- Respondent Name:
- Tanya
- Respondent Email Address:
- tanya_star12@******.com
- Date:
- Sat, 26 May 2007 19:47:20 -0700
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Hello
there.I have some questions.
1)Do I have to have the water compressor running all the time?
Air pumps and water filters are not nessesary but, they can help. If you are using a one gallon tank or smaller, the water must be changed more often than say ten gallon tank or larger. 1 quart to 1 gallon tanks should have thier water changed every two to three days for a healthy environment. Air pumps without water filtration does not help keep the water much cleaner. Some air pumps have water filtration built-in. Water filter pumps do help some in keeping the water clean, but water changes are still needed. Bettas must have fresh conditioned water to be healthy. Ten gallon tanks or larger should have at least a 10 to 20 percent water change every 1 to 2 weeks.
2)Do i have to have gravel for my fishes to have babyes, if so were do i buy it?
I do not recommend using any gravel at all if you are trying to spawn (raise) bettas.
3) How do I intertain my betta?
You can use a mirror so your betta may see his relection, or set another tank with another betta right next to your betta tank. Do not use the mirror all the time and if you set up another tank, make sure you put a non see-thru divider such as a piece of cardboard between the tanks when you finish entertaining them.
4) My betta has tried to jump out of the tank alot, it lost a small
peice of its tail, and is acting pretty hiper,but its not running
into the glass wehn its swimming really fast, so wuts up with it?
Bettas are known to be jumpers, use a top that is NOT air tight.
5)Does the betta prefer the light at night and if so what colour?
I dont really know. They dont seem to mind lights at night, but i would not keep it on all night. Lights tend to over heat the water.
Sincerely,
Robert
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- Respondent Name:
- Amy
- Respondent Email Address:
- pinkcoloredpencil@******.com
- Date:
- Fri, 9 Feb 2007 18:40:53 -0800 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- if i put
ghost shrimp in the same tank as my betta, will it get eaten? or is
there a better way to keep the gravel clean for the most part w/out
a filter?
---------------------------------
Hello Amy,
The answer to your question is not thatr easy. I have put ghost shrimp in with my betta in the past with differant results.
Some betta will fight the shrimp and sometimes the shrip have attacked the betta, and on occaisions they did get along.
Overall, I would not recommend it. Small snails seem to be be ok and sometimes algae eaters may be ok, but
Chinese algae eaters will sometimes also have problems with a betta. I have found it safest to keep the betta to himself.
Water changes and tank cleaning often is nessesary with bettas.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Lisa Keisling
- Respondent Email Address:
- lisa76059@l@******.com
- Date:
- Sun, 24 Dec 2006 17:53:10 -0800 (PST)
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Dear Robert,
A couple of questions came to my mind but i wanted to ask you....
please write the answers underneath the questions...
1. How will i know when they are males or females, when i get ready to jar them?
When the fry are very young, it is almost impossible to determine sexes.
As they get older, seperate the aggressive ones, usally they are the males,
but if they turn out to be females... they still needed to be seperated due to thier
aggressiveness. Males need to be jared about two months old, you can tell when they start to get
very addressive with each other. Females can sometimes live together their
entire life but some females can also become very aggesive and also need to be sperated.
2. Do i need to buy the jars now before i try to breed them?
As long as you have jars ready by the time they are 6 weeks old,
then you should be OK.
3. When the female is ready, will she try to jump out of her tank and be aggressive to him?
Yes. The signs that the female are ready to mate are one or more of the following.
1) looses horizontal stripes
2) gains verticale strips
3) belly becomes larger
4) the ova is more pronounced
5) the female acts like she wants to get the male.
Sincerely,
Robert
|
- Respondent Name:
- Jean
- Respondent Email Address:
- Jean_babcock@******.com
- Date:
- Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:31:57 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- We have a
betta here at the office & he is in a tank that is about 1/2 gallon
(or so). We need to clean it about every other day; is this
normal???? Can you help us, we are at a loss....????
---------------------------------
Hello Jean,
A half gallon container can go from 1 to 5 days before cleaning. The are a few determing factors that may apply here.
