I agree with a comment below - I love your water test videos. Your one on GH and KH finally allowed me to keep livebearers in my super soft water by investing in the test kits and titrating Equilibrium Interested in test method comparisons; for instance, for pH I get 6.8 on my Tetra test strip, 7.8 on the low pH API liquid, and 8.2 on the high pH API - so frustrating! 😩
I have a question: I’ve had my Betta for awhile now, almost a year. But my Betta hasn’t made any Bubble nests in my tank. Is this normal or should I be concerned? When I got him on the store, he had a bubble nest on his cup and now he doesn’t make it. My tank also doesn’t have a high flow of water on the surface to destroy the bubble nest and I have some artificial floating plants (because floating plants is very very rare in my small town to find). Another question I have is, is having a combination of real plants and artificial plants safe for our Betta?
Ah, thank you so much! I usually re-record the whole section if I "flub up" but it takes more time and is kind of a draining process. Maybe I'll leave more flubs in and stop worrying about it so much. 😅
I’d leave them in. You’ve got so much happening in your life and these are really great! Everybody flubs and the more natural you are the more real you are the more sincere you are - well that’s all that really matters! Your info is great and you are great! I always anticipate your next video!!! Really! So allow the flubs to be!!!
I gave up on my fishtanks a few years ago due to a string of newbie & frugality-related failures. I just wanted to say that your channel & presence has been really encouraging now that I am trying to start from square 1 again -- it's especially helpful to see you actually working through the problems that come with these tanks & explaining everything in plain english.
I highly recommend a plakat betta! But IMHO they need to be fed more because they're more active. I still do a complete fin exam every day! If you get a koi betta, prepare for a major color change.
When I first got my female koi betta I thought koi meant spotted. she went from being almost completly white with a red head to a beautiful blue green with a red head
bro i got a galaxy koi plakat that mf eat 6 pellets in the morning PLUS shredded bloodworms an in the evening same thing !!! for the past 3-4 weeks !! till i just saw now its only 4-6 pellets once a day so now hes on a diet hes expecting in the evening but doesnt get i feel bad an give em 1 pellet lol
Yes! My delta tail koi plakat is already a little water dragon! Eats and digests his food very fast. Eats primarily brine shrimp and soaked aqueoun medicated pellets but I supp him on bloodworms on power feed days when the fish are especially food active
This video is a MILLION times better. Thank you for the natural video. I don’t ever watch the overly edited ones because I find them annoying. So this is a breath of fresh air. Your natural self is amazing.
I definitely am in favor of plakats at this point. Just never had luck getting fin rot to go away for an extended period of time with the longer finned one we had before.
Hey Irene. You mentioned that broad leaved plants act as a natural betta hammock. I used an idiom almond leaf to make a natural betta hammock. I put it over the temperature adjuster on my heater and so far every night my betta has been sleeping in it
My poor half moon will go through through good weeks where his fins are perfect, then all of a sudden a fear tears develop, then they heal and we go through the cycle again, I’ve just gotten used to him.
That's the sad part about the poor "designer" Bettas (Half Moon, Dumbo, etc). Their poor fins are so heavy that some actually drown. My sister's did. They're like Pugs & other dogs w/ smushed noses. So sad.
@@vblackwell3347 so sorry to hear that. Yeah I read somewhere that Ppl say for them it’s like swimming in a ballroom gown, which makes sense. Always good to have wide leaf plants or “betta hammocks” so they can take lots of breaks between swims. It’s kinda cute that they lounge around.
I wanted a plakat betta, but their very short lifespan is what’s keeping me from getting one (I get super attached to my pets and get _very_ sad when they die.) So I’m now thinking about getting a honey gourami, since they live longer. Irene did a wonderful video about them, and they seem like such lovely, friendly fellows :)
@@EddVCR Huh, really? From what I've heard it's 5 for both, but I could be wrong. 4 years is still a lot, and bettas have more personality than bettas, so I'd still recommend getting one. Especially a rescue if you're an experienced fishkeeper. You'll get to save the life of a Betta and give it happiness until it dies.
@@kirin1230 Irene mentions it here too: 11:11 Unfortunately they don’t live very long. If you get a betta from a big name chain pet store, they tend to be past their breeding prime, since the betta suppliers hold them back until their fins are fully grown out (most appealing to customers,) making them on average 8 months to 1 year old at the time of purchase, leaving you about 2 years with your pet fish. While I agree that fish rescue is a noble cause, betta that’s being adopted out most likely have stayed with the previous owner for at least a year on top of that, so you’re going to have the fish for about 1 year or shorter. Irene goes into further details in this video at 0:45. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FKMzOuIPVoI.html But if rescuing bettas is your calling and you don’t mind bringing home a possibility sick fish, I’d say totally go for it. Me personally, I’m a beginner so I’d rather start with a healthy fish and build my fish keeping skills from there.
