Red bettas

I bought a new betta after mine died after having him for 9 years I bought a new male betta he is red with a white tipped fins and blue flex in his tail but I have only one problem Fluffy Lord of the Bowl will not allow me to clean his bowl he attacks me at feeding times and lets just say i'm tired of buying nets for him what can ido to calm him down besides changing food light temp and area ???

 

If you have a cup that you could reserve just for him (and clean in hot water after each use), a cup is how we scoop up our bettas when we have to remove them from their tanks. Bettas are terrritorial and he probably feels the whole bowl is his territory.. lol, a 10 gallon tank can be 'his territory' when it comes to bettas. one of ours, likes to nip at me some when I clean his 10 gallon tank. I think Fluffy Lord of the Bowl is one of the more high-spirited Bettas.

 

He likes to be petted but I don't know what his problem is people tell me when I stick my finger on top of the water he thinks it food could this be possibility? when I pet him its when hes not in his bowl :-\

 

Bettas will go after a finger at the top of the water like it's food sometimes and give some nips. I've not pet our bettas since it removes their slime coating.

 

Sounds like you might just have an undercover vampire betta living in your tank j/k

 

You do not need a new net each time you net him. Just get a large jar and keep the net in it. When you need to use it, afterwards just rinse it in very hot water (never use soap or any cleaner on it) and put it back in the jar and it will be ready for next time. You also do not need to remove him from the tank to change the water. You should not remove more than half of the water at a time so he can stay in the tank and you can take the water out and carefully pour new water in while he remains in the tank.

It is okay to put your finger in the water (only if it has no soap, perfume, new nail polish, or any hand creams or lotions and is clean) and allow him to come up and rub on you but you should not pet or rub him as he knows how to touch you without damaging himself but you may, as has been mentioned, upset the balance of his normal slime coat or cause a small scratch or dislodge scales that would leave him open for infections. Some people just cup their hand in the tank and let their fish swim into their hand and lay there for a bit. Not all bettas want this closeness and should not be encouraged to do it if they do not show the desire to do it on their own.

Rose

 

If he is living in a bowl he is probably aggressive because he is crowded and bored. He should have a minimum 3 gallons, preferably 5 or more gallon tank.

 

well fluffy gets pretty aggressive when I clean his bowl that's why I have to remove him from the bowl and the net has plenty of holes in it and I feel sorry for the net because of him I found a way to help him with his aggression I put live small feeders in with him and he has fun chasing and eating his bowl is a 1 and a half gallonbowl so its pretty nice sized ;D

 

The problem is that bettas need to have filtered and heated water and bowls are not usually designed to accommodate this. One and a half gallons is just not enough room and you would be so surprised to see the difference in his behavior if you put him in some more room and gave him enough room to move and have more fun in. They become more like little kids and develop better personalities and just become more fun to watch. Eventually the betta you keep in the bowl will become depressed and spend very little time actually swimming and moving about and shortly die. A betta will die without moving about and keeping active. I know that pet stores try to make a point that you can keep a betta in little water and I have even had arguments with salespeople who tried to tell me that they could live in a mud puddle, but these lovely creatures we own now have NEVER lived in a mud puddle and they bear NO resemblance to the creatures who are related to them distantly who have done this. They and their recent ancestors have been born and bred in good conditions and cared for well until they hit the petstores and are put in the awful cups. The breeders for the most part who do this professionally treat them well as this is their income and they want the fish to turn out well. It is work to raise a beautiful fish and they do make it a way of life. It is the pet store that makes them a cheap piece of fish flesh and just wants to sell them so they try to make them attractive by making people believe they do not need to provide anything for their care. This is not true. Bettas are not cheap fish to keep correctly. They need EVERYTHING that any other TROPICAL fish needs to survive and that includes everything you see the others living with in the tanks in the petstores. The treatment that the bettas receive is abusive and nothing less.

I am not trying to beat up on you but you have obviously been given bad information from somewhere and that is why you have problems with your fish and will continue to have more problems. I hope that you will read the Guide to Betta Care at the beginning of this part of the forum and get information from the wonderful members who have tried to help you here as they have given you excellent advice. May you and your fish do well.
Welcome and I do wish you well.

