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The Chronicle of the Betta

The Menagerie
#61

[QUOTE=GotGait;6148488]
I think so. A lot of people buy from Aquabid and are very satisfied. I plan on buying my next Betta from there. Just check the sellers ratings and pick a good one - it’s like EBay.

Meant to add… my Betta is very healthy. I looked at all the Bettas and it was actually a hard choice because they were all pretty lively with good color. He was also only $3.99 compared to the expensive Aquabid fish. ;)[/QUOTE]

the price occurred to me, but then I got to thinking…it’s still only $20 plus. I spend that going out to eat. And the colors are really cool.

do you do the fast/pea thing once a week?

#62

[QUOTE=GotGait;6148413]
The one employee in the fish section did a magical disappearing act (he must have worked at Lowes before) when I started making frowny faces.[/QUOTE]

That’s why you have to trick them into thinking it’s a sale and you’re going to need a fancy aquarium to go with the fish. :smiley:

The Bettas from Aquabid are healthier and come with a guarantee. They generally have a decent life except for the couple days of shipping, unlike the ones at Petco/Petsmart who might live in those cups for months.

Before you run out and get a tank, please read up on cycling and maintaining it. Until you get the hang of things, your pretty new fish may be harmed and some filters have too strong a current for Bettas. A filterless 2.5 gallon tank is a manageable size for you and decent enough space for him. I like Mini Bows or the plain old rectangle glass ones.

#63

[QUOTE=threedogpack;6148500]
the price occurred to me, but then I got to thinking…it’s still only $20 plus. I spend that going out to eat. And the colors are really cool.

do you do the fast/pea thing once a week?[/QUOTE]

No - or rather, not yet for the pea thing. So far I’ve only fed him frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp and I make sure not to over feed. I only feed him once a day and one day a week he gets to fast or just gets one worm. I try to make sure that each shrimp gets a little food too.

He’s learned that when the light goes on in the morning that it’s breakfast time and that the tweezers are totally awesome - I feed him his food with tweezers so I can twitch them and it looks alive. Yes, I have no life. :lol:

#64

[QUOTE=CrazyGuineaPigLady;6148830]
Before you run out and get a tank, please read up on cycling and maintaining it. Until you get the hang of things, your pretty new fish may be harmed and some filters have too strong a current for Bettas. A filterless 2.5 gallon tank is a manageable size for you and decent enough space for him. I like Mini Bows or the plain old rectangle glass ones.[/QUOTE]

I’ve been reading, it’s been very interesting. I probably won’t be getting a fish, or at least for awhile…I truly don’t need any more critters to care for. But thanks for advocating for the fishy.

#65

I am a betta fanatic…I have 2 ten gallons split 3 ways (6 males right there, haha), a male in my cherry barb tank, a male in my honey gourami tank (usually a big no-no, but these particular honeys and betta have been together forever now and no issues, in fact when I bought them from the store they were all in the same tank!), three 2-gallon single female betta setups, a betta sorority tank, and my 5-gallon display tank that was recently vacated when my ancient fancy doubletail passed away. So there will be another betta in there sooner than later probably, too. :lol:

#66

I just skimmed through the entire thread and wanted to add:

For finrot, keep the water pristine and treat with aquarium salt and antibiotics. I am a fan of the Maracyn line of antibiotics. However for very mild fin rot keeping the water pristing and aquarium salt ought to be enough. When you start seeing clear edges, thats regrowth.

I wasn’t following the spinning description in the one post (sorry) but if it IS swim bladder disorder, he’s not in pain and can live a fairly normal life with some accommodations. If he’s a floater, feed him right by his mouth so he can access food easier. Plants that he can brace on to help hold him under are helpful. If he’s a sinker, lower his water level so he can reach the top easier and again feed directly above his head. Again he’s not in pain…his swim bladder is what keeps him buoyant and when it stops working properly you get either a fish that sinks or a fish that floats on it’s side. How’s his color and his breathing…that can tell you a lot. Faded coloration is a sign of illness, and rapid breathing is too.

