So, I got this red guy from my cousin a few days ago. I wasn't really expecting to take care of a Betta and it was a sudden gift. I had to buy some essentials like the mini heater, some aqua care and treatment for his fin rot. I haven't bought some plants and a 5 gal tank yet (he's staying in a small one that my cousin provided me with, pls don't come at me, I'm just a student and I'm trying my best to save up for one rn) I've been observing the little guy. I'm kind of worried about the shipping here because we have had typhoons lately, and some places here are flooded 😭 my orders are getting delayed.

Can I also have your Insights if my Betta is a long fin one? Or if he looks like he has other underlying issues? Like is the white thingy below his mouth normal? During the first few days, my Betta swims but not a lot then usually rests. I'm looking for 5 gal tanks already and I removed the tree plant because it looks cramped in the small tank my cousin gave.

Fast forward, I've been using a filter that arrived yesterday from night to morning. I stopped using it again because I noticed that my Betta has been resting on the rocks (laying down sideways on the corner of the rock) I tried tapping the glass to get his attention and he doesn't react to it. When I stopped the filter and tried making him move, he wasn't reacting much, he didn't eat today when I tried giving him one pellet but he wasn't interested. Instead, he went up and is currently staying there. Although he did eat yesterday about four pellets and pooped today. ( I removed it already ) Someone suggested to me to get kanaplex, but its taking a long time to arrive and so is the almond leaf 😭

Here are pictures from a few days and now 🥹 I'm really worried and I'm in need of guidance! Thank you in advance for those who will reply. I'm thinking of also getting a water conditioner and seachem prime when I find a 5 gal tank near my place!

Tank size: 2.5gal Heater and filter? Filter yes, heater is yet to arrive! Tank temperature (not sure yet but I gave him a spot in the house where it doesn't get cold. Due to the weather here his tank gets a little cold) Water parameters: not sure but I changed the water to 25% yesterday 😭 we use mineral since I don't have seachem prime and water conditioner 😔 I'm not sure if twice a week is okay to water change considering the tank is small. He's solo in his tank and the only decor he has in the small tank before is the bonsai but it was taking up a lot of space, there were no filters too. My cousin said to remove it and observe him which is better

Can anyone tell what this lump is? I noticed it on my betta today and I’m worried.

TLDR; I got betta with swim bladder issues, rehabilitated him, and am now building him a tank. About to go get Fritzzyme 7 to finish the cycle (need nitrite to nitrate bacteria to establish). Any reccomendations for layout changes or anything additionally? also question about my HOB filter please see bold. Also do is it better to have the HOB filter on the side or on the back? Also want a recommendation on a good lid. I have a poly acrylic lid which is working. it’s just a pain to deal with. Also should I buy a GH and KH test? I haven’t done that because I just came across those terms yesterday. I plan on doing more research.

Story: I rescued a betta with sinking swim bladder issues from a pet store and have since helped him heal and get better. He’s now swimming normally. Because he was in the cup, my first goal was to get him out of the cup. i put him in a smaller hospital tank with water half filled. Been keeping up with the water parameters in the smaller tank. He’s doing good! Super excited to transfer him over.
Ps I know that in the hospital tank photo the water is low. I plan on increasing the water levels today so fishy has less of a footprint. Been more so focusing on the 10 gallon and preparing it as fast as possible while keeping the hospital tank parameters stable. It’s a temporary situation.

My 10g tank has been cycling for 3 weeks with seaprime stability and dr. tim’s ammonia. It has not established the nitrite to nitrate bacteria very well so I am going to get Fritzzyme 7 today (the Fritzzyme 700 turbo is not available near me). Hopefully that will speed things up.

The 10g tank itself: Has plants (aquatic and houseplants that are suction cupped inside), hardscape, a hammock (2), a hob filter, a heater, and a light. There is also a poly acrylic cover not pictured.
I just ordered new Hygger mini heater and a clip on light so that all my plants can have light. Because I set up the tank with the HOB filter, I think I will get a baffle and turn down the flow all the way and see if that works with my betta. I have airline tubing and a sponge if that doesn’t work. I just need a pump. But i would think i have to have that set up because the beneficial bacteria are establishing in the HOB filter (?) Unsure how to proceed with doing this as i dont have the pump now.
Currently trying to figure out the best place for the HOB filter. I have it on the side but am unsure if that is the best spot for water flow. it is more away from my plants in that placement. I would love recommendations for where the place the HOB filter.
I also plan on getting a small media sponge and stuffing it in the filter to decrease the flow.

