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🎃Pumpkin the Community Betta🎃


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Lacking good local options, I've been keeping an eye on Aquahuna's bettas for months now. The plan was always to add a betta to my new(er) planted 29 g community tank (albino corys, panda corys, amano shrimp, mystery snails, nerite snails, blue velvet shrimp). 

I'd been planning on a female, but after spotting a black Dumbo Halfmoon male with orange and white fins, I fell in love. I watched the livestream on and off over several hours, and each time his neighbor would flare at him, he'd just sort of casually float away...

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Now I've got Pumpkin (temporary nickname/possible forever name) in a breeder box with red root floaters in the community tank, and the behavior isn't much different. The corys have come to check him out a number of times, and he couldn't care less. He's just focused on me:

The giver of baby brine shrimp 😂

It's been so long since I've kept a fish that really looks at me, and I'd forgotten what it was like!

Two albino corys were pacing around the breeder box, getting right where he was. He didn't care because he was too busy scouring for leftovers and wondering why the hell I was taking his picture instead of feeding him. Over the course of several hours, the only thing he reacted to in the tank was a blue velvet shrimp, and the shrimp darted out of there pretty sharpish. I don't even know if it was, "Ooh, food!" Or "What the hell, shrimp come in blue?!" If anything, I'm worried the corys would bully him.

I was worried at first, because his coloring looked so, so different from the livestream (more beige and yellow than orange and black), that my first reaction was this is the wrong betta 😬. (Which would be pretty crushing after paying about $40 to get him here.) But after having some time to relax in betta (ha) water, his orange is coming back. I take that to mean he's happy. 

Even contained in the temporary bachelor pad, he looks incredible against the green, burgundy, and purple plants.  I'm so happy he's here, and looking perfectly healthy so far. 

I've got a brown diatom outbreak my snails and shrimp are working through, and even without it, it's next to impossible to get good pics of this tank. But I did my best. 😅

(Happy birthday to me! 🥳)

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On 7/8/2022 at 6:00 PM, Guppysnail said:

Happy birthday 🎂 

He is beautiful. I vote The Great Pumpkin since he is so beautiful and I’m a senior citizen that is like 5 years old and still love Charlie Brown and Snoopy 🤗

I LOVE THE GREAT PUMPKIN!

Charlie Brown might even be a good name, given the coloring 😂

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On 7/8/2022 at 3:52 PM, DarthMollusk said:

Lacking good local options, I've been keeping an eye on Aquahuna's bettas for months now. The plan was always to add a betta to my new(er) planted 29 g community tank (albino corys, panda corys, amano shrimp, mystery snails, nerite snails, blue velvet shrimp). 

I'd been planning on a female, but after spotting a black Dumbo Halfmoon male with orange and white fins, I fell in love. I watched the livestream on and off over several hours, and each time his neighbor would flare at him, he'd just sort of casually float away...

F94A61B5-ACF5-4356-BC99-2A32CB3E0AF3.jpeg.3992ab2b2f62ea4be4c2a17781125d99.jpeg

Now I've got Pumpkin (temporary nickname/possible forever name) in a breeder box with red root floaters in the community tank, and the behavior isn't much different. The corys have come to check him out a number of times, and he couldn't care less. He's just focused on me:

The giver of baby brine shrimp 😂

It's been so long since I've kept a fish that really looks at me, and I'd forgotten what it was like!

Two albino corys were pacing around the breeder box, getting right where he was. He didn't care because he was too busy scouring for leftovers and wondering why the hell I was taking his picture instead of feeding him. Over the course of several hours, the only thing he reacted to in the tank was a blue velvet shrimp, and the shrimp darted out of there pretty sharpish. I don't even know if it was, "Ooh, food!" Or "What the hell, shrimp come in blue?!" If anything, I'm worried the corys would bully him.

I was worried at first, because his coloring looked so, so different from the livestream (more beige and yellow than orange and black), that my first reaction was this is the wrong betta 😬. (Which would be pretty crushing after paying about $40 to get him here.) But after having some time to relax in betta (ha) water, his orange is coming back. I take that to mean he's happy. 

