Tank Set Up Ok For A Betta?

[lisa2701]

Is there anything obvious in the tank that wouldn't be suitable for a bettas fins? Does this look an ok set up for him, i've tried to give him plants and a bridge for hiding in/under? The plants are material, except the one in the corner which is live anubias . Think I'm gonna name him Ace (still not decided), he's my first betta and I only got him yesterday. . He's torn his fins up during transport unfortunately but they'll heal. He's pink with purples through him when the light hits him, but under the light in his tank he's showing up more orangey in the pictures.

 

[Flute]

Aww, he's a beauty! Extra water changes will help his fins heal up in no time, and if you soak his food in garlic too A good way to test if tank ornaments are fin safe is to run a pair of tights over them. If they rip, then it's sharp and is likely to cause damage to the betta's fins.
Lovely set up by the way!

 

[lisa2701]

Aww, he's a beauty! Extra water changes will help his fins heal up in no time, and if you soak his food in garlic too A good way to test if tank ornaments are fin safe is to run a pair of tights over them. If they rip, then it's sharp and is likely to cause damage to the betta's fins.
Lovely set up by the way!

Thanks, he's complete opposite to what I went looking for (blue/white HM) but when I saw him something just drew me in and I was sold, think that grumpy face helped, its hilarious!

unfortunately due to a crisis literally an hour before he arrived yesterday he is in an uncycled tank so I will have to be doing large daily water changes anyway. He was never meant to be in this tank, and the tank I planned on putting him in is cycled but I disovered velvet on one of the fish the hour before he arrived, so I can't even use the filter media to help cycle the tank. Its a long story but this is where I am at so I will have to deal with it.

Due to not being prepared for him going into this tank I had to rush out today and buy things for it, and I was in the pet store driving my hubby nuts like, no he'd rip his fins on that, he might try to swim through there and get stuck... I even rubbed half the ornaments on my cheek to check for rough patches (I have a son with touch sensitivities and I have to do this with clothes I am buying for him to check the textures ) I must have looked crazy but hey ho it gets the job done I will need to do the tights test and in future if I am buying ornaments I will take tights with me

Thanks

 

[Flute]

Gah, last minute emergencies are the worst! Hope the velvet clears up quickly for you in the other tank!
Hehe, I have visions of you sneakily rubbing tights over ornaments in a shop, whilst looking over your shoulder in a very shifty manner XD

 

[lisa2701]

Gah, last minute emergencies are the worst! Hope the velvet clears up quickly for you in the other tank!
Hehe, I have visions of you sneakily rubbing tights over ornaments in a shop, whilst looking over your shoulder in a very shifty manner XD

Oh you have no idea my stress levels were SO high yesterday. The tank he's in now wasn't suitable for use yesterday and I had to sterilise it before I could put him in it, so I had to have my husband run to the lfs and buy a new tank for him until I could get the 6g tank sterilised and set up. Anyway, he's in now and happy and I now have a spare tank that I can use for quarantining so I don't end up with disease in my main tank again (new fish caused the diseases) so its not all bad.

I don't know whats worse, carrying a bit of tights round in your pocket and rubbing ornaments with it or rubbing ornaments against your cheek, either way people are likely keep their distance if they spot you

 

[lisa2701]

After flaring at me for the first time he decided he should run away and hide under his bridge ... Maybe I should name him Flare

 

[lisa2701]

This pic shows his colours a bit more accurately...

 

[babystarz]

Your setup looks great to me! I love that sand/substrate, what kind is it? I haven't been able to find one with multicolored grains like that around here.

The only addition I would suggest is some branchy/feathery plants - bettas really like to nestle in them when they are sleeping or resting. Or a silicone sea anemone works too: click. My big HM boy really loves his anemone, he stuffs himself into the tentacles and sleeps there

Same HM boy also chewed himself up pretty well during shipping, even worse than yours! I agree that frequent water changes (start with two 50% changes per week and if he's healing well after two weeks you can reduce to once per week) are the best cure for it. And keep a close eye on those fin edges for fin rot.

 

[lisa2701]

Your setup looks great to me! I love that sand/substrate, what kind is it? I haven't been able to find one with multicolored grains like that around here.

