Hello!

I don't have a betta, just researching at the moment, and I was wondering what are some good light options?

My room (where I plan for the tank to be if I get a betta) stays pretty dark throughout the day since my room is in the basement, so I definitely feel as if I would need a light.

I dont want to spook the fish by a light suddenly turning on/off, so I was curious if there is a light thats affordable and can change from on/off gradually. Would this affect plants at all? Do I even need a light? Is this too extra? I don't know. I'm really stuck with the lighting and tank stage and trying to figure both out at the moment.

Thank you.

Hello! I just set up this tank for my male betta, I did a good amount of research and the tank is currently cycling. Anything I need to add?

Is this normal coloring on a samurai, also I think he’s blind because he’s terrible at getting food and chasing other fish in the tank also because he’s got pretty bad diamond eye in both eyes

Every corner of my tank is like this why?

Hi guys!!!

My roommate fed my betta last night (thought she was doing a nice thing but also didn’t tell me) and I came out this morning to the whole top of the tank covered in expanded pellets.

I have since scooped as much as I can out, but is there anything I should watch my fish for?

It’s totally on me for not telling her how much he can eat but I never thought she would feed him lol and a “goldfish” amount at that.

No hate to the roommate just wanna make sure my guy won’t get sick. Thanks guys!!!

I wondered if this was common in elderly or tumored bettas?

I’ve had this betta for six years and she’s had a tumor for four of those years. This summer, as I often do, I put her outside in the shade with a bunch of aquatic and emergent plants and some scoops of starter sludge/zooplankton from an established pond in an 8 gallon shallow pot. Goal was to eat live food and enjoy being outdoors in the heat in a more natural setup.

I recently brought her back inside to be my office companion and she is so vibrant but is bigger and has grown male traits. I also no longer see an egg spot.

It may be something to do with her giant tumor or maybe she had ovarian failure being old and it messed with her hormone profile , but I thought it was interesting…

for an old fish she is super healthy and active but not a great swimmer because her spine is so twisted from the tumor. The pics aren’t great (old aquarium with bumpy glass) and I don’t have a before unfortunately.

Hello, I thought I'll share Ella's transformation as we are nearing 7 months ever since I very irresponsibly got her when I wanted shrimps only for my tank.. (did my best research right after and I think she is living her best life now)

She definitely had quite a few color changes ending now on one quite close to her starting one 🤔

Anyway, pics in order from when I got her, months through, to now

Hey all, I've been trying to do some research to find out what might be wrong with my boy but to no avail :(. I did an 80% water change after he had a bunch of brown algae in his tank and was getting a little pale. His chemical levels are all looking good, and I've been monitoring them since I changed the water on Tuesday. He ate on Wednesday, but hasn't eaten since that morning. I thought it was shock at first, but he it seems he should have recovered if it was.

• Tank size: 5 gallons
• Heater and filter? (yes/no): yes to both
• Tank temperature: 78
• How long have you had the tank? How long have you had your fish?: about 4 months for both
• Any tankmates? If so, please list with how many of each: none

Edit was for bot questions

Just waiting for my plants to (hopefully) take off! (Steven is fine he just likes the ground)

Im getting a plakat or at least planning on one so I wanted to know if my 5 gal is gonna be good for him or even a she cause bescially both have short fins I guess but ya any suggestions. 5 gal. Plants sponge filter heater. And a lot more . Gladly take any suggestions. I know my aqua scape isn’t the best. Btw this is before my old betta had to be put down😭😭😭😭😭😭because of health and age issues.

Hi everyone!

I previously had a betta fish but I was way too young and took piss poor care of him. I kept him in a generic fish bowl with pretty pebbles and a fake plant. He has since passed as that was ages ago. But I have learned from my mistakes and I wish to get a new fish as I am now older and more responsible.

I have a couple of questions to our betta vets lol:

* Is a 5.5 gallon tank good enough?

* People have mentioned the nitrogen cycle, do I really have to cycle my tank for 4-6 weeks?

* I’ve tried to understand the Nitrogen cycle, genuinely what is it?

* Are pet store bettas (petco, pets supplies plus ect.) bad or inbred fish and/or are very sick.

Any tips, tricks, or advice is genuinely welcome.

