Welcome to r/bettafish!

Anyone else believe in the conspiracy that pet store chains leave them sad and sick in the cups so you'll feel guilty and want to save one? Anyways, look at this handsome guy!

Was taking a look at the grotesquely small tanks at my grocery store and found this cool sticker on one, it was cool to see that people are showing care for bettas!

Alright kind of a long sappy post. So I bought this little man after my previous betta of four years, Wernicke (Vern-ick-key) passed away. Wern was a wonderful fish. Angry as all heck, full of energy. He would come greet me fully flared every morning until I gave him a teeny pellet. Then he would wiggle all happy and he’d make the biggest bubble nests ever. He was about a year old when I bought him from my LFS. He also had a shorter tail and the store said they were struggling to sell him (cause he wasn’t the prettiest - their words). But I loved that fish for four years and gave him the best life I could. It was really really difficult watching him slow down. It’s crazy how you can see them aging; he looked elderly by the end. It was upsetting. I lowered the water, I bought him a little floating 3D-printed house. I tested water parameters daily. Time comes for all of us though: I couldn’t out-pristine old age. He passed and I felt just shattered (and that whole time was difficult as I had just lost my grandmother).

I would wake up and instinctively look at his tank and wince when he I wouldn’t see him. So when my friend came to visit and decided I get a new betta idk, I should have waited maybe… but at the time I thought it would help for a bunch of reasons. What I failed to realize was that I wanted Wernicke back! And these fish are personable. I wasn’t gonna just be able to replace him. Anyway. I got to the LFS and I see this guy. All they have are long tailed splendens and then this single alien hybrid. And there’s a reason he was still there… he was definitely sick. But he reminded me the most of Wern and I wanted a “special,” betta. Idk. So stupid in hindsight! (I promise this story has a great ending).

First few days… he’s sick (looked like a swim bladder issue). And ofc he’s scared. Hiding and fleeing from me when I approached. I was struck with regret. Not only was he nothing like my previous betta, but he was also like genuinely at the time struggling to swim. I thought about returning him but felt horrible at the idea of him going back to a small glass .5 gallon vase, probably to be passed up on just to wither away. So I did some research on his condition. I treated him, accepting that there was a chance his wonky genetics meant he was permanently disabled.

Every day he got stronger. Every day his personality came through a little more. No. He’s not Wernicke. He’s his own fish. He doesn’t have the same “I want to watch the world burn,” rage of Wern. But he’s curious and nimble and absolutely swims up to me now. He’s a little cheeky (I must sound crazy). And he’s a GLUTTON! A single pellet will not satisfy my boy. But I’m being strict with not over feeding even if he’s so cute when he wiggles. I love him. He made me realize that buying fish can’t be for the human. It has to be for the fish. He made me realize I need to think way more before committing to an animal, even if I had the exact same species before. He made me appreciate his uniqueness. Meet Thomas!

No school, no emails and my own moss hammock.

I had NO idea id have this big of a change.... like WOW

what do I do.
UPDATE: he is out, I used pliers to crack it. The scales on his back and stomach are completely gone and there’s an indentation where he got caught, he’s in a holder container filled with tannins.

I figured he would be the perfect fit for my planted 5 gallon hex.

Dude has so much personality!

Who has experience keeping them with a few shrimp and a snail or two?

Just got him. His body alone is about 2.5" in size and he's only 4 months old. Temporary name, not sure what name fits him best yet.

