My Daughter's Christmas Pets

Well...she didn't get any snakes for Christmas this year. But I picked up a couple of beautiful Bettas and a double enclosure thing for them. I've never been a fan of fish unless they were on the end of my line, but I have to admit that the Bettas are a pretty cool fish, and they look beautiful. So when Zayne told me she wanted a Betta Fish for Christmas, I decided to get 2...one for each of us.

So here is Ruby(the pearl colored one), and Mac(the red/blue). Thanks for sharing!

Congrats on the pretty fish! I've never seen a pearl-colored one before -- it's beautiful.

I had a 2.5 gallon tank in my classroom with a slidy-screen thing to go in the middle so my 2 fish could have their own space...they were constantly at each other & in battle-mode, trying to nip at each others' fins through the screen. I came in one Mon morning, after about a week of having them like that, and my big pretty all red one was glassy-eyed at the bottom of the tank. I guess the difference may have been that they'd been living separately for awhile following coming home from the store, and then put together in the tank (though still separated). I think that it was the constant stress of seeing each other (though they did have a big plant each to hide in...). I'm hoping that your fish see a happier ending than my red one did!

Pretty! I'd never seen a pearl, either.

Thanks for the comments!

I think part of the problem may have been the screen dividing them. If a piece of fin goes through the screen, it can still be eaten. I don't know, though. These two I have been keeping in individual plastic cups right next to each other for about 2 weeks before putting them in this double-enclosure thing. And it has an acrylic divider the goes from floow to cover. They "flare up" when they see each other, but it isn't a constant thing...

Anyhow, here are a couple more pictures. For the record, Ruby is the first one I have ever seen of this color. I tried to capture her true colors a little better, but it's tough. Mac doesn't like to pose...

By "screen," it was a plastic (or something tough like that) divider but it did have little slits in it to allow for the water to flow through it -- and unfortunately, it also allowed for some bits of their elaborately & elegantly gorgeous fins to flow through, as well, as they'd swish by...and mine hadn't been next to each other much at all prior to meeting. They definitely wanted a piece of each other!

Mac is handsome (I love the blue ones!), and Ruby is simply exquisite!

Cegninedorf said:

By "screen," it was a plastic (or something tough like that) divider but it did have little slits in it to allow for the water to flow through it -- and unfortunately, it also allowed for some bits of their elaborately & elegantly gorgeous fins to flow through, as well, as they'd swish by...and mine hadn't been next to each other much at all prior to meeting. They definitely wanted a piece of each other!

Mac is handsome (I love the blue ones!), and Ruby is simply exquisite!

Click to expand...

Thank You!

These two have been quite visible to each other and many others for several weeks. It's actually probably a relief to them only seeing each other and not the other five that are kept in the office at work...

They do do flare up at each other from time to time, but...nothing constant, and the divider is a solid piece of acrylic that allows water flow from the sides at the bottom. It's tapered like a trapezoid so the bottom has about 1/16" gap on one side, but it slides into an 1/8" framerail, so there's no possible way for a fin or anything to slip through, but water does transfer from one side to the other, albeit very slowly.

I'm thinking of getting a couple of females to match the males, and putting THEM opposite the males, instead of the males opposite each other. It's nice when the males flare at each other, but I think the mating displays for an interesting female would be more beautiful and less stressful on the males.

Anyone have a link that would give breeding information for bettas? Not right away, or anything...but I'd like to read and see what it's all about...

I'd sure like to see what Elle's macro lens could do to Ruby...That is one interesting, cool fishy!

Both absolutly stunning splishies! I'm gonnae a betta as soon as my pair of goldies are moved to their new huge tank.

Fishie photography is super hard... you did a great job Chris!

There are some great betta breeding sites, but be warned. Most betta's sold in stores are about 2 years old, and past breeding prime. They sell them older because they don't get the amazing fins until then. So usually they breed them then sell them upon retirement. Also please do consider seperating them and getting them into bigger filtered/heated tanks. They thrive much better in a long 5 gallon or bigger tank with heat and filtration. I keep mine in a 30 gallon and he is nearly 4 years old...a perfectly wonderful old man.
The flares from seeing the other male or female is a big stress for them and will shorten the lifespan. As will the lack of heat...but becareful to be sure you have at least a 5 gallon tank before adding a heater.
Check out this site...
http://www.bettatalk.com/

Interesting site. Aparrently, my Ruby is a White Crystal, and a breeding pair of them goes for around $50...

I'll have to do some reading on them...Thanks for everyone's input!

I am constantly amazed at what kind of forum or web pages there are. Maybe it's just easy to amaze me, but a betta breeding page, :crazy02: susang

Very nice Chris.

My roommate LOVES Bettas. I think she has about 7 males now. No... wait... 8. lol 5 of them are in 10 gallon that is split into sections. The best stuff you can get to split them off is found at a craft store near the needlepoint stuff. It's sheets of plastic with tiny holes in it. A little hot glue on the sides, and they can't get their fins through. We did learn that the plastic has to go all the way up to the lid though. One of hers jumped the divider (which we were sure he couldn't get over) to start a fight. Best part about the plastic? You can get it in cool colors. Her tank is set up so each section has it's own ridiculously flamboyant color scheme. Orange, purple, yellow, blue, red.

Erin also has a 5.5 gallon with females. It's kinda cool to watch them interact. They also make little rafts of bubbles at the top of the water. We couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing for the longest time... then google informed me that they make "bubble nests." Very cool to watch. If you do go with females, a tank with at least 3 might be the way to go.

Beautiful little boys. I know Zayne must be going nuts.

Pretty pretty, I love bettas my boyfriend picked me up a new female for christmas along with her own 2.5 gallon tank which I need to get set up.
But yeah Chris I would consider putting them in something different, to me leaving them in something like that is leaving your corn to live in it's deli tub :shrugs: there are a lot of misconceptions out there of how bettas should be taken care of, but if you have more room they'd be so much happier and live much longer

Beautiful fish. I gotta chime in though that I as well hate that little tank. I think it's just downright cruel to keep a betta in something that small honestly. And just because they can only see one other male betta instead of 5 it's still stressing them out. If there's one thing I've learned over the years about keeping pets it's NEVER go with the convenient small store bought cages for animals.

Yea, alright, I get it. They need more room. Sorry, folks...I read the stuff that was available to me, and everything was contradictory. Some said 1.5gallons per fish minimum, some said smaller is better because wide open areas stress them out. I bought the enclosure that is specifically designed to hold two bettas. So sue me...

The enclosure is temporary. Everybody happy now? As soon as my wallet recovers from Christmas, they will get bigger bowls. And I'll put them in different rooms so I don't "stress them out" too much. And they'll each get their own tiny little houses, and rice paddies to live in, all by themselves...

Jeeze Louise, you'd think I posted pictures of co-habbing a king with a corn, for criminy's sake...

I'm really sorry you guys don't like the size of the enclosure. But unfortunately...it's what was available to me, and it was recomended by other betta enthusiasts as "adequate". So please...don't another person come in telling me how cruel and heartless I am for having them in such small enclosures. I "thought" I was doing right by them. I'll change it when I can, but I really don't need every other post telling me the same thing...I get it. I got it the first time...:grabbit: