Well I did a bit of a stupid thing today and rescued a Betta from an aquatic shop, he was in a little unheated unfiltered 'jar' just bobbing there, I just couldn't leave him there.

So I brought the little mite home and popped him in my cycled shrimp/snail tank. It holds 30 litres of water (the tank is 35l but i measured the water I put back in and it's 30l) which I know is too small for him long term but I thought it's better than what he was in. I am also aware that my water is borderline for him, I believe the hardness to be ok, but the pH is 7.5 out of the tap, dropping slightly after 24 hours to between 7 and 7.5 (in between colours on the tetra liquid kit colour chart).

He's had a lovely afternoon racing around after the shrimplettes, playing in the plants in the tank, while I've been watching him like a hawk. His fins are no longer clamped and he is getting colour back, but inevitably he has velvet. I'm certain it's velvet, and he may have white/gray fluff/fungus around his nose, although it may be excessive slime coat, it's a little hard to tell at the moment. Anyway, he clearly has the gold speckles along his back, i'm pretty certain it's not part of his colouring, and he has started flicking too.

I've ordered Esha 2000 and Exit from eBay which SHOULD be here Friday morning (I plan on treating him with Exit) but is there anything I can do in the meantime to make him more comfortable? The local fish shop only has King British or Interpret and I wanted to go with Esha as that seems to be the recommended on here. I've left the lights off, the tank is in a dark corner anyway, and turned the temp up to 26, planning to increase by a degree a day to 28, is that advisable? I know Bettas prefer calmer water, but should I get a little airpump and stone tomorrow?

Also, I haven't fed him as I noticed him demolishing a few shrimplets but I do have some tiny little pellets.

Water conditions are 0, 0, 0-10 (lower nitrates than tap water as the tank is very heavily planted and contains moss balls too).

Sorry for the long post, I just didn't want to miss anything. Long term the Betta will be either rehomed by a good aquatic store I know of or if my water parameters will allow he will go into my 200l tank once it's set up, which should be in the next three months.

Thank you very much for any advice and help you can offer everyone, I really appreciate it,

Emma

know what you mean about the little 'jar' one of the local fish shops near me keeps about 20 bettas in these things on shelves! should be shut down! anyway,hope all goes well for your little guy!

I know we say 45L for a Betta, but in a 35L without the harrasment of other fish he is in a much better place than at least 80% of the Bettas kept in this country.


JON

I hope you complained as it may just encourage them to get more in.
Sounds ideal for him really. You have experience with smaller volume tanks, and it is densely planted so he should feel secure. If the tank is too large they can become withdrawn. 35L might suffice in this case if you have your heart set on him and are willing to keep an eye on water quality!

Good luck!

Oh Emma - what a softy you are Good on you for the unplanned rescue of the little fella.

As others here have said, 35l at a push will be fine (far better than his previous home) of course and the Esha 2000 should do the trick. Even though the lights are off, I'd suggest throwing a towel over the tank too as black out will help treat.

Given Betta's do not make ideal community fish - far happier on their own - you may want to reconsider putting him the planned 200l unless you only want a very big sole specimen Betta tank

What colouration is he?

Thanks for the replies everyone, he seems ok this morning, a bit quiet maybe. The velvet doesn't look any worse thankfully.

TK, I did complain at the shop, how much it would do a I was a total hypocrite and bought the fish anyway I don't know, normally I wouldn't have bought him for just the reason you say, but my brain turned to mush! I've also written an email complaint this morning.

Violet, I have gone completely soft since I had my baby, she's turned me into a wimp!! I've put a towel over the tank - should I treat with Exit or 2000? On the Esha website it says Exit for velvet.

I also bought a bunch of Elodea for unamed Betta to hide in, and it appears to have murdered my cherry shrimp, despite the fact I asked them if it was shrimp safe and them assuring me it was. Depending on their response to my email complaint, I may be camping out there on Saturday with a bag of dead shrimp and a ratty child.

Worst bit is now I have to stress poor fish more by removing the bogwood to make sure I remove all the poor shrimp corpses.

Sorry Violet, forgot to reply to part of your message, he is deep blue with a wee bit of red, will get a pick soon, he's quite bold and chilled out in the tank. As for the 200l, it would be one hell of a Betta biotope, I think he would be so happy in it and I don't think I could bear to keep him in the little tank....and I'm growing quite attached to him already, so it looks like he might get the Hilton suite of tanks!

I've done something similar to you. My Hughey was a longfinned B. Splendens and when I got him, he was in a partitioned tank with only about 1-ltr to call his own. And to make matters worse, he could clearly see 2 rival males. Like your lil guy, he must have thought all his Christmasses and Birthdays had come at once when I popped him into my own 30ltr QT.

Hughey was eventually moved from his 30ltr, to a 30gal species tank with what I thought at the time were 2 females but turned out to be a female and a shortfinned male. He was removed after 4 months to a 10gal, where he lived out the rest of his life, and it was only after moving him that we realised Stripe was a male (Stripe's the dark fish on the left of my sig. Milk is the creamy-white one on the right).

Like Hugh, your lil guy won't be anywhere near ready to go into the 200ltr tank for a good few months. Imagine him as a couch potato who suddenly wakes up and aspires to be an athlete - it ain't gonna happen overnight.

Yes it's the Exit for velvet.

Nice to hear a success story like that T.L, I hadn't thought about a couple of lady friends for him, would that work ok long term with heavy planting? I'm liking the idea of keeping him more and more, he's quite a little character, had my hand in the tank with the tweezers trying to sort out the shrimp massacre and he was swimming over to have a nose, and flaring at the camera when I was trying to get a pic.

Milk and Stripe look like beautiful fish, unusual colouring.

Better get this fish into training for a big home I think, take some inspiration from the Olympics, Tom Daley has been training at the pool in the town down the road, perhaps Mr Betta fish can get some tips from him! :)

thanks for the confirmation Cathie