I’d be careful on Aquabid…the fish are pretty but lots of the sellers aren’t in the US and IMO the site doesn’t get enough traffic to get enough seller ratings to accurately judge how your experience will be. Also for those willing to shell out big bucks on the mustard gas fish…they are actually what’s known as a chocolate colored betta, and they have extreme blue wash, which is actually a big fault in coloration for chocolates. So you can probably find a chocolate show breeder and get one of their culls for much cheaper, and you know it’s going to be healthy. My understanding is mustard gas is actually the name of some breeder’s particular line of fish, and not a recognized color per se.

Eye candy: www.bettatalk.com

#67

GotGait- I think you need to keep this thread alive and continually update it with news about Chips.

#68

[QUOTE=threedogpack;6148462]
new question: do the bettas that get shipped actually survive the shipping? I wonder if it’s worth it to actually start with a healthy fish…[/QUOTE]

I had a rescue betta (um…yes, rescue betta…he’d had a wound and he was rehabbed and adopted by me…) shipped to me in an insulated container with a heat pack via FedEx overnight service, and Paprika arrived a little lethargic but otherwise fine.

#69

[QUOTE=BetterOffRed;6149296]
GotGait- I think you need to keep this thread alive and continually update it with news about Chips.[/QUOTE]

Ah, arm twist! I am really enjoying this thread and everyone’s stories and knowledge. :smiley:

Chips had an exciting day. His polished rocks from livewithnature.net came today. I had read that Bettas like shiny things so I got him some of the large highly polished black stones for his tank. They’re beautiful! I put some in and he checked out each one and followed my hand around the tank. I guess he could see his reflection in them because he stared one rock down and flared at it. He won and moved on to the next one and cocked his head at it like a dog. He made sure each rock knew its place, and thus assured of his superiority, went to take a nap on his favorite leaf.

#70

[QUOTE=shiningwizard255;6149280]

Also for those willing to shell out big bucks on the mustard gas fish…they are actually what’s known as a chocolate colored betta, and they have extreme blue wash, which is actually a big fault in coloration for chocolates. So you can probably find a chocolate show breeder and get one of their culls for much cheaper, and you know it’s going to be healthy. [/QUOTE]

Neat! So, it’s a chocolate and not blue. And is this what it should look like? I can see where the mustard gets its fin color.

http://www.ebetta.com/2007/10/02/betta-spotlight-sweet-chocolate-betta-fish/

I’m really interested to know what colors are acceptable. What about the black and gold “Steelers” fish I linked to earlier?
I’m also into Shiba Inus and have studied coat colors, mis-marks, etc… so I find this stuff fascinating.

Steelers fish must have sold because I can’t find the exact one anymore. The closest I can find is this guy, but the body was more gold/copper:

http://betta1one.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=21&zenid=63e115946637979c5f6e60108bc23cfb

$65!!

#71

Betta breeders. I mean presumably they DO have to exist…but I learn something new every day here.

#72

Check out the International Betta Congress website for the latest info on accepted colors and finnage. Yeah good show bettas can be major $$$$ lol, there are definitely breeders out there! I thought about getting into showing and breeding but I decided to stick with rescue and keeping them as a hobby (years ago I actually belonged to a now defunct, huge online rescue/hobby community - I bet there are more out there for those interested).

Now please realize, my interpretation of accepted colors and faults are just from a hobbyist point of view and I’ll be honest it’s been years since I’ve looked at IBC so my knowledge is probably out of date, but here’s some showing info I know: common color faults are red wash and blue wash. Blue wash on reds and chocolates are common faults, and red wash on white and turquoise bettas is a common fault (but ALL white bettas will redden to some degree with age…my gorgeous DT male was a white betta with black lace on his body, with the tiniest dot of red on his ventral as a young’n, but by the time he died at 5 yrs old he was almost completely red).