Even contained in the temporary bachelor pad, he looks incredible against the green, burgundy, and purple plants.  I'm so happy he's here, and looking perfectly healthy so far. 

I've got a brown diatom outbreak my snails and shrimp are working through, and even without it, it's next to impossible to get good pics of this tank. But I did my best. 😅

(Happy birthday to me! 🥳)

1D59FB84-295F-4395-9FDB-B77C0BD9EE6F.jpeg.f6ab67d8d86eec267bad0d9c16fa119b.jpeg

Happy Birthday, and I think either Charlie Brown or The Great Pumpkin would work!

He's gorgeous!

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Pumpkin was released from solitary confinement to the general population! The cory cats kept coming to investigate him, and he ignored them because they weren't food. 

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I was a little nervous when he started scoping out a mystery snail and his wavy anntenae, but he determined it was not food and moved along.

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The only thing in the tank he really reacted to was the shrimp. He was shipped over with  some blue velvet shrimp--maybe a lingering  trauma? 😆 I'd rather it be the shrimp than the snails. The shrimp move so fast I can barely follow them.

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I've got no lid, but there is a blanket of red root floaters and duckweed. There's also two loops of airline tubing which, so far, do a great job cordoning off the HOB flow on one end, and maintaining a pool of still water (and betta feeding spot) on the other. There's also a bunch of riparium plants extending  over the top to give a sense of shelter. 

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He's still exploring the new digs. I'm looking forward to the dwarf lily making it to the surface because I bet that'd make a great hammock. It's getting  there. 

I've been stationed on a chair in front of the tank most of the morning. Whenever I'm there, he immediately comes up to the glass:

"Hi, hello, yes? I'd like to file a complaint about the neighbor kids? Also, when will second breakfast be served? Whatcha eatin'? Looks good!"

I love him so much 😆

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Edited by DarthMollusk
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This little chonk only seems interested in feeding from the bottom!

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I've got corys and snails in here who eat repashy, and I'm trying to give this floofy boy some floating pellets, but the only time he seems to want to go to the surface is for a quick gulp and then straight back down to the bottom for snacks. 🤷‍♂️ So, it's not like he's afraid of the area I've established as the "feeding ring." And I know the little bugger saw those pellets! 😆

I might have to try feeding these corys only at night time, maybe?

Hmm...

I don't want him getting all bloated off repashy. At Least the corys are pretty aggressive eaters, and he likes to give them a bit of berth when they start blindly flinging their tails around. 

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This chonky derp pumpkin is doing a struggle. 

I've tried a few kinds of floating pellets, fluval bug bites and NorthFin betta pellets, and he does try to go for them but seems to miss most of the time. And usually when he does manage to track one down, he spits it out. 

He much prefers to go to the bottom for food, but I worry about him bloating or not getting enough protein.

I tried feeding him some broken up TetraPro tropical flakes, and he was able to eat some. So--because I haven't spent enough on betta food he won't eat 😆--I'm going to pick up some Fluval betta flakes.

It's a bit concerning, actually. I worry there's something wrong health wise, like with his vision or coordination or something. But, he's new. He hasn't lived with other fish or in a place this big before.

Hopefully it's just an adjustment period because I love his face. 

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@GuppysnailOh hey! That's what I feed the corys and snails in the tank, and he loves it, I just worry he will eat too much and get bloated or something? (Years ago, when I didn't know nearly as much, I lost a betta to bloat...not that I even knew what repashy was back then 😆

So I'd been considering feeding the repashy at night so he'd be less likely to go for it. The corys clean it up pretty quick. I mix community plus with soylent green and a sprinkle of calcium carbonate for the snails. Would that be okay for him? I wonder if I shouldn't get him a higher protein version? (*worried dad mode engaged* 🤣)

I'm likely being over worried bc I love my chonky baby, but he really, really loves to eat. He's like a hobbit. It's all he cares about. The tank also gets frozen BBS once a week, and he LOVES chasing those down. So, I suppose his coordination and vision is probably fine? (Unlike ours 😜, right?)

