Received female betta, what do I do?

Today, when I got home I found a female betta in one of those small plastic containers on the table. I am assuming that it is from my parents for a part of my birthday present along with 3 bronze corys(which were in a bag). I had no where else to put the, so they are in the 10gal. How would I give her all she needs to survive a healthy and long life? And also, how big do they get(female bettas)? All advice would be helpful.
Tom

 

She may not get along with the Platies and guppies in your 10 gallon. They resemble female Bettas and Bettas (even females) can be very aggressive. You could keep a close eye on her and make sure she is not bullying the others and that they are not bullying her. If she begins hiding a lot you know she is scared of someone else in the tank and the stress of that can kill her. If you can manage another 10 gallon tank she would be great in there with the Cories. Don't ever put any more female or male Bettas in with her. Aside from that she needs a tank that is cycled, filtered and heated (80-82F) with weekly water changes (about 25-30%) with dechlorinated water.  Bettas are VERY prone to constipation which causes swim bladder damage and death. They need very little food. If she is a baby (smaller than an inch in length) you can feed her 5 - 6 Attison's Betta Pro pellets twice a day. They are the size of poppy seeds and made for baby Bettas. When she is older You can feed one adult size pellet twice a day. The easiest to find and a very good brand is HikarI Betta Bio-Gold. They come in a small packet that will last one Betta at least 7+ months! Stay away from Wardleys Betta food. The pellets are MUCH too big! You can also feed freeze-dried Bloodworms if she will eat them once in a while instead of the pellet. Three times a week as a midday TREAT (not a substitute for a meal) feed a tiny piece of green pea (frozen or fresh, not canned). Just microwave for about 30-45 seconds or let it defrost, remove the outer shell and cut up the inside into tiny pieces the size of a pellet. Two bites should be plenty. You need to make sure you have her attention and then let the piece sink while she is watching. She will instintively chase it. Once they taste peas they LOOOVE them and you'll have no problem getting her to eat it. Green peas act as a fish laxative and will help keep her system cleaned out. Freeze dried Daphnia in small amounts as a treat are good for protein and fiber too. Bettas need very little food (their tummies are only the size of one eye) but they do need a bit of variety to stay healthy and prevent constipation.
Female Bettas reach an adult size of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches in length. A bit smaller than the males. Their fins get a little bigger (but not as big as the males) and they develop a little more or deeper coloring as they get older and when fed good quality food.

There is a Betta care guide link near the top of the forum here. There you will find all the basics of taking good care of Bettas. Hang out here and ask questions. We are all learning from each other and this is a friendly group always willing to help.
Welcome to you and your little Betta girl!  Let us know how she does.

 

Thanks, a bunch. I am going to a fish store, that I found out was around on the weekend, later today. I was going to get frozen baby brine shrimp, but I'll get the freeze-dried bloodworms instead. So far she is actually schooling with my guppy and there is no damage done to any of my fish so far(knock on wood). The platys I don't have to worry about because they are very energetic little fish that are also extremely fast and hard to catch. I saw her try and go for one of my corys last night after the post but the new corys are very sensitive to movement or go and hide in either the roots of the plants or in holes in the driftwood. She already trusts me and eats right from my fingers(which will be good for the bloodworms).
How often should I feed her the bloodwroms?

She is so beautiful. She has a bright tail, with a body, and with a head and spots along the body. I'll try and get a pic of her when I find my digital camera. Thanks again.
Tom

 

Brine shrimp is a little too rich for a regular food. Live or frozen foods can contain parasites too so I wouldn't risk it.
While you are at the store pick up some HikarI Betta Bio-Gold pellets too. Not all Bettas eat bloodworms. None of mine will touch them. If you can get her to eat both (not at the same time) all the better. She should be fed twice a day. Never feed her whole day's ration all at once.
I'm glad she's getting along with the others. Keep an eye on them though. The trouble usually starts after a few days. She is still new in the tank and hasn't established her territory yet.  I look forward to seeing her pic!

