Well It Happened - I Have A Betta!

So, yesterday, I went into a pet store on my way North from where I live... while there, a poor betta caught my eye. At the back of the bottom shelf. The look on his face... I couldn't get him; but, I figured if he was there today on my way home, I would. Well, he was still there. He actually looks better in the pics than he does irl. His fins are so thin, just getting him out of the cup caused tears. There's one area on his fins that's so thin I didn't even notice he had anything left until he was in front of a dark background.

He got a mblue dip during acclimation, then I put him in the 10 gallon that I was thinking of putting my RCS into. (I had already started working on getting it ready for the RCS... inhabitants are no longer MTS, but rather 3 horned nerites, 1 tiger nerite and I just moved my 2 mystery snails into it at the beginning of the week.) Tomorrow I'll be getting it "betta safe" as there are a couple of things in the tank that I need to double check if they will be okay for his fins. I have already turned the heater on and it's up from 76 to 80. Thankfully, most of the red on him is already gone. His overall color is already better, too. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, he does have a couple of torn fins that aren't in the pic.

He seems overwhelmed by the size of the tank. I hope it won't take him long to get used to it. He started out by pressing against the glass in a corner and trying to be very still. Only his little eyes moving. Then, he started to explore, but he'd see a snail move and dart back to the corner, press against the glass and hold very still. He did that many times before he got up the nerve to swim over by the heater. Then, he'd do the same thing from there... start to move, see something, then press himself motionless against the glass. He'd finally get to another spot only to repeat the same. Poor thing.

I hope I can get some pics of him in the tank tomorrow. I think he will end up a beautiful lil fella once he settles in, heals up and his colors come in. I'm excited but kicking myself in the butt at the same time. I still can't believe I did it. I guess it's time to spend money on betta stuff

 

Oh, he’s beautiful! I love those colors. It will take him time to come around but before you know it, he’ll be swimming up to the glass and flapping his little fins at you. Thank you for rescuing him and please keep us updated! Does he have a name yet?

 

He is so pretty!!! I wish you the best of luck with him,

 

Wow glad you got him! He'll heal up in no time with better conditions.

 

Good luck! You're gonna be a great betta owner!

 

Sounds like he's in the best of hands. He looks amazing from the photos. Good luck!

 

Good job saving the little guy, same thing happened to me and Sean Bean, I saw Sean when I went to get crickets at p-smart, and I don't know what happened but we had an immediate connection, I couldn't leave him there and now he's become my mascot

 

Guess he'll have a betta life now!


Sorry... that jokes old.

 

No name, yet. If I named him right now, it'd be something like Bashful (Snow White) cuz he sure is. But, since that's just temporary, I'll wait a lil bit and see what name seems to fit.

I wanted to get some better pics, but he's still staying really close to the glass. He's hid behind stuff and peeked at me, checked out a snail... But... He did come out once, and I was able to get a cpl pics.

 

No name, yet. If I named him right now, it'd be something like Bashful (Snow White) cuz he sure is. But, since that's just temporary, I'll wait a lil bit and see what name seems to fit.

I wanted to get some better pics, but he's still staying really close to the glass. He's hid behind stuff and peeked at me, checked out a snail... But... He did come out once, and I was able to get a cpl pics.

View attachment 476358 View attachment 476359 View attachment 476360 View attachment 476361

He’s coloring up beautifully!

 

Thank you! I think so, too!

He looked pretty plain next to all the colorful bettas they had. He looked more grey and white in the store. Next to all the jewel toned guys, he was ugly, tbh... but, now he's looking turquoise and he's beautiful. (I'm excited to see how his colors end up!) His expression isn't so sad, either.

I'm putting the mystery snails back into my 55 today. He is starting to show way too much interest in them, and I don't want him to bite off their antennae.

He still runs and hides when we move around the room. But, he's testing how safe his tank is more and more. That's good. Maybe by the end of the weekend he'll feel safe enough to actually swim around the tank.

I tried to feed him this morning, but he's hiding so much he never saw the food. I'll wait until he feels comfortable enough to be out in the open so I don't end up fouling his water trying to get him to eat.

----------------------

By the way, is there anything special I need to do to make his fins "thicker" or will that just happen on its own with good food and good water?

 

Thank you! I think so, too!



----------------------

By the way, is there anything special I need to do to make his fins "thicker" or will that just happen on its own with good food and good water?

That will happen over time, just make sure the food is a good quality one

 

So for a name I'm thinking maybe Meco...

Short for Meconopsis - his fins kind of remind me of some of the Himalayan Blue Poppies... here's an example:

https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Meconopsis-4-768x1024.jpg

 

Well, I've had Meco a week now. He started eating Monday, which was great! But he still hid when I'd get close to the tank. But, by Wednesday, he was greeting me.



So, out of curiosity, what type of betta do I have? Color/pattern/tail type

His cup said twin tail halfmoon.




He hasn't flared, yet. I am hoping to get him to flare so I can get his tail nice and full in a pic. This is about as good as I can get.

 

Looks good!!!

 

He looks amazing ! I’ve looked everywhere for a betta like yours but can’t find any.

 

He looks amazing ! I’ve looked everywhere for a betta like yours but can’t find any.

In just 1 week he looks very different than he did at the store. I got him because he just looked soooo sad. But, he is turning out to be a good looking boy! I hope you can find one!

