Ping the Beta Fish

Sorry no pics. I never seem to get a good one of Ping (I'll try again soon though).

Just wanted to know if anyone else has a beta fish and about how long they live as I keep finding different things online about that. Ping is about 3 years old now and a really cool fish. He's very interactive and will come to the side of his big fish bowl to stare at us. He also shows us he's hungry by staring at us then going to the top of his water and back to us as if to say "hey dummy human...the food goes in HERE" lol Are they normally this aware of people near them?

I just helped Mikey feed Ping and it's so fun to watch a 5 year old and a fish interact over a nice pinch of bloodworms. :)

I love betas. I was sooo tempted to buy a pretty crown tail at pet smart a few eeks ago, and even though I have a bowl for it to live in, decided not to cause I ALWAYS kill them prematurely..... so I bought the VFT instead and am having magnificent results with it.

I am not sure how long betas live, my sister has had one for about 4 years now...

I have betas! Two currently. Ok, well they're more of the kids but we all know who takes care of them. The last one we had for about 3 years. It survived the trip to Arkansas and one to Georgia, in a little tupperware container under the driver's seat. ;) Sturdy little boogers. The one in my son's room does not like me, and displays everytime I go in there. He has issues. The one in my daughter's room is a big wuss. :rolleyes:

Kayte bought me Ping for a mother's day gift 3 years back. He's a great fish and moved here to Toledo without a blip..."oh we moved...that was what all the sloshing about was....ya got any of those yummy bloodworms lady???"

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

He also shows us he's hungry by staring at us then going to the top of his water and back to us as if to say "hey dummy human...the food goes in HERE" lol

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I swear Cleo is saying that when she yawns..."Mouse goes HERE!"

I'm not sure how long they live...a friend of mine at the office had a beta in the office for like...5 or 6 years. I used to feed him when my friend was out of town. "Hardy" is not quite strong enough a word that guy. =)

I have 8 crowntails. I LOOOVE bettas. I would love to get some half moon bettas, but don't have the extra cash to have them shipped.. you can't find half moons in pet stores.

They live around 3 years give or take.

I haven't got a clue what sort of Beta Ping is. I'll really have to try and get a shot. He's just your average bought from WalMart Beta but he is a lovely sort of jewel tone deep blue with a sort of rusty deep red head (which used to be less noticeable but the red seems to have spread with age).

So Ping is an aged Beta at 3 years old?

I have 3 females in a Sterilite Showoff container(clear kind with blue lids). One is a light blue double tail, the other one looks like a miniature Bass, and the other big girl is yellow-white. They will all line up in the corner of the tub, look at me, look at each other, and look back at me... It's pitiful... I also have a 10g filter attached to it, not too much current for them(even though they seem to enjoy playing in it). It keeps the tub nice and clean.

Wal-mart bettas are what are known as 'veil tails' the lowest quality of tail on domestic bettas. Breeders don't even consider them worth anything, and they are culled out if they ever appear in their spawns.

I have heard of bettas living over 3 years.. maybe up to 5.. I don't really know. It's hard to know the age of the fish at the pet store anyway..

Here's some pics of a few of my crowntails. They didn't want to flare for the camera.. figures.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/8/betta.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/8/betta2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/8/betta3.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/8/betta4.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/8/betta5.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...2/8/betta6.jpg

Wow I didn't even know they could look like that! Oh well our Ping might be a mutt Beta but we love him LOL. Hopefully he'll live to a grand old beta age.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

I have 8 crowntails. I LOOOVE bettas. I would love to get some half moon bettas, but don't have the extra cash to have them shipped.. you can't find half moons in pet stores.

They live around 3 years give or take.

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Not true! The aquatics store in which I work currently has half moons. Neener!:P

Generally Betta splendens will live an average of 5 years, the problem is by the time many of the show male bettas get to the LFS they can already be 1-2 years in age and will only live another 2-4 years.

we often got really small male bettas in when i worked at the petstore so they were definitely younger cause they'd grow lots once i got them home (ya we love bettas)

i've never had one live longer than 2 years though.

