Betta Fish? Tell me more?

LauraLeigh · Feb 21, 2013

I miss having a tank, don't have room for a big set up...

Saw a neat Betta tank that has a divider so you can have two.... Never had them before.... Are they hardy? Live long? High maintenance? Any advice?

Thought about a small tropical tank, but the size Id get would not allow many fish and frankly the ones I like need a ten plus gallon set up and my house is pretty full...

Greenmagick · Feb 21, 2013

How big is the tank? Bettas are often put in tanks that really are too small. I also think it stresses them to see each other and be "on guard" all the time

Otherwise, they are a pretty fun and hardy fish.

This is my daughters....we have only had him a couple months but her previous one we had for several years. (I had one for almost 4 years before as well) He is in a 10g tank with some snails.

LauraLeigh · Feb 21, 2013

I was looking at a 5 gallon if I had a single, the 10 gallon had a divider and I thought about stress so was actually going to consider having hubby "wrap" the glass with a solid waterproof vinyl... Not sure if that'd work?

I could go a 10 gallon no divider if that's what's better for them, and have a single fish... I truly know nothing about them... Except they are pretty lol

~Dixie's_Mom~ · Feb 21, 2013

I think a 5gal is plenty big for a single betta as long as you get a tank that is long as opposed to tall. They need horizontal swim space. We have one in a 3.5 gallon currently and I want to move him to a 5 (he used to be in a 10 and is only temporarily in the 3.5 gal). I have a 5 gal in my bedroom with 2 male guppies in it and its surprisingly bigger than you would think. I think they have plenty of space in there.

Psyfalcon · Feb 21, 2013

Heater, heater, heater. Many betta problems are directly caused by being kept too cold.

With a 10 gallon tank you could consider adding other fish species too. I recently added some cory catfish to the betta tank. While the betta has chased the catfish on occasion, its not like two bettas together. Everyone still has their fins.

Greenmagick · Feb 21, 2013

I think either one of those ideas would work fine. They really have awesome personalities IMO and are a lot of fun

CharlieDog · Feb 21, 2013

I kept a single male in a large (48) gallon tank with some fancy guppies for awhile. They left each other alone just fine. The male guppies initially thought about messing with the betta, but he flared at them and they decided it wasn't worth it. After that every one left each other alone.

He currently lives on my mothers desk with some snails in a ten gallon though. I wanted to add some slightly more aggressive fish and didn't want them to fight. Hes quite happy in the ten gallon.

Xandra · Feb 21, 2013

If you'll go as big as a 10 gallon, you could set up a 'sorority' with multiple females. You'll have to look for colorful females and they won't have the finnage, but they're still pretty and have personalities!

http://ladykayy.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ruby.html

Otherwise 5g is fine for one male and (usually) a couple other fish and with a 10g you can have a male and (usually) some other fishes as well. I'd recommend putting the betta in last though.

frostfell · Feb 21, 2013

10g for one male (and misc other fish as friends like cherry shrimp or white clouds) or 20g for a harem of females. dont feed commercial food, i recommend live plants, and yes definitely a heater

i also dont recommend buying mass produced sickly ugly "puppymill" fish from petco and petsmart and the like. buy from a breeder or importer. you will get a healthier betta that lives easily twice as long, and is a million times more attractive and lively

I like this breeder the best <3<3<3<3<3<3 http://www.bettaakapes.com/HTML%20Product/HM/Product%20HM%20see%20all.html

JustaLilBitaLuck · Feb 21, 2013

I've had two Bettas. The first lived for about four years - the first year in a 1.5 gallon fishbowl, the last three years in a 5 gallon tank. I've had my current Betta for about a year, in a 5 gallon tank. I don't have room for a larger tank setup, so I've never had anything else in the tank with them.

Most "betta tanks" that are advertised in the stores are much, much too small to humanely house a fish.

Shai · Feb 21, 2013

I had two males in a 10g with a divider at one time and they did well and didn't flare at each other -- I made my own opaque flow-through divider though, using this stuff:

from the craft store where I found it in black with small holes (there were two sizes of grid...I picked the smaller one). I put my filter so the intake was on one side of the divider and the outlet on the other to help encourage water movement around the tank.

Seemed to work.

Zoom · Feb 21, 2013

I'm wanting to set up a betta tank in my office and really didn'y want to get the fishie from Petsmart /Co. However, Bettatalk.com is on extended hiatus. I'll have to check out that breeder above, but does anyone else buy through a breeder? Where?

Keechak · Feb 21, 2013

I have a red male crowntail in a 30Gal long, with Cardinal Tetra, Cory catfish, Oto, Flying fox, Neon Tetra, and a shrimp. He has a betta log as well which he loves.

Julee · Feb 21, 2013

I bred, kept, and rescued for many years... right now, I just have one little red desk buddy. Bettas and dogs are my two true passions

Bettatalk's owner is realllly not a good breeder.

Check out the International Betta Congress:
http://ibcbettas.org/

and AquaBid:
www.aquabid.com

I can generally tell you who is a good breeder and who is not based on the ad, so if you're thinking of one, post here!

Shai · Feb 21, 2013

Zoom said:

There's aquabid and ebay. On aquabid, I recommend Martinismommy. She's on ebay too but I think her handle is different there and I can't remember offhand what it is. IIRC she usually doesn't sell in the winter though due to shipping hazard to her fish in the cold. You could always browse around though -- they have a lot of nice fish and you can check out seller ratings to get a good idea as to trustworthiness.

Julee · Feb 21, 2013

Shai - Martinismommy has a group on Facebook that I can add you to, if you'd like. She posts some fish of her nicer fish there before she puts them on AB.

Shai · Feb 21, 2013

Julee said:

What's it called? I always like to admire her fish, but frankly I won't be purchasing any for a while. I've been out of Betas for a bit and cut myself down to just two tanks -- one 29g planted with shrimp, and my 90g SA planted. Too much going on to commit to more than that at the moment.

Julee · Feb 21, 2013

It's a secret group, you have to be friends with one of the members to be added. It's called Mac Auley's Betta Beauties, though.

LauraLeigh · Feb 21, 2013

I ended up getting a ten gallon, heater filter and so on, bought a few fake plants to start though I'll replace with live as I am comfortable, Id love to go to a breeder but haven't a clue where to look in my area, I'll start by checking out the links!

meepitsmeagan · Feb 21, 2013

Uhm... So, for a total newbie wanna be fish owner, where would one even get started learning what setup you would need?

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