# Peewee - My baby betta :)



## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

I've only had him/her for 6 days now, and I realize it may be early to say for sure, but, is anyone willing to take a guess on the possible gender of this little cutie? The suspense is already killing me lol, but I'm thinking s/he may turn out to be a female...

Some of you may have already seen the first pic from another thread (panicked, thought s/he wasn't gonna make it past his/her first day home) I posted, obviously not much has changed since day one, except s/he now has a speck of red color on the dorsal fin and some slight fin growth  It's so hard to get a clear picture of this little bugger, doesn't sit still for a second...Actually, I haven't ever caught him/her at rest, be it day or night! lol

Here s/he is on Day 1 










And this is him/her today on Day 6  Feisty little thing! Flares quite a bit, but I can never capture it on camera! lol


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Anyone...? 

Lol, it's not important, merely just curiosity on my part...
I read a few people mentioning the appearance of the ventral fins may be some kind of indication when they're so young...figured someone with an experienced eye might be able to tell me whether I'm right in thinking it may be a little girl!  S/he's so light that it won't be possible to tell if there's any 'white spot', though from what I gather, some males have it too! lol Anyway, I plan on updating this thread with weekly pics of my baby's progress! Woops...guess I should've posted under 'Journals'! 

Oh hey, I guess I should've asked at Petco, but does anyone have any idea how young these little guys are? What, about 8-9 weeks? And again, just for curiosity's sake, approximately how old would they be when gender becomes more apparent?


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## GoodMorning (Jan 19, 2013)

it's a girl.


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Awww a little girl! She certainly is a pretty pastel pink color atm! lol Thanks GoodMorning!  Just for my own future reference... Might I ask what gave her away to you? lol Are a male's ventral fins already a little longer than hers at this stage? Dorsal fin more pointed? 

:thankyou:


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## GoodMorning (Jan 19, 2013)

structure, proportion, fins, and yes ventrals, too.


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

LOL well upon looking at the various pics of everyone else's baby bettas on here, my untrained eyes still aren't able to determine any significant differences between the sexes at this age. I guess I'd need a very close side by side comparison and someone beside me to point them out! lol


Thanks!!!!


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

I can't see your photo..


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Huh...that's odd...I still see them :/ If you still want to take a look, I also have her in my profile's Album


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## MoonShadow (Feb 29, 2012)

Adorable!! Vote here for girl as well!! And such a cutie!!


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thanks!!!! ))) So female 3 male 0  Gonna have to start thinking of a pretty name for her...I had thought to name her Destiny...but we'll see...maybe I'll stick to my own roots and give her a nice Italian name


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## colorxmexravyne (May 8, 2012)

mermaid77 said:


> Thanks!!!! ))) So female 3 male 0  Gonna have to start thinking of a pretty name for her...I had thought to name her Destiny...but we'll see...maybe I'll stick to my own roots and give her a nice Italian name


Since your male's name is Inuyasha (assuming you watched the show at some point), you should name your girl Kagome! Or maybe Kikyou or Sango.


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Haha Kagome DID cross my mind!!! lol I still haven't made up my mind though


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

the betta is very very pretty/handsome.
There's something about Cambodians, just like my CG, oh, look for a white dot on the bottom of the belly as if their poop is white sticking out 0.5-1mm or shorter.


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thank Youuuu!!! Your CG is ADORABLE! And YES! I found it! SHE most definitely has an egg spot! I know some juvenile males may tend to also have it at times, but she's looking more like a cute little girl every day...Her dorsal fin is very slowly but surely starting to show some red...and she's already loving and making short work of exploring her new 3g upgrade


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Week 2: She certainly has grown although her appearance hasn't changed much. She does have a tiny bit more red on her dorsal fin though the camera didn't pick it up too well...  I finally settled on naming her Morgana...she's such an endearing little fish...and quite the jumper come feeding time! lol


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

....And introducing "Peanut", baby #2  I couldn't resist...lol but s/he IS my last...no really, I mean it! lol S/he is about half of Morgana's size...but with such a different appearance...I don't know...what do you guys think? Boy? That's what I'm currently leaning towards....
I can't wait to see how s/he will turn out! As of now his finnage appears yellow with a deep, almost navy blue or black edging...


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

AWWW!!! Your Morgana is getting big and Peanut is adorable too. Maybe Peanut will be a male..


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thank You!!!  Yeah she's a sweetheart! She's my little 'special needs' girl...she just had another bout of SBD...Apparently she's very prone to it, as I quickly discovered on her first day home, so I'll have to feed her a little less (again) and hope that she'll get sufficient enough nutrition to support a healthy growth....
I ordered some of that Vita Chem product. It seems to have some pretty good reviews and so I'm hoping it will help supplement their diet as well as fortify their immune system...but the seller seems to be taking his time in shipping it...
I just lost my adult boy...and so I'm putting my all into ensuring these two at least will have a healthier start in life...

