Look how much my betta changed colors from when I got it!

[Matthew does stuff]

I just wanted to share how much my betta has changed from when it was in a cup to now in a 6 gallon planted tank with shrimp that he doesn’t eat or bother!

I got him in early January this year and I'm amazed on how much blue he has now!

[Guppysnail]

That’s some great care yoyr giving. He is stunning. 

[Lennie]

Good home does affect the bettas in an obvious way.

But sadly these type of nemos/kois may have contant coloring. And sadly it is not good. It may increase the risk of tumors/cancer. When I planned breeding once, @Odd Duck warned me about avoiding constantly coloring up kois/nemos to lessen the risk of cancer/tumor. At least that’s what I remember

Two of my bettas (one nemo and one koi) were this way. My female is still with me and she is pretty old by now. She is basically almost fully black right now. When I got her back in the years she was mainly yellow based koi betta. She constantly colored up nonstop ending up right now as almost black.

Your betta looks in much better shape and health compared to day1 picture. Thats for sure. But sadly this coloring issue comes with problems 

[Matthew does stuff]

I was not aware of this! Thanks for the information. If I notice anything off I know why. He was labeled as a male plaket betta which at first I didn’t believe but now I do. I hope he doesn’t have any problems.

[lefty o]

environmental, and health makes a huge difference. looks like you are making the fish feel good.

[johnnyxxl]

So cute, making me think about a second tank with some fish and shrimp 🦐 

[Lennie]

On 6/21/2024 at 12:36 AM, Matthew does stuff said:

I was not aware of this! Thanks for the information. If I notice anything off I know why. He was labeled as a male plaket betta which at first I didn’t believe but now I do. I hope he doesn’t have any problems.

You seem to be doing everything you can for his comfort and well being! He looks nice and much hapoier

As long as we be responsible and dont randomly breed fish that might be genetically problematic, it is fine I think

cheers,

[Matthew does stuff]

On 6/20/2024 at 4:55 PM, johnnyxxl said:

So cute, making me think about a second tank with some fish and shrimp 🦐 

If you want to have a betta tank with shrimp it needs to be heavily planted and they might eat and nag at shrimp or some might not or some like mine bothered the shrimp and after a week he noticed that he couldn’t eat them and completely ignores them now. I was trying out shrimp and someone local sold me these 12 shrimp for $0.25 cents each so I wouldn’t be bummed if any died. Luckily none did and I have a shrimp carrying eggs! Now the question is if they will survive.

[EricksonAquatics]

Beautiful betta!

Mine changed quite a lot too, but not exactly in the stunning way that yours did! Mine was a butterfly so I knew he would eventually lose all his white but it happened faster than I thought lol.

Then

now ^ (the fin tear has since healed).

[Odd Duck]

Massive glow-up, @Matthew does stuff!  Nicely done!

Sadly, what @Lennie mentioned is true that the koi (and Nemo) coloration is more prone to tumors / cancer than those that don’t gradually shift colors.  It appears to be related to the gradual spread of pigment producing cells or pigment production getting turned on in cells that didn’t produce those pigments previously.  I haven’t heard of anybody doing any kind of studies, it’s just something that’s been noticed over the years by breeders.  It’s not something I discovered, I’ve only applied an educated guess on the cause.

Edited June 20 by Odd Duck

[johnnyxxl]

On 6/20/2024 at 6:14 PM, Matthew does stuff said:

If you want to have a betta tank with shrimp it needs to be heavily planted and they might eat and nag at shrimp or some might not or some like mine bothered the shrimp and after a week he noticed that he couldn’t eat them and completely ignores them now. I was trying out shrimp and someone local sold me these 12 shrimp for $0.25 cents each so I wouldn’t be bummed if any died. Luckily none did and I have a shrimp carrying eggs! Now the question is if they will survive.

Planted won't be a problem just need to convince myself I need a second tank when I have the 80gal.

[Matthew does stuff]

On 6/20/2024 at 7:56 PM, johnnyxxl said:

Planted won't be a problem just need to convince myself I need a second tank when I have the 80gal.

Gotta have a smaller tank and a bigger tank. I have this 6 gallon in my bedroom and in my basement a 55 gallon with Yellow lab cichlids. Completely different ends of the spectrum. I can only keep hornwort and snails with the cichlids so plastic decorations and rocks. While I can have different plants and shrimp in my betta tank. Heck I also want to build a patio pond or a 20 gallon tote indoor pond for some guppies!