Over feeding your betta can result in the water becoming fowl sooner than it should. Are you feeding pellets? If so, then only feed him 1-2 pellets twice per day or 3-4 once per day. If you are feeding flake food, only give him a small pinch, If there is any uneaten food after 1-2 min. of feeding time, then you are maybe feeding him too much and the left over food can spoil the water much faster. For more information you can find it here.
www.justbettas.com/feed.html
I hope this helps.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Amy Holloway
- Respondent Email Address:
- pinkcoloredpencil@******.com
- Date:
- Mon, 23 Oct 2006 18:43:57 -0700 (PDT)
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- hello, I'm Amy and I've gotten some Betta's just to see how they reproduce. I've gotten help from Betta breeders, but there wasn't much help.
i bought my betas just last week and they spawned, but i made the mistake of having gravel in the tank and the male just couldn't save them all before they got stuck and died. i took out the gravel, but now the bottom of the fish tank is extremely cluttered, and i tried to have them spawn again. i know that the female probably doesn't have eggs right now, but i want to know how long it will take before she will be ready. and is there any place that would buy my fry? or even if i raised them, any place that i could sell to? thanks so much,
Amy
----------------------------------------
Hello Amy,
I am sorry for the late response. Females require at least three weeks between spawns.
Its is wise to condition your bettas with high protien foods such as live mosquito lave
or blood worms or daphnia, or at the very least... frozen foods of the same as stated.
During the conditioning time the female will need to be fed as much as she will eat.
She will need all the extra protien to help develop her eggs.
Some times local pet stores will buy bettas from you but they usally must be at least 3-4
months old. You may also try selling your bettas online at http://www.aquabid.com I hope
this helps.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Kathleen
- Respondent Email Address:
- kschaffer@***.com
- Date:
- Thursday April 27, 2006 19:56:55 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Sick Betta. I took him from the receptionist who never treated his water and rarely changed it. He looked really bad. Never swam just sat on the top of the fake plants in his tank. He is about 2 years old. He had a growth on the side of his head that now looks like it has popped and is a hole. Also, his color is fading, looks like he may have ich, swim bladder problems, etc. I have been treating the water and doing 25% changes every day with Rid Ich. I was going to stop because I had been doing it for almost four weeks to no avail. He looks like he has ich and velvet. When I change the water it seems to be pink in color. Almost like the treament is stripping his color. I have now started treating with Tetracycline tabs. He is in a half gallon betta tank. No heaters, no filters, no live plants. I feed him pellet food and dried worms as a treat. I change 25% of his water everyday except the weekends when I am not here. I use Rid Ich and Aquarium salt and now the Tetracycline tabs. Nothing is working. Can you help? I have tried everything :(
Thank you.
---------------------------------
Hello Kathleen,
I'm sorry for my late response, I hope it does'nt come too late.
You have done everything I would have done, with one exception. I would transfer the betta to a new tank that has been dissinfected. 1 drop of bleach per gallon of wash water for cleaning and dissinfecting your tank. Then rinse the tank until you are sure that it is free of any bleach, Then rinse it once more just to be sure. Then fill the tank with 100% fresh clean water that has been treated with tetracycline and for ich. Change the water every 3rd day repeating treatment. Make sure the new fresh water is the same tempature as the old water... (this is important) It will keep the betta from going into shock which could kill the betta.
Since your betta is already 2 years plus, He is getting old and has less of a chance of recovering. but with a little TLC may still recover.
p.s. I hope all turns out well.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Nickole
- Respondent Email Address:
- nicki.elaine@******.com
- Date:
- Wednesday April 19, 2006 11:59:12 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- What is a water heater?
----------------------------------------
Hello Nickole,
A water heater is a device used to heat water in a aquarium. The species in
your tank will dictate what the water temperature should be. If the water is to cold,
then a water heater will heat the water to the proper temperature needed, by setting
the temperature controls on the water heater. The heater will turn on and off
automatically as needed to keep the tank temperature maintained. Here are a few links
for more information.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/heating/
http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/aquarium_heaters.htm
P.S. Never turn on a water heater that is not submerged in water!
It will heat very quickly and may break.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Angela
- Respondent Email Address:
- aturnmire@***.com
- Date:
- Wednesday March 29, 2006 17:26:58 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Can you put algae eater in with a male and female betta?
