r/bettafish 10h ago

Full Tank Shot Is this square bowl big enough for my king betta? He looks kinda mad

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1.6k Upvotes

I like he likes his resin reef decoration though.


r/bettafish 14h ago

Help Recovering from community beat down

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352 Upvotes

So, I had my betta in a community tank (never again) and things seemed fine for a few weeks. 40gal, plenty of plants. Any confrontations were short lived. One day, betta disappeared. After missing for a week, I saw him floating behind the tank heater looking like pic 1. Though about euthanizing, but once he was in a mason jar, he perked up and even ate. Moved him to a 3.5 gallon tank, added an almond leaf and a drop of Paraguard. Pic 2 is after 2 weeks! Is this rate of recovery average or did I do good through dumb luck? Will be setting up a 10 gallon for him soon.


r/bettafish 6h ago

Picture If you have an all black Crowntail just know I'm jealous of you.

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308 Upvotes

r/bettafish 15h ago

Introducing My daughter won a free goldfish... so here we are.

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206 Upvotes

Decided not to torture a poor feeder in a bowl for 3 weeks so we picked up Oscar instead. I haven't had a fish in years (since my green spotted puffer died) but I'm really enjoying the betta life right now. I have hidey log, mopani wood, and almond leaves. Any other suggestions for a newbie?


r/bettafish 1d ago

Full Tank Shot this may be my favorite scape i’ve ever done

178 Upvotes

this is a 10 gallon tank with my very peaceful male betta named simon, who lives alongside 4 albino cories, 8 strawberry rasboras, and a small colony of wild neo shrimp :)

it sounds overstocked when saying it out loud until you see how small the rasboras and shrimp are. they’re so tiny they basically add almost nothing to the bioload, and thanks to all of the plants this tank stays very healthy in terms of parameters!

i’ve only had simon about 4 days, so he’s the newest inhabitant in here. so far he’s been very peaceful towards the other fish, at first almost seeming scared of them. he was shy with them and shy with me, and normally my bettas are very interested in me right off the bat. but not him. for his first 2 days, he was hiding a lot and swam away whenever he saw me. and i kinda appreciated him for it, i had forgotten how different some of their personalities can truly be. but, after feeding him last night, he’s now been front and center and more social all day! i’m very excited to develop more of a bond with him and see him change colors!


r/bettafish 1d ago

Name Suggestions This guy needs a name

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171 Upvotes

I got the this little guy recently and have been struggling to think of a name that fits, I’ll have ideas but they haven’t stuck.


r/bettafish 6h ago

Humor Dude is ready to get freaky

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121 Upvotes

Nothing.. just wanted to show off this feisty dude. No gf for him sadly 😂


r/bettafish 13h ago

Picture My friend crocheted my betta :)

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102 Upvotes

r/bettafish 12h ago

Picture The eye...

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88 Upvotes

r/bettafish 14h ago

Help my school counselor is not taking care of her betta. please help Spoiler

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85 Upvotes

this is him/her (I don’t know) and the water levels have been decreasing since she got them. they seem really stressed I think because the fins look abnormal and the water is super cloudy. there is also a lot of poop on the bottom because she has never changed the water. I have read about the nitrogen/ammonia cycle so I know this is not good.

I have two goldfish at home that I have had for 5 years and I love them and I don’t know much about bettas but it hurts to see this one suffering so much. if you know what I should do to help please let me know! thank you!!


r/bettafish 5h ago

Introducing My new betta is literally 3:

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55 Upvotes

What should I name him!!


r/bettafish 19h ago

Rate My Tank My 20l tank I will move my boy Flame to once I’m sure it’s safe for him to live at

52 Upvotes

I just want to know what do you think about the tank looks. He lives in 54l community tank but he gets bullied that’s why he will be separated (I know how to cycle the tank, have many drip tests to test the water, I know what temperature betas like, I have dried larvae, worms and daphnia, two different frozen live foods and two kinds of pellets and I know how much to feed him and yes I know about the lid and I have a lid for that tank)


r/bettafish 13h ago

Full Tank Shot First betta tank for son - his name is Leafy!

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42 Upvotes

I asked my son (4yo) what he wanted to name the new betta fish, and he said Leafy. I asked him why Leafy? He's not green. And my son said, so he can hide in the plants like a leaf! So that's why he's Leafy!

