Suddenly have a rescued Betta...

So today, rather yesterday now, I was at a family cookout for the 4th of July when my nephew turned to me and asked me to take his betta fish off his hands. He didn't like the fact that it wasn't eating Gogurt... Trust me, this hurts me on so many levels, for the fish, for my nephew, for my sister.

When I picked up the betta I was shocked to see not only was it alive, but what a horrible condition his vase was in. I couldn't even see the fish through the disgusting cloud in the water. I borrowed a mason jar from my sister and took the last of their water conditioner so I could transport the little guy home in clean water. The water was so nasty that it made me vomit. Just rotting candy and trash.

So this is how I have suddenly gained a betta fish. Right now he is currently getting used to his new home, a 10 gallon quarantine tank. A massive upgrade from his vase he has spent the last 4 months in.

So here is the thing, I don't even know what kind of betta he is. I also know he looks like his colors are good to me, but I really can't tell. So any help would be greatly appreciated. Tips for having a betta and should I not get too attached seeing the horrible state I found him in?

 

Vetail or Dragon scale is my guess but I'm not an expert some might have the right species but these are my 2 guesses.

 

That's a Male Veiltail Betta. He actually looks remarkably healthy despite living in a vase for a while. Keep an eye out for columnaris, and fin rot. However, I'm seeing neither of these diseases currently so that's good.

 

That's a Male Veiltail Betta. He actually looks remarkably healthy despite living in a vase for a while. Keep an eye out for columnaris, and fin rot. However, I'm seeing neither of these diseases currently so that's good.

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out on those. I was very shocked to see him in such a good shape when I got him out of that water.

 

Definitely looks like a veiltail dragon scale betta he looks to be in really great condition considering what he was living in! The clean water will likely bring him back to 100% in no time.

 

He actually looks really good. Love the shade of blue that he is.

 

He is exploring his tank a lot today. The only thing that seems weird about him right now is he his flapping his little fins like a hummingbird. I assume that means he is stressed still yet, because my guppies do this when I clean their tank or do water changes.

 

He is exploring his tank a lot today. The only thing that seems weird about him right now is he his flapping his little fins like a hummingbird. I assume that means he is stressed still yet, because my guppies do this when I clean their tank or do water changes.

My betta fish would do that too. Little did I know it was because those fins were practically gone. Clean water does wonders for that. But maybe try dosing 1/2 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon of water he's in. That will help with stress, fin growth, and gill health.

Here's a picture to see the before and after of my betta's fins. I thought his little dances were cute, until I realized it was just him struggling to get around.

 

My betta fish would do that too. Little did I know it was because those fins were practically gone. Clean water does wonders for that. But maybe try dosing 1/2 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon of water he's in. That will help with stress, fin growth, and gill health.

Here's a picture to see the before and after of my betta's fins. I thought his little dances were cute, until I realized it was just him struggling to get around.

Thank you so much! I can see that now with the pictures you've provided. I'll add some aquarium salt to his tank as soon as I get home.

 

I have nothing to add to his fin condition, but in a nutshell, bettas prefer filtration and water heated to 76-80 degrees. Don't know the temp of the slop he came out of but bettas can be sluggish in water under 76 or so. Feed sparingly. They are typically little piggies. I have had success with a quality pellet and I soak them in tank water before I feed - just 30 seconds or so until they are hydrated. I feed 2 pellets am and pm, with a fast day once a week.

Sounds like you already have fish and know about cycling. A betta with good filtration in a tank that size needs only small water changes. Careful with decor- choose silk over plastic, nothing rough, but live plants are always better IMO. Despite their aggressive nature, they like a cave or plants to hide/hang out in.

Note that bettas have a labyrinth organ, meaning they have adapted to breathe air from the surface. It might explain how this little trooper survived.

I have 4 bettas all in 10 gallon tanks (one per tank). If you can keep him there he would be very happy! They don't always make great community fish, YMMV.

What a wonderful thing you have done taking in this little guy. Keep us posted on his progress! Bettas can withstand horrible conditions but wow, he must be in heaven on earth. Let's keep him there!

 

He actually looks really good. Love the shade of blue that he is.

Me too, especially with the black head, or is it just a really darker blue?

 

I have nothing to add to his fin condition, but in a nutshell, bettas prefer filtration and water heated to 76-80 degrees. Don't know the temp of the slop he came out of but bettas can be sluggish in water under 76 or so. Feed sparingly. They are typically little piggies. I have had success with a quality pellet and I soak them in tank water before I feed - just 30 seconds or so until they are hydrated. I feed 2 pellets am and pm, with a fast day once a week.