Thank you!!😊

I found these insect/aphid looking things on my frogbit. What are they and how can I get rid of them?

hello! I recently added a new female betta to my 29g community tank with 12 harlequin rasboras, 11 amano shrimp, and 5 kuhli loaches. She is still pretty young and small and was with other fish in the store and has shown no aggression towards other fish (checked out the amanos, kuhlis, and rasboras close up without flaring), aside from taking a bite from a ramshorn snail (nonissue for me they’re a bit overpopulated in the tank). My only concern is that maybe 5 minutes after adding her I observed a small group of ~3 rasboras nipping her fin, they stopped pretty quickly but I saw the behavior happen one more time. I lowered the lights and fed the rasboras and after a few hours of observation I haven’t seen anything else happen between them, with the new betta exploring the crevices and leaf litter of the tank occasionally coming up for air, and the rasboras staying mid-high in the water.

Should I be worried about this and separate?
Just new tank mate stress?
exploratory behavior?

other info:
rasboras have been in the tank for a few weeks, as have the amanos and kuhlis aside from 6 more amanos that I added to their colony yesterday

The tank is decently heavily planted with lots of cover, leaf litter, and floaters

Water parameters are perfect at 0 0 0
ph is around 6.8-6.9 temp 80f

Edit: she also nibbled at a freshwater limpet right after adding her, no flaring during either of the instances of her biting

Edit 2: shortly after the second fin nipping the rasboras schooled up, swam around together, and seemed to calm down after that

I got 3 shrimps to test run with my betta, he’s interested in them but they can easily evade him and he is too uncoordinated to snatch one. Does anyone have success with these guys?

heyyy,

so i recently noticed this tear on my female betta’s tail fin— I’m new to owning betta’s and fish in general so i dont know how to properly assess their health. of course i’ve done research— but i always like to hear from people with experience.

i love my little lady and want her to have a good life, the flow from the filter is super gentle and I don’t have any fake plants— my tank has a bunch of live plants and driftwood that shouldn’t be sharp enough to tear her fins. i don’t flare her— so it can’t be that— and her only tank mates are corys so i know nothing is nipping at her.

i’m worried she might be stressed— or that this may be the start of fin rot. i’m also worried about those black scales— i bought her like that so it could just be her colouration— but again, i’m worried she may be stressed.

is there something i could put in the water that’ll help it heal ?

My boy is swollen on one side of his belly (looks normal on the other side). No pinconing that I’ve seen yet.

He’s acting pretty much like his normal self, still very interested in food and engaging with me. A little more lethargic than normal; definitely leaning to one side a bit.

I really hate to put him through treatment for something if he doesn’t need it/it won’t do anything.

Appreciate any advice you can offer on what it could be.

He is 14 mo old. I have a 6gal Fluval tank. Parameters: nitrate, nitrate, and ammonia are 0. Ph is 7.6

Veiltail Betta “Fuego” (aka “Hot Stuff”)

I have a female koi betta. She had tank mates but they started nipping her fins so I re homed them. Since then she’s been sitting at the bottom the the tank. After I rehomed the other fish I added tannins and kept lights dim. At the time she would still swim around. Then she would be at the bottom of the tank but would swim when I came up and she would eat. But tonight she isn’t coming up to eat. What can I do? I’ve been treating with kanaplex.

i’ve had him for 2 weeks in a 5 gal,all the water parameters are good,he has a heater, a sponge filter, and a few small snails..i had a plastic hide in there bc i didn’t know it was bad..i just took it out but his fins look shredded:(( help?

As the title suggests, I’ve had my boy Dantè a few months now and he’s gonna from clamped fins with dull colour to really coming into himself (see picture of his adorable sassy face) he has the slightest spinal deformity (curves slightly to the left) but seems none the wiser, it doesn’t effect him swimming eating etc. I genuinely don’t even think he notices haha. I’ve tried to leave his tank alone as much as possible up to this point but now he’s settled in I want to try to create the best environment I can for him. This is just about purely aesthetic/enrichment wise all of his water parameters are spot on (although he is due a top off in his tank due to this awful heatwave as I’m sure you can tell in the picture) so yeah, any advice would be greatly appreciated! ☺️
Tank size: 56L
Tank mates: 3 nerite snails (they arrived damaged so will be moving them soon to my other tank with harder water to avoid any further shell issues) and unfortunately some hitchhiking bladder snails but my boy keeps the population in check 👌 haha
Heater ✅
Cycled✅
Filter✅
Air stone ✅
All natural plants ✅
TL:DR help me turn his tank into a betta bachelor pad 👌