Wal-Mart Betta

Last night, I went to Wal-Mart on the way home from work and so the most awful loking, skinny, stress-striped, dark mud brown female betta with ragged-edged fins outlined in black - a sign of fin rot.

So I got her, named her Momo, put her in a heated, lit five gallon with caves and some extraneous plants. Put just a few crystals of salt in the water, some maracyn-2, and Atison's betta spa. And I (over)fed her Sera sinking microgran pellets and a pea treat.

Overnight, she turned red and purple and her fins turned irridescent.

CrAzY change!!!!

After she's fattened up I'm going to donate her to my locally owned (and very fine) fish store so she can find a good home with a hobbyist - I don't have enough room for any more bettas.


(OVERNIGHT CHANGE!! AWESOME!)

 

Very nice! Good save.

 

Makes you wonder where the SPCA is . Even the best store here in my area keeps them in cups! What is there to do?

Land of the Midnight Sun 8)

 

Wow, that is great!! Can't believe they can change that fast!! Way to go!

 

great job saving her. i've found the females really gain color when they get into a happier place than the dirty cups. so many look dull & colorless in the store, but take them hope, care for them and BANG, she's living in color. she must've been so happy to be pampered and spoiled.

 

Um-- Pictures??? I wanna see her-- lol

 

yes, I need to get a camera....

 

That is great I was in a wal mart two months ago and rescued one myself. He is a very beautiful blue but you never would have guessed it in the store.

 

...a few pictures of my newest walmart rescue. His name is Galileo, I got him last Tuesday. His colour has already become more vibrant. Right now Galileo is in a 2.5 gallon minibow aquarium, filtered and heated His fins are a torn, but time and some TLC will heal them.
Enjoy

 

Very cute! I was planning on getting a blue betta also, But I wanted to name mine Isaac Newton! But you have a very pretty, er, handsome betta boy there!

 

aw, galileo is a gorgeous boy!

 

Love the color contrast between body and fins!
Welcome Galileo.

 

Congrats! He's a gorgeous boy.

 

He is a cutie pie

 

thanks everyone! I woke up this morning to find his fins more ripped than they were before. I wonder what happened?? Does anyone know how long it takes for fins to heal?

 

He is a very pretty steel blue boy!

 

thanks everyone! I woke up this morning to find his fins more ripped than they were before. I wonder what happened?? Does anyone know how long it takes for fins to heal?

Hmmm... if he doesn't have fin rot it shouldn't take long (see my "I'm weak" thread). Is he by himself in the tank? Is there anything he could catch his fins on?

 

He is stunning! Congrats!

 

I have posted some pictures on betta photos but I think I should introduce myself here. I have a betta that we named SushI and has tons of personality.

I bought him from Wal-Mart or rather saved him from Wal-Mart's Death Cup. A couple weeks back, Wal-Mart had a lot of male & female bettas in their store (VTs and CTs) and every time I went there, I'd go look and I am there couple days a week just to admire at how beautiful they are. Another 2-3 weeks down the road, a lot of them were sold and all the females were sold. There were 3 male CT bettas left and I went to look at them every time I was there. There was 1 betta that always caught my attention. He always stare at me and his mouth moving as if he was trying to say something to me each time I saw him! I thought that was rather freaky. I had 2 tanks sitting at home but didn't plan to get a fish anytime soon as we just moved.

Finally one day, I said maybe if he is still here the next time, I'd buy him...and he was still there but he was rather weak and looked sick by this time round and I knew I couldn't leave him there..I bought him regardless and he healed pretty quickly under some care. There are still 2 more male CTs in Wal-Mart currently and my heart breaks each time I see them but I can't buy 2 more .

I have spent days decorating his home with driftwood, Java Moss and nice smooth stone and sand and am soaking some Dwarf Lilly and Aponogeton bulbs waiting for it to sprout so that I can plant them. I also made the aquarium background decor myself. SushI checked every inch of the background picture out when I put it up. It was funny to watch and I think he approves it lol.

Here is Sushi, already building bubble nest in his 10 gallon tank. Picture quality is bad because I used my camera phone; will try to get better quality pictures next round. He keeps staring at my camera phone when I was taking picture so his face is always staring at the camera!

I really love my little big guy, SushI

Edited to add: Can anyone tell me how old is he approximately from his face picture? I really want to know.

 

Congrats!!
Bettas sold at chains are generally older 8 months+ so that they have full finnage.

 

SushI is very handsome! He looks to be 6 months plus to me by his finage.

 

He's gorgeous!! Have a blast with him

 

what a gorgeous boy! congrats!

 

HI potter welcome to Fish Lore
Congrats on saving a SushI from the deathcup and giving him a mansion to live in.
He's a gorgeous boy.

 

He is very pretty!!..He looks like he's loving his own place. Congrads on saving the little guy.

 

He is totally enjoying his new space. He is swimming back and forth, up and down non-stop and is totally a show off when you watch him.

