Is this a Betta?? I want to help

[carligraceee]

I was looking on my local FB Marketplace to see if there were any 10g tanks for sale, and saw a posting. Someone is selling what looks like a 3g ish tank with accessories, food, AND A FISH for $20. I'm beyond disgusted. What kind of fish is he? He kinda looks like a Betta to me. The information next to the post says he's a tropical fish and a quote on quote community fish. Help identifying?
I want to help this poor little guy and give him a better life with me then with someone who is just selling him and his home, but I won't be able to convince my parents if I don't even know what type of fish he is. Sorry for the bad picture, I took a picture of the scree. This is the only picture with the fish that was posted.
View attachment 154058

Haha I was laughing reading these replies.

This is definitely not a betta and is definitely a guorami.

Dwarf species need a minimum of 10g of a cycled tank and do really well in large groups of their own kind but I am pretty sure they can be alone. They can be aggressive if the group of guoramis is too small so keep them in groups of 5+ if you want to get more.

Care wise, just like any fish in my opinion. A large array of frozen, freeze-dried, or high quality pellets/flakes. Live plants, plenty of hiding spaces and a consistent lighting schedule. They are relatively easy to take care of in my opinion.

He looks like a male to me! So if you aren't willing to have little baby quoramis swim around, keep him alone or with 5+ more males!

 

[foxgirl158]

Haha I was laughing reading these replies.

This is definitely not a betta and is definitely a guorami.

Dwarf species need a minimum of 10g of a cycled tank and do really well in large groups of their own kind but I am pretty sure they can be alone. They can be aggressive if the group of guoramis is too small so keep them in groups of 5+ if you want to get more.

Care wise, just like any fish in my opinion. A large array of frozen, freeze-dried, or high quality pellets/flakes. Live plants, plenty of hiding spaces and a consistent lighting schedule. They are relatively easy to take care of in my opinion.

He looks like a male to me! So if you aren't willing to have little baby quoramis swim around, keep him alone or with 5+ more males!

Yes if I rescue him he will be living as a solitary gourami, with probably some schooling fish of some kind and possibly some shrimp.

 

[carligraceee]

Yes if I rescue him he will be living as a solitary gourami, with probably some schooling fish of some kind and possibly some shrimp.

Sounds awesome! I would definitely take him in if I had the space.

 

[foxgirl158]

Sounds awesome! I would definitely take him in if I had the space.

I just hope I can convince my parents, they really don't want me to get another tank but I feel so bad for him and powder blues are so cool.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Found a more accurate report on my water. Hardness is 133 mg/L, pH is 8.5

Your Ph looks to be too high to keep this fish. The tank-bred fish can normally be maintained anywhere within the range 6.0 – 7.5.

@Essjay Help please! Can you tell me what that hardness is in real money? My brain has melted.

The eheim 100w heater would be good for that size tank. Last I checked it was about 20 bucks.
Aquaclear is a good brand for filters. I got one for my 20g for 30 dollars. You could go cheaper and get a quietflow.
Amazon has good prices if you have prime

A sponge filter would be both inexpensive, and provide aeration. The most expensive part of one of those is the airpump - and you might want to seek a different kind of filter if the tank will be in your bedroom and the airpump noise and bubbling might bother you. Some don't mind it, some do, and even pumps that promise to be silent rarely are. But the sponge filters themselves are inexpensive, last for yonks, provide surface disturbance for oxygen exchange as stated, and shrimp love them! They feed on all the particles trapped in the sponge, and there's no risk of baby shrimplets being sucked into the filter as with some types. One of my filters is a double sponge like this one, with compartments to fit some biological media;

If I end up getting him, will he be ok in the small tank while the 20g cycles? I don't really have any additional media from my other tanks to speed it up, but I'll probably be looking at plants.

Yep, he'll be fine in there while it cycles, think of it as a quarantine tank. The three gallon could even come in handy as a quarantine or emergency hospital tank. Don't forget that that 3 gallon is likely cycled, so you if you find you're confident it's disease free after some observation, you could take media and/or substrate/decos etc from that tank to help cycle your new one. Wouldn't have to keep them permanently, just use them to help seed your cycle and speed up the process.

Your Ph looks to be too high to keep this fish. The tank-bred fish can normally be maintained anywhere within the range 6.0 – 7.5.

Good to know. I'm sure his current owner has no clue about any of this, based solely on his current tank size and decor. There's a way I can slightly soften my water right? Tannis? How does that work?