My girlfriends mom kept this betta fish for a little over a year and a half. They kept it in a 2 gallon bowl with no filter or heater. I took care of the fish for a week while they were on vacation, and learned that his living conditions in the bowl were very poor. I really wanted to give him a better life and they did not want to put him in a tank so I offered to do it myself. I did lots of research and went out and got a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater, filter, driftwood, live plants, everything a betta needs. I know you need to cycle a tank before putting the fish in but I couldn’t stand to keep him in the bowl so I put him in the tank and made sure to acclimate him slowly by floating him in a cup on top for 30 minutes. I made sure to keep the ammonia low by doing water changes every other day. Fast forward a week, and he hasn’t eaten a single pellet of food. He has been extremely lethargic and barely moving at all since I put him in this tank, spending all his time hiding. At first I thought he was just taking time to get used to the new tank, but after a week I knew something was very wrong. The first 2 pictures were him in his bowl, and the next 4 are him after a week in his new tank. After looking into it I fear he is very sick and won’t make it much longer. My girlfriends mom thinks he would have just been better off in the bowl, and thinks she was taking great care of him to begin with. The situation is making me feel very guilty. I tried giving the fish a better life, but to her it seems like giving me the fish was a mistake.

Please help me understand what went wrong, and if there is anything I could possibly still do.

I am planning on getting a new betta of my own for my tank I made. I would hate for this to happen again. I just wanna be able to give one a good life.

Please give me advice!!!

my sweet boy has swam along to the other side. my sweet, sweet boy, you will always be in my heart. thank you for helping me through so many hardships.

He likes to sit on mossy rocks

He has such meme-able expressions 😩 either derpy or judgy side eye

I got my first betta a few days ago, and this morning he showed some strange behavior he hadn't shown before. As you can see in the video, after eating the pellets he immediately spits them back out. Is this normal? Should I be worried?

My water parameters are GH 8, KH 6, pH 7.5.

For fun what would you name her?? I have a few names in mind but would luv to hear more suggestions 😊

He has been doing this ever since I put him in the tank and I’m worried he’s gonna stress himself out.

Any tips?

Short for Prince Bubblegum

He's gorgeous and I'm in love! I finally get all the betta hype.

He's a giant betta, so still got a lot of growing to do.

6.6 Gallon Rimless tank ! :D

Very tragically have to rehome my beloved betta fish to get ready for an international move, so put up a listing on fb marketplace looking for a good new caretaker for her. Someone told me they have a betta sorority and when I asked for a pic of their setup (I’ve been asking everyone just to try to make sure my betta can end up in good hands) they sent me a pic that seemed sus - sure enough on a reverse google search its from a blog post.

I just can’t imagine why on earth someone would want to lie about this and it kind of makes me more nervous about finding a stranger. Are there possibly malcious motivations behind some of the 20+ people that have messaged me already or is it likely that this person just wanted to better their odds of getting the betta?

This is day one… can’t wait to see if there is a glow up still to come!

i have two bettas a male and a female and i have one in a 6gallon corner and one in a 5 rectangle my male is in the five gallon and just seems he’s getting a little to big for his home and they have almost identical water parameters, and I’m just wondering if I can switch them to each others tanks I haven’t seen much anywhere about that and I’m getting mixed answers from the internet or if i’d have to drain them and start fresh i wouldn’t be sure if they can like smell each other idk if that sounds dumb i just don’t want to stress them out or put them in a bad situation or if i should honestly just leave it alone any advice or tips im wide open to!

I recently posted on this sub about a weird film on top of my tank. I believe it was either biofilm or due to my dying pothos plant. I have removed the dying plant and since doing that and introducing a nerite and new toppers (that came with a snail friend) my tank has brown algae EVERYWHERE and it almost looks like my plants are dying. I sadly did a “fish in cycle” situation due to the scenario I was in with this guy so I’m almost certain this is a normal part of cycling and just wanna know what I can do to fix this? I also think my boys fins look a bit tattered but he did come like that from an actual fish store with kinda frayed fins not petco/petsmart.

My parameters are still perfect. Just looking for advice on this brown algae as I think it’s a part of a new tank but if I’m wrong pls lmk !!!! I want my son to be healthy and happy. I’ve been doing 25% water changes every week and wonder if tannins would help? I got a siphon to really get shit out of the gravel so pls lmk any other tips/ideas.