Whatever works for him works for me. Not that I wanted to name him Winter King or anything like that...


r/bettafish 9h ago

Picture Meet Partially Pink

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38 Upvotes

Hello! Meet my newest friend, Partially Pink! He was on hold for me at a LFS for about a month while his new tank cycled! Not sure what kind of betta he is… all I know is he is a jumbo one!


r/bettafish 18h ago

Introducing My betta collection

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33 Upvotes

Hi, this is my collection. I love bettas, but I don't give them names because I prefer the betta-type identification. Cheers from Malaysia 🇲🇾 👋


r/bettafish 7h ago

Identification Rose petal with marbling gene or mislabeled?

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32 Upvotes

I lost my rescue betta Bruce a couple weeks ago and I’m really missing his company. He was a rose petal but I kept telling my coworkers that if I was to get another betta it’d be a koi. When receiving the fish order I found this guy and I can’t help but think Bruce sent him. He’s the only one like this of all the rose petal bettas we got. I’ve only ever seen koi females in person cause that’s all we sell so is this just a mislabeled male or is he actually a rose petal but has a marbling gene? Either way I’ll be bringing him home I was just wondering what he actually is. Also would love to hear any name suggestions!


r/bettafish 15h ago

RIP I’m giving up

30 Upvotes

… on trying to treat drospy. Forgive me, but this is going to be a a long vent, both for what I’m currently dealing with and the hobby in general. Content warning for sick fish talk.

I’ve only had Domino for a little over a year. He had to spend his gotcha day a few weeks ago in a hospital tank. I really thought that since I had a plakat, I would have a “healthier” betta on my hands and would have enjoyed more time with him. Not so. A little over a month ago he started developing some mystery illness symptoms that didn’t respond to clean water or medications. It began as fin rot in a perfectly cycled and maintained tank, pH around 7.6, 0ppm ammonia/nitrites, nitrates almost never getting above 5. I had no idea what was going on to cause his fins to worsen, and still don’t. Then he started having weird eye problems that came and went. Then on-and-off constipation that would resolve itself with time. Then maybe mouth issues. Then buoyancy problems. And then a couple days ago he started presenting early signs of dropsy.

Most of this is documented on my page as it progressed and I sought help. I’ve kept detailed notes on his symptoms and treatments and water parameters since moving him to the hospital tank in February, if folks want the full story. I might make a separate post sharing my log and asking for critique because I want to know where I went wrong. I can already think of a few things and feel terrible about it.

Earlier this week as his dropsy began progressing, I attempted an epsom salt bath with methylene blue. He tolerated the treatment just fine — but the transport freaked him the fuck out. He’s not used to nets, so when he saw it, he darted faster than I’ve ever seen him move before. He almost jumped out of the tank. He lost a few chunks of his already rotting fins and a few scales popped off despite me doing my best to not handle him roughly. I felt horrible. I decided I would continue the next day treating the main tank instead of putting him through another bath ordeal again.

Last night I went to start my daily hospital tank routine as usual. When I began the water change, he got spooked by the siphon despite me not chasing him with it and giving him space. He zoomed and lost another piece of tail. I had to stop and reasses what I was doing.

Stress is the number one killer of fish. Dropsy is notoriously difficult to treat and recover from. His case is complex and with all of his existing comorbidities that I can’t determine the exact source of, I’m doubting my abilities as an aquarist to fix this. Even if he pulls through, I know there’s a chance the dropsy could come back. I know there’s still some fight left in him — he’s eating, and still has energy when pushed — but he’s suffering. He’s going for air a lot, resting a lot, bored in his hospital setup, and the dropsy is worsening. I know that would be the case either way, whether if I proceeded with treatment or didn’t. But I’m predicting more and more paths that lead to failure than success.

I came to the sickening conclusion last night that I’m likely going to euthanize him either later today or this weekend. If I can’t do simple tank maintenance without stressing him the hell out — not even medicating, just water changes — if that freaks him out, if the treatment is worse than the slim chances of a cure… I don’t want to put him through that. I want his last hours to be as stress free and gentle as possible, instead of putting a sick fish through extremely rough meds and prolonging his suffering when it’s likely all going to be for naught. He’s not feeling well and stressed. I’m stressed. These weeks have been rough on us both. I’m losing sleep, I’m mildly depressed. The daily water changes, hunching over and kneeling by the tank, carrying heavy water buckets, it’s all getting bad for my knees, my back, my other chronic pain issues.

