good time with them and let us know how they and you are doing. We love stories too! ....and with bettas in the house there are always stories...maybe not today...maybe not tomorrow...but there WILL be stories...hehehehehehehehehe

Alexander, Marty, and Emma welcome you with wildly waving fins.

Rose

 

Barney, Benji, and Freckles thank you, as well as Marty, Alexander, and Emily for the warm welcome.  They are very happy in their new homes.  Both BenjI and Barney have built beautiful bubble nests to show their approval. 

Yes Barney is the mischievous one.  He loves to tease me and when I am just ready to take a picture he swims away.  On the other hand, I think BenjI is a little show off.  He is always posing for a picture.  I have already taken a number of pictures of both.  I think they will definitely be spoiled little boys.

I went into a pet store today, (we were on a class adult transitions field trip, giving our students experience in using the public transportation available to go into Portland), and found some corys that look like Freckles.  I asked the lady at the pet store what kind they were and she had no idea!  She did, however look on her invoice and wrote down all the different kinds of corys that had been delivered.  I looked on the web page you gave me, Omorrokh, and my Freckles appears to be a Paleatus Cory.  He certainly loves to zip around in the tank.  I will be getting him buddies after my next paycheck.

Thanks again for your wonderful help in making Barney be the happy, healthy Betta that he is.  BenjI also benefited as he didn't have to go through what Barney had to.

CherryRose

 

They are beautiful!! Natalie

 

;D Barney and Freckles are absolutely adorable!  I just looked over at Barney and he was rapidly swimming up and down the front of the tank.  I was wondering what on earth he was doing but then noticed that Freckles was doing the same.  After watching for a few minutes I decided that Barney was playing follow the leader with Freckles.  I never heard of such a thing.  Are Barney and Freckles bonding?

 

Bettas are the most curious of fish. Their curiosity gets them in trouble sometimes, that is why I always caution not to get things with small openings for the tank or things without two openings for them to swim into. They are also very curious about anything that moves. Alex will come up and "nose" the otos when they attach themselves to the wall of the tank and just give them a nudge to see what they are and when they move he gets this look like he has never seen them move before, even though it is a game that he plays several times a day. He follows them around when they "graze" on the floor of the tank and just watches. I do not think he can figure them out. Maybe this is what is going on with Barney and Freckles. If so relax and enjoy, the show just gets better ;D . To see the look of surprise on the face of a little betta is absolutely precious.

Rose