Hi all!! It's been a looooooong time!

[thrujenseyes]

My little fluval edge had been chugging along for many many years with shrimp and little ember tetra. The last of my five tetra passed and I have only shrimp and one nerite snail (original to the tank as well as an original amano shrimp...the rest are just cherry shrimp).
I'd love to have a beta in here as it's the perfect little home for one but I know it's going to take out all of my shrimp and I really don't want that.
Is there any way that if I got one as a tiny little tot that it might grow up not wanting to slaughter it's roommates?
And can you even get them that small? My water is is very acidic, I have to add crushed coral (tiny little bag in the filter) to bring it to neutral.
Thank you!

 

[Back in the fold]

A Betta is hardwired to hunt and kill . If you got a little one all he’ll do is watch them for awhile until he’s big enough to wreak havoc . Time for you to add another aquarium , or three , or six .

 

[Innesfan]

Sadly you can get them that small. The big box stores, Petco, Petsmart and the like sell tiny betta juves. There is a school of thought that if you raise the juves of an otherwise large/predatory fish with smaller prey creatures the problem can often be avoided. It hasn't worked for me. I tried it with Angels and Discus and lost a lot of Cardinals and Nannostomus. But perhaps it would work with a betta babe.

 

[MattW]

Hello I have a question about the Fluval Edge, is there an open pocket of air in that compartment? I notice the water goes all the way up to the glass ceiling, not the best design for labyrinth fish imo.

 

[thrujenseyes]

A Betta is hardwired to hunt and kill . If you got a little one all he’ll do is watch them for awhile until he’s big enough to wreak havoc . Time for you to add another aquarium , or three , or six .

I suppose you're right. They're so darn pretty. But I don't want my shrimp to be evicted....in the worst way possible. ha

 

[thrujenseyes]

Hello I have a question about the Fluval Edge, is there an open pocket of air in that compartment? I notice the water goes all the way up to the glass ceiling, not the best design for labyrinth fish imo.

Hi and great point...
Yes the Edge does have a nice size pocket! I'm just about to post a video in this thread...hopefully when I do, you'll be able to see!

 

[thrujenseyes]

Sadly you can get them that small. The big box stores, Petco, Petsmart and the like sell tiny betta juves. There is a school of thought that if you raise the juves of an otherwise large/predatory fish with smaller prey creatures the problem can often be avoided. It hasn't worked for me. I tried it with Angels and Discus and lost a lot of Cardinals and Nannostomus. But perhaps it would work with a betta babe.

I actually found one in my local aquarium shop (The Aquarium Center, Clementon NJ)
Not sure how young he is but he was very small compared to the others they had.

I'm just about to post a video.

 

[thrujenseyes]

Ok, I did it.
I couldn't resist him.
He's so tiny compared to the others I've seen. So I thought that maaaaaaybe just maybe he'll see the shrimp are too bit to try to murder?!
He proved me wrong overnight as I woke to a dead shrimp (half the size of him). He didn't eat it, just killed it.
But he's been much more calm than my female was.
The second I put her in the tank she went on the most inane murderous rage ...taking out so many shrimp that I took her out and rehoused her after a couple of hours.
He was very curious and moved around the entire tank taking everything in. Checking out all of the shrimp without violence (until the lights went out apparently).
The tank is heavily planted with lots of hiding places but these poor shrimp don't seem bright enough to hide....hopefully they'll get a little wiser.
There are probably about 40 shrimp now (as they've repopulated in the years since my female took most of them out in a few hours. ha
We shall see.
Oh and anyone know what kind of Betta he is?

 

[Innesfan]

He may be small but he's not one of the 'baby bettas' available in the big box stores to which I was referring. They are clearly labelled 'baby betta'--or something like that--and are tiny and unsexed.

Yours is a male commonly referred to as a 'lavender' which is a blue/lavender metallic overlay of a red body. He's also a butterfly, referring to the color pattern of the fins where there is color at the base that does not extend to the fin tips. Tail shape appears to be delta. So, a lavender butterfly delta.

He also appears to have chewed on his fins a bit. That might stop now that he has a more spacious home. Keep the water clean so they can heal and regenerate.

 

[thrujenseyes]

He may be small but he's not one of the 'baby bettas' available in the big box stores to which I was referring. They are clearly labelled 'baby betta'--or something like that--and are tiny and unsexed.

Yours is a male commonly referred to as a 'lavender' which is a blue/lavender metallic overlay of a red body. He's also a butterfly, referring to the color pattern of the fins where there is color at the base that does not extend to the fin tips. Tail shape appears to be delta. So, a lavender butterfly delta.

He also appears to have chewed on his fins a bit. That might stop now that he has a more spacious home. Keep the water clean so they can heal and regenerate.

Well I could not be more excited about this response telling me what my new little friend is!!
I thought there was a descriptive color on his cube and I was thinking it was pink but maybe lavender was it.

Lavender butterfly delta! How fun! Thank you very much for this, I really appreciate it!!

And aw, that seems sad about the baby bettas being sold w/out having been sexed...sounds like a nightmare in the making.

I will be sure my little guy has a proper home to heal those fins and live a happy healthy life!!

 

[Innesfan]

It may well have been labelled 'pink.' They slap all sorts of names on these mutations. I recently saw "Stars and Stripes" on what betta-folk would call a multi-color.

 

[thrujenseyes]

It may well have been labelled 'pink.' They slap all sorts of names on these mutations. I recently saw "Stars and Stripes" on what betta-folk would call a multi-color.

Oh goodness ...that's obnoxiuos. Yes I think mine did say pink and it had a bunch of other words that I didn't pay much attention to but one might have been patriot?? ha...I'm not sure. I just liked him and he was very small compared to the rest so I thought he might be younger and I'd have a better chance at him ignoring the shrimp.

There was definitely a couple really nice looking ones called hellboys, but they were 40 dollars?!!?
And also couple really pretty koi looking ones but they were female and my last female was so very murderous. I wanted to give a boy a try.