# Baby Betta Journal



## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Day 1.

Okay, so all of the Local Pet Stores I've been to has never sold a baby betta, or at least none that I've seen. I've read about all the people getting baby bettas from Petco and really wanted one, even though I know it's bad to sell them at such a young age! Anyway, when I saw this baby betta, at PetSmart, marked under "Female Bettas" I instantly bought her for $3.99, cause I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance. 










If you look in the far back right, you can see a dead betta I pulled out. Really sad.

Her water was dirty and cloudy, and she was/is extremely skinny. 
I brought her home and acclimated her to this 1 gallon tank.



She barely moves, so pictures were easy. Her fins are slightly blue, and she usually hangs out near the bottom.





I decided that she was shy and didn't feel really hidden or safe, so I added some silk and soft plants to give her opportunities to hide, as well as an IAL that she enjoys hiding under. 



My most recent picture of her. Captures her colours quite nicely. 


Big thanks to Lilnaugrim, who suggested I start a journal, and I was inspired by hers. 

Hopefully, when she's older, I'll be able to add her to my sorority. 



But as MattsBettas pointed out, it's really hard to guess her gender right now, so she might end up being a he!

I'll try to keep this journal updated, and thanks for your interest in my baby betta!


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 2*

Woke up at about 2 times last night because I was really worried and scared she wouldn't make it through the night. Each time, she was in the same spot, near the gravel. I guess she was sleeping. She barely comes up to breathe, so I guess the water is oxygenated enough? Anyway, just in case she had any trouble, I put lots of plants for her to rest on in case she wanted to sleep higher up.

So I tried feeding her again this morning. Crushed Omega One flakes, and dropped them right in front of her. No response.
I left to go feed my sorority and when I came back, she was chewing!! Success! I tried giving her crushed HBH pellets, but like Venus, she didn't really take to them.

I'll see if I can post some photos up later today. She's hiding now, so hopefully she's comfortable.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Sorority*

Decided to post up pics of my sorority, so people can kinda know what I'm talking about.

They go from oldest to most recent, and top of the pecking order to bottom.

*Themis:*

Old - 



She looks exactly the same.

*Theia*

Old - 



New -





* Artemis*

Old - 





And she hasn't changed much.

*Venus*

Old -

When I first got her, she had really prominent stress stripes and little colour. How she's changed!





New -


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 2 pictures*



Swimming around some more, not much change.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Awe so cute! Im glad you got her out of the pet store. Im seeing lots of "underage" babys at stores these days. Most seem very under fed to me and many stores do not provide any specific info on juvi care to the new betta keeper. As you know there is a different level of care required for babys. They are cute and sell easier than adults with less cost to the breeder. Ive been asked to sell a spawn of mine to the store as I was told easier for me to sell them now not later. This presents an ethical issue for me even though my fry are much bigger than the ones they sell at the same age. Im not really sure what to do or think. 

Your sorority girls are beautiful and the baby will fit right in. Did they tell you how old baby is ? really cute do you have a name for her?


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

That is a tough situation. It is a bit more different to care for a baby Betta, and a lot of other Betta owners can barely handle an adult Betta. Right now her tank is at 78F, but i really want to up it to 80F. Contemplating putting her in a breeding box in my sorority tank. Any opinions? :\

They have no clue how old any of their bettas are. And as for a name, im going to wait a while, for her colours and personality to really come in. And she might even be a he? So gonna wait it out.

Thanks, I adore my sorority, they're just so adorable with their own personalities.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Ah k, measured my little betta. She's a bit more than an inch, so I'm guessing 7-8 weeks old. So tentative birthday, May 1st. 

She has taken to eating frozen daphnia and and brine shrimp along with Omega One flakes, which made me really happy 

She finally started to unclamp her fins and swim around a bit, so I snapped a couple pics. 

Bird's eye view:



Regular:



And this one really shows off her true colours:



Can't really tell, but my guess is that she's gonna grow into a bicolour VT.


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## blueridge (Jul 1, 2011)

Glad you saved the little baby! Keep up the good work and I'm definitely going to be following this journal.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Thank you! It was no problem at all to buy her! Moment I saw her, I wanted her.

But ya thanks for your support, and hopefully ill be able to raise her into a beautiful adult.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 3*

Moved her into my 5 gallon Fluval Chi.