I tip my hat off to all those who rescue ill pet store bettas. It certainly is challenging. Inuyasha was my first fish, and honestly, I was aiming for a healthy one so that I wouldn't have a hard time getting into fish keeping....but he was definitely a learning experience, though at the same time, a discouraging one 

Morgana I did set out to rescue....she looked pitiful in her dirty cup, which tested at 4ppm, and just too adorable to leave behind. How is it possible she was still alive??? But even with her, I fervently hoped she'd be well once she simply got into some warm, clean water....
I hope she'll grow out of this SBD thing eventually...I noticed even at her best, she's still a bit of an awkward swimmer....she's swift and all, has no trouble coming up for air, exploring every nook and cranny of her tank, she's very active, loves to jump, but she's almost always at a slight angle...be it head slightly up or tail slightly up....:/ Anyway, I'm comforted by the fact that at least it's not a fatal disease...


On the other hand, "Peanut" now aka Merlin , is coming along 'swimmingly'! lol Thank God, he at least seems perfectly healthy! He'll soon be inheriting Inuyasha's 5g planted tank (that he only got to enjoy for about a week  ) . I say he's definitely a male, complete with his little 'beard', and now has some nice iridescent teal blue color coming in on the fins too  He'll definitely be more interesting to watch grow since his changes are already more drastic than Morgana's...I'm still patiently waiting for her dorsal fin to color up...but my little girl's getting there too, slowly but surely  

Anyway, I'll probably post more pics this weekend!


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

I don't know what's wrong...my Morgana isn't doing well...epsom salt isn't helping and she's just laying at the bottom. Occasionally she'll awkwardly swim about...vertically. 
I've been doing some more research online and one main thing that concerns me is that symptoms of SBD are sometimes caused by fish TB when internal organs are affected. I seriously hope it's not that....I foolishly clean my tanks with my bare hands and I do have a cut....of course I find this all out AFTER the fact....God, I'm so stupid...I know it's not fatal or anything, but if that's what she's had all along and I do get infected............oh what a pain in the a##!!!!!! ((((((((( I so hope she recovers.....


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Well it's past 5:30 AM and I'm still up....so sad and frustrated as it seems I've had nothing but the worst luck with my poor fish thus far...
Morgana seems to be getting worse by the minute...she's now laying on her side....
This came on so suddenly....and if SBD isn't supposed to be fatal, then it's quite obvious this isn't it.... or at least not her only problem. Her body is pretty transparent...what I notice is something like an air bubble that extends to the base of her tail...which she's pretty much had since day one. I don't know much about fish anatomy, but I'm assuming that IS the effect of a swollen swim bladder?
I'm not going to bother posting her condition under the 'disease and emergency' section....she already looks like she's on her last breath....
Just thought I'd still go ahead and mention it here, and perhaps if anyone should come across it, they'd be willing to share their thoughts on the matter....

Thanks...


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## HMBbetta (Mar 15, 2013)

So sorry to hear about Morgana. I can't help you with her, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you're going through this. 
*hugs*


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

I'm so sorry. >< Have you try giving her peas to treat her swim bladder?


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

HMBbetta, konstargirl, thank you! *hugs*  I've been feeling so down and frustrated that if it wasn't for my Merlin still with me, I probably would've thrown in the towel with fish keeping after her passing....Honestly, since I embarked on this hobby in late February, it feels like I've been doing nothing but 100% daily water changes in attempt to treat one thing or the other...

This little girl seems intent on sending me on a roller coaster ride right along with her since she hasn't given up on me yet! :-D It turns out she's livened up a bit again! Still swimming vertically, or I should say diagonally, but at least she's swimming around again rather than laying motionless on her side and her breathing isn't as labored.
I'm going to continue fasting her and epsom salt for another day or two and see how she does....I haven't fed her any peas since I've been reading mixed opinions on the safety of doing so and I'm afraid of only making matters worse....

Little bugger gave me such a scare! That's the second time she's done this to me only this time her condition was a lot more severe. Looking at her only this morning she seemed on the verge of death...I thought surely I'd find her dead by the time I got home from work. But here she is, clumsily swimming around her plants! Go girl, what a fighter!!!! ;-)


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## Nix (Mar 31, 2013)

I have read daphnia is a better laxative for them then peas. I wouldn't feed her a pea to be honest. My one boy Eridan has been having swim bladder problems but the epsom salt has worked for him so I haven't tried the daphnia myself. I am sure there are people on here who would know much better than me though. I hope she gets better! She is super cute!