Rose

 

I have now removed fluffy from his small bowl and put him in with two other fish named louie and lestat he is very happy and although had a problem with the crab but now is completely worked out fluffy and the other fish are happy and enjoy their expensive diet of blood worms krill shrimp andtheir tropical diet

 

I have now removed fluffy from his small bowl and put him in with two other fish named louie and lestat he is very happy and although had a problem with the crab but now is completely worked out fluffy and the other fish are happy and enjoy their expensive diet of blood worms krill shrimp andtheir tropical diet

Aww, what a lucky betta!!! I am certain you will see his true personality now that he has such a nice home! It is such good news every time I hear that one of these wonderful fish has a really good place to live. We will look forward to hearing about his antics

--R

 

I bought a new betta after mine died after having him for 9 years I bought a new male betta he is red with a white tipped fins and blue flex in his tail but I have only one problem Fluffy Lord of the Bowl will not allow me to clean his bowl he attacks me at feeding times and lets just say i'm tired of buying nets for him what can ido to calm him down besides changing food light temp and area ???

I am really sorry about your betta. But 9 years? You must have been doing something right! That sounds really amazing. Am sure the new one will live just as long withat that sort of care.

 

fluffy is very happy swims around the tank thinking he owns everything but hes very funny chases his little feedres arround and the tank playing cat and mouse with them

 

Aaaaaw. That's good to hear.

 

Gave fluffy some feeder fish to satisfy his vampiric fish lifestyle killed three ate 3 left the other for the crab but hes doing so much better lives with other fish and doesn't fight won't attack the net anymore when I go to change out water or put feedrs in hes so much happier and his fins are so much brighter and bigger

 

Just don't overdo it with the live food.  Bettas need variety in their diet to stay healthy. He will need some green pea once or twice a week and some pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, Daphnia etc. I'd be worried about diseases with live food and also him overeating. The only feeder fish I've ever seen are goldfish and minnows. Both are much too big for a Betta to eat. What kind of fish are you feeding him? Six or seven fish for him to potentially eat is a recipe for disaster. Bettas do not need to chase and kill their food in order to be happy.

 

I bought a new betta after mine died after having him for 9 years I bought a new male betta he is red with a white tipped fins and blue flex in his tail but I have only one problem Fluffy Lord of the Bowl will not allow me to clean his bowl he attacks me at feeding times and lets just say i'm tired of buying nets for him what can ido to calm him down besides changing food light temp and area ???

I am really sorry about your betta. But 9 years? You must have been doing something right! That sounds really amazing. Am sure the new one will live just as long withat that sort of care.

Actually, this abnormally long lifespan may have had something to do with the cooler temperatures that the fish was being kept at. We usually keep our bettas at tropical temperatures to help their immune systems and keep them happy and active. However, there have been many scientific studies that show that lowering water temperature by a few degrees can actually increase the lifespan of a fish -- sometimes dramatically. Scientists have been studying this phenomenon since the 1960s and 70s -- if you can find them, check out the Liu and Walford papers on Cynolebias bellottii, or Valenzano et al on Nothobranchius furzeri.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying we should all throw away our heaters or anything! It's just an interesting phenomenon. I'm not sure how it works either, other than that the colder water slows the growth rates -- unfortunately, I'm a botanist and not a zoologist.

Good luck with Fluffy!

 

I kept my old betta at a constant temp of 65 it kept him active and he lived long have you tried using betta basic for your little friends it helps keep the fish active and you won't have to worry about over dosing them on the other stuff it kept my old betta alive and healthy

 

I kept my old betta at a constant temp of 65 it kept him active and he lived long have you tried using betta basic for your little friends it helps keep the fish active and you won't have to worry about over dosing them on the other stuff it kept my old betta alive and healthy

why don't u answer peoples questions. what fish do you keep with ur betta (lestat, whT FISH IS THIS) and what feeder fish are you feeding him.. not meaning to come down hard on you but they're just questions.. people wrote a lot for you.

 

the fish I keep with him are black moors and the feeders are baby guppies but now that I keep the tank full of them he don't mess with them any more his aggression has gone away since I put him in a bigger tank (10 gal) he actualy gets along with the leopard puffers which are fresh water there are cray fish and a red ear slider with him and hes perfectly fine with all of them if there are other questiond on how I manage this many with him feel free to ask

 

You're kidding? He enjoys the company of others? That sounds great.

