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fishycat

needs more wiggle.
Dec 9, 2009
2,926
0
0
Hawaii
My husband does not share my passion for fish... but he does admire my tanks and will check out the fish (and attempt to count my cories :laugh:). He has admitted that the only fish he really wants is a black betta. Funny thing, I'd seen black crowntails at one of the lfs in town a couple weeks ago.

We went today and they had two left. Both were black, but had some trace iridescence that would probably increase with age. I picked out the nicest of the two, albeit they were both very thin. The one thing I hate about this lfs is they keep their betta in those Starbucks frappuccino bottles. I can't imagine how/if they do water changes with those. :headshake2:

We threw prospective names back and forth on the drive home... "Darkness", "Nightstalker", "Fiend", "Sauron", "Lich King". Yes, we were going down that path. :naughty: The dorky Lord of the Rings path (we had an LOTR-themed wedding, including sword)... and both agreed on "Nazgul" as the perfect name for this guy.

I believe the proper term for his finnage is double-ray crowntail, but I could be wrong. His fins look like the fringe from a Spanish shawl. He looks very different from my white crowntail Sephiroth.

Oh, and he's got these weird bubble eyes - almost reminds me of a black moor goldfish! I'm hoping that they look weird because he's underweight. What do you guys think??

07-27-10dump 026.jpg

07-27-10dump 025.jpg

07-27-10dump 033.jpg

07-27-10dump 030.jpg

07-27-10dump 034.jpg

Oh dear, I just noticed those two teeny white dots above his head - could that be ICH??? Dammit. He's in a 6g with a bunch of endler fry (squirrel!!). If it is ich... ho-boy. :uhoh::shakehead::cry:

07-27-10dump 026.jpg 07-27-10dump 025.jpg 07-27-10dump 033.jpg 07-27-10dump 030.jpg 07-27-10dump 034.jpg
 

Juice

KillaOJ
Jan 4, 2009
1,132
0
36
37
NorCal
He's really pretty, neat find! I haven't come across any black bettas or else I'd have one by now =]

Does look a bit like ich in the last two pictures-hope it turns out to be nothing!
 

FishVixen

DIY Addict
Jun 30, 2010
242
0
0
66
Richmond Va
Kool Fish, And yes it does look like ich. Raise the temp and start water changes. GGRRRR!!
 

fishycat

needs more wiggle.
Dec 9, 2009
2,926
0
0
Hawaii
Thanks for the compliments!

I don't have a heater - room temp is between 82-84+ these days. I was reading in the Illness section that you can treat Ich with salt solution and 82+ temps... but I don't see that it says to do water changes unless you have to. So does that mean I shouldn't?? Bettas can tolerate salt right?

:wall:
 

Ratlova30

AC Members
Apr 2, 2010
705
1
0
Washington
Real Name
Chelsea
Beautiful betta. Sorry about the ick if it is that, you could always move him to a different container while he heals. Just a side note, I have a very plump female crowntail that has huge bug eyes(it's not pop eye) She's had it ever since someone dropped her off a year ago so I'm guessing it's just a quirky trait about them :)

Oh yeah and I have treated a betta with salt before, best to my knowledge it didn't hurt him.
 

johnsreef

Registered Member
Aug 23, 2009
3
0
0
63
Sunny Jacksonville Fl
I bred bettas for years, raise the temp and then take your brine shrimp net outside to a cleand puddle collect some mosquito larvea and this will really help him recover. The do better on mosquitos that any other food. Used to put leaves in a bucket to tanin some water put it in the sun and wait a week for free food!
 

H2Ogal

Betta Be Good to Me
Mar 16, 2010
1,213
0
0
Memphis, TN
Real Name
Deborah
From what I've read ... When using salt, do WC but carefully match the salinity of the new water so it's not yo-yoing up and down. I don't think transferring him for treatment is necessary; he may already have infected the tank he's in, anyway, I think. Continue salt treatment for a week after the last of the spots disappear. Some people say 3 days. The heightened temp is to speed up the life cycle of the ich parasite. Not cranking up the temp will just mean a slightly longer treatment, not a treatment fail.

Lovin' Nazzie, btw. He's gorgeous! And his name makes me smile in a totally LOTR-fannish way. You know. :)

-------

Zoops! Can the endler fry take the salt? If not, I guess you'll have to treat Nazgul separately. :nilly:
 

GEV83

Top Dog!!!
Jun 19, 2002
4,091
0
36
40
LA County, California
Real Name
Gabriel (Gabe)
You could see those two spots in the last three pics and I would treat the whole tank not just the single fish as recommended by one user. It prob spread through the tank already. Just do the salt treatment and you should be fine. Nice looking betta by the way. I saw one that was as black as yours at my job but it was sickly and died the next day.
 
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