She's not really exploring. Just kinda hiding out, near the bottom. There's lots of decorations, so hopefully she'll feel comfortable soon enough and start looking around.

What worries me is feeding her. It was hard enough in the 1 gallon when I had to put the food right in front of her face, but it'll be much harder in the 5 gallon.

Acclimating





And she just went straight to the bottom.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Subbing, can't wait to watch her grow!

Yeah she won't have her full colors in yet since she's not old enough it seems! But she will over the next few weeks with good food!! :-D


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Feeding her an array of foods, so hopefully she'll take interest and start developing the habit of coming up when she wants food!

And thanks, I'm really excited for her to grow into her tank and the blue on her fins looks really pretty!

I silently subbed your baby betta journal, lol /stalker :s


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 3 photos again*





Finally started exploring her tank. Was bored and grabbed the camera, since she's not hiding some more.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Thinking of redecorating my Fluval Chi. Gonna go to the pet store sometime this week, get some driftwood and more plants
really sucks that I can't float many plants though. :\ 
Wisteria and giant duckweed dies in that tank, so im Hoping hornwort.


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## Fabi (May 29, 2013)

Cute!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Mar said:


> I silently subbed your baby betta journal, lol /stalker :s


Lol! I don't mind stalkers ;-) which reminds me, I've got to update their pictures!!!!


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> Lol! I don't mind stalkers ;-) which reminds me, I've got to update their pictures!!!!


Yes pics!

Just saw them, adorable as always.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 4 updates*

So today, I found her stuck in the Fluval Chi filter. I was mortified. She doesn't seem harmed, since it does have a very gentle pull, and I thought she wouldn't be affected. I quickly shut the filter off, and she wiggled her way out. I've heard of putting pantyhose over the intake, but I really don't know what to do right now. :/ 

And yeah, I was have been planning to add more live plants to my sorority and to the baby betta's tank. I won't do much to the sorority, just add some hornwort, anubias, hygrophilia and hopefully some giant duckweed again. But for the Fluval Chi, I plan to do a complete makeover, and really looking for a nice piece of driftwood and attach some anubias or java mass to it!

I was super inspired by this pic

that I found on "The Betta Life" tumblr. That guy has really beautiful tanks! 
but ya, I'll just see how it plays out when I go to my LPSs

I'll add some photos of BB later, her colours have really started to come in!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes pantyhose works wonderful, i use a rubberband to hold it on. I actually just took off the pantyhose cover in my 5.5 with Steve on that side since he never goes near it and he's much too strong to even think about getting stuck in the pull. So just when you siphon out the tank, kick the siphon on the pantyhose and run over it to pull off any debris that might otherwise clog it up and it will be just fine :-D

I actually suggest Frog-bit over giant duckweed, it's easier IMHO but whatever floats your boat and what you can get at! :-D


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

I absolutely LOVE frogbit! It is so perfect in my sorority. 
But in my Fluval Chi, it just dies. It doesn't get nearly enough light, and that just sucks. it's obviously one of my favourite floaters.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

The filter in the fluval chi drives me insane. It's just so different, I'm so tired of it. I'll just try the pantyhouse, and hopefully when she gets bigger, I can move her into the sorority and make room for a lucky new betta !


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 4 photos*

So just a quick photo, her colour really coming in!

It's crazy how she went from this to this in just 4 days.



Thinking she may be a CT from the ridges in her fins, as Lilnaugrim suspected


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Teasing the beauties and a surprise guest*

And they thought I was gonna feed them, again. Aww







And I Actually love this photo. It focused on the ornament, not the bettas, but it's still really pretty in my opinion!



And the for the surprise visit!

Neona, my kitty, on my sister's bed, sleeping on a pile of laundry. Could barely find her, and almost flopped on top of her!



Can you find her?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ooo I think I can! Is she top left, not the black pillow thingy but right under that? :-D


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> Ooo I think I can! Is she top left, not the black pillow thingy but right under that? :-D


ahaha yes! The black pillow thingy is a really fat penguin LOL.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 5 update!*

WOW. This is gonna be an interesting entry!

So I ran to Petland after work, just to pick up some plants.
Spent about $70 there for baby betta food, driftwood, and plants.

I bought Hygrophilia, Red Flame Sword, Pennywort, and Anubias. Love them all! I didn't QT them.. I know :'c
But the PetLand I go to, takes really good care of their fish, never seen a dead betta, and their plants are really healthy, so hopefully nothing bad will occur.