The best thing perhaps would be to make the best home ever. A beta paradise. So that everytime one of your bettas pass, you can invite a new one to live in paradise instead of the small containers or maybe worse homes they’d be contained in. In the wild, I can’t imagine how they get along.
I've had the issue of overfeeding with both Bettas and African Dwarf Frogs. I've learn since to feed my Betta every other day, 2 to 3 micro pellets max and I don't feed any of my fish on Sundays. My ADFs are only fed 3x a week. So far it's working out fine.
Personally, the worst thing about having a betta is how much I spend money on him. Which when I think about it really isnt bad, I'm spending money on good decorations for him that he can hide in, plants for his tank, "toys" he can play with during the day, and I'm finding myself in the habit of buying multiple kinds of food. Its everything he needs, and just because I'm spending a lot doesnt mean that you have to. But this has just been my experience. The best thing though, is when he sees me he swims up to me instantly. And he'll fall asleep almost instantly after he known I'm there. Hes honestly like a little puppy, I'm so lucky to have him
My Betta is a plakat. He likes to snuggle up with the prefilter sponge I have on the Spec V pump output nozzle.I have Water Wisteria, Anubias Barteri, and Java Fern in his aquarium. He loves to swim through the leaves of the Wisteria plants and build his bubble nest among them when they reach the surface of the water. I keep the light intensity dimmed with craft mesh and electrical tape so he seems much happier when the lights are on. That helps to keep the algae down and slows the growth of the wisteria, which has to be pruned frequently because it is a fast grower. He does really well in his private little kingdom.
Bettas are like the pugs of the fish world. So cute but so many health issues that we maybe shouldn’t support breeders by purchasing them. I can’t imagine not having one though :/
There are ethical breeders out there. But it can be a crap shoot trying to find them. I think too many people view fish like they do cats: Throw away pets. People put more value on dogs, but try finding an ethical breeder of dogs, it's not easy!
That was very helpful Irene. Thank you! I know my betta eats too much because he is in a community tank with slower eaters. So he pigs out on their food.😬
I am so excited by your videos, and I've used them to find information in setting up my first tank. I really appreciate that you always give options and alternatives for tips and equipment
Great info, I love your videos! I just got a driftwood bonsai tree I was going to put with my betta and attach either moss or anubius nana petite but looking at it, it has a ton of tiny branches and I'm wondering if I should skip it as I have a long tailed half moon? Either save it should I get a shorter finned betta or put it in a non betta tank
Thank you for always sharing about betta fish 🙏 they are absolutely my favorite and I have an imported pair of candy kois coming in right now 😍 another wonderful video and information Irene. I hope you and your family are having a wonderful day! 🙏🌿🐟🌿
I set up a dwarf frog tank and put some lucky bamboo in it. I set the tank up about a month ago and I’m having severe melt problems with the bamboo and I really don’t know what the issue is. The tank was set up with the following: a gravel bottom layer, root tabs on top of the gravel, capped off with black sand. Bamboo was planted right into the sand, with the roots in contact with that root tab layer. Some tank ornaments are included as well. The tank is 3gal and has a 50W heater to keep the tank around 75 deg F, and a small hang on back filter. I do 25-50% water changes weekly. The bamboo looked fine for the first two weeks or so, but started to show signs of melt soon after. After leaving the tank for the weekend, the bamboo is severely melting now. I know bamboo can be planted either partially or fully submerged. Some of the stalks and leaves are fully submerged, some have the leaves partially poking out of the water. Both are melting, so it could be a chemical imbalance - my water here in Pennsylvania is quite hard so maybe that’s a factor. The one thing my tank is missing is an overhead light. I put the tank by an east facing window figuring it was getting enough natural light, but I’ve never heard of lack of sufficient light causing melt. I’m probably gonna have to toss this set of bamboo because I don’t think it can be salvaged. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
I’ve been so lucky, petco doesn’t sell lids for aquariums so my tank has been topless and personally love it like that and he hasn’t jumped out 👏🏼 think he loves his home too much to even think about leaving (I hope, he’s spoiled🤩)
Wait is this true? What would be considered firm vs soft. I've only seen soft before, but it was infested with snails and died before I could treat it. I wanted to order some online, but I'm not sure if I request softer pieces if that would mean I could get any. I'm growing plants in a betta tank to replenish my turtle tank plants.
@@midnightbel You can test them by taking a piece of thin fabric like pantyhose and stretching it over the needles of the plant. If the needles snag or rip the pantyhose then it is not a safe piece to put in a betta tank
My betta ate the roots of the live plant I added and got very sick and bloated. I removed and replaced with silk plants. Mine was a nipper at roots so I can’t have plants sadly. I almost lost her and it was so scary.
