New betta fish

[Nik_n]

Hello everyone 

I recently got a new betta fish to go into my 3 gallon non filter non heater planted tank. I have had him for a few days now, and he seems very comfortable. He is swimming around a lot, and he is flaring (idk to who). I always thought that betta's flaring is either a sign of breeding behaviour or that they are just happy and healthy, but mostly breeding or territorial purposes. Is him flaring normal and does that mean he is happy in the new environment.   

The reason why I'm asking if that's normal is because the water temperature in the tank is about 20°C. Idk what that is in Fahrenheit. I know that betta fish prefer to be at around 25-27°C, but this one seems to be very happy and active at this temperature. 

In the future I could add a heater but currently I'm using it for a grow out tank, once the babies are out of the tank. I would prefer not to, but only if the fish can thrive which I think he is. 

Any comments or concerns are appreciated  

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @Nik_n. I'm not used to Betta's flaring because they're happy (by themselves, maybe with a mate they would). I would tend to think this is actually a sign of stress if you see them doing it a lot. 20c = 68f, that in my experience is FAR, FAR too low for a Betta. I'd say 27c=80.6 is a much better temp. What babies do you have in here that wouldn't be able to tolerate higher temps? Is the Betta flaring at them?

Edited November 13, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
1 more thing.

[Nik_n]

I assumed that the temperature might be too low for the betta. He is flaring quit a lot and is moving around often. I didn't know what to make of it. I think he is either flaring at his own reflection, there aren't any other fish in there with him. 

The babies and the heater are in another thank in another room. I hoping to sell the babies soon, and put the heater in the betta tank. I was told bettas are fine at 24° 25° mark, so thats about 75-77°F. I would prefer to wait until I get rid of the babies (depending on when the fish store can take them in) rather then buying a new filter right now (which I would if necessary).   

So should I add a heater or is his flaring unrelated to the temperature. I have kept a betta in the same tank without a heater alive for about 3 years, so I assumed that it would work. There were other fish in there with him, and I was told they were females. They looked like females but were completely brown/cream coloured. This was back when I was 11 years old (6 years ago I'm 17) and I had colourful gravel and fake plants (i know horrible choices but it was an impulse purchase). Now I doubt they were bettas at all because there wasn't any sign of aggression on the male or on them and no breeding whats so ever.   

 

[Colu]

I would add a. Heater keeping Bettas at to low temperature weaken their immune system leaving them susceptible to disease

[Nik_n]

Yea that's why I'm considering it. He did start making a bubble nest today tho

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Nik_n well Congrats on being able to keep a Betta alive for 3 years I'd call that a success. Every betta will be different of course and I'm sure since your last betta their genetics have changed, lots of different kinds of bettas seem to have come out in the last few years. He may be seeing his reflection that's true but I'd be concerned with the flaring all the time. When you get a chance I think adding a heater will be beneficial for this particular betta. Glad he's building a nest that's a positive sign. 

[Nik_n]

I added a heater a few days ago. The tank is set at 27°C. The betta flares a lot less now but he keeps building his bubble nests. I'm assuming he is doing it because he likes the tank and is happy and healthy. I was considering getting a female betta and try and breed them (I would keep the female in a different tank) but that was more of a fun idea. 

He is a very active betta and seems to be interested in everything. I was considering adding some tank mates but I'm not sure yet. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm very glad he's calmed down a little! He does sound happy 🙃

[Gator]

@Nik_n; To convert C to F, multiply C times 1.8 and add 32 to your answer, to convert F to C, subtract 32 from F and then divide by 1.8. 

Bettas' are happiest at temps from 82 F to 85 F and will not breed at less than 82 F, they prefer very soft, and acidic water, but it's not unusual for a male to build a nest in an area of the lowest flow even if there is no female around, he's in anticipation mode. If you choose to breed, condition the female in a separate tank, preferably close enough to the male so that he can see her, but can't reach her.

Introduce her to the tank with him, if she's not ready to breed, he will kill her so feed them the same foods and I suggest bloodworms, Bug Bites, Betta pellets, flake food, baby Guppies, finely chopped earthworms, and live mosquito larvae. Nothing conditions fish for breeding as well as a varied diet like they'd find in the wild.

Before breeding, start an infusoria culture and keep it going, it's so easy, but you'll need this.

The breeding tank must have several places where she can hide and I suggest a couple of clean, 4 inches, Terra cotta flower pots. When they're finished egg-laying you'll have to remove her or they will fight and she may not be the loser. 

