I finally got my crowntail!

[Glasstapper]

My 5 gallon has had only plants growing in it for the past 6 weeks, and today I was finally able to go and get a crowntail betta. (I had been doing some travelling and wanted to wait until I was home regularly).

I don't have a name yet, though. I'll have to wait and see his personality. Sorry about the quality of the pics, but you can definitely see his beautiful fins. His body is a dark purplish/maroon with some light green reflections in the light, and his fins are mostly maroon with some white tips on a few. The pictures don't hardly do him any justice.

[Drumachine09]

That fish looks absouloutly AMAZING! Is he laid back like most bettas or is he really active?

[nraposa]

He's very laid back unless you put in another male with him then they will fight to the death. Glasstapper how are they in a community tank. I want one to but I've read that their fins get nipped on alot have you noticed this or not.

[Drumachine09]

How rare are these crowntailed bettas, because i have never seen one before?

[Glasstapper]

so far, my guy seems to be pretty laid back. He perks up though when I come in and sit in front of his tank. We stare at each other and then he swims around, gets some air, does a little show flare under the filter, and comes back to stare at me. He's a hoot!

Some people have been successful with keeping them in community tanks, but I have no idea what other fish they had in there. Probably corys or some snails maybe. I think it's best to keep them alone, though. If I were to put him in my community tank, my tetras and salvini would kill him, he would kill my guppies, and I guess maybe the corys would be ok. ;)

As for finding the crowntail, I couldn't find any online, but my LFS carries these, double tails, half moons, and the most common ones. They even had some pure white ones with black eyes and black gill flares. Just call around at some of the privately owned fish stores, and they might either have some or could get you one. Mine cost $7 US dollars, but the moons were almost $30.

[Glasstapper]

Hey, anyone have a suggestion for a clean-up crew for the tank? It's a 5 gallon hex, whisper 10 filter with a DIY blocker made out of a plastic bottle for the filter flow (so there's no current or aeration).

The betta won't eat the food once it's sunk and he gets mad at me when I put my hand or a net in his space. The water change tomorrow will be fun with him, I'm sure.

So what do you think? A snail? Do they leave gross trails all over the glass or crawl out?

[jman]

i love it!!!!!!!!!

[minabird]

Hey, anyone have a suggestion for a clean-up crew for the tank? It's a 5 gallon hex, whisper 10 filter with a DIY blocker made out of a plastic bottle for the filter flow (so there's no current or aeration).

So what do you think? A snail? Do they leave gross trails all over the glass or crawl out?

Glasstapper- Your CT betta looks awesome. I also have one. I was looking at getting another betta and got him on a whim when I saw him in PetSmart. I had never seen one before. As for a cleanup crew, my betta got along fine with a pair of albino corys in my 5 gal. I now have him in a 28gal with 6 albino corys. I’m planning on adding a school of harlequin or hengel rasboras with him in the 28gal..

I don’t have a snail or have any experience with them, but from looking at the mystery snails at Petsmart, I didn’t see any slime trails on the glass, but I don’t know how often the staff cleans their tanks.


He's very laid back unless you put in another male with him then they will fight to the death. Glasstapper how are they in a community tank. I want one to but I've read that their fins get nipped on alot have you noticed this or not.

Nraposa- My bettas have done well in community tanks with corys. I’ve also kept them with neon tetras, upside-down cat, and golden Chinese algae eater without any problems. When I get my harlequins or hengels rasboras, I’ll let you know how they get along with the betta.


How rare are these crowntailed bettas, because i have never seen one before?

Drummachine- They are becoming more popular, as well as the other varieties, such as double tails, halfmoons, etc. They are more expensive than the normal veil tails that have been sold tho.

[Drumachine09]

my betta got along fine with a pair of albino corys in my 5 gal. I now have him in a 28gal with 6 albino corys. I’m planning on adding a school of harlequin or hengel rasboras with him in the 28gal.

Minabird is right on the money with the corydora suggestion. I have two spotted corydoras in my tank and my bottom is spot less.

Good job cleaning up all of the loose ends minabird!

And about glasstappers betta not eating off of the bottom, you might get it a high quality floating pellet food. Hope i helpedthumbs2:

[Incredulous_Ed]

that's a nice betta glasstapper! if you got and few ghost shrimps, they will clean up part of the bottom, but not as good as corys would.

[Glasstapper]

I was hoping you guys would say corys! I keep looking at the albinos and wondered if they would be ok with a betta. Now let's just hope this particular betta is ok with corys! ;)

In the meantime, I got some better pictures. They're not perfect, but you can see him a little better:

[Drumachine09]

nice looking fish. i like it.

[Glasstapper]

I've decided to name him Napoleon due to the fact that since he's so small, he still thinks he's bigger and badder than everyone else. :)

[MLady]

On your CT. *S*
I've had my CT (Spike) for about 6 months and since he was placed into his 20g tank he is very active. He loves to swim into the bubble curtain and into all the nooks and crany's I made with the rocks in the tank. His favourite place to sleep and hang out is curled around the heater. Not sure why, but he just loves it. *LOL*

Once again... Congrats!

Cheers,
MLady

[Glasstapper]

Just wanted to give you a little update on my betta.

Poor guy was constipated pretty bad for a few days due to me giving him too much bloodworms. I've now changed his diet to Betta Bits once a day, with one small freeze-dried bloodworm once a week. I also have some frozen brine shrimp I will give him once a week, maybe. Turns out that overfeeding high protein food = constipation. He's better now, though. Still a little stopped up, but he let go of a huge poop this morning with just a little more to go.

As for the two corys, at first he was VERY angry with them being in his tank. He flared and pecked and followed them around for a while. The corys are extremely active and actually bump into the betta once in a while, which he doesn't like, of course. He doesn't seem to pick on them too much, but he doesn't seem to be happy with them, either. I did notice a piece of tail fin missing on one of them. I'm thinking maybe my betta might be one of those that just doesn't want tankmates. The corys will probably be moved, and I may consider a couple of those ghost shrimp. That way, if he eats them, then cool - live food. If he's okay with them, then all the better. We'll see.

[minabird]

Glasstapper-

Also try feeding him some squished peas. The peas and the brine shrimp provide excellent roughage to help him keep "regular!" hehehe :) Also, skip feeding 1 day a week to give him a chance to catch up on his business...a little hunger never hurt a fish anyway.

As for his aggression to the corys, take all of them out of the tank, redecorate, and put the corys in first and then yourt betta. It'll be new territory for all of them and your betta won't claim the entire tank like he did when he was alone. Adding your corys after him, he probably thought they were invading in his space.

Both of these tips worked for my betta when he overindulged on bloodworms (ie I overfed him cuz he liked them so much) and when I added my 1st albino cory to his 5 gal tank.

Good luck