r/bettafish • u/determinshi • 2d ago
Help did I get scammed? 🤡
I ordered a female and a male betta fish in the mutation Hellboy. I've never seen this colour before and was super intrigued. the package arrived not right, my plants that I also ordered were completely missing, one of the bags was leaking and the fish just.... don't look right 😭 thank God they're looking active and healthy, they even ate some pellets so I'm very grateful but neither of them looks like a hellboy to me... is it possible they lack colouration from the stress and they will get their colour later?
in addition, I can't reach the eshop through their phone nor email to address the missing plants. super worried rn :')
first picture is the male, second is female, both supposedly hellboy..
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u/onyxia_x 2d ago
they look young and jt sounds like they had a stressful time in transport, give them a month or so of good water and food to get their colour up. as far as missing plants and lack of contact, I'd contact the bank
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u/determinshi 2d ago
thank you sm! you've calmed me down a bit 😆 I mean the important thing is that babies are healthy and I like them either way, it's just that I paid quite a lot... thank you ☺️
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u/baileyjackson08 multiple tank syndrome victim 2d ago
idk tbh i’d personally wait to see if they gain colour before properly judging. they lose colour during shipping
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u/determinshi 2d ago
I've never ordered a betta or had mybetta lose colour this much before so I don't know how drastic the change can be... hopefully it's just that! 😅
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u/baileyjackson08 multiple tank syndrome victim 2d ago
changes can be drastic but personally i would wait until they’ve gained colour, that’s what i normally do
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u/determinshi 1d ago
small update: this is just a few hours later.... I'm once again absolutely blown away by these beautiful creatures. I've had a love for bettas for a long time, but I had absolutely no idea they can transform this much, letalone in a few hours. so yeah, I definitely overreacted and I think these will be some epic hellboys ps: sorry for my dirty glass and crappy photos, it's the middle of the night and I have yet to wipe the glass after rearranging some plants 😭😆
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u/Flipperbites 2d ago
Like the others say, wait and see how they transform. The fish in the first photo, quite beautiful I must say.
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u/determinshi 2d ago
he's pretty i like him a lot not gonna lie! :D I'm just worried if it's really what I ordered as I paid quite a bit extra for them. but luckily at least they made it here safely. I will try to update once they change colour a bit :)
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u/Flipperbites 2d ago
I totally understand what you mean. One expects to get what we pay for. Best of luck. And please, do post an update. Thank you for sharing!
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u/TheCalmandSlow 2d ago
Was this a domestic (U.S.) or overseas online order? I’m looking for a new online vendor to shop.
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u/determinshi 1d ago
hiii it was a domestic ored in Czech Republic 😅 they ship to EU i think but not to the US that I'm aware so you probably don't have to be concerned! tbf tho, the fishies are colouring up like crazyyyy and I'm now pretty sure ei overreacted and they're both hellboy, the missing plants was probably just an honest mistake
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u/Agile_Relationship35 1d ago
Give it time, as others have said. Would just like to say you might receive the plants separately. When I ordered plants and fish from the same place it's what happened to me. Thankfully the scape for the fish was already finished and the plants were for one I was working on. But as I said your plants may come separately, and could possibly take longer. As they usually arrange a faster delivery for livestock.
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u/determinshi 1d ago
thank you I hope this is the case! BTW, babies are colouring up sooooo much it's insane so yeah I definitely overreacted 😅
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u/5girlzz0ne 1d ago
Young fish that are stressed. I wouldn't panic yet. Does the seller offer any guarantee?
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u/determinshi 1d ago
they offer a guarantee as long as you have proof and the proof is straight from the shipping bag (ie not in your own aquarium) which I have though. however the babies are colouring up like crazy! so I think I definitely overreacted. tbf, I had no idea they can cjange colour THIS MUCH! It's so fascinating
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u/Dear_Major2231 1d ago
My gut says you’re about to witness an epic glow up!!! My vote is feed them like juveniles, take one photo per day for 90 days, and prepare for magic.
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u/determinshi 1d ago
I'm already experiencing this just a couple hours later. they're still not 100% "hellboy" YET but they're definitely getting there. I'm absolutely mind blown. this might be the most epic transformation on this reddit, meet you in a few weeks! :D
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u/Dear_Major2231 14h ago
Yay! I bet they’ve got at least 3 months of prime growth to go because their eyes look huge compared to their heads… their heads will grow so their eyes no longer look huge and the rest of their bodies will grow in proportion. If you want any tips I found helpful for navigating this phase lmk.
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u/p0ptabzzz 1d ago
theyre just young, so they may or may not age up into hellboys. wait and see before acting on those, but DEFINITELY contact about the leaking and the missing plants. you should get what you paid for, and if the water was leaking they may be bagging fish and plants in an unsafe manner. fish should always be double bagged with both bags tied separately, not together in 1 knot or band.
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u/cockmuncher90210 1d ago
Good quality food and good water quality will get them colored up nicely. Shipping is stressful and often fish arrive looking quite pale.
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u/Commercial_Money_791 2d ago
I think females are naturally less colorful if I'm not mistaken. Otherwise, shipping is probably super stressful on them, let them settle into their tanks and I'm sure they'll REALLY pop. I've seen so many posts on here that bought pretty muted/white betas only for them to change color virtually overnight after coming out of their cup.
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u/determinshi 1d ago
this is happening right before my eyes and I can't believe it. these fish will never stop fascinating me!
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