They'll start to lay eggs early in the morning. On the day they lay eggs and after you've removed her, start a Brine shrimp culture and start a new Brine shrimp culture every day for about a week, but start putting a couple of drops of the infusoria on the nest. When the eggs hatch in a day or two, you'll need to add more drops of the infusoria, even though they'll still have their yolk sacs, they'll still eat the infusoria. After three days, start feeding the baby Brine shrimp to them as well as the infusoria, use a magnifying glass to see what they're eating. If their stomachs are white, they're eating the infusoria and if their stomachs are pink, they're eating the Brine shrimp, continue to feed them both foods for about three more days before switching to baby Brine shrimp only.

I used to set up a drip mechanism for the infusoria so that it allowed one drip on the nest per minute 24/7 so they'd always have plenty to eat and I'd leave the light on 24/7 so they could eat 24/7 if they wanted.

Once you start feeding Brine shrimp exclusively, your Betta's are going to grow very fast so have a lot of one pint canning jars handy and ready, just as soon as you can tell the difference between a male and a female, remove the males to the canning jars or they will fight and kill each other.

If you choose to breed, keep a record of everything you do, water temp, pH, softness, foods fed to the parents, when you started your infusoria culture, when you started each Brine shrimp culture, when and how much infusoria you fed the babies, and later, the Brine shrimp. Remember to rinse the Brine shrimp before you feed them, Betta's do not tolerate salt.

It's not as hard as it may seem to breed and raise the babies, but you do have to pay attention to your fish.

Good luck 😊.

Sincerely

Gator

[Nik_n]

Thank you for your detailed explanation. I'm currently growing out a batch of blue gourmais and they are taking ages to grow (they hatched last January and are still growing) There is about 40 of them in a 60l tank and they get fed 3 times a day, mostly frozen food and live baby brine. I do water changes 2-3 times a week. I don't know why they take so long to grow I'm assuming it's the type of fish. I read that they are grown using a lot of hormones in fish farms which makes sense. 

I would love to breed bettas one day but there are a couple of things holding me back: 

1. In the place I live in there is only one major fish store that sells fish. I both my betta from there and already saw a possible female for him. The store doesn't carry more them 20 betta fish at the time and they recycle them every month or so.  Which means that if I do bred betta fish I will have one store which may take 1-4 bettas now and again and I know they produce over a hundred babies. 

2. The betta fish I have has nice colours (completely red) but the it's an average cheap betta  (about 16$), so I'm guessing the demand might not be super high (idk to be honest). 

3. The space for the grow out. I currently have the baby gouramis growing out in a plastic tub with a heater filter and plants. I would need to but more equipment just to house the fish and then to raise the fry, which may not be profitable at all. 

4. I have a fear that the fish will grow equally as slowly as baby gouramis and I'm moving in less than a year. And I won't be able to take all the babies with me. 

In truth I would love to breed betta fish in the future if the resources and the network allow it. But I fear I'm not able to that at the moment. This doesn't mean that I want to give up on breeding fish, I have a breeding pair of bristelnose plecos which have had one spawn (I didn't take it out in time and the wigglers were eaten) I hope I will get another chance again soon. I'm doing the same things  I did last time. I also have a pair of angles (which I'm pretty sure I sexed correctly) that I would like the breed but there is no progress (I will make another tread about it soon).

 

Thanks again for the information it was really helpful   

[CalmedByFish]

@Nik_n I know it's not the topic of the thread, but I'm interested in blue fish. Are your blue gouramis the "powder blue dwarf" type?

[laritheloud]

@CalmedByFishcorrect me if I'm wrong, OP, but I believe he means Blue Three-Spot Gouramis. I think I recall him asking about growth rate for gourami fry, or it might have been someone else! But yes, labyrinth fish take forever to mature.

[Nik_n]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:44 AM, laritheloud said:

@CalmedByFishcorrect me if I'm wrong, OP, but I believe he means Blue Three-Spot Gouramis. I think I recall him asking about growth rate for gourami fry, or it might have been someone else! But yes, labyrinth fish take forever to mature.

Yep that was me. I have about 40 blue gouramis (Trichopodus trichopterus ). They are taking forever to grow that's why I'm not eager to breed betta fish. 

[mtnmonster]

I think bettas grow faster. I've never bred bettas, but I have bred blue gouramis and it seemed like forever to get them big enough for my lfs to buy them. It wasn't worth it in my experience. I didn't even break even. Maybe I just got ripped off, but after getting rid of them I didn't care. I was a teenager and had much better things to do at the time lol

[Nik_n]

It seems like you understand my situation. They are taking forever to mature and are more of a chore at this point. This doesn't mean I don't want to breed fish at all.