---------------------------------
I have had algae eaters with my bettas and most have no problems, however there was a time when I had a chinese algae eater that did give problems chasing the betta. Male and female bettas should only be kept together when they are mating. There are times when the female and male betta may get along but usually this is not the case.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Pat Philipp
- Respondent Email Address:
- pebblebrook1@******.com
- Date:
- Sunday March 26, 2006 04:44:16 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- I just lost my make crown tail betta. He seemed to bloat. I treated him with epsom salts for constipation, but it did not work. Could there have been another cause?
----------------------------------------
Hello Pat,
Sorry to hear that. Its sounds like it may have been constipation or more probally an internal bacterial infection. It is also possible it may have been a tumor but
bettas can usally live with it for a while. For constipation, I use a soft medicated pellet which I presoak before feeding the sick betta, I also limit the feeding
drastically for the first couple of days. I think over feeding and feeding hard to digest foods can cause this problem. For bacterial infection, start with clean fresh
water and treat with tetracylcin or penicillin. there are many store bought products that work well.
|
- Respondent Name:
- summer
- Respondent Email Address:
- w.a.blair@***.com
- Date:
- Thursday March 09, 2006 02:46:19 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Hello! my name is Summer and my dad and i just got a white betta with blue and yellow fins and he is staying at the bottem of his tank!!! and i think he might be ding!!!!! i am afraid he he might die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--------------------------------
Hello Summer,
There are no guarantees you betta will survive but, I will give you some info that may help.
1) Are you using city water or water from the tap that has been treated for drinking? If so,... you need to use a water conditioner that will make the water safe for your betta.
2) Did you climatize the water? When transfering a betta from one water source to another, you need to make sure the water is the same temperature (within 1 degree) or the betta will go into shock and may die.
3) If you have done all this then it may be just suffering from stress from the move and should survive.
If there is anything else I can help out with just email.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Kristen
- Respondent Email Address:
- mymarkgirl@******.com
- Date:
- Monday March 06, 2006 03:02:50 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- My friend and I just got 3 bettas, all males, two are together in one cage seperated by a solid , opaque barrier. One is fine but the other has this small bulge. I have looked at pictures of Dropsy but it is much smaller than those fish. The bulge is from the gill to just past the bottom fin. He can't swim down he just floats to the top and sometimes leans to the side. What's going on? What can I do? Should I take them out of the same water?
----------------------------------------
Hello Kristen,
The bulge you are asking about could be either a tumor in which case there is nothing that can be done. However if it is a tumor... the betta may or may not live a normal life. It may also be constipation. I know that sounds funny, but it is not uncommon for bettas to have this. It is usally from an improper diet, bad food or too much food can cause this. When bettas get constipated, it is necessary to feed them less often. I feed them every other day for 1-2 weeks and only small amounts (2-3 small presoaked pellets once a day) I use a soft medicated food pellet that is easy to digest.
I hope this helps.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Kim
- Respondent Email Address:
- kirika1973@***.com
- Date:
- Saturday March 04, 2006 05:23:52 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- I bought a male and female betta from a store about 6-8 months ago. The male passed away about 4-5 months ago. I still have the female and have been keeping her in a 10 gallon aquarium. I have been feeding her Aqua Culture Betta pelletfood / color enhancing fish food. I just started her on Tetra brand freeze dried bloodworms. I have been noticing that she is slightly swollen in the front lower area of her body and by reading some of the info on this sight, I realize she is probably ready to be bred. I have been looking for a male, but haven't in my mind found the one for her yet. Since I have gotten her, she has tripled in size. All the males I see are about a third smaller than her. I wanted to know if it would hurt her if I don't breed her, even though she seems to be swollen with eggs. Any suggestions? This is my first time owning a betta and I've grown a fondness to her. When I walk into the room, it seems like she knows it is me coming. I think that is pretty neat.
--------------------------------
Hi Kim,
Not spawning a female when she is ready (full of eggs), should not cause any problems. She will probally drop the eggs and then may eat them. Bettas do seem to have personalities. I have a betta that eats from my fingers.