I have bred bettas for the past two years. I just quit. Half moons are normally show fish, and can be very expensive. Near half moons are more common. Crowntails are very nice, and I have had three half-moon crowntails, although none bred by me were ever that nice. The shipping does kill you. Try looking for a betta club near you, I'll try to look up the website to post here.
Bettas properly taken care of and fed, can live up to 5 years. They are fairly easy to breed actually, and the main problem is like guppies, what do you do with 100 baby bettas, with the added problem of EVERY one must have its own container at a certain point. Well, some females can stay together...
Anyway, shutting up now.
Wolfy

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Originally Posted by JBallPython

Not true! The aquatics store in which I work currently has half moons. Neener!:P

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Ah.. lucky! No pet stores around here are that special.

I'd love to go to a betta show if there are any around here.. it'd be fun to go see the real show quality ones and maybe buy a couple half moons or crown moons.

Well we don't have crown moons, so you beat us there.

My old store manager from the last local pet shop I worked at started his own exotic aquatics store, so most of the stock is out of the realm of things you commonly see. He needed a saltwater specialist so he brought be over to his store to work but I also know mucho about freshwater. The job is definitely pretty interesting on order and shipment receiving days to see all of the oddballs we get in.

I have kept many tanks at one point breeding many varieties of fancy show guppies. I've never bred bettas but always have had the urge to do so.

Woot! I'm a aquanut at heart.

Ah me too.. if only I had more room and time, I would be keeping more fish too! Reef tanks and half moons.. and seahorses and... freshwater stingrays.. yeah. hehe

ha ha ha you all sound like me ... I want a salt tank and a bunch of different fresh water/bracksh water tanks each with it's own kind of fish... but like you all ... no time , space, or money.

Heck Ping is a good three years old and lives in a large fishbowl. Nothing fancy but I'm a fiend for making sure his water is always fresh and he's feed consistently. He's a lovely fellow and very friendly in his fishy way. Loves his No Fishing tank decoration thing and often parks himself beside it LOL (I really need a pic of that...it's funny!) We did have to move his bowl up higher though. I caught Gunnar the puppy drinking from it! She has a full bowl of water too even icecubes in it during this heatwave but I guess fish poopy water must taste nummy LOL. Ping did not look at all pleased with goofy Gunnar slurping up his home!

I waited patiently for 24 hours for pictures :taz:

Hey Jo; I actually bought a betta last week. My friend got one in her store that was green/red/blue; he was so darked gaudily colored I had to get him. He now lives happily in a bowl in our kitchen. I will post pics.. I had some over the years; my last one was an awesome ivory colored male; died for an unknown reason.

Awesome bettas, Shel!
Here's mine, Sclera. He has some wild colors that made him stand out; I had to get him. Sorry the pic is bad (Jo, yer right; hard to photograph these guys!) But it shows his tricoloration. He reminds me of some gaudy, awesome piece of Oriental decor.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ive/sclera.jpg

Thanks Gin! And yours is a cutie too. I find bettas to be addictive..

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Thanks Gin! And yours is a cutie too. I find bettas to be addictive..

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Just like herps.. horses.. ice cream.. I think I've got an addictive personality! (gotta know when to say when though. :)

Ah yes, me too... can't have just one.. of anything! haha

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Just like herps.. horses.. ice cream.. I think I've got an addictive personality! (gotta know when to say when though. :)

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Speaking of ice cream...Ben and Jerrys has a new flavor that's totally tasty (although it sounds weird)...Black and Tan...and it really does taste like a black and tan! Mmm...=)

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Originally Posted by cassandra

Speaking of ice cream...Ben and Jerrys has a new flavor that's totally tasty (although it sounds weird)...Black and Tan...and it really does taste like a black and tan! Mmm...=)

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Sounds like it could be Normal BP Flavored! :)