Veil tails are genetically the “mutts” of the betta world and are not able to be shown and for breeding purposes are sadly worthless (fine pets, though, I have and have had many!). Veil tail is not an accepted tail type and I can’t imagine that’s changed. Crowntails and combtails used to not be able to be shown - not sure if that is still the case because they have become wildly popular.

Crowntails are considered the most aggressive type of betta.

Bicolor bettas must have clean separation of colors. For example a good butterfly pattern on a betta must be clean with unbroken lines and even spacing. A good red Cambodian must have reddish fins, but no red on the body.

Finnage must be full and perfect, evenly spaced with no tears or holes. A halfmoon must be a perfect full half circle, for instance.

There are also lots of different types of bettas than just Betta splendens, so you might be interested in checking out the different betta species. Betta macrostoma are really cool-looking.

Welcome to the hobby! :slight_smile:

#73

Yes, that’s what a chocolate looks like. Chocolates are actually my personal favorite, I am a sucker for a nice-looking chocolate. I have four chocolate males and 2 females ATM. :slight_smile:

That black he has on the edges of his fins are an example of what is known as a butterfly pattern on a betta.

#74

I didn’t see Steelers fish but the new fish you linked I am not sure what he’d be considered or if he’d be showable under IBC rules. I think technically he would be considered a bicolor, he definitely has a butterfly pattern, and he’s a halfmoon tail type. Probably some breeder’s personal line they are working on and definitely not common. I dunno if he’s worth $65, though…I really have my doubts he’s acceptable in IBC unless they’ve changed some rules. Never seen one quite like him before, he’s cool-looking…I love his black lips! :slight_smile:

ETA: I did some research and I think that fish is what they are calling a “black dragon” betta. You really do learn something new every day…like I said it’s been years since I thought about this stuff and I had no idea what they are calling these more unique looking bettas I’ve been seeing in store lately! I guess they are dragon bettas!

ET also A: I found an online IBC newsletter that indicates they reworked their standards in 2006ish to include metallic bettas for showing.

#75

Wow, thanks Shiningwizard! I’m going to check out the IBC.
I was wondering why there were so few VTs on the Aquabid site.

So do you rescue Bettas from places like Wal-Mart? My Petsmart has like 20 that need rescuing. :frowning:

Now my husband wants to get back into fish in a big way. He’s got his eye on a 36 gallon acrylic and wants to do a heavily planted tank. So I said, “Great! What fish do you want to put in it?” And he says…

A Betta!
And some Tetras.

He’s fascinated by Chips, a fish who cost like 1/50th of the price of his favorite saltwater fish. :lol:
He really wants to get back into saltwater, but we can’t do it until we move to a place where we can have a generator. We have too many extended power outages here (thanks Pepco!) to risk it.

I may be looking for one of those fancier Bettas sooner that I thought.

ETA: I had to go check the price of a medium purple tang, his favorite, and they sell for $200 now! :eek:
Nope. Definitely gonna need a generator for that hobby.

#76

I have another question. What about the red wash on some of the fish pictured here?

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/martinismommy/MacAuleyHM.jpg

Is that considered a fault? They are very pretty - the first one is my fav.

Mustard is awesome looking though.

http://betta.ketviet.com/imgs/Post/UpNhAnHdotC0M2008101729042yzi1mdrjmz101136.jpeg

#77

[QUOTE=shiningwizard255;6149280]

Eye candy: www.bettatalk.com[/QUOTE]

Shining, it looks like this site is no longer selling Bettas.

#78

The Orange Dalmation

http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=1757

#79

Here is how enticing you guys are.

I went to Wally World last night and looked.

I looked at the 2.5 tanks and the fish…and felt sorry for ALL of the fishes.

but resisted.

so far.

#80

[QUOTE=threedogpack;6150236]
Here is how enticing you guys are.

I went to Wally World last night and looked.

I looked at the 2.5 tanks and the fish…and felt sorry for ALL of the fishes.

but resisted.

so far.[/QUOTE]

One of us… one of us…

:lol:

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