If you do decide to breed her, then try to use a male that is as close to her size as possible. If the male can't wrap his body around her body then spawning will probally fail. Here is some info on breeding. www.justbettas.com/breed.html
|
- Respondent Name:
- AnnMarie
- Respondent Email Address:
- uswall@******.com
- Date:
- Thursday February 23, 2006 00:30:40 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- I've purchased a Betta and a snail and put them in a one gallon tank. My water bubbler was way too loud and the pet store personnel told me it wasn't necessary. It's only been a couple of days and all seems well so far. Any advice?
----------------------------------------
While almost all fish require a airation, (bubbles in water), Bettas are a member
of the family of fish known as anabatoids. Betta dont need an airated tank. they
can survive this way because they were born with a breathing organ called a labrinth
that allows them to breath the same air we breath, as well as gills to breath under
water. Your betta should be fine as long as you do water changes at least every week.
remember to use water conditioner that removes chlorine if you use treated city water.
And the water temputure of the new water needs to be the same as the water thats being
removed.
|
- Respondent Name:
- Mariah
- Respondent Email Address:
- Longmariah@***.com
- Date:
- Wednesday February 22, 2006 19:41:33 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- Hello, I have a few questions if you please. First, I am wondering how to tell the difference between male and female short tailed Bettas. Also, I think that our new betta may have a disease of some kind. It looks like it has loss of scales on its head. And his gils look crusty, but not slimey. Any help would be great. THanks, Mariah
--------------------------------
Hello Mariah,
Sorry for the late response. With short tail bettas such as plakats or wild
bettas... the only way to tell the female from the male is by the ova. It is
a small white spot between the ventral fins only found on the female. It is
more pronounce when the female is ready to spawn. Visit this web page for a
picture. www.justbettas.com/breed.html
As to your sick betta... I am not an expert with disease, however it sound like
either a fungal disease or bacterial disease. I can give you a few websites that
may help.
http://www.bettaed.com/betta_m_d.htm
http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm
http://www.bettacentral.com/disease.htm
|
- Respondent Name:
- Carl
- Respondent Email Address:
- dirtyworkx77@******.com
- Date:
- Wednesday January 18, 2006 07:46:14 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- can you have different breeds of Betta females in the same tank.
----------------------------------------
Hello Carl,
The answer to your question is not a simple yes or no.
Most female bettas seemed to be to get along with each other,
but there are a few things that may help them to get along with
each other a little better. First of all, the more area per
fish the better. I recommend two gallons per fish. Second, having
plenty of hiding places, and thirdly, having at least five or six
female bettas together is better than only two.
The reason seems to because they have a high-archey, a picking order
of who is dominate and having only two can result in head to head
confrontation, where as five or six together learn to get along. Also
some female bettas just cant get along with any others at all. Bettas
can have diverse personality traits.
|
- Respondent Name:
- camila
- Respondent Email Address:
- brazlianpeach@***.com
- Date:
- Saturday November 12, 2005 21:59:18 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- My question is: why bettas bought in stores are inferior to the other bettas?
My question is: can bettas give any disease?
--------------------------------
Hello Camila,
In my opinion, bettas bought in stores are not necessarily inferior. However bettas sold in stores are not usually given the same care nor are they breed for specific genetic guidelines set forth by the International Betta Congress (IBC) www.ibcbettas.org I would recommend you visit this site on more information.
As to your second question, Can bettas give any disease? I have never heard of any human contracting any disease from bettas, however I would not completely rule out the possibility. here is a site that may be able to answer your question better than I. http://www.fishyfarmacy.com
|
- Respondent Name:
- Lori
- Respondent Email Address:
- skittlesswim@*****.com
- Date:
- Tuesday September 27, 2005 12:07:32 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- I was so worried about our betta, but I feel better after
looking at your frequently asked questions. We've had Skittles since
Feb of 04, and he has been a happy little betta. Last week he stopped
eating and swimming around, and his face is swollen on the right
side. After reading on your site I think it may be a tumor. Any other
ideas? I feel so sorry for the little guy. I wish there was something
we could do. Thanks.