Sounds like you already have fish and know about cycling. A betta with good filtration in a tank that size needs only small water changes. Careful with decor- choose silk over plastic, nothing rough, but live plants are always better IMO. Despite their aggressive nature, they like a cave or plants to hide/hang out in.

Note that bettas have a labyrinth organ, meaning they have adapted to breathe air from the surface. It might explain how this little trooper survived.

I have 4 bettas all in 10 gallon tanks (one per tank). If you can keep him there he would be very happy! They don't always make great community fish, YMMV.

What a wonderful thing you have done taking in this little guy. Keep us posted on his progress! Bettas can withstand horrible conditions but wow, he must be in heaven on earth. Let's keep him there!

Oh yeah they are tough. Long ago, while in college, the girl in the room across from mine let her little betta bowl get flat nasty, couldn't see the poor thing. She came over, said "Well he died, I threw him in the trash in the kitchen." About 45 mins later, I cooked my dinner, opened the trash can to toss my remnants and low and behold, there he lay, on a bed of pinto beans. Still breathing. I rushed him into a clean bowl of water, took her empty bowl and split the water from my betta with him. Gave him to my sister a week later, he lived two more years. lol

 

I'm going to bet he thrives in that new abode.

That said, I think you should name him Gaynor. As in Gloria. Or maybe GG for short Okay, so she's a she and you're probably too young to know the song, but it seems to fit him!

Hoping I can post the link:

 

Good on you for saving your new betta from the horror and indignity of force-fed Gogurt! No fish should have to deal with that.

Most of everything I was going to mention has already been covered upthread, but here are some things you can think about with regards to keeping quality of life high for your new betta buddy:
* Put some knickknacks around the tank for him to look at, and move them around once a week or so. Other betta owners use books or magazines, and turn pages once a day or so.
* Make sure there's a place in the tank near the surface he can lie down at and sip air from. Betta leaf hammocks are popular (I ended up taking out both of mine since the plastic started to smell funny) for this, but I use live plants and decorations instead.
* Limit the amount of bright light your betta gets. They might get stressed out from too much direct light (I guess it makes them feel exposed?) and that can cause fin-nipping.
* If your betta starts fin-nipping for some reason, you can try using API Stress Coat+. It works as a water conditioner and also is said to help heal damaged fins and calm fish down. I don't know how true those claims are, but it's worked for me when my delta tail nips his tail. (of course, keep up with water changes and check your parameters, don't just toss Stress Coat+ in there).

And regarding the hummingbird fin-flapping... I can't speak for all bettas, but my crowntail does the pectoral fin flappy motion whenever he sees me after I come home from work, or when I make faces at him. My delta tail only does that when I wave the food container in front of him at feeding time and almost never gets excited otherwise, because he is a lazy loaf of fish.

 

I've got Henry the 8th, a murderous crown tail who is very finflappy, especially as he sits by my kitchen sink and always thinks I am cooking for him. Mikey, a halfmoon, just cruises his tank, keeping peaches the swordtail in her place, ignoring the corys lol.

 

I have nothing to add to his fin condition, but in a nutshell, bettas prefer filtration and water heated to 76-80 degrees. Don't know the temp of the slop he came out of but bettas can be sluggish in water under 76 or so. Feed sparingly. They are typically little piggies. I have had success with a quality pellet and I soak them in tank water before I feed - just 30 seconds or so until they are hydrated. I feed 2 pellets am and pm, with a fast day once a week.

Sounds like you already have fish and know about cycling. A betta with good filtration in a tank that size needs only small water changes. Careful with decor- choose silk over plastic, nothing rough, but live plants are always better IMO. Despite their aggressive nature, they like a cave or plants to hide/hang out in.

Note that bettas have a labyrinth organ, meaning they have adapted to breathe air from the surface. It might explain how this little trooper survived.

I have 4 bettas all in 10 gallon tanks (one per tank). If you can keep him there he would be very happy! They don't always make great community fish, YMMV.

What a wonderful thing you have done taking in this little guy. Keep us posted on his progress! Bettas can withstand horrible conditions but wow, he must be in heaven on earth. Let's keep him there!

Thanks! I'm thinking about getting some floating plants for him. From what I can see they tend to live in and around roots.

Me too, especially with the black head, or is it just a really darker blue?

His head is indeed black.