The only addition I would suggest is some branchy/feathery plants - bettas really like to nestle in them when they are sleeping or resting. Or a silicone sea anemone works too: click. My big HM boy really loves his anemone, he stuffs himself into the tentacles and sleeps there

Same HM boy also chewed himself up pretty well during shipping, even worse than yours! I agree that frequent water changes (start with two 50% changes per week and if he's healing well after two weeks you can reduce to once per week) are the best cure for it. And keep a close eye on those fin edges for fin rot.

Thanks I got the sand from P@H. I went looking for white sand as i couldn't get it anywhere and they didn't have any so I "settled" for this and now I am SO pleased I got it as I really like it, probably better than white sand now

i was told they like Anubias for sleeping on so I went and bought a live one especially for him, but my lfs have those silicone anemones so I could always get one of those too. He seems to like going under his bridge to rest.

Awww its sad that they do that to themselves during shipping isn't it. His fins were lush in the video I chose him from. They still are and will heal, and he's just 3-4 months old so I am told he'll grow a little, beef up a bit and his fins will grow. He's a real character, he's been flaring at me on and off all day, obviously getting a little more confident in himself.

I'll be on daily water changes until the tank cycles, OR I move him to the main tank beside the Endlers (IF i choose to try it) and obviously I would want to see the Main tank disease free for a number of weeks before he'd be going anywhere near it. I am terrified of him getting fin rot as I have just lost a fish to fin rot (had to euthanase him and I was SO depressed about it). Basically he had fin rot when I got him but I didn't notice until I got him home and in the tank, I tried everything but he lost his entire tail so when he then lost one of his other fins I decided he wasn't responding to treatment (he had the full 5 days treatment), was miserable and suffering so called it a day for him. I was in the store I bought the endlers from today and in the tank they came from was both fin rot AND velvet by the looks of it, I had to look really hard to find the infected fish but I did find them and so it confirms for me this is where the diseases in my tank have come from...will be the last time I EVER buy fish from them, and I am tempted to write a letter of complaint with pictures of the poor fish with no tail! ANYWAY..... SO yeah I am terrified of him getting fin rot and will be keeping a very close eye on him. There isn't a preventative measure (other than regular water changes) I can take is there? What about a couple of days of a diluted melafix treatment? I have read mixed thoughts on Melafix with betta's, some say it'll kill them and others say its fine...don't think I'll risk it.

 

[babystarz]

There isn't a preventative measure (other than regular water changes) I can take is there? What about a couple of days of a diluted melafix treatment? I have read mixed thoughts on Melafix with betta's, some say it'll kill them and others say its fine...don't think I'll risk it.

Considering how healthy he looks otherwise, his immune system should easily fight off fin rot Melafix (and anything ending in "-fix") contains a substance that can damage the labyrinth organ, which is what they use to breathe from the surface, so it should be avoided. If you really want to make sure the water is as sterile as possible, you can add a half a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon to his tank (and then pretreat his water the same way before you do water changes) for up to a week. This will kill any live plants though so you would either have to move him or the plants. Another thing you can do is buy some Indian Almond Leaves, but you probably won't find these in a chain pet store. If you ordered them online they probably wouldn't arrive in time to help with his fins, but they are fantastic to keep on hands because they release tannins that are antibacterial, anti-parasitic, and promote happiness and health in bettas. They are very good for healing injuries. They DO stain water and make it tea-colored. Many people keep an Indian Almond leaf in their tanks at all times; this practice was picked up from breeders in Thailand who have been using it for a long time due to its ability to ward off yucky organisms.

 

[lisa2701]

There isn't a preventative measure (other than regular water changes) I can take is there? What about a couple of days of a diluted melafix treatment? I have read mixed thoughts on Melafix with betta's, some say it'll kill them and others say its fine...don't think I'll risk it.

Considering how healthy he looks otherwise, his immune system should easily fight off fin rot Melafix (and anything ending in "-fix") contains a substance that can damage the labyrinth organ, which is what they use to breathe from the surface, so it should be avoided. If you really want to make sure the water is as sterile as possible, you can add a half a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon to his tank (and then pretreat his water the same way before you do water changes) for up to a week. This will kill any live plants though so you would either have to move him or the plants. Another thing you can do is buy some Indian Almond Leaves, but you probably won't find these in a chain pet store. If you ordered them online they probably wouldn't arrive in time to help with his fins, but they are fantastic to keep on hands because they release tannins that are antibacterial, anti-parasitic, and promote happiness and health in bettas. They are very good for healing injuries. They DO stain water and make it tea-colored. Many people keep an Indian Almond leaf in their tanks at all times; this practice was picked up from breeders in Thailand who have been using it for a long time due to its ability to ward off yucky organisms.

