I have a betta!

[Marne]

Picked up my fighter fish today, so pleased with him, have put a picture on my profile so you can see how stuning he is .

Do i need to buy hiom special food or is normal flake food ok?

[EauRouge]

Ooh, he's a looker isn't he Flakes are fine as a staple but he'll love you forever if you give him some live daphnia as well.

[EauRouge]

Bugger, I meant to say betta flakes. Tetra do them.

[Marne]

Will he eat bloodworm too? (as i have lots), will get him some betta flakes tomorrow. He has settled in well, he's in my bedroom so dd2 cant anoy him (and because he's all mine).

[EauRouge]

Yes, he'll love bloodworm as well. In the wild they would eat insects that fell onto the surface of the water, hence the slightly grumpy-looking up-turned mouth

[Silibilimili]

I used to have one of these. Got beaten up by a female I introduced. Poor fellow.

[Marne]

We have a female (in another tank) but i'm to scared to put them together (incase they kill each other) , he's loving the bloodworm.

[FermezLaBouche]

Wow - never seen one with colours like that. He's great! Are you going to keep anything else with him? What size tank is he in? I found mine went happily with corys in a 50 litre tank.

[Marne]

he is in a 30ltr tank on his own at the moment. I might move him to a bigger tank when I have space with some city's.when I saw him in the shop I knew I had to have him, he's so handsome, the photo doesnt do him justice.

[Grumpla]

Argh I'm on my phone and can't work out how to view your profile. I love Bettas!

I liked the Hikari betta pellets for my wee guy, but had to order them mail order. Also used to get mixed lots of frozen food as nowhere that sold live food near me then. He occasionally got a couple of peas or a slice of cucumber as well. Also apple snails he went through three of them before I gave up on the idea of flat mates!

[Marne]

He's being fussy and spitting out flake food but happily eating the bloodworm, bought some pellets today so will try him with them tomorrow.

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

my betta is called frank. i bought him a girlfriend. he couldnt care less about her. just ignores her most of the time. except if she comes too close to him them he puffs up and scares her away.

and there was me hoping for love! what is wrong with my frank!?

she goes all stripey and pretty looking when he is close, which i thought was a sign of LOVE!

[EauRouge]

Is she definitely a female? I've heard so many stories about plakats (short-tailed bettas) being sold as females and carnage being the result. Have you seen the Frank building a bubble nest? Some floating plants might encourage him.

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

she looks a lot like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=female+fighting+fish&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=843&tbm=isch&tbnid=6a8Tmr72cU40jM:&imgrefurl=www.seriouslyfish.com/species/betta-splendens/&docid=pD7MiDwoNE5h0M&imgurl=www.seriouslyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/betta_splendens_female_2.jpg&w=450&h=300&ei=xZmPUP63KabB0gXYiYDIAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=959&vpy=478&dur=1203&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=126&ty=76&sig=106149251823866172877&page=2&tbnh=153&tbnw=206&start=20&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:20,i:147" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">This

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

no he does not seem to build a bubble nest. he just shows no intrest in her, unless she comes too close, then he just scares her off, but does not chase. she seems to like him!

[EauRouge]

The Frank? Not enough caffeine yet!

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

there is a pic of him on my profile, but it is upside down! [hhmm]

[EauRouge]

Ah, you should be pretty safe then, that's a female. What have you been feeding them? How big is the tank?

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

no the girl looks like the link, frank is on my profile. upside down [hhmm]

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

they get flakes, and dafnia and some other frozen things and plec tablets go in, which they seem to like. the tank is 150l, but there are others in there too

[EauRouge]

Wow, lucky fish, sounds like they are being spoilt rotten . What are the water parameters like?

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

i was having some problems with high ammonia, and the whole tank went thick/green and horrible, so I am sorting that currently. need to take a sample to pets at home to test!

[EauRouge]

HIgh ammonia? How did that happen?

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

i have no idea. apparently it was not VERY high, but high none the less! they had pulled some plants out and it all went horrible.

so I seem to finally be on top of it.

[Marne]

I havn't been brave enough to put my female with my male. my ffemale is the same as the one you linked .

[brrbrrwinteriscoming]

if your male is anything like mine you have nothing to worry about! he couldnt give a stuff about her!