Wahoo I bought my first betta 2day, not sure what type he is but he's very pretty, think he's probably the commonist species, there is also a female with him sooo happy.!! Any general tips for a first timer.
Will post pics sooon!

yes i have 1... dont keep him with the female, she will be killed

A male betta can NEVER be kept with a female unless during breeding

you could set-up about a 1 gallon tank with a bubble filter and put a few female bettas in it next to the betta, he'll still be happy to see them, but he will kill them if he can get to them ( or at least injure her and if he doesnt, well its a 1 in 500 chance he wont )

oh and btw, try adding another male into a another tank next to him, he'll be super happy

there is a topic for new betta keepers in this forum, it is pinned and in this section

Really, god i didnt now that they would kill each other. They seem fine at the moment he seems really interested in her trxying to impress he, ive set up a mirror on the tank which he parades infront of, they are such beautiful fish.

yes they are beautiful, its just that males are extremely aggresive, and there is a female once in a blue moon that is very aggressive too. when a male betta *flares* ( opens out its gills ) it is eithergiving a warning to back up and away and when it flares at a female, it is trying to impress her but the male is really rough and when trying to breed with the female, he will rough her up pretty badly ( usually ) truth is, bettas are more aggresive than cichlids when it comes to each other andfish that look like them ( i.e. dwarf cichlids, paradise fish, sometimes guppies *if they have huge flashy tails*, honey gouramis, dwarf cichlids ) and most other fish will nip at a bettas tail fins, thus stressing and eventually killing him. they're aren't really too many fish a betta can be kept with with no problems, but male bettas temper varys from betta to betta, i had a male betta that i kept wih a platy fry and they were fine.

Congrats on having your first betta! Before yah now it....you'll have 30. :P I started with one and I now have 14 + hundreds of babies. :D Have any pics of the guy?

give me pics, i want pics, pics pics pics!

he's still a young one yet, ut bide his time and i think he'll be a stunner.

But what shall I call him????

hes a stunner right now!, hmm..... I'd name him beady , because his eyes look beady to me. or name him after my brothers betta, Ned.

Ned I like it! I really dont know much about betta's, so is he a good specimen, he certainly ooked the best in the shop.

if he was the best in the shop that must be a REALLY good shopped, hes beautiful, ive never seen a better one

I dont think Ned is a macho enough name though, he is nice, he's pretty tame aswell
:hug:

actually a girl named my brothers betta. and bettas are very smartfish, isnt hard to tame them.

sad news the betta's dead. sob!!!! not sure why or how but i came home and he was lay upside down wif cloudy eyes twas sooo upset!!

sorry to hear that, first the archer fish, now the betta, your having a bad-luck spree

:wtf: are you doing to the poor fish?, nah im sure your a good fishkeeper, but just aren't good at choosing good,healthy fish.

Well anyway, dont let this get you down, bettas are very wierd fish, they tend to either be very hardy or die right away, theyre kinda creepy if you ask me. Ask any betta nut and they will probably tell you the same thing,

Yeah man, i know its all going wrong, they r just tempramental things my old man owned a pet store where they sold them in jam jars (back in the day) and he says they were much hardier then than they are now. Oh well the females fine and looking healthy, I'm just gona keep my eyes open for a good specimen.

Just curious, what is the PH and hardness of your water? Bettas (and most fish) prefer the water to be slightly acidic (6.8 to 6.5) I am not saying that they cannot adjust but if they are previously stressed, hard alkaline water can add to the stress.

Also, what were you keeping him in? I am assuming that you have to treat the water in your area. From the time you brought him home, when was the first water change and did you change all the water or just do a partial water change?

Was there any signs of disease such as, red spots, white spots, white/grey fuzzy or slimey patches, curling fins?

There is one last possibility. Normal anatomical failure. Even the most experienced fish keepers will loose about 10 to 15% of their fish stocks through stress/ defect related anatomical failure. Most hobbyists do not see this percentage due to the fact that most do not deal in the high volume that a LFS sees. And basically means the luck of the draw when it comes to this type of death.

Any information you can give will help us understand what factors are at play in your setups.

The water is pH6.8 so its perfect, the day before I got him I performed a 10% wtr change, and it tested fine, they only markings he had were cloudy eyes. All the other fish are fine as is the female so im guessing it was just his temprament.

Were the eyes cloudy before he died?

They wers slightly cloudy, but only in the last night that i saw him alive, I was away for about 6hrs and by the time i got back he had died. Its strange really, there have een a few other deaths in the same tank, 2 guppies and a kuhli loach but they were al within a couple of days of me putting them in. The water has tested fine, its 80oC and I really cant see any problems with it. There are fish in there that have been alive in there for 6months so unless i have been buying the wrong fish, i dunno. But the good news is, which maybe I did ruch into, but im going to do my best with is that I have a new Betta!!! :woo: which is as gorgeous as the first. He's already doing the hulk impressions infront of the mirror so lets hope he's ok. He looked very healthy in the shop.
Thanks everyone for the help, tis very appreciated! :thanks:

maybe something wrong with the tank..