I love the way you talk, unlike other female fishkeeper/vlogger. Very informative. Yet, very Asian, straight to the topic! Subscribed. Hope to see more videos.
This video said that lucky bamboo is a bad idea, and the points listed were valid, but my lucky bamboo tank is doing great!! Just in case anyone wanted lucky bamboo but felt deterred, lol. I have nine stalks of lucky bamboo in my tank, and my betta *loves* swimming around them. He also sleeps in the branches! I don't have a lid and my water level is high, but he's never tried to jump out. As long as your water conditions are good, in theory your betta shouldn't try to jump out. Although I have heard that some bettas are just really feisty, or if you have two tanks next to each other they might try to jump to the other one. It depends on the fish! My dude isn't a jumper.
Your betta carrying around the algae wafer like a frisbee 🥺😍. I love bettas they have such fun personalities and are like little fish puppies. I just got a new betta this week from the LFS and he’s a maniac, I’ve never had a busier fish in my life. His poor snail tank mate literally buries himself in the substrate until the fish goes to sleep. Any advice for the snail? I hate to see him stressed all day because the betta is terrorizing the poor guy
I realize you're probably trying to beat the jerks to the punch with the flub count, but I wouldn't have thought twice about any of them without the count 😆 good video. Think I might go get another betta now...
These type of fish it's quite easy for them just to tear like if you're going to get a beta your best off getting like a short fin female placate something that's not too like easy to tear even crowntails are fine. I have never had a veil tell their friend and those are beautiful fish as well
My betta tanks have hygrophila corymbosa and echinodorus cordifulim. They're easy plants, they grow fast and have wide big leaves. I'm lucky enough to not experience any illness with my current betta fishes. Probably, the hot weather here in my country really helps.
What’s the best way to set up a betta tank? Is natural decor (like wood or rocks) better than the decor you can get at petco and petsmart? Also do you think lava rock would make a good substrate? Thank you.
You know I wish I didn't have to use the leaves that you mentioned but the water in Taiwan is acidicit's the only thing I can use to neutralize it. came across this accidentally when a lady who raises betas is Taiwanese and told me that the best way I could keep betas is to have filtered water because it's suitable for tropical fish I couldn't look a large container of six flights of stairs so I wonder what would happen if I put in three good size pieces of that dried leaves and you know I haven't had to do any water changes at all this week I mean before I was doing so many because the water was so acidic and I was trying to balance out you know with dechlorinator but now I actually don't even have to use any decorator I prepare the clean water and let it sit for 2 days with a few pieces of dried guava leaves or cassava leaves and then when I'm ready to do a water change I do like a 40% water change trying to you know get rid of all the crud at the bottom of the gravel and then I just put in the water and it's completely fine it's not acidic and it's normal He basically have natural tannins and all my tanks which consist of three my landlord said I can only have three pets which means I got to get rid of a tank guppies I'm not sure what to do with them maybe I can ask a friend if she'd like them. My tank's been established for quite a long time and it's quite easy to maintain I just hope I can find someone who's willing to enjoy them as much as I do. I have two female bettas and my dog will be coming back in 6 months when my arm recovers from being broken after about a year I should be able to have him come back home but only three pets so it'll be like two female bettas and my dog my cat will continue to stay with my roommate we've had her since she was a kitten and she's doing well there so I think it's okay because she has lots of room to run around. I taught my godson how to be gentle with her and so she likes him. They get along pretty well and she has plenty of places to like hide and sleep and she's not lonely because she has that but also my dog is nervous around cats. I don't I love my cat I wish she could adjust to having a dog in the house he's never been around cats before and he just doesn't know how to he doesn't know how to connect with her as a dog. He doesn't know that if he's quiet and lies on the floor but she'll come over by him. But she's better off with my roommate we bought her as a kid and we both done her for 11 years so I think she'll do just fine plus I see her everyday so it's okay if she has like a new kitty box and a scratching post and lots of good places to sleep and she can run around and do zoomies I just hope my landlord won't understand that I don't want to get rid of my three tanks. I don't keep the filters running 24/7 but the water is quite clean because I do regular water changes two times a week and they're pretty large tanks I mean they go from 4 to 7 gallons but I think it's not really a problem but it's just so I don't know paranoid he thinks the building is going to burn down but he doesn't understand but they don't run everything all at once Forgive me he just feel sad and disappointed I don't really know who to talk to so I just post comments here. I really do wish I had my own fish room. Let me see it what I'd like to do is buy all the bettas that big chain stores purchase and then they keep in drinking cups and I want to actually have my own like online being a shop through that so people can contact me they pick out a beta with the pictures and then they can you know take them home of course I'll teach them how to create a very simple easy escaped tank that doesn't take much time and effort. I found some good fertilizer capsules and I think if I can teach people how to use a little bit of aquarium soil and then they put in the fertilizer capsules and then they you know cap it with gravel I think it'll be just fine and then they can put in their Driftwood and hardscape if they want or they could just put in some Driftwood and put a bunch of and plants. Taiwanese people like it when things are like I don't know it's simple as possible because they don't want to have to spend much time on it
I just got my first betta last week and I changed his water and put him in a bigger tank last night. The next morning he was just floating (not belly up yet though!) and he’s not using his side swimmy fins hardly at all, only if I startle him. He’s not eating either which is not like him. He’s watching me cook right now though, so I have hope! Any suggestions?