Oh yeah they are tough. Long ago, while in college, the girl in the room across from mine let her little betta bowl get flat nasty, couldn't see the poor thing. She came over, said "Well he died, I threw him in the trash in the kitchen." About 45 mins later, I cooked my dinner, opened the trash can to toss my remnants and low and behold, there he lay, on a bed of pinto beans. Still breathing. I rushed him into a clean bowl of water, took her empty bowl and split the water from my betta with him. Gave him to my sister a week later, he lived two more years. lol

That's nuts! I guy I watch on YouTube has gotten a few shipments of fish in where some of the betta had no water in their cups and have survived. I just can't believe how tough these guys are.

 

I'm going to bet he thrives in that new abode.

That said, I think you should name him Gaynor. As in Gloria. Or maybe GG for short Okay, so she's a she and you're probably too young to know the song, but it seems to fit him!

Hoping I can post the link:

Ha! I would have had I not already named him Hank, as in Hank McCoy Beast from X-Men.

Good on you for saving your new betta from the horror and indignity of force-fed Gogurt! No fish should have to deal with that.

Most of everything I was going to mention has already been covered upthread, but here are some things you can think about with regards to keeping quality of life high for your new betta buddy:
* Put some knickknacks around the tank for him to look at, and move them around once a week or so. Other betta owners use books or magazines, and turn pages once a day or so.
* Make sure there's a place in the tank near the surface he can lie down at and sip air from. Betta leaf hammocks are popular (I ended up taking out both of mine since the plastic started to smell funny) for this, but I use live plants and decorations instead.
* Limit the amount of bright light your betta gets. They might get stressed out from too much direct light (I guess it makes them feel exposed?) and that can cause fin-nipping.
* If your betta starts fin-nipping for some reason, you can try using API Stress Coat+. It works as a water conditioner and also is said to help heal damaged fins and calm fish down. I don't know how true those claims are, but it's worked for me when my delta tail nips his tail. (of course, keep up with water changes and check your parameters, don't just toss Stress Coat+ in there).

And regarding the hummingbird fin-flapping... I can't speak for all bettas, but my crowntail does the pectoral fin flappy motion whenever he sees me after I come home from work, or when I make faces at him. My delta tail only does that when I wave the food container in front of him at feeding time and almost never gets excited otherwise, because he is a lazy loaf of fish.

I'd forgotten about betta hammocks! Thanks! I'm definitely gonna find something that he can use. Right now his tank has two terracotta pots in it. One on its side and another I cut a hole in the side and turned it upside down for a cave (careful to make sure I sanded down any sharp edges). So I'll be getting him more decorations this weekend when I make the hour long trip to Petco. I might get a picture book of nebulae to put behind his tank. Thanks again!

 

I'm going to bet he thrives in that new abode.

That said, I think you should name him Gaynor. As in Gloria. Or maybe GG for short Okay, so she's a she and you're probably too young to know the song, but it seems to fit him!

Hoping I can post the link:

You might be suprised, but 70% of my Colleages (20something year olds) listen to smoothfm, me included. smoothfm is a radio cahnnel that plays 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s

 

Ha! I would have had I not already named him Hank, as in Hank McCoy Beast from X-Men.

Well that is a fabulous name - he totally looks like a Hank and the colours are perfect.

Hour long trip to Petco, yikes. Hank is one lucky fish. If they have them and you don't mind tannins in the water, I've always found my boys love Indian Almond Leaf. It's reputed to have medicinal properties as well.

 

I've got Henry the 8th, a murderous crown tail who is very finflappy, especially as he sits by my kitchen sink and always thinks I am cooking for him. Mikey, a halfmoon, just cruises his tank, keeping peaches the swordtail in her place, ignoring the corys lol.

Yeah well, Sunny the platy wasn't laughing when Henry had him by the tail dragging him around. I thought it was though, after I bopped Henry on the head to make him let go, then went and readied a holding tank for him.

 

Well that is a fabulous name - he totally looks like a Hank and the colours are perfect.

Hour long trip to Petco, yikes. Hank is one lucky fish. If they have them and you don't mind tannins in the water, I've always found my boys love Indian Almond Leaf. It's reputed to have medicinal properties as well.

I'll have to check when I'm there. It's really hard to tell what they have. Their freshwater fish section is very limited on supplies, so I might just have to hit up Amazon. I really don't mind the the water being colored a bit. My guppy tank has a hunk of wood in it and I like the color.

Yeah well, Sunny the platy wasn't laughing when Henry had him by the tail dragging him around. I thought it was though, after I bopped Henry on the head to make him let go, then went and readied a holding tank for him.

I'd say! That would be a horrifying experience.