Ping the Beta Fish

[frankykeno]

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.

[Jeanne]

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...

[tigerlily]

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.

[frankykeno]

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???"

[cassandra]

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

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. =)

[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.

[frankykeno]

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?

[SatanicIntention]

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.

[Shelby]

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..

[Shelby]

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