New here

[Deborah Martin]

Hi all. I'm new here and I'm trying to decide between a betta fish or tropical fish. Which are easier to care for? Any suggestions on starting up my own aquarium. I know tropical fish need a large tank. I've seen betta fish in small bowls, but I don't want to do that. I would prefer a larger tank for the betta. Now to decide between betta or tropical.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there, welcome to the forum

Bettas are a tropical fish. Not all tropical fish need large tanks; it depends on the species, but no fish should live in a bowl, you're right there

Which you decide on is really up to you; a single betta might be slightly easier to look after, but there's not much difference; it's best to get something you really want to keep.

You can either chose a tank, and then choose fish to fit it, or you can decide what fish you want to keep, then a buy a tank to suit it.

It would be really useful to find out how hard your water is. Hard water has a lot of minerals dissolved in it, whilst soft water has hardly any. Fish need to be kept in the 'right' (for them) kind of water, or they won't be happy or healthy.

You can find out what sort of water you have by looking on your supplier's website; do write down any numbers, and what scale they're using.

For example, if your water is very hard, it wouldn't be a good idea to keep a betta, as they need soft water.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you visit a pet shop or two, you can write down a list of fish you like and then post them on here. We can go through the list and tell you what fish can be kept together and suggest a suitable tank size for them.

 

[Deborah Martin]

I bought one of the water testing kits...the sticks that you dip into the water and then tested our water. Our water is hard....off the charts hard. I wrote down the numbers.

Hardness GH 180 ppm

KH 80

PH 7.5

NO2 0.5

NO3 20


Our water is filtered too.

I don't know what it would be like when you add the water conditioner.

I'm assuming the betta fish wouldn't appreciate this water.

What type of fish would be good for harder water?

 

[Deborah Martin]

I will have to go to the fish shop and look around more closely at the fish I like. But, since our water is so hard I guess I will need to go with fish that do better in the harder water.

 

[Deborah Martin]

Forgot....what is the best water conditioner to use?

 

[Colin_T]

Very soft water is less than 50ppm. Soft water is less than 150ppm. Medium hardness water is 150-250ppm. Hard water is 250-350ppm. Very hard water is above 350ppm.

Your water's GH is 180ppm and that is just above soft and at the lower end of medium hardness and will be fine for most fish including tetras, barbs, danios, rasboras, Bettas, rainbowfish and even some of the livebearers (swordtails or platies) would probably be ok.

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Which water conditioner you get will depend on if you have chlorine or chloramine in the tap water. Most water conditioners/ dechlorinators will treat chlorine and chloramine but you should check just in case. If you can get a list of what is available to you then other can make a suggestion on that.

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Does your test kit have an ammonia (NH3/ NH4) test in it?
If not you should get an ammonia test kit too. Try to get a liquid test kit if possible because they are more accurate than the dry paper strip kits.

Check the expiry date on any test kit to make sure it hasn't expired.

Keep test kits cool and dry. I kept mine in a plastic icecream bucket with lid in the bottom of the fridge.

*NB* Keep test kits away from children and animals because they have toxic chemicals in them.

Rinse the phials out under tap water after testing with liquid kits, and wash your hands with soapy water after working in the tank or doing any water tests.

 

[Deborah Martin]

No the test doesn't have the NH3/NH4 test in it. I did see the liquid test. I will buy that one. I'm really leaning towards the betta now. I was thinking of buying a 5 gallon aquarium for it. Is that enough room?

 

[Deborah Martin]

Also....do you need to cycle the tank for betta fish?

 

[Colin_T]

A 5 gallon tank is big enough for 1 Betta, however it doesn't give you room to keep anything else if the Betta dies or you want something else in the tank. Normally you can pick up a 10 gallon for a couple of dollars more than a 5 gallon and that gives you more room further down the track.

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All fish do better if they are put into a tank that has been cycled. However, if you are willing to do big daily water changes for the next month, you can have a fish in the tank while the filters develop. If you do a fish in cycle (have a fish in the tank while the filter develops) you only feed the fish a couple of times a week and do a 75% water change any day you have an ammonia or nitrite reading.

You can also add a liquid filter bacteria supplement (bacteria in a bottle) and this will help speed the filter development up. I recommend doing a double dose each day for a week and then depending on how much is left, you can either refrigerate the rest or just add it to the tank.

Having live plants in the tank, especially floating plants like Water Sprite, will help to use ammonia and keep the levels lower while the filters develop.