----------------------------------------
Hello Lori,
Sorry to hear about your betta problem. It could very well be a
tumor, however I suspect it could be "popeye". Look at the eye. Is it
very swollen? Is it larger than the other eye? If it is popeye,... it
should be easly fixed. Popeye is a bacterial infection caused by poor
water condition. Up the amount of water changes. Add the antibiotic
Ampicilex (Aquatronics) to his water. This medication comes in
capsules. A full capsule treats 10 gal of water. So for a 1/2 gallon
of water, open the capsule and take the right proportion of powder
and sprinkle into water. You may stir gently. Do not overmedicate!
Once Betta’s eyes are back to normal, stop the medication. If it is a
tumor, then there is no medication I know of to cure it. However I
have had a betta with a tumor that lived over two years and he seemed
happy enough. Hope all turns out well.
|
- Respondent Name:
- James
- Respondent Email Address:
- bulldog_boy52@*****.com
- Date:
- Sunday September 11, 2005 00:44:19 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- hi
I have 3 bettas 2 male and 1 female. My female is full of eggs and she is ready to breed but my males don't seem to make bubble nests. I put one of my males in with my female and he didn't attack her and she just swam away from him not even look at him is it because she doesn't like him or something because she does to both of them. And how do I make them breed quicker.
--------------------------------
Hello James,
I'm sorry it has taken a few days to get back with your question. There are a few things that need to be just right for some bettas to blow bubble nest. The water needs to be fresh. The water needs to be at a constant tempurture of 80 degrees (F). The water must be motionless,... no filtration, and no air bubbles. Sometimes placing another male in a jar or seperate tank next to the male being used for mating, will help get the male stimulated to blow a nest. Styrofoam cup cut in half vertically or a piece of plastic cup into a round circle 3-4 inches across and then floated on the surface gives the male a good place to blow his nest. I believe bettas have differant personalities, and some bettas just will not mate with each other no matter what you do. I hope this helps.
|
- Respondent Name:
- jeanie sanders
- Respondent Email Address:
- jeanie.m.sanders@*****.com
- Date:
- Thursday August 18, 2005 21:55:51 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- I just bred my bettas. My male got battered pretty badly and I seperated the two fish after they had wrapped around six times. When I did my male started destroying the bubble nest and eating the eggs. I took him out and placed him in a tank by himself. My question is a lot of the eggs are on the bottom of my tank will they survive down there or are they all going to die?
----------------------------------------
Unfortunetly the zygotes will die. It is my opinion that the zygotes have not developed thier gills and need to be in the bubble to receive oxygen thru direct contact. I have heard other breeders say they were able to get the eggs back into the nest and use bubbles from other bettas to add to the nest when it starts to dry up.
Here is a webpage with info about breeding. http://www.justbettas.com/breed.html
|
- Respondent Name:
- donna
- Respondent Email Address:
- dpachl@*****.com
- Date:
- Sunday August 14, 2005 05:00:15 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- i just bought a male betta, he seem health has bubble nest, I bought him a tank with the air filter, and now he is not eating and I don't see bubbles. he seems to be ok, swims around and he will eat some blood worms. and should i turn off the light so that he may rest?? because his water temp goes down when I do this so which is better to do?? help please, his name is burp
----------------------------------------
Hello Donna,
Moving a betta from one tank to another can cause some stress
to a betta. Stress can cause a betta from eating. This is normal.
Your betta will begin to eat again.
It is a good idea to turn out the light when you go to bed.
however, if the water temputure falls below 65 degrees, you may
want to keep the light on. Temputures below 65 will cause the
betta to act slugish and if the water is cold enough, it could
be fatel.
|
- Respondent Name:
- victor m lucas
- Respondent Email Address:
- MCRISCUOLO@*****.com
- Date:
- Friday August 12, 2005 05:57:44 GMT
- suggestions, comments, or questions:
- can you put a male and a female together in one tank? and is it ok?
----------------------------------------
Hello Victor,
The question you ask is not a very easily answered question. If conditions
are correct it may be possible with some betta and not others. Bettas seemed
to have differant personalities. Some are more violent and can not be placed
with any other bettas while others maybe possible. the larger the tank the
better, but a 10 gallon is the minimum size. make sure there are plenty of
hidding places such as caves or rocks and lots of plants.
http://www.justbettas.com/enviro.html
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