While I agree with the general principle of getting fish that are suited to your water, I do take a slightly different attitude when it comes to rescued or adopted fish. Sometimes the damage is done, and it's better to let them live out their lives in the "wrong" water, or in the wrong numbers etc, as a compromise that at least improves the quality of their life in some ways.

If this gourami is close to your area, it's likely been living in the same water. Same GH, pH etc as you have. This owner with a single gourami in a 3g likely wasn't sourcing RO water for him after all. So the internal build up of minerals is likely already done, especially if they've had the fish for a long time. Worth asking the owner how old the fish is/how long they've had him. So if you rescue him, you'd likely have the same water he's at least used to, and his quality of life would still improve greatly in other ways. Would it be perfect? No. But better than it was for sure, and it would be better for him to live out his days in the larger tank with other fish and in the wrong water, than you attempting to make constant adjustments to the pH and hardness etc, and having fluctuating levels, which is even more dangerous and stressful for the fish. Even experienced keepers struggle with softening water, it's much harder than making soft water hard, I believe. Especially for a teenager who can't just go get RO whenever she needs to WC a 20g.

So my suggestion would be to see if you can get the 20g, adopt the gourami, then choose schooling fish/shrimp etc that suit your current water conditions, so you aren't condemning others to live in the wrong water, or making your life super hard, but you're still improving this gourami's life a great deal, and letting him live out his remaining days in a much better, if imperfect, set up.

 

[foxgirl158]

Thank you @AdoraBelle Dearheart! This has been so helpful. I'm not exactly sure how to set up a sponge filter, but I'll look into it. What are the different things required for setup?
*edited for punctuation

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thank you @AdoraBelle Dearheart! This has been so helpful. I'm not exactly sure how to set up a sponge filter, but I'll look into it? What are the different things required for setup?

It's the simplest thing, and there are tutorials on youtube as well if you get stuck

Firstly, the filter and the airpump themselves Some airpumps come as a kit that includes the airline tubing, water check valves and airstones etc, but even if not, those things are super cheap from any aquarium store.

You cut a length of airline tubing, connect one end to the tiny tube thing on the sponge filter, and the other end to the airpump output. Simple! Lets the pump push oxygen through the sponge filter.

You do need to also make a cut in that tubing between the two and add a water check valve, facing the right way. That little doodad means if you turn the pump off at any point, like when cleaning the filter, the water doesn't backflow through the tubing and blow up your pump... I've done this, before I learned about water check valves... (it doesn't blow up like an explosion or anything, don't worry! Just pops the diaphragm or ruins the motor, and requires a new airpump. An expensive mistake for the sake of a doodad that costs less than 2 bucks!

It can get more complicated than that, with dual outputs, gang valves etc to run multiple things on one airpump etc, but those are the basics you'd need for a simple sponge filter and airpump.

 

[foxgirl158]

It's the simplest thing, and there are tutorials on youtube as well if you get stuck

Firstly, the filter and the airpump themselves Some airpumps come as a kit that includes the airline tubing, water check valves and airstones etc, but even if not, those things are super cheap from any aquarium store.

You cut a length of airline tubing, connect one end to the tiny tube thing on the sponge filter, and the other end to the airpump output. Simple! Lets the pump push oxygen through the sponge filter.

You do need to also make a cut in that tubing between the two and add a water check valve, facing the right way. That little doodad means if you turn the pump off at any point, like when cleaning the filter, the water doesn't backflow through the tubing and blow up your pump... I've done this, before I learned about water check valves... (it doesn't blow up like an explosion or anything, don't worry! Just pops the diaphragm or ruins the motor, and requires a new airpump. An expensive mistake for the sake of a doodad that costs less than 2 bucks!

It can get more complicated than that, with dual outputs, gang valves etc to run multiple things on one airpump etc, but those are the basics you'd need for a simple sponge filter and airpump.

This sounds like exactly what I do to set up any new air stones, with the obvious exception of the filter aspect Thank you so, so much! I have a feeling having all this figured out along with costs is going to be extremely helpful when I talk to my parents

 

[Essjay]

Since Adorabelle asked, 133 ppm = 7.4 dH. This is soft water.
A water softener should not be used here as the hardness is OK for gouramis.

But the pH is high. Is this the pH of water in a fish tank or tap water? If it's tap water, something may be added to it by the water provider to increase the pH; and this 'something' may dissipate on standing. Wood and various type of leaves can lower pH, unless KH is very high.

 

[foxgirl158]

Coming back to this because I have another question…
If gourami are community fish, would he be ok in a 30g bowfront tank once he’s healed and quarantined? Other occupants are 3 soon to be 4