 

Thanks. I went and they had none of the freeze-dried foods, or any of Betta food at all. I had originally gone to see if they had at least 3 lemon tetras(they sold them but were out of stock). I might be going to another pet store later tonight that I phoned and they have some lemon tetras in, so I will look for that food for her. She gets fed 2-3 times a day only because I feed the platys and guppies 2-3 times a day. I have crushed up flake food for them and she eats whatever falls below the surface where the other fish aren't eating. She has made the piece of wood her territory because it has lots of holes from one side to the other and when she isn't schooling with the guppy, she sits and waits to see when I approach to watch them. I found the camera, now I just need to find the cords for the camera to be hooked up to the computer. I thought I knew where they were but I guess my parents moved them.
Tom

 

Congratulations on your little girl, but do be careful if you get the tetras as they are known as fin nippers and can get the bettas fins infected easily.

Rose

 

Congratulations on your little girl, but do be careful if you get the tetras as they are known as fin nippers and can get the bettas fins infected easily.

Rose

Thanks. Sorry for the confusion. The female betta is in my 10 gallon and my tetras are in my 28 gallon.
Tom

 

8) Congratulations on your new addition.  Female Bettas are very cool.  I can't wait to see the pictures.  Have you thought of a name yet? 

CherryRose

 

Have you thought of a name yet?

CherryRose

No, I haven't yet, but I'm thinking. I found the cable, now I just have to hook it up to my comp. and adjust the pic so it will fit. The only problem is, is my camera takes pics that are around 5-6 MB and we need to have less than 400 KB. So it will either turn out really big, or really blurry, or both.
Tom

 

Mike posted this that should help to resize your photos and I believe it is a free service.

Rose

 

Mike posted this that should help to resize your photos and I believe it is a free service.

Rose

If you notice, I am the author of that post. But, I am just going to let atmmachine do it for me.
Tom

 

Lets see how big that is. Two of your photos aren't coming up right of the betta and I'm working on them. All right got it the right size or so, let me know if that's too big.

 

Thank you so much. If you don't mind, I will let you know if there are any more pics I need resized and I will recommend you to other members. You should really go into business lol. ;D
The program I have doesn't do a good job at all. Thanks again.
Tom

 

Sure, Rose does it too. Email them anytime, if there during the week it might take awhile to get them done though. LOL I should put in my sig, resize photos

Nice looking betta by the way, should be proud

 

Thanks. The only problem is that she took over the piece of wood in the 10 gallon and the other fish are a little afraid because she gaurds it so well. She just started to eat from the surface today instead of getting the leftovers form everyone else.
Tom

If anybody can think of a name for her, please let me know.
Tom

 

I use a program called JPEG Sizer.com but it is not free so I hesitate to recommend it to anyone. I will size the pictures of anyone who e-mails them to me however. They must send them to me before the 14th though as I will be gone for a few days after that.

Rose:

 

Still wish I could have a name for her though.
Tom

 

She is precious! You could name her Gem, or Jewell, or maybe Pearl or Opal.

CherryRose

 

jude, rose, blossem, ruby, afrodite

 

Ruby and Rose sound fitting just because of her coloration

anyway it sounds like everyone else who got to this post first covered everthing lol anyway if you need any help with her let us know anyone (or combo of us all) will be more than happy to help

~Inari

 

I think I shall name her Rose, after the 2 great betta keepers that go with the name (Cherryrose and Chickadee).
Tom

 

Wow do I smell a kiss up jm

~inari

 

They have helped me so much so far on this topic other than Phloxface. so, I figured it would be a good idea instead of naming her some other name. Rose also sounds like a good name for her based on coloring anyways.
Tom

 

WOW.... It is an honor. Thank you.

She is lovely.

Rose

 

Thanks.
Tom

 

I, like Rose, am honored to have your lovely girl named after me. You're right, the name does fit her color very well. My little BambI has not decided what color she will be yet, but I am thinking that she may be developing into a rose color herself. LOL

CherryRose ;D