 

your able to keep all those fish including a leopard puffer?! with him? wow

 

It would not be that he is okay with them that I would worry about, SombreDesir.  The problem is liable to be whether they will end up taking advantage of him.  You will be likely to wake up someday and find a dead betta.  It may not happen today or tomorrow but I am thinking it will happen with that combination.

Rose

 

red ear slider? as in a turtle? Rose is right and the puffers are territorial like Bettas. although i'd expect the slider to eat them all.

 

Waaw, I only just got that: red ear turtle? It is really great if that indeed works out and they all get on. Would be amazing but, is it even possible? Haven't all your creatures started to predate on each other?

 

I have now removed the turtle and got rid of him he was having to many health problems I gave him to a biologist the puffers are no bigger than a half inch they get along pretty well with the rest of them they all are pretty godd about each other they have their own hiding places and st ay out of each others way

 

Glad you removed the turtle. I have to agree though that puffers are not good community fish, especially in that small of a tank. In fact, some puffers will kill each other once they get big enough. They also need special diets, I believe. I'd do some research on your puffers' individual needs (sorry I can't give you more info on them, but I don't know much about puffers) and give them their own tank. Same goes with the crayfish...I think they will eat fish. The Mollies may or may not get along with the Betta. I am very glad that you moved your Betta into a tank but you also need to make sure he is compatable with the other fish.

 

fluffy has been gettin along with the others he is pretty good little guy the crayfish are gone now gave them to a friend and the puffers will only get an inch and they eat what the betta does

 

Glad to hear they're doing well. Just do keep an eye on them and separate them if you see any kind of aggression.

 

No matter what I did by seperating the fish and left fluffy in with the gold fish louie the black moor turned ate his fellow commrad of the same species and ste fluffy before I can even separate them so I flushed louie and have a tad pole but I have a crown tail in his own 10 gal because i'm scared of what might happen to him he's called sprite because of his unusual white pattern and blueish green color got him 0n 6-21-07 when my daughter was born

 

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Did you not read the tons of advice here about what tank mates are compatible with Bettas?

 

I am sorry to hear you lost your Betta, but why did you add to the deaths by flushing the goldfish? Flushing is a very inhumane way for a fish to die...they may live for days in the disgusting sewer. Anyway, goldfish are big fish and big fish eat little fish...that's just the way it is. If you put a little fish with a big fish and the little one gets eaten, you can't really blame it on the big fish and it certainly does not warrant killing him!

I am glad to hear you are giving Sprite a tank of his own. If you ever want to keep a Betta with other fish again, please do some research on the other fish's size, temperment, and compatability, or feel free to ask about it here. That way you will prevent any more deaths from occuring.

 

Sorry but no matter how long your first Betta lived from what I have just read I personally don't think you should be fish keeping at all !!

 

I don't understand why you'd flush any fish, much less a healthy one. his aggression was brought on by your not taking the advice given you that could've had all the fish alive and well now. please read up on Bettas and if you feel the need to have fish with the Betta, Otos and Corys are the most compatible fish.

 

I did research on my black moor he wasn't all there when I flushed him he had an eye missing ffrom the bettta trying to keep himself alive and the black moor was not even an inch maybe .4 but i'm happy to report that Sprite has a female friend now 7 up she has beautiful coloring pink and purple before I do something stupid again I need some advice about tadpole and craw fish they are currently in their own tanks afraid to socialize them the tadpole is an actual leopard frog I am setting up his habitat with half and half lan is there any problem of me putting a male anfd female betta together ???

 

You absolutely can not put male/female, male/male/ or even female/female together at all in one tank unless it's a 10 gal. tank and you divide it with a divider. It is in their nature to fight with each other no matter what the sex is and they will either seriously hurt one another or kill each other. Natalie

 

I'll second that, do not put any Bettas together, even a male and a female, or they will kill each other.

 

I went to a fish store today that had 10 gallon or so tank with at least 15 females one male and 10 or so mollies and red bala sharks, the stress those female were showing was horrendous, the male was going crazy. I left the shop in tears.

PLEASE NEVER PUT THESE CREATURES THROUGH ANY NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES.........their time on earth is short enough!!

 

Oh Michelle. There's so many stores like that. Your heart must be often broken by animal abuse. It's so awful that they just don't care and you come across as a know-it-all maniac if you try to say something. :'(

 

when I go to pet stores when I see things like these I tell the owner when they try to give me bs about it I always tell them lookl at caring for bettas they are not like all other fish