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thanks Nix!  I see Petsmart carries frozen daphnia, I'll definitely pick some up to supplement her diet!


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## Otterfun (Dec 31, 2012)

how is morgana?


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Hi Otterfun 

Well, she's hanging in there trying her hardest to swim around all the while looking like she's carrying the weight of the word on her tail  Her SBD has her all out of whack...
When I first noticed she had it ( her first night home ), her problem was trying to get to the bottom and then immediately bobbing back up and having trouble keeping her balance while floating.....Now, it's the opposite...she has to put a lot of effort to reach the surface. She'll swim a few laps, go up for air, and then plunks herself down on the first plant leaf she sees or sink to the bottom for a rest....She looks exhausted, but otherwise alert...
She isn't bloated at all...this is her third day of fasting and although her condition is very much improved...she's still far from her usual self  It's taking her longer to bounce back from this...and that's why I'm thinking maybe constipation alone isn't her only problem....
I'm just at a loss as to what to try next to improve her quality of life by preventing her of ever having this severe of a relapse again, though if it's congenital issue, there really isn't much I can do...


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Thank you for updating her.. ><


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

..............And then there was one.....
Merlin died this morning...he had been treated for external parasites and then moved to Inuyasha's 5g tank....
A tank that has been torn down and disinfected 3 times since the whopping less than two months I've had it....everything in it replaced...substrate, plants, decor, filter....
I'm tired....

Only after a day of being in there, Merlin clamped up....got really lethargic...
he seemed stiff like...He did manage to flare a couple of times...but his fins remained clamped and stiff while he did so....

I changed the water again....and I need to know what I'm up against....
It's not wise for me to be getting any more fish at this point...
If this is a serious infection that might've started with Inuyasha....Morgana will soon come down with something anyway through cross contamination....I only had the one gravel vac/siphon...

So...the plan is...she is now in THAT 5g tank...I'll be closely monitoring her...she ate today, and her water is still dosed with her Epsom salt...no clamping as of yet, though she does rest at the bottom frequently...but that's not unusual due to her chronic SBD...

If she dies...I think this will mark the end of my fish keeping hobby...I really am tired...this experience has been anything but rewarding...Heartbreaking, expensive and stressful would be better words for it....


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

I forgot to mention...other than the gravel vac, both she and Merlin had been housed in Inuyasha's first 1,5g tank at some point...which had become my QT tank...and other tools used in common were an eye doppler for water testing....and water changing jugs...

This is just to clarify that I wouldn't intentionally subject Morgana to be a guinea pig if I thought she hadn't previously been exposed to any potential contamination....
Her chronic and over time worsening SBD is suspect to me....

Still hoping for the best...though experience so far has taught me not to keep my hopes up too high...


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## isochronism (Nov 24, 2012)

I'm very sorry to hear about all your troubles and I hope you don't give up on keeping fish. You obviously care a lot about them and deserve them and fish deserve you


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Thanks isochronism....
Right now I just wanna cry...because I do care....I have put a lot of effort into this...
If I do keep on with fish keeping...I wouldn't do so utilizing any of my current tanks and tools...I would have to replace every single thing right down to my water conditioner....I'm afraid to chance it and though I can afford it, it's still expensive...and I also would NOT EVER purchase any more fish from Petco...or Petsmart for that matter...

I ran across Basement Betta's thread on Mycobacterium...I read all 20+ pages of it. I'm not one to panick, but under the circumstances...it is looking like I just 'might' have a case of Myco on my hands...and what I initially thought was Inuyasha's case of HITH..might not have been...

All I know is my fish are dying and it most definitely is not due to bad husbandry...on the other hand these fish COULD simply have fallen ill in the poor conditions they were kept prior, which is very common, and I have simply been unlucky diagnosing and treating them because I'm very new to this....Merlin came home with external parasites on his gills....Inuyasha with fin rot, and Morgana with SBD...I just don't know....the way to be 100% sure is to have it tested...and that's something I'll do on myself...if and when I'll need to because OF COURSE I HAVE A CUT ON MY FINGER....oy......but again, I'm not panicking...just really, really, REALLY sad and disappointed....


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Well....it didn't take long....Morgana is starting to go downhill...she's clamped....

I'm really at a loss....

The tank was disinfected with Bleach...thoroughly rinsed with hot water and then refilled with 5x the normal dechlorinator....emptied again....
Like I previously mentioned, I put in all new gravel, plants (silk ones this time as not to have to go through the pain of dealing with live ones again ), decor AND filter and I let it run more than 24 hours after I refilled it again....All this before I put in Merlin...

