Questions On Baby Bettas.....

[DyArianna]

A few questions on these beauties...

They are selling them at Petco and I had never seen them before now. They are about an inch long not including finnage. Any ideas as to how old these little bubs are and is it possible to tell gender at this age or even type of Betta they are? Also, being that they are young ....how do you think they would fair in a 20 gallon with Mollies to start out with?

Sidenote....I do believe I found my favorite looking Betta while exploring. The Elephant Ear! They are gorgeous!

Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I believe that mollies and bettas are not the ideal tankmates.
 
I am new to bettas myself so not much advice from me.
 
Growth chart though...   http/www.bettatalk.com/fry_growth.htm

 

[DyArianna]

Thanks for the info Prairie! I was thinking of the Mollie tank only temporarily. These little bubs seem to fall into the size category of 6 to 8 weeks. Seems kind of young! Also they were more on the thin side. I just may have to go back today and make a closer inspection. Maybe get a few awful phone camera snaps. They were just labelled Baby Bettas. No genders, no types. I will do some more studying up though as in those pictures their fins at that age seem to be already showing some signs of these things.

 

[DyArianna]

One other quick question....I saw no pellets in the baby's cups. Not sure if it is because they had not been fed yet or if they eat something different at this age? Looking to have some info of my own before I go back and fire off questions to them just to see what they say. Also, the adult Bettas all seemed to have about 8 pellets in their little cups just sitting on the bottom. Isn't that a lot for them?? Thanks guys and gals!

 

[KasumiBetta]

We have a Petco down the road from us, and I saw their baby bettas there. I confess I was a little surprised that anyone would put such young fish through the stress of shipment.
 
I did a quick little search around the web for you, and from what I've read its hard to keep them alive without excellent care. They need fry food -- baby brine shrimp or fry pellets. They need to be kept warm and with good filtration. It'd be an interesting challenge if you felt up for it.
 
As for gender - females usually have a little white spot on their underside, you could maybe look for that?
 
Just some thoughts.

 

[Wildbetta]

Baby bettas are too young to sex and too young to tell fin shape.  It is like buying a "surprise" betta.     They are normally way too young and small to eat pellets and need special food to survive which is why most of them look so thin in the store. A lot of them do not survive because they are so young and people are not educated as to how to take care of them at that size/age.  If you decide to get one, it would be best in a slightly smaller container than it would need as an adult.  A heater is required like with all bettas and clean water.  Feeding needs to be with some form of live food or some other form of fry food.  I prefer to feed my young bettas frozen baby brine shrimp, decap baby brine shrimp, microworms and walter worms all of which are pretty easy to get a hold of depending where you are.  I don't believe that a tank with mollys is best for any betta but especially not with one that would be as small as a baby betta. 
 
On a side note:  I love the elephant ear bettas too.  

 

[KasumiBetta]

That's interesting. Wild Betta? If you don't mind my asking, at what age can you tell gender?

 

[DyArianna]

Wow!  Thanks for the info guys!    This IS the place to come for the best info.  I really have been thinking about a Betta lately.  I just recently, however, went through a bought with my two tanks on keeping them stable.  Our City water went through (what I am told) the Spring changeover of treatments.  Which messed my PH and I then had a Mollie drop the motherlode of fry which spiked my Ammonia.  uggh...  Anyway..  both tanks are just recently back up and showing signs of being stable again.  So no new fish right away.  I'd have to set the Betta up on his/her own anyway.  But I will start thinking about preparations!    I love how my Guppies give surprise fry, so I think it would be neat to have a surprise Betta.  And also, nice to see them grow out from a little one.  I still am going to go back though and give them a good look over and quiz the workers.  See what they say.  Again, thanks guys!  If I get some good pics, I will post them.  They wanted $19.99 for the Elephant Ear by the way. 

 

[Wildbetta]

$19.99 is actually pretty cheap for an elephant ear that is in a pet shop.  My Petco charges $24.99.  LOL
 
Kasumi -- It normally can take upwards of 4 months for some bettas before being able to clearly tell sex.  Some are easier to tell sooner but most of the time 3 months (12 weeks) is the earliest for anyone that is not a breeder or someone very familiar with bettas to tell the sex.  Every once in a while you might come across one that is labeled as a baby betta but is old enough to have an idea of sex.  I recently (about 2 or so months ago) picked up one that was easily 3 months old and it was easy for me to tell it was male but still could not tell for sure the tail type until here recently.

 

[scarlet]

Thanks for the info Prairie! I was thinking of the Mollie tank only temporarily. These little bubs seem to fall into the size category of 6 to 8 weeks. Seems kind of young! Also they were more on the thin side. I just may have to go back today and make a closer inspection. Maybe get a few awful phone camera snaps. They were just labelled Baby Bettas. No genders, no types. I will do some more studying up though as in those pictures their fins at that age seem to be already showing some signs of these things.

about the baby betta labels... blue boy and pink girl.. although u can usually tell by the shape girls have smaller top fin and shorter tail fin. males are show offs they are most likely to have long tail find and short bottom fins. hope it helps. you should research pictures to get an idea. just make sure with babies to use bottled or treated water (reverse osmosis) they have little lungs and the chlorine will most likely suffocate them, good luck!

 

[Essjay]

The OP is unlikely to see this as the thread is from 2013.

But I need to add that tap water treated with dechlorinator is also fine to use.

 

[scarlet]

The OP is unlikely to see this as the thread is from 2013.

But I need to add that tap water treated with dechlorinator is also fine to use.

I do apologize, let me explain, I wasn't just specifically answering you since I do believe I am in a group forum correct? I was simply answering for anyone who might be looking for an answer I may or may not be able to help with. I ment no offense, my apologies again. I must however disagree with you about baby bettas and a water dechlorinator, Adults can handle water changes with a dechlorinator but babies have a hard time with other chemicals left behind that the water treatment doesn't kill or eliminate. I'm sure there are baby's that are tougher than others but most baby's especially ones from a large pet supply chain pet store tend to be in weaker conditions and experience higher stress rates verses betta's purchased from more experienced breeder's. I personally am not one to risk my pets life by refusing to listen to an experienced betta owner/breeder. unfortunately I had to learn the hard way and I lost 3 of the first baby betta fish I breed by sheer ignorance and lack of research. Please don't do what I did be safe baby's need purified reverse osmosis treated bottled H2O. thank you for sharing.