So first, the baby fry food.
This Wardley Small Fry is AMAZING. 
While I was redecorating baby betta's tank, I put her in a small cup, and put 1 drop of it. Wow. She just instantly became interested, gobbling it up. I highly recommend it! $10 per tiny bottle, but worth it.



First, the Fluval Spec. 
Added moneywort, java fern, Red Flame Sword, and Anubias. My tank is officially a fully planted tank! Yay.
The Red Flame Sword is HUGE btw.




Fluval Spec:

Before:




After:



And finally the Fluval Chi. Replaced everything! In these pics, the water is kinda murky, and crap floating around, so I'm just waiting for it to settle down

Before:



After:


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Couldn't sleep so gonna post future plans here so I don't forget!
Plants to buy:
Anubias
Hygrophilia
Amazon sword
Pennywort 
_Hornwort 
Java fern
Java moss
frogbit
Duckweed
microsword
hairgrass
baby tears _
_I wanna cover everything with plants! _

_I know this sounds terrible but I can't wait for baby Betta to grow up, so I can kick her out of the chi and into the sorority. Want to buy a really beautiful rosetail for the chi :s_

_Also baby Betta didn't seem the least bit interested in the tank I designed for her  she opted to hide among the hygrophilia instead. Hopefully she'll feel more comfy soon._

_Good night all!_


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Meh, I've never QT'd plants, they just go straight in and I've never had a problem! An occasionally snail or two but my Betta's eat them lol.

Lookin' real good!!! You're betta's are so lucky to have you!!! I'm sure BB will be very happy once she realizes all the plants she has to hide in and swim around! Glad she ate!! What are the first three ingredients on the Wardley?


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Yay!! I felt so bad just sticking them in lol.

And thanks! I just really wanna try covering the whole bottom with grass.

Ingredients are:
water, egg product, yeast extract, citric acid, and a bunch of chemicals, if you wanna know those, I'll share!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

water is the first ingredient?!?!  that's....really weird...

egg product is...okay and yeast extract is no good. Yeast is in the Grains category of bad stuff. So yeah you said you were going to get some NLS, that will be much better for her ^_^


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

All right!
Hopefully she'll take to it.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 5 pictures*

BB definitely enjoys the Hygrophilia!



And finally saw her swim for like 1 minute today, before she settled under the IAL



Adorable.

You can clearly see the colours now! It's a really beautiful blue and I hope she keeps it
Also, I have only seen her come up for air once. She can stay in one place for hours it seems. Is the normal in Baby Bettas? All my other bettas come up for air quite often.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It's not so much "normal" for babies but in her condition I feel it's just that she's not strong enough to get up there all the time. Perhaps you can lower the water level for now to see if that helps her, also floating plants will help her to stay up there longer if she has something to rest on if she doesn't have any yet.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

She has Red Flame Swords and Pennyworts.
I also put the betta leaf hammock which all my bettas liked using, but she didn't take. 

Can't lower it without buying another filter. :/ The Fluval Chi filter is built into the floating island at the top. 
I'll see if I can get some hornwort/duckweed/frogbit tomorrow, so she can get more plants to rest on.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

I could give you some duckweed and hornwort for free Mar. I have lots.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

That would actually be so helpful! The hornwort at PetSmart looks super shady, and duckweed is 40 minutes away from where I live.

But are you sure? :s Don't want to mooch off you!


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

lol. Mooch away. I have to throw duckweed out sometimes it grows fast and my hornwort is bullet proof stuff. May be a ramshorn snail or two hiding in it though. They are food for my assassin snails which im selling if you know anyone who needs them. Its no problem. Glad to help.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Don't mind snails, I'll just pick em out when I see them! 

Are you selling the assassin snails within Canada only?


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Yes just in Canada. Ive have tons of teeny tiny ones right now. For some reason they are breeding like rabbits in Sorority tank 1. You could stop by this weekend if that works. I could give you a couple baby assassins just in case you get a ramshorn or two lol.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

If you're looking into selling the assassin snails, you don't have to give me any!

Don't think I can do weekends since I work, or it'd have to be late at 8 or something. Thanks for the offer though


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

You know you can give me a time that works for you in the day and I can usually work with it. I have too many asassins take a few please lol.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Okay! I'll let you know 
Lol thank you, I got some at Pisces before but they've all died off because of a stupid mistake.