When Morgana moved in I had done yet another water change....WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!

And no, it's not an acclimation issue...if nothing else, since Feb, I have learned to at least do that very well...
The water parameters are the same...my tap's pH is high...8.4, it has a reading of .25ppm ammonia, but I use Prime...and there hasn't been a chance for build up with all the water changes I've been doing...
Nitrites and Nitrates always at 0...never had a chance to run the tank long enough to even attempt cycling it....
I'm exasperated by this whole experience...I fail to see where fish keeping is a fun, relaxing hobby....Sorry to sound like such a pessimistic downer...but really, can ya blame me?!


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

She's hanging on, still a little clamped...Out of my three, she's definitely been the most resilient...
I find myself cheering this little girl on non-stop...she's had so many ups and downs tho, that every time I see her get worse, I fear the end....
She ate her two meals for the day, she spends a lot of time resting between two plant leaves but, God love her, when she sees me approach the tank...she wiggles her way over using all the strength she can muster... I never thought a fish could bring a grown woman to tears....yet another reason why I don't know if I can go through this again...I put my heart and soul into caring for my animals...and it breaks my heart to see them die off like this...
Through all this turmoil, it has dawned on me that I haven't updated with any new pics of her...I'll see about doing that...
When I brought her home she was a tiny 3/4" long...4 weeks later she's about 1-1/2" tail included. Still small I guess...but then again I don't know exactly how old she was when I got her...or whether she's even at a normal size for her age....Her SBD hasn't allowed for the best nutrition, not with all the fasting and quantities being always cut back on her...
Merlin, after only two weeks with me, already had reached her size....my poor boy....he would've been beautiful all grown up........
It's gnawing on me that just maybe this could have been all my fault....is it possible that the bleach wasn't completely out...even after all I did to clean it? It was just so sudden....he was doing so well even after the salt treatment for his gill worms, or whatever those nasty white things that sprouted out of his gills were...but before he clamped up, I noticed he was darting around very frequently....maybe there still might've been something there bothering him that was not visible with the naked eye....
I'm rambling....truth is, I just don't know anything anymore....and it's been really emotionally draining trying my damnest to play vet for these fish....
Clearly, I'm either not good at it...or I'm harboring something in my tanks....either way my poor fish are paying the price...


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## mermaid77 (Feb 24, 2013)

Okaaay, well...it seems I have discovered what Morgana's problem has been all along...She hates large tanks 

It's obvious she has SBD issues, however, she started going steadily downhill once she was upgraded from her initial 1,5 to a 3g...When I then proceeded to switch her to the 5g, she immediately clamped up...Of course at the time, that immediately made me think she was also coming down with whatever Merlin had....
So, I kept her in there and did a couple of water changes for the time she was in. She remained semi-clamped and hid between the plant leaves most of the time...coming out only to greet me and eat :/

Well, while browsing through the forum, I remembered reading about how some people's bettas do have issues in larger tanks, and thought, why not? Let's test this theory. Sure enough, as soon as I moved her back into the 1,5, I kid you not, she blossomed immediately ....Seems I have a very 'special' girl on my hands! lol

Oh and another thing. I swung by Petco today to pick up some NLS since they're smaller pellets and easier for her to eat whole for now. I stopped by to pay special attention to any females they had...I wanted to have a better idea if my girl was 'normal' sized. I have a feeling their females are still quite small, but it turns out, my Morgana is already their size! Woohooo Yay meee, I MUST be doing SOMETHING right!!!! FINALLY! lol

I still don't know for sure what the heck happened to my poor Merlin  though I am now leaning towards it having been caused by unfortunate newbie error....there MUST have been some bleach left over in the tank that I didn't realize...rather than anything Inuyasha might've had that infected him...it was just too quick...and even Inuyasha's issues were also probable common consequences to my error of tampering with the pH before I knew any better...

So, I'm feeling more heartened than I have in a while, and as it stands for now, Morgana is happy back in her 1,5g, it'll mean more water changes, but if she's happy, I'm happy, and my 5g has been emptied and sanitized again, but THIS time it's also going out to bake in the sun.

Today's visit to my local Petco, however, has only fortified my resolution to no longer purchase fish there...or at least not at THAT location. OMG, the fish were worse off than I have ever seen...Some were dead, and out of the living, many had some form of fuzzy fungus growing on them...poor things...

I'm still on wobbly legs as far as being a successful fish keeper goes...but now that I finally have a much better grasp of the proper do's and don'ts...I'd still rather increase the odds in my favor by having my next fish come from healthy stock to begin with...


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