Ugh. He's going for an algae wafer as we speak...🤦‍♂️😂

 

@Guppysnail Also, I do fast them once a week. Maybe if I fasted two days a week I could calm down about the bloat issue for ten minutes? 😜😂

(The betta would call the ASPCA, but that's another issue) 

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On 7/12/2022 at 8:29 AM, DarthMollusk said:

He's like a hobbit

Yes mine would go for second third and fourth breakfast if I let him 🤣. Repashy is Very “high end”. I also added calcium for the snails and shrimp in his tank. I would alternate how I fed. If I put repashy in during daylight chubby butt got no other food that day.  On days I fed him betta specific food other food went in after lights out. 
I think bloating occurs most with the standard big box pellets. This is just from reading others betta bloat posts. My guy never became bloated but I never fed big box pellets. I always fed high quality stuff. Veggies I left in 24 hours. His fav was kale with steamed green beans as a close second. Steamed chunks of baby carrots he played with like a ball. Not sure he actually ate any though. 
 

I think spawn n gro and soilent green are soldier fly lava based and high protein. 

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@GuppysnailThank you so much for alleviating my anxiety about this!

I'd been planning on ordering some of the repashy spawn food anyway, because my panda corys have been breeding in the other tank, and I've got three little guys (that I've confirmed so far...there is a lot of cover and they hide a lot so it's hard to catch a glimpse of them all at once). In the betta tank I've got three albino corys and a pair of pandas, and the albinos have been getting a little frisky lately, too. So, we'll  see how he feels about repashy spawn. Probably great. 😂

Thanks again!

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My little guy ripped his right fin this morning. At least with the white fins, it's easy to spot. He's a half-moon dumbo, and I know they're prone to this. It's why I'd been planning on a female originally, but the heart wants what the heart wants. 

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I've never dealt with this and I'm worried. I don't know what to do to help him.

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I was worried about him scoping around the tank bottom for food bc I thought he'd get bloat from over-eating or something. But now here we are with a whole other issue. 

It's always so hard when an animal in our care is hurt...I feel like I failed him.

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I’m sorry for your little guy. Rest assured he will be ok. A few extra water changes to keep pristine water is all he needs. If the edges get dark or clear or fray then move up to salt treatments.  My nieces betta that I tank fostered while she moved had plastic plants (until it came to Gup here 😈 😇.  Hers would tear fins constantly on those. He never suffered actual fin rot though. 
The whole story is in my journal but here is a recap of Lefty my longfin lemon pleco.  She went dumpster diving in the coarse sponge and got stuck. Her struggle ripped her entire pectoral fin cartilage and all off. She was a baby 1/2 in big. She grew fine and that part did not re-grow but her fin continued growth. Without a ruler you can barely tell her fin was torn off. It a millimeter missing at the tip.  No meds just clean water.  Her dad has broken the tip off both fins. Again clean water no issues. 
Betta are more delicate and all the breeding does weaken them but if he is healthy he will be resilient with pristine water.  Often medicating preemptively which medication is hard on fish and stresses them, does more harm than good.  
sending positive vibes for him to heal well.  

Edited by Guppysnail
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@Guppysnail Thank you so much! Meds make me so nervous. 🙈 He experienced his first water change today and was very curious about the whole process. "What is this tube? Is it food? No? How about this thing, is that food?" 🤣

The bio-load in the tank is fairly low for a 29 gallon (one adult mystery, five adult corys) and lots of filtration, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to keep things clean. 

I'm not so worried about the look of the tear, so long as he's healthy and happy. 

He'll get extra frozen BBS this week as consolation 😆

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 Day after fin-rip-ageddon. 

I ordered some API Stress Guard and Indian almond leaves. And one of those little floating logs. I don't expect Pumpkin to use it, because he seems to prefer being on the bottom, but I figure the shrimp might appreciate it 🤷‍♂️😂

I'm only changing water every other day, bc the bio-load is pretty light and I've got double filtration. 

He is currently chasing down frozen BBS and looking very content. 

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Look at that chubby muffin face!

Now, I'm wondering about optimum feeding schedule...🧐

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