 

Not twin tail, from what o can see. Looks like a delta tail

 

I vote rosetail.. I have one like it in pic but I love your coloring!

 

I am thinking rosetail, too, but I sure don't trust my limited knowledge! My guess is pastel grizzled rosetail.

Your boy is beautiful!

 

I do believe he is a double tailed halfmoon, possible rosetail (which is just extensive ray splitting in a HM). See how long his dorsal is? You will never see a single tailed betta with a dorsal that long. Look at his tail near the base of the fin, where it is still meaty. You should be able to see how his spine splits in two as he is a lighter colored fish. Plus the tail fin will have two separate lobes.

 

I do believe he is a double tailed halfmoon, possible rosetail (which is just extensive ray splitting in a HM). See how long his dorsal is? You will never see a single tailed betta with a dorsal that long. Look at his tail near the base of the fin, where it is still meaty. You should be able to see how his spine splits in two as he is a lighter colored fish. Plus the tail fin will have two separate lobes.

Ah! Yes! I see! Very informative! The care of the betta is one thing, but I have a LOT to learn about telling the differences in the types of colors/patterns and tails!! Thank you!

 

My new silk plants came in and the moss and moss balls for the tank are in QT. I want to get some anubias nana petite for the tank, too.

I spent two hours filing rough spots on the castle, but still need to add the plastic canvas to the inside, since I can't reach everywhere in there. Plan to do that tomorrow.

The rock passes the pantyhose test, but it still makes me nervous. I like the color, but I will probably swap it out for a rounder one.

Here's how Meco's tank looks at the moment.

 

My new silk plants came in and the moss and moss balls for the tank are in QT. I want to get some anubias nana petite for the tank, too.

I spent two hours filing rough spots on the castle, but still need to add the plastic canvas to the inside, since I can't reach everywhere in there. Plan to do that tomorrow.

The rock passes the pantyhose test, but it still makes me nervous. I like the color, but I will probably swap it out for a rounder one.

Here's how Meco's tank looks at the moment.

View attachment 479420

My betta, Blue,loves to rest on the anubias leaves. Also,he really cares for the Indian almond leaves, that I put in his tank. He uses then as a blanket or hammock,always hanging out,where the leaves are...

 

very nice

 

I would say he’s a halfmoon delta, or super delta. Likely a super delta. I wouldn’t say rose tail because they usually have loads more fin, which is why they’re often tail bitters (a lot of people don’t think they should be bred to have such long, flowing fins because they weigh them down and stress the fish out, hence why they try to bite as much as they can off). He’s beautiful though! good find!

 

Meco has learned to swim through a hoop and we are working towards a jump. This all started because hubby was on vacation last week, and I'd tell him every morning to talk to and wave at Meco throughout the day. He'd give me a look and say that fish don't care what people do. So, I told him that they do, and especially "personable" fishes. Then, I opened my mouth and said people even teach bettas to do tricks. Like what? he said unbelievingly. Like jump through a hoop! I retorted. And, so, now... to prove that Meco wants to interact with people and isn't just a dumb little fish, we are working on the hoop jump.

He is actually doing quite well with it, and picked it up really quickly. 1st day, he would go halfway through the hoop. Day 2 he was willingly and happily going right through it! So now. I'm just making it shallower each day. Today, he really had to shimmy through as it's everything but out of the water!

The more I do with him, the more he seems to enjoy it. He has even chosen the leaf closest to my bed to sleep on. Little suck-up! Hehehe

He waits until I get in bed, then swims up on his leaf, and stares at me. ... Well, it's not like he can close his eyes!!!

 

So, yesterday, I went into a pet store on my way North from where I live... while there, a poor betta caught my eye. At the back of the bottom shelf. The look on his face... I couldn't get him; but, I figured if he was there today on my way home, I would. Well, he was still there. He actually looks better in the pics than he does irl. His fins are so thin, just getting him out of the cup caused tears. There's one area on his fins that's so thin I didn't even notice he had anything left until he was in front of a dark background.

He got a mblue dip during acclimation, then I put him in the 10 gallon that I was thinking of putting my RCS into. (I had already started working on getting it ready for the RCS... inhabitants are no longer MTS, but rather 3 horned nerites, 1 tiger nerite and I just moved my 2 mystery snails into it at the beginning of the week.) Tomorrow I'll be getting it "betta safe" as there are a couple of things in the tank that I need to double check if they will be okay for his fins. I have already turned the heater on and it's up from 76 to 80. Thankfully, most of the red on him is already gone. His overall color is already better, too. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, he does have a couple of torn fins that aren't in the pic.

He seems overwhelmed by the size of the tank. I hope it won't take him long to get used to it. He started out by pressing against the glass in a corner and trying to be very still. Only his little eyes moving. Then, he started to explore, but he'd see a snail move and dart back to the corner, press against the glass and hold very still. He did that many times before he got up the nerve to swim over by the heater. Then, he'd do the same thing from there... start to move, see something, then press himself motionless against the glass. He'd finally get to another spot only to repeat the same. Poor thing.

I hope I can get some pics of him in the tank tomorrow. I think he will end up a beautiful lil fella once he settles in, heals up and his colors come in. I'm excited but kicking myself in the butt at the same time. I still can't believe I did it. I guess it's time to spend money on betta stuff

View attachment 476235

Pretty baby