Dumb question. But i see food scrap regrow just put it in water and i cant help but want to add a beta in it. Well that be okay for both? Example regrow butter lettus sold with roots in a betta plant vase?
I'm sorry if this was already asked, but I can't find any information on water lilies? Is it safe or toxic to keep a water lily in with my beta tank? I have him in a small one and a half gallon with the filter tank and I'm getting conflicting answers some say it's safe some say that the roots contain poisonous crystals. What do you say? Thank you.
I'd like you to address as the next topic: Do betta males have to be alone? I have heard they do and cant live in same tank w female..how true is this? Thanks! :)
I have a question! I recently got into plants and I recently bought some amazon frogbits. A couple days go by, and some leaves started to have this white fuzz around the leaves.. I’m not sure what this and how to fix it:(
Hi im new to bettas but I recently bought the same sand as urs but when i put it in the water the water become dark do i have to let it sit for a while :’D?
I recently took all of the silk plants out of my tank and put in my first live plants. My betta keeps freaking me out because the way he sleeps in these plants makes him look. ☠️. But then he sees me and is his normal happy self. He just never slept in the silk plants that way. I think he likes them.
Yeah, bloodworms (frozen and freeze-dried) seem to fill up all my fish much faster than anything else. I use the tip of a pipette to feed them to my betta. Not spoiled at all! 💙
I need help!! In my betta fish tank I added a piece of wood and it’s been 7 weeks and the tank is completely filled with brown biofilm. My $60 worth of plants are now dead. Please
Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that. Is it brown diatom algae? If so, you can remove it with your fingers or toothbrush and suck it up with a siphon. Brown diatoms are very common with new tanks and shouldn't kill the plants though. Based on your last video, I can see a few fast growing stem plants (which can die quickly if they don't get enough light or nutrients) as well as cryptocoryne plants, which tend to melt in new tanks but eventually grow back. Are the floating plants still alive at least?
@@GirlTalksFish that tank my 20 gal is doing pretty great, the Frogbit grows very fast in there. But in my other tank 5 gal, I added a piece of wood (spider) and brown biofilm started to grow. I think it’s Brown because of the Fluval Stratum. But most of the plants in that tank have ended up completely melting and then not coming back. I think I might have to just redo the tank:( Thank you
I twice had betta died of overeating in community tank because they eat all the food, and chase away other fish. If i give less food, i afraid i dont feed the other fish enough. I dont want to set another tank, so no more betta for me until i figure this out. Any advice?
I tend to feed small pellets, frozen foods, etc. that I can spread all over the tank so that he can't reach it all at once. If your other fish are nocturnal like plecos, you can feed them at night when the lights are off.
a second betta to a 3 gallon? i woulnt day it would be good to do that. 3 gallons is small and cozy for a betta, if you have a 10-20 gallon then each betta can have thier own space and area, but in a 3 or 5 gallon, they dont have enough space and will likey feel thier territory is being stifled. Its very likey that they will be agressive to eachother in a small space. Also, having two bettas in a 3 gallon would make it much harder to clean/keep the water nice. 3 gallons is really the bare-minimum for a betta, so i would get a seperate tank, or a larger one. perhapse they will get along, but putting 2 in a 3 gallon gives them too many reasons and stress to be agressive to eachother. especially if 1 is used to it being his cozy tank, and then another betta is introduced.
The Sad truth that no one will talk about is that many of the bettas no matter how well you care for them will die within a year due to sickness caused by poor breeding or even inbreeding…. I’ve had a betta last me 5 years and die due to being egg bound…. The males with long fins last up to about 2 years if you’re lucky 3…. But I’ve had many that barely lasted a year due to over growths and scaling to cause blindness, and the sad reality of long fin bettas is that the fins tend to get too long to the point that it becomes too heavy for their little bodies to keep up with. They tend to become a lot more unattractive at that point about after a year…. For example your video shows a beta that has bitten its fins off to combat the weight issue…short fin bettas have a better lifespan , healthier habits and are much easier to tend for…. I strongly encourage the community to stop buying the overbred fish and try to get better quality ones, forcing breeders to do better and stores as well.