 

[TallPaul]

Hi, I am relatively new to fish keeping, completely new to tropical fish keeping and I went ahead and bought a Betta.

I spent far too much money, £100, on an attractive 9 gallon/35 litre nano tank with all the bells and whistles. It is a palace for my fish and he now shares it with some other suitable tank mates.

Doing it all again I would absolutely get a Betta again. In fact I would get loads of them. Either in a larger 10 or 20 gallon with dividers or in individual 5 gallon tanks. Here in the UK a 5 gallon tank with filter and light will go as cheaply as £30, then all that is needed is a heater approx £10. So it's an affordable hobby to get into.

I cheat cycled my tank by using bottled bacteria. The brand was Microbe-lift but I'm unsure if it is available everywhere. Tetra Safe Start is a popular, go to brand for a beneficial bacteria kick start.

What I did notice, with using bottled bacteria is that you still go through the same processes as a normally cycled tank but it is safe to introduce fish early.

I had a diatom (brown algae) outbreak after the first week. Then I had a bacterial bloom all over my wood, now I have noticed some sort of plankton creatures floating everywhere in the tank (apparently this is a good thing). It all absolutely freaked me out as I had put a significant amount of money into setting up a tank for a fish that cost me less than £10.

I would recommend cycling an empty tank in future, first because it is less expensive than buying bottled bacteria, secondly because you will still have to deal with the same algae and bacteria mini outbreaks anyway. But I had to deal with them in a live tank with a significant amount of bog wood and live plants.

Betta are a brilliant introduction to tropical fish keeping. They are inexpensive, can do well in a small inexpensive tank. They have loads of character, mine will feed from my finger tip now, and they love to see what is going on around them. They are a tough fish and can usually survive some rookie mistakes like missing a water change or not having a properly cycled tank. They also look stunning.

 

[TallPaul]

Here is a picture of Spike, the not a crown tail but actually a veil tail betta.

 

[Deborah Martin]

I went ahead and bought a 10 gallon tank today. I know you should be a larger tank, but I can't fit a huge tank in my house. I looked around at the fish and I really like the black molly's. I think I may buy those. How many can you fit into a ten gallon tank? I also bought the stand and water test kit, some gravel, decor, API water conditioner, etc. The tank is a kit...has the filter and heater. They also suggested some aquarium salt, so I got that too. What about that API quick start thing? I didn't buy it, but was wondering if that stuff works. I also bought the aquarium stand. I think that will be the hardest thing to set up. LOL Any suggestions? Am I missing anything?

 

[Deborah Martin]

Here is a picture of Spike, the not a crown tail but actually a veil tail betta.

Spike is so pretty.

 

[Deborah Martin]

I Keep going ba

Hi, I am relatively new to fish keeping, completely new to tropical fish keeping and I went ahead and bought a Betta.

I spent far too much money, £100, on an attractive 9 gallon/35 litre nano tank with all the bells and whistles. It is a palace for my fish and he now shares it with some other suitable tank mates.

Doing it all again I would absolutely get a Betta again. In fact I would get loads of them. Either in a larger 10 or 20 gallon with dividers or in individual 5 gallon tanks. Here in the UK a 5 gallon tank with filter and light will go as cheaply as £30, then all that is needed is a heater approx £10. So it's an affordable hobby to get into.

I cheat cycled my tank by using bottled bacteria. The brand was Microbe-lift but I'm unsure if it is available everywhere. Tetra Safe Start is a popular, go to brand for a beneficial bacteria kick start.

What I did notice, with using bottled bacteria is that you still go through the same processes as a normally cycled tank but it is safe to introduce fish early.

I had a diatom (brown algae) outbreak after the first week. Then I had a bacterial bloom all over my wood, now I have noticed some sort of plankton creatures floating everywhere in the tank (apparently this is a good thing). It all absolutely freaked me out as I had put a significant amount of money into setting up a tank for a fish that cost me less than £10.

I would recommend cycling an empty tank in future, first because it is less expensive than buying bottled bacteria, secondly because you will still have to deal with the same algae and bacteria mini outbreaks anyway. But I had to deal with them in a live tank with a significant amount of bog wood and live plants.

Betta are a brilliant introduction to tropical fish keeping. They are inexpensive, can do well in a small inexpensive tank. They have loads of character, mine will feed from my finger tip now, and they love to see what is going on around them. They are a tough fish and can usually survive some rookie mistakes like missing a water change or not having a properly cycled tank. They also look stunning.