Do Bettas Prefer Smaller Spaces?

[pondfreak4365]

Hi all,

Had a quick question about my two male bettas. I recently decided to move them into community tanks with guggies. They had been sharing space within 1 ten gallon, separated by a glass chimney. After moving them to separate tanks they both got very reclusive and hid for two days before i placed the glass chimney back over each. They seemed more comfortable in a confined area. Is this just betta behavior?

 

[Rohtah]

Dear PondFreak,

Most male bettas bettas do prefer to be alone unless they are used to a community tank from a young age. Some of my young ones are not seperated until 4 months of age, and I believe they miss their siblings. If they have been on their own for some time, they may not like sharing a tank. Think of it this way - if you moved out of home at 18, would you be really happy moving back in at 21?

Hope this helps.
Roh
Bettabug

 

[LiquidLife]

It also takes a fish a little time to get used to larger spaces. They are small fish and instinctively are afraid of what bigger, hungry being is out there just waiting for a flashy betta to gobble up--so bettas will hide and be scared, only slowly exploring as they find nothing moving around in the space. It's survival. After a week, they'd probably have staked out a claim on some section of the big tank and defend it--but it'd take time and there'd have to be lots of plants and hiding places (and some bettas don't have enough self confidence to ever adjust to larger space).

 

[pondfreak4365]

Thanks for the replies, Rotah and LiquidLife,

These are fully grown males that I adopted when a friend moved away and couldn't take them. They have probably always lived in those tiny little hex tanks, so it does make sense that they would be more secure in a confined space. I just thought that living in such a small tank was cruelty! They seem quite happy back in their chimneys and I'll probably just leave them there. They still have a lot more space than the hex tanks.

 

[Mollymomma]

If you wanted to try a little larger tank than the hex and the chimney's Walmart sells a acrylic 1 gallon tank that works pretty good for these guys small but a bit bigger than the hex. Only real problem is temp control. Just a suggestion

 

[wherryj]

We have our betta in a 2 gallon acrylic hex sold under the "Top Fin" brand (Petsmart).

Our betta seems to like this size, though I'm having trouble keeping water chemistry in the correct parameters.

My fish seems to do ok, except that he gets what appears to be fungus (cotton variety) whenever I do a partial water change. I never do more than 20%. Previously, the changes were weekly but I was told at our local store that I shouldn't change as often, more like monthly. When I did that, he also suffered from fungus after about three weeks.

Any ideas?

 

[pondfreak4365]

Mollymomma and wherryj,
Thanks for the suggestions. I got the chimneys at Wal Mart and they are fairly large and I can lift them daily to allow cleaner water into the chimney. I used to change water on the hex tanks once weekly, completely scrubbing everything because of the algea buildup. I do like the larger filtered tanks.

 

[wherryj]

I was having trouble maintaining a good quality water in the 2 gallon. I think that the tap water here is too polluted (pH of 8 straight from the faucet for starters).

I purchased an Eclipse 12 gallon with built-in Biowheel. My betta LOVES it. He likes to swim in the currents from the Biowheel and the powerhead that I added to run an UGF (since the last 2 gallon, I believe in over-filtration).

Consider a larger tank. I think that bettas love to swim and play in a larger space. At least mine does.

 

[outdoorzgirl]

I also opt for a larger tank. One of my betta's is housed in a 10 gallon by himself. He is very happy...but also very spoiled. My other betta lives in a 55 gallon community tank and is also very happy. You would think he had rocket launchers on his tail by the way he zooms around the tank . It did take him about a week to get use to it. He would cower down in small areas, but NOT NO MORE. He loves his 55 gallon.

 

[gadazobe]

I live in a 2 bedroom flat (apartment for our friends across the lake) I am happy, but, if I lived in a 5 bedroom house with a garden I would be much happier I think I'm a little bit like my betta. He was happy in his little tank all on his own, but now that he's in the big community tank, he's much happier

 

[Great Lakes]

Gad, I have a 5 bedroom, and a garden. IT's a lot of work...

 

[LiquidLife]

Well, it goes without saying that wherever you lived, it would miraculously be kept clean (sort of like the Enterprise on StarTrek, some techie thing that makes all the dirt and yuck go away) with absolutely no effort or expense on your part.

Personally, when I look at the places my sibs live, I think I'm happier in a small cottage/cabin type set-up (well laid out and designed for comfort and practical use of course) rather than a bigger place. But, a fully equipped fish room would be part of that small set up (a garden would be nice but someone else would definitely have to upkeep it).

 

[smudge]

I have a 40 gal tank. I have 1 male betta and 4 female bettas. Their other companions are 2 frogs, 2 small andels, 1 black knife, 1 brown knife, 2 rasberry head goldfish, 4 glass cats, a zig zag, and an unidentified shark-cat, and 3 yellow snails. The tank was heavily planted but the black knife and snails keep the plants floating. I noticed it took about two weeks before the bettas grew comfortable enough to swim around the tank. All 5 come up to the top to feed with everyone else, the male loves to swim in the air wall. I love the blues and purples in my female bettas. Hope this helped.