I Rescued 5 Baby Bettas; need some advice regarding care!

I went to Petco today to grab some live plants, only to become instantly attached to the five baby Bettas they had in stock! I bought 2 males and 2 females plus, 1 other female for 50% off due to her dieing state. Anyone with experience have some advice care wise? There still around fry age, so I put them temporarily in a extra large mixing bowl. They were happy to have there first meal of BBS, heated, cleaned, and warm water. I don't exactly know what to do about the sad little girl...would kanaplex help?

 

I'd add some Garlic guard and stress coat plus, some Fish Protector would not hurt, if you have it.
Fresh, warm clean water, of course.

A couple of issues though that would help. Acclimate slowly since your water may differ from the store and cup water. (too late for that)
They are not used to being together keeping separate might be a good idea.

Some plants for them to rest on and feel safe with other fish in the bowl.

 

Hi RSBettas
The cash register in the chain stores in my Australian town have an automatic update of stock. As soon as fish are sold more are ordered. That’s great you can “rescue “ some more baby betta soon.

Betta can be kept alive for all their lives in containers of warm water without electric filters. The container should have a lid. You will need to change some water daily or get filters for every container.

Many people in the world keep betta in containers with plants as filters. To be successful if it does not rain heavily everyday ( the tropics) you need to change water often.

A fast daily water change and fresh live food. Trick or routine?
The betta lives in a plastic takeaway container with a small hole in the lid. Without taking the lid off the container is squeezed until most of the water rushes out. Moments later the takeaway container is held under water and the squeeze is released. Fresh warm water rushes in. The container is placed back on the floor and the next is dealt with in 30 seconds.
Food in the form of bbs can be added to the bucket of fresh conditioned water there by feeding the fish once a day with each 30 second water change.

A link showing an alternative hose adapter for changing ten tanks at once.

Later in this video there is a system for keeping the tanks cool in hot weather ( a bucket and strong arms)

 

I understand that they will just buy more, at least these five got a chance. I separated the male Bettas, and the sick one is in a small heated mixing bowl. They have plants and java moss. I ordered Indian almond leaves, baby bubbles, and BBS eggs. The two baby males need to be separated from the females because they were fighting. Im gonna buy more females soon, since there's only two in the mixing bowl. Here's a picture of all setups. They all have filtration and heating. I have a friend who will take the males for me. The little sick girl is moving around a bit more.

 

The cash register in the chain stores in my Australian town have an automatic update of stock. As soon as fish are sold more are ordered. That’s great you can “rescue “ some more baby betta soon.

I agree. The practice of - let's face it - "pity rescues" is on the long run doing more harm than good. And it sets back species protection a lot, as the numbers tell the suppliers there is demand, demand means there will be more produced. And higher production means more pitiful specimens in a cup in a store somewhere.

Im gonna buy more females soon, since there's only two in the mixing bowl.

DON'T! A sorority of female bettas is even hard to do for specialists. Doing so will make your good intentions completely go down the drain factually. Most specialists keep the females alone as well.

Otherwise good luck. You will need it.

 

Hey thanks for the update.
At times I have fish in 5 gallon bucket myself so see a mixing bowl as luxury.
I have no hands on with keeping female betta in the same tank .

 

They are still practically fry, and I have a 40 gallon tank for when they grow. Sorority tanks are I guess "hard", but they won't be living together forever. Once they reach sexual maturity, my buyer -a local reptile store- will sell them to better homes. He has 3 gallon tanks with plants, warmth, and filtration. I can give them a better life than some clueless customer, who saw a baby fish and said "aww how cute!", then took it home. Baby bettas are very fragile and do not deserve to live in a pet store cup when they should be swimming in a bigger space, and thanks to customers, it doesn't matter if I'm the one to buy them. They were either gonna go home, or die in a cold cup. They are lucky I bought them. When they are babies, they grow up together -in proper hands- until mature, then you should separate the males once aggression ucures. A sorority tank should consist of four or more girls. If there are less, chances of aggression are higher. I have really been getting into the rescuer hobby. I can send some pictures later of my recent rescues! The progress is shocking.

 

No offense but you are imagining a perfect world were a group of fish has a large tank to grow up in. You arent seeing the realitty of billions of active tropical fish living in solitude in 16 ounces of cold water for its entire childhood before it is dumped into an even smaller container were it may or may not ever leave.
This is from google-
"Petco ships 100,000 bettas per week to the U.S. and up to 1,000 of them die on the way."

 

Excuse me, but can you tell me where in that post I mentioned anything about a perfect world? I'm sorry, but you completely misinterpreted my post. Please read it over. I said "When they are babies, they grow up together -in proper hands- until mature, then you should separate the males once aggression occurs." I used "-in proper hands-" to symbolize myself and others who care to do their digging.

No offense but you are imagining a perfect world were a group of fish has a large tank to grow up in. You arent seeing the realitty of billions of active tropical fish living in solitude in 16 ounces of cold water for its entire childhood before it is dumped into an even smaller container were it may or may not ever leave.

Excuse me, but can you tell me where in that post I mentioned anything about a perfect world? I'm sorry, but you completely misinterpreted my post. Please read it over. I said "When they are babies, they grow up together -in proper hands- until mature, then you should separate the males once aggression occurs." I used "-in proper hands-" to symbolize myself and others who care to do their digging.

This is from google-
"Petco ships 100,000 bettas per week to the U.S. and up to 1,000 of them die on the way."

Guess what? 5 of 100,000 are with me, living a happy life. Ever heard of the starfish boy? "You can't make any difference.” After listening politely, the boy bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then, he smiled at the man and said, “I made a difference to that one.” Moral: Everyone can make a difference — even if that difference affects one person."
I also believe I already mentioned something about hundreds of fish still out there in the post you reacted so poorly to. What do you see wrong with rescuing a couple of baby Bettas and giving them a fighting chance?
Here are my recent rescues!

 

The endless cycle of the way big box pet stores work is sickening and terrible but it's happening and will always happen.
I've rescued a large variety of animals from disgusting situations but I've also bought animals, the first time or two it was ignorance but then there were several more.
The thing is, not every animal is bought and maybe the person that bought the 'undesirable' creature that probably would've died in the store anyways did make a difference.
Yes, I bought both of my bettas from pet stores, I know they bought 10 more with the money I paid them. Even specialty fish stores will buy from the same large suppliers that big box stores buy from so no matter what you do you are by default contributing to a problem.
Have you ever bought anything from Amazon? Petco? Petsmart? Then you are contributing, not just animals either.

Sorry, I just felt the maker of the thread is getting kind of attacked and I see where other conversation participants are valid in their reasoning as well but so are they.
We've all done it at one point or another.
Anyways, good day.

 

I can find a before picture of my blue one, I think I accidentally deleted it. The progress is remarkable. I thought they were gonna die when I got them for free, but now, 5 weeks later, they are beautiful!
Thank you, zERostArk07. Well said!