Brilliant thank you. I do have aquarium salt there but I don't think I'll bother for now and I will just keep a close eye on him and do daily water changes.

He's flaring constantly tonight and I am wondering, if the room is poorly lit (I have sub-dewed lighting in my sitting room at night) and the tank light is quite bright, will he be seeing his reflection? You know how if your in a well lit house and its dark outside what you see in a window is your own reflection? I am wondering if he'd be less stressed with lights off at night if he's just catching his own reflection every 5 minutes. I have wondered the same about the endlers as at night they get hyper and start swimming the glass at high speeds, but they 'only' do it at night time when their light is on?

 

[babystarz]

Brilliant thank you. I do have aquarium salt there but I don't think I'll bother for now and I will just keep a close eye on him and do daily water changes.

He's flaring constantly tonight and I am wondering, if the room is poorly lit (I have sub-dewed lighting in my sitting room at night) and the tank light is quite bright, will he be seeing his reflection? You know how if your in a well lit house and its dark outside what you see in a window is your own reflection? I am wondering if he'd be less stressed with lights off at night if he's just catching his own reflection every 5 minutes. I have wondered the same about the endlers as at night they get hyper and start swimming the glass at high speeds, but they 'only' do it at night time when their light is on?

Yes that could be happening, you can put something up against the tank to help minimize it (tank background, a piece of cardboard, anything really). Bettas do need really some time in the dark to sleep, so turning off the lights at night is a good idea. And it'll keep him from seeing his reflection

 

[lisa2701]

Brilliant thank you. I do have aquarium salt there but I don't think I'll bother for now and I will just keep a close eye on him and do daily water changes.

He's flaring constantly tonight and I am wondering, if the room is poorly lit (I have sub-dewed lighting in my sitting room at night) and the tank light is quite bright, will he be seeing his reflection? You know how if your in a well lit house and its dark outside what you see in a window is your own reflection? I am wondering if he'd be less stressed with lights off at night if he's just catching his own reflection every 5 minutes. I have wondered the same about the endlers as at night they get hyper and start swimming the glass at high speeds, but they 'only' do it at night time when their light is on?

Yes that could be happening, you can put something up against the tank to help minimize it (tank background, a piece of cardboard, anything really). Bettas do need really some time in the dark to sleep, so turning off the lights at night is a good idea. And it'll keep him from seeing his reflection

I have backgrounds ordered so I should have that soon. Obviously I turn the lights off when I go to bed, but I tend to leave the lights at night when we're relaxing in the sitting room, but I'll switch his off.

 

[babystarz]

I have backgrounds ordered so I should have that soon. Obviously I turn the lights off when I go to bed, but I tend to leave the lights at night when we're relaxing in the sitting room, but I'll switch his off.

Oh sorry, you'd be amazed at how many people I've had to persuade into not giving their fish bright lights 24/7 lately He's probably also still interested in staking out his territory so that may be contributing to him getting excited and flaring at night as well. It will probably calm down naturally over time.

 

[lisa2701]

I have backgrounds ordered so I should have that soon. Obviously I turn the lights off when I go to bed, but I tend to leave the lights at night when we're relaxing in the sitting room, but I'll switch his off.

Oh sorry, you'd be amazed at how many people I've had to persuade into not giving their fish bright lights 24/7 lately He's probably also still interested in staking out his territory so that may be contributing to him getting excited and flaring at night as well. It will probably calm down naturally over time.

Oh no, we all need a bit of dark to rest and destress. If they get dark in their natural habitat they should get it in captivity. I always turn the lights off at night. If my endlers get themselves over excited in the evening I turn their lights off to help settle them down and it works a treat. Anyways, I put the Lights out and he's went off and settled down. As you said he's maybe just staking claim to his territory and maybe a background etc will help him feel more secure. I deliberately bought the bridge and plants with him hiding/sleeping in mind so I hope I've given him enough hiding places to help him feel secure. He does like going under his bridge. It's nice to see him feeling more confident. He spent yesterday is a bare 3g tank so he's much happier in his new (more perminant) tank. Only thing is he likes to rest against the filter intake and I'm worried about his beautiful tail and fins