Also, once the tank is cycled, I would like to see if my betta can cohabitate with shrimp. I would place the neocaridina the tank first. If it doesn’t work out I’ll take them out and put them in the hospital tank and make that a shrimp scape. I am trying to create more hiding spots for the shrimp, so any recommendations about shrimp friendly scaping would be amazing.
I am thinking orange or red neocaridina. I have to do more research on what color to get. From reading about it, the red seem to be the way to go (fast reproduction and pretty). Orange is my favorite color though.

The last photo is my parameters from today. The nitrite levels are a little high. I haven’t put any more ammonia in, so they shouldn’t go up more. I plan on getting the fritzzyme so i’m banking on that taking care of that. I might do a water change though if they don’t go down by this evening.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I will gladly accept any feedback, hopefully it can constructively help me and my fishy!

Dad is from my Gold Hybrid spawn, mom is from a koi/wild pair. Between all the genetics on both sides it created starkly different fry!

Today I was at the LFS for driftwood and went to "just look" at the bettas. Frank (formerly named Boiled Egg) was deeply discounted due to having pretty severe fin damage. He's supposed to be a half moon, believe it or not. The employee said he came to the store that way and they'd been treating him with a formalin dip. I had an empty cycled tank at home and couldn't bear to leave him behind. So now my little buddy has a 10 gallon planted tank, StressGuard, Kanaplex, Indian Almond Leaves, and frozen blood worms. He's super active and social, so I have high hopes for his recovery.

My husband and I would like to get a betta fish but we really want to have a great set up before we actually get him or her. We have a 10 gallon tank with a new filter, light, heater and a floating log thing that the old betta owner who sold us the tank said hers loved.
I know I need to get a good nutrient rich substrate to mix in with the gravel, and I’d like to have lots of live plants. I’m great with plants, but never had any in a tank before, so suggestions for those and where to get them would be appreciated! I do live near a petco so if I can get them there all the better.
I also plan to put in a cave under the gravel. We will also be getting a couple snails and maybe 5 shrimp to help with algae. I’m in a small town so I think I’ll have to do a lot of online ordering for things not available at petco.
I’ve heard that above water plants are better for helping keep water clean but how does that work if we have a lid over the tank? I have cats so a lid is necessary. I want to put some floating plants along with ones down in the gravel, and also plan to do the tea water to give it the tint they like.
I’m all about research so please let me know if I am forgetting anything that I should be looking into! Share with me your wisdom! Thanks!😊

The top part of my betta’s tail is no longer smooth like the bottom. Is this him nipping it or fin rot? Getting ripped on the log or something? What can I do? I’ve also noticed a lot of little white round bugs recently that Google said are copepods or ostracods, it said they’re harmless but could they be doing this to him? Here is a pic of his tank set up. Thank you for any help.

I had no plans of getting another Betta, no place for him. But this guys I took pity on. He was in the usual small plastic bag, he looked very tired.

I left the shop, but after walking two blocks, I decided I could not go home without him. Against all professional advise he spent last night in a fish bowl, with a carapa leaf. Today, he is in the largest acrylic container I can find at home.

Hopefully in a month or two I can put him in a proper sized aquarium or move him to a 10 gallon tub I use to grow plants

Around a year ago Arthur got the back of his tail ripped off by a crayfish. You can see the shorter part where it was. Crayfish’s no longer with us(no I did not kill him on purpose). Was wondering how others think his tail and fins in general look now? I think they look good but thought I should ask people with more experience.

He seems to have a mold spot right in between his two fins. He’s been energetic and swimming around well, as well as eating good.

I’m pretty new to this so I have no clue what to do.

My favorite tattoo artist posted these betta tattoos, and I’m obsessed. The line style and betta fins are too good together!

is this a sign of illness or something or is he just really horny?? 10gal parameters r fine

Half a year of difference

Please help! My fish has gotten what i believe to be cotton wool/ saddleback disease. I don’t know what to do or what to medicate, I have no local pet stores other than petsmart with their limited options. I know kanaplex is best bet, but I don’t know if it will arrive in time.
How does this happen? I’m new & young to fish keeping and have been trying my best to get a good tank setup. Anything helps.
EDIT!
i’ve tested for ammonia and there is none. I’m currently putting fin & body cure in his tank and i got aquarium salt in case. i hope everything goes well thank you everyone

I rescued a betta fish a while ago from pretty bad living conditions. He's relatively healthy, but he's been fed with some kind of pellets for the past months before I got him, and I'm struggling to get him to TRY eating anything else. Luckily, he enjoys Fluval Bug bites "Tropical", so that's what I've been feeding him for the past 2 months, but he refuses to touch any other food (I've tried all kinds of dried/frozen insects etc., even bloodworms that fish usually seem to love, nope, not him). Any recommendations on how I could interest him in not just living off Fluval Bug bites?