 

you could divide your tank if you want to get one of the others still there but anyway hes a georgus boy and I hope he lives a nice long life. ;D

 

you could divide your tank if you want to get one of the others still there but anyway hes a georgus boy and I hope he lives a nice long life. ;D

Thanks. I hope so too. One is enough for now. As much as I would like to bring them home, I don't have the resource to safe too many for now.

 

Oh...that'll change...
I started with one. I now have 11...

 

He looks so cute and happy

 

Can you post a full tank picture for us

 

He's a super looking Betta and I love that face!

 

I love the look on his face..he looks very content in his new home!

 

Oh...that'll change...
I started with one. I now have 11...

Lol..I am afraid you are right. One of them is very sick and still sitting in Wal-Mart today. I just can't stand it anymore and bought him and he is now in my 5 gallon tank but not full water as he has a hard time swimming up to breath. Poor fellow. His colour is very dull, brownish so I am not sure what colour he really is but he looks a little better in terms of colouring compared to when he was in Wal-Mart..well my biggest worry now is he won't make it as his stomach seems abnormally big . I just pray it is not dropsy. He is also not willing to eat but he does he seem like he has a little fight left in him. I sure do hope so . At least he will be more comfortable here.

If something happens to him, I will get a refund to enable me to save more bettas. I know it is bad to buy and that they will restock but if you are the fish, I think you'd wish someone would care . I just can't walk away from a dying fish and not care.

We name him Sashimi...so now we have SushI in my 10 gallon and SashimI in my 5 gallon.

For whatever reason, everyone is buying all the females and the VTs but not the male CTs...maybe because of the price. I hope someone else will at least buy the last CT sigh..

Oh..to hssea, here is a picture of the full tank...camera phone quality though until I can better ones..I am still working on the landscape and more live plants.

 

As I have told my story about getting my first rescue betta from WalMart last week as per this thread

Long story short, I went back to Wal-Mart again today and the 2 male CTs are still there. One is doing well but not the other. He looks really weak and sick and his stomch is really big. He looks like he has dropsy but I am praying not. And his colour, brown...no one is going to buy him I don't think. He is now in my 5 gallon, with not full water to help him come up to breath as he can't even swim all the way up. Poor thing is breaking my heart. He also doesn't want to eat the pea I gave him but I think maybe he is still adapting to the water. If he doesn't make it, I will get a refund for sure because then I can save more bettas but I am praying he will. He deserves to have a home where he can be a fish.

I hope someone sees the last betta there and will buy him . All the VTs were sold and the females, just 2 male CTs left..not sure if it is because of the price or what.

I named him SashimI and I just wanted to open up another thread just for him and hopefully he knows someone cares. Please let me know what else I can do to nurse him back to health other than not putting him in deep water so that he can swim up to breath. He is not willing to eat right now.

I snapped some pictures of him. Here he is. His fin and tail look red now...amazing how fast his colour changed? His body is now pinkish whereas before it was brown. Here he is, introducing Sashimi.

Edited to add: He went in to the cave that I gave him and is peeking out lol. Here are another 2 pictures of him. Why is his tummy so big? Did they overfed him or is it dropsy?

 

poor little guy very very clean water is going to be the best thing for him right now, maybe some soft plants that he can rest on, you might want to get some vitachem for him and soak his food in it to try to get him to eat

 

What a sweet little boy. How nice he now knows love and warm water. I hope you're able to pull him out of this.
Along with Alex's advice, you can also try to soak food in garlic juice, sometimes it act like an appetite enhancer.

Come on Sashimi, we're pulling for you!

 

What a sweet little boy. How nice he now knows love and warm water. I hope you're able to pull him out of this.
Along with Alex's advice, you can also try to soak food in garlic juice, sometimes it act like an appetite enhancer.

Come on Sashimi, we're pulling for you!

Garlic juice? Where do I get that? Do I just cut some garlic and soak it in water and take the juice? I have some garlic sitting around.

 

Put it through a garlic press if you have one, and you should get some juice along with the smashed bits. Or if you don't have a press you could just smash it under a knife or flat surface. Not sure how to get it from the surface to the tank though - wondering that myself as I don't want to buy a whole jar of minced garlic (since I like to mince mine fresh for food) to put a single drop in my little guy's tank.

Good for you for rescuing Sashimi. I like the name as well. Good luck to you both!

 

Put it through a garlic press if you have one, and you should get some juice along with the smashed bits. Or if you don't have a press you could just smash it under a knife or flat surface. Not sure how to get it from the surface to the tank though - wondering that myself as I don't want to buy a whole jar of minced garlic (since I like to mince mine fresh for food) to put a single drop in my little guy's tank.

Good for you for rescuing Sashimi. I like the name as well. Good luck to you both!

Thank you for your reply. I'll see what I can do about the garlic juice. There must be a way to do it.