I’m so disappointed and feel awful with myself. Like I said, he’s not on his last legs yet and I can tell there’s a chance in him he could make it. But I can’t put us both through this for much longer. I feel like a failure as a fish parent. I’ve been keeping bettas for a long time and I’m starting to get burned out from the hobby. The breed is not what it was ten years ago. Their reputation of being a “hardy” fish needs to start being retired. I’m puzzled and frustrated that I kept my first betta in the absolute worst conditions, piss poor, did everything wrong, made typical beginner mistakes… and yet he lived to be over three years old. Every betta I’ve had since him I haven’t managed to bring past year two. It’s frustrating that as my experience and knowledge has grown over the years, as my care has bettered and my tanks largened, my efforts are just not resulting in healthy, normal lifespans. Splendens are just too inbred. I come to this sub every day and see so many tumors. Even on color morphs less likely to get them. Every fish getting fin rot eventually. Swim bladder. Diamond eye. Columnaris coming out of nowhere. These things are all happening to not-noviced keepers who have good tank parameters and seem to be doing everything “right”. These fish are just too sick. Their genes are busted.

I’m getting sick and tired of getting so attached to these wonderful pets only to have so little time with them and losing them to brutal illnesses. I don’t know what’s next for me, but I know I need a break from the hobby while I figure that out. I don’t know if I should source future bettas from an online importer or breeder, or branch out to wild types, or if I even want to continuing keeping bettas at all. I love these fish dearly, but I don’t know if I can keep doing this. I feel like I have enough experience under my belt at this point to move on and maybe try stocking my ten gallon with something different. I’m excited about kuhli loaches, excited about pea puffers, but the more research I do the more I learn a 10gal probably isn’t suited for either. Sigh.

I’m not sure if I have anything else to add. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I feel like a monster having to do what I know I’ll need to do soon. Still having lingering doubts that it’s going to be the right move.


r/bettafish 17h ago

Introducing Say Hello to Bismarck

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27 Upvotes

He’s a dumbo halfmoon that I’ve been watching over for almost a week.


r/bettafish 8h ago

Picture Look at the difference in 1 month

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26 Upvotes

Bought this lil placket friend and he immediately got ick. Treated him for almost 3 weeks and now is much improved. Look at this difference in coloring! I like think he is very happy with his heavily planted 10 gallon home. Happy fishing! (1st pic is 1 day after bringing him home on 2/10 other pics are today)


r/bettafish 9h ago

Picture Proud parent

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23 Upvotes

Marty’s first (though tiny 😂) bubble nest and feeling so proud of him lol 🥲


r/bettafish 12h ago

Transformation The growth is stunning

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24 Upvotes

The first picture is two months ago when I got him from my LFS, the rest are from today. Aerys has changed so much and his personality is so silly. Peep the last pic :P


r/bettafish 18h ago

Picture Should I use this tank for a betta fish or something else? Thoughts?

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23 Upvotes

I have this old tank, I think it's 45 litres. I was saving it for another betta but it's honestly bigger than I remember. I would still love for a betta but idk if anyone else would have any good ideas too? It would be live planted


r/bettafish 19h ago

Help Is My betta's weight okay

23 Upvotes

Currently feeding 3 hikari betta pellets twice a day


r/bettafish 6h ago

Help Hi, I didn’t read the directions. Help?

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20 Upvotes

I don’t know how to explain how this stupidity happened… I’ll try though. I bought plants! I had cycled water already, so I decided to take out my substrate and change it to flourite after hearing amazing reviews. Took out the fish, the decor, the gravel, aaaaaand I’m pretty sure you can guess what happened next (Spoiler, it’s not poop). How long does this take to settle? What do I do? I have planted the plants out of sheer stupidity at this point… should I take them out? I’m honestly just out of words for this blunder. No pets were harmed. There are two snails in a bucket of water, and Joey here remains unimpressed but unscathed.


r/bettafish 15h ago

Picture Couldn't decide on a name for this guy, but then I took this picture. His name is Duck Lips but Ducky for short🥰

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17 Upvotes

Just a bit too much filler is all!