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

*Day 6*

Went to the hospital early this morning, came back at around 6:00PM.

Fed my sorority first because feeding BB is hard and takes 15 minutes for her to take one bite.

Looked everywhere in the tank for her, for a good 10 minutes. Lots of hiding places. Finally found her next to a moss ball, near anubias/driftwood. She wasn't moving. I can't help but feel this is my fault. If I had tried harder, better water, started a live food culture. Idk. 

I guess that concludes this journal. Thanks everyone for their support and help.

RIP Baby Betta. Sorry I couldn't do you any better.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Aw. That is so sad. Do not blame yourself Mar. You tried hard. Honestly your baby was in rough shape when you got her being underfed and young. Plus the water situation here does not help. Even the best care does not always end in success. Ive lost fish and I try really hard too. I know this must hurt.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Aw I'm sorry. I seriously doubt there was anything you could do, you took very good care of her. I'm sure she enjoyed her time with you!


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Thank you. Trying to look at the positive aspects of this. At least now I have freed up room and a tank for a male betta. I'm going to check out all the pet stores tomorrow, and if there's none I like, I'll order from AB.

And you're right, her chances of survival were really slim, and I didn't even know about how bad the water has gotten until a couple days ago. 

Thanks for you care and concern though! Helps a lot.

Thanks Matt  If I ever see another baby betta, I'll try again!


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

I have a few pretty boys who need a good home. You could take a look and visit to see if you like them. They are rehomes so would be free.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

That's so sweet of you CJ :-D

But yes, I'm sorry to hear about BB! You really did a fantastic job with her though, from just picking her up and taking her home. She even colored up for you!! That's success right there and you gave her such wonderful care that I'm sure she's happily swimming under the Rainbow bridge right now, smiling as some Betta's do :-D 

I'm sure the water definitely doesn't help the situation right now! Best of luck to you all up there! I was lucky that our 100 year flood back in '10, I wasn't fish keeping!


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

logisticsguy said:


> I have a few pretty boys who need a good home. You could take a look and visit to see if you like them. They are rehomes so would be free.


Thanks a bunch for the offer but I really don't mind paying for them! Hahah you're giving me too many free things, so I honestly wouldn't mind.



lilnaugrim said:


> That's so sweet of you CJ :grin:
> 
> But yes, I'm sorry to hear about BB! You really did a fantastic job with her though, from just picking her up and taking her home. She even colored up for you!! That's success right there and you gave her such wonderful care that I'm sure she's happily swimming under the Rainbow bridge right now, smiling as some Betta's do :grin: :smile:
> 
> I'm sure the water definitely doesn't help the situation right now! Best of luck to you all up there! I was lucky that our 100 year flood back in '10, I wasn't fish keeping!


I guess colouring up for me would be considered a success  It's just so crazy to have 2 important bettas I adore have deaths that pretty much coincide. 

Lol, it'd be crazy if you were fishkeeping back in 1910! And I'm really scared of the water here atm, but hopefully it'll clear up within a couple months.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Ok you could make a small donation to the CJ Feed a Fish Foundation


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Mar said:


> Lol, it'd be crazy if you were fishkeeping back in 1910! And I'm really scared of the water here atm, but hopefully it'll clear up within a couple months.


No, no, no, silly! 2010 XD the 100 year flood is a flood that has a 1% chance to occur each year, nothing to really do with 100 years except for how much a river flows but it's totally not a common thing to happen!


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

logisticsguy said:


> Ok you could make a small donation to the CJ Feed a Fish Foundation


Deal!



lilnaugrim said:


> No, no, no, silly! 2010 XD the 100 year flood is a flood that has a 1% chance to occur each year, nothing to really do with 100 years except for how much a river flows but it's totally not a common thing to happen!


LOL oh. I thought you meant the flood happened 100 years ago, omg :crazy: used to be a whiz at knowing state facts :'c


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Mar said:


> LOL oh. I thought you meant the flood happened 100 years ago, omg :crazy: used to be a whiz at knowing state facts :'c


Lol! No worries! I used to be one too and then High School hit and then College hit REAL hard! haha


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## Mar (Apr 9, 2013)

Hahah yeah! Then knowing random facts about every state just kinda retreats to the back of your mind as science and math takes over


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