I Bought A Betta!

[BethK]

Agree to disagree on that

As long as there is enough plant life and hiding places, they are active fish. I find the females more active than the males but then again, the females have a 'pack like' inclination. Males need to patrol their tank, so by putting in lots of plants that they can twist around and cubby holes, they will keep on moving.

 

[Andeekaii]

I guess it depends on what tank mates they're kept with really. My red crown tail was kept on his own and he was quite active. But the male i had in my community tank just used to hide from the more active fish.

Anyway, back on topic!

 

[Bobtastic]

I have a Betta fish in my community tank (rescued from the "mother in-law"). He's in with approx 20 Platies, 5 Coreys, 4 Ottos and a few shrimp and he swims round happy as larry!

Apparently he was beating up on the other fish in his original home, but we've not seen any sign of that in our 110litre tank.

 

[joeskandal]

for the record, this is the results from my api for the 17 litre tank:

ammonia 0, ph 7.0, nitrite 0.25, nitrate 5.0.

Looks pretty good to me...

 

[BethK]

for the record, this is the results from my api for the 17 litre tank:

ammonia 0, ph 7.0, nitrite 0.25, nitrate 5.0.

Looks pretty good to me...

Keep up water changes and in 1 - 2 weeks, it will be level. If you have no bio in there at the moment, you can add fish food i.e. flakes, it builds the bacteriax

 

[joeskandal]

well i have quite a bit of mature media in there from my other established tank, and i also took the liberty of washing out my mature filter sponge in the new tank.

 

[joeskandal]

i just bought some females to go with the male.
Hopefully they will start breeding.
That would be nice.

 

[hamfist]

i just bought some females to go with the male.
Hopefully they will start breeding.
That would be nice.

Ummmm .... You will be very lucky to get them living happily together. They may well fight to the death.

Females can be kept together with enough space and anough of them to diffuse the aggression to each other. But males will generallly not tolerate living with another Betta. People who breed them condition and prepare them very carefully, and then only keep them together long enough to breed, and then they are separated again.

 

[joeskandal]

really?
The people in the fish shop told me that if i have one male i should get 3 females.
So i did.
So you think its a bad idea keeping 3 females and one male in a tank?

 

[Jonty]

really?
The people in the fish shop told me that if i have one male i should get 3 females.
So i did.
So you think its a bad idea keeping 3 females and one male in a tank?

They will all fight to the death.

So yea, probably a bad idea.

 

[BethK]

really?
The people in the fish shop told me that if i have one male i should get 3 females.
So i did.
So you think its a bad idea keeping 3 females and one male in a tank?

And this is the type of post that someone would make, who has never researched Bettas.

Males should never be kept with other males of their species or with females. The ratio is 2 females to 1 male but that is more of a breeding stat. They won't just 'mate' by putting them together, there is a process called 'conditioning' that you have to go through i.e water temps, feeding, looking after the bettas like they are gold.

Then once they spawn, you need to ensure you have enough small tanks for the fry, you will have anywhere between 20 - 200 fry. All in all, you need a different tank for the females,for the male and for the spawning, then add in the tanks/tubs for the fry. Unless you have the time and the money, breeding is not worth it.

As a first time betta keeper,I would concentrate on keeping bettas for a year, before evening considering mating.

If you have 2 tanks, you can keep all 4 bettas but if you have 1 tank, I would return the females to your fish shop as you have been ill advised. Next time,please research your choice of fish

 

[joeskandal]

well, stupidly i listened to the people at pets at home.
She was supposed to be the specialist too..!

So, i have a tank with 6 neons, 4 glowlights, 3 dalmation mollys, and a rtb shark, and another tank with 3 female and one male betta.

What should i do as i dont want any fin nipping going one, which is why i moved the male into the little 17l tank.
Now he is in there with the females.
They all seem to be getting on okay so far, but judging by peoples comments, this is subject to change.
Yes, i am a beginner and i should have checked with the pros on here before going out to buy and relying on the idiots at PETS AT HOME!!!

 

[Jenste]

whoa! how big is your other tank?? a RTB sharkis NOT a community fish - -they grow large, become aggressive as they are quite territorial, and need a very large tank - compatiable with very few species...usually those who are also known for aggression.

and you NEVER put females with male bettas - - unless both have been properly conditioned and have separate tanks for each fish, they fry when they are young, and then hundreds of tanks to separate they fry because they display aggression just like the adults...


you have not done any research....first thing you need to do is RETURN the females - - breeding any type of fish is a serious decision - you are making yourself responsible for hundreds of lives...not something to take lightly.

plus if you do not know the genetics of your fish...you could find yourself with hundreds of unwanted fish as they could have poor patterns and unattractive fin types - - yes, veil tails are still pretty, but they are SO common that no one will want them, crowtails, half moons, rose tails etc etc are the type you would want to research down the line....after you have done SERIOUS research about what it takes to properly breed bettas.

 

[joeskandal]

i hear ya.
Thanks for the info.
The people at the fish shop dont have a clue.
You think its alright to leave them in the tank tonght and return them tomorrow or should i get them out asap..?

 

[BethK]

i'd put the male in with the community