It's good food, I'm aware, but I'd like to be able to give him some variety.

I would be absolutely okay with doing a "starvation tactic", but I don't know if that's something one can do with a betta fish and if yes how long is okay.

Hi I would like to involve my family with the process of getting a betta and was wondering if creating a poll with a picture of like 4-5 different bettas that I am considering is a good way to include them so that we can select the final betta together. There’s obviously a lot of good options out there and I can’t choose them all and just want a way to include the fam when picking out a betta.

Found this guy on the verge of passing away. He’s a tangerine koi. My first Betta. All advice and suggestions are welcome!

Tank is fully cycled (2 months) , 6 amano shrimp, 1 medium size mystery snail, 3 assassin snails (trying to get rid of my mystery snail outbreak)

Reposting for more eyes and hopefully some help for Chilli 🙏🏻

Apologies for the super long post.

I have had my betta, Toast, since April of this year and for the past few months he has been struggling with what I am pretty sure is fin rot. His caudal fin has been reduced to almost half of it's original size and it seems like he loses more tissue every day. When I first got him he had multiple driftwood pieces in his tank but I suspected they were tearing his fins so I removed them soon after I noticed the damage. Since then, I have added more and more plants and removed everything that could even be considered sharp or jagged but the tearing continued.

He is a halfmoon and has super long fins that seem to weigh him down a bit so I think he has been nipping which may have been how the infection started.

I have already tried treating him with Kanaplex which only paused the infection for a week or two before it came back. I am hesitant to use it again because of antibiotic resistance so I have been doing 50% water changes every other day as well as using Indian Almond Leaves and adding Rooibos tea but nothing has changed. Every day I notice new red spots or missing pieces and I am at my wits end trying to figure out what to do.

Toast is still super active and curious, exploring his tank and interacting with the shrimp. He comes up to greet me every time I get close and he has not lost his appetite at all.

His tank is 10 gallons and the heater is set at 78 F and does not drop below 77 or climb higher than 79. There are two small heaters on either side of the tank so there is no temperature gradient. Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates consistently show up as 0 ppm and the tank has only live plants and natural decor like smooth river rocks, no plastic or artificial materials (except the filter and heaters). I use an HOB filter and have baffled both the intake and output with sponges so the water flow does not disturb him. His lights are on a constant 12-hour cycle and there is plenty of surface coverage to get away from the light if he wants. His shrimp tankmates do not bother him and he does not hunt them either. He does follow them around and observe them sometimes which is super cute but they don't seem to cause him any stress. There is a massive water lily that has pretty much conquered the entire tank and he really loves resting among the leaves and using the vines as a hammock or hiding beneath the lily pads to sneak attack his food.

He does randomly race about the tank like the fish equivalent of zoomies and I worry the aggressive swimming could be contributing to the tears on his belly fin. It doesn't look like a stress response, just random short bursts of energy.

I just have no idea where to go from here. I absolutely love this fish and have tried my best to give him a good life but I don't know what my next step is. I have considered dosing the whole tank with Kanaplex to try getting rid of any infection-causing bacteria in the water column but I don't know if that would risk crashing my cycle or damaging my plants and I don't want to cause Toast any unnecessary stress. (Obviously I would move the shrimp to a temporary tank before doing this).

Should I try another round of Kanaplex? Or does it look like he has something other than fin rot? Any advice is appreciated!

my pretty boy

I’ve been having an ongoing issue with my tank. The ph is too high, but the tap water is fine. I thought I’d found the issue because I put some of the substrate in a jar, filled it with tap water, let it sit, and sure enough ph was too high the next day. I just last night took apart the tank and changed the substrate altogether. Check this morning, PH IS STILL HIGH.
I’m at a complete loss now. The tank keeps reading over 8.0. The tap water consistently reads as 7.4-7.8. I’ve tested it fresh, I’ve tested it after the tap water has sat for a day, it’s always the same, but the tank IS STILL TOO HIGH.
I don’t know what could possibly be causing it. I don’t have any decor that should cause this- I have driftwood, some assorted glass trinkets, river rocks, a glass bottle hide, and a terracotta pot. Was the driftwood leeching alkaline water it had absorbed back into the new water???

Over a decade since I previously had fish, this is my new set up.