hey guys! this is not my first rodeo with bettas, just alien bettas. I set up this 5 gal with same, mopani wood i’ve had in other tanks for over a year, and rocks i found from a local stream. I have the original filter still on the back, for bacteria purposes, tank is cycled, and I also added a sponge filter for surface agitation. He just seems very… Stripey?? And his colors aren’t popping like i imagined they would. He is eating and seems okay, today he is just sitting at the top kinda. I’ve had him for about 3 days now, what can i do better?
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1rixage
Posted by Infamous_Sport_7259
9 Comments
Are those stress stripes? I’m not very familiar with alien bettas either.
Aliens generally really benefit the most from proper jungle-like setups with tannins tinted water to really provide them with a nice dark environment.
Beautiful tank!!!
From what I’ve notice some aliens have them in Their under color.
https://preview.redd.it/r4f2nnf9vnmg1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c7b1161dcccf475f11a72a0abe2e162a62ec2774
If the heater that you’re using doesn’t have temperature control, then it’s the first thing that you could improve. The ones without control usually get temperature to 24°C while ideal temperature is 25-27. He’ll be ok in 24 but his metabolism will be slower and he’ll look a bit washed, as he’s right now. I would also get termometr as it’s basic and one of the most important pieces of equipment when keeping tropical fish.
I think you have way too much substrate, takes up close to 20% of your tank space. I’d remove half of it and fill the tank to the top so he has more water. Use a lid to prevent jumping
They need softer preferably slightly acidic water. Check your parameters. I would not recommend keeping them in ph 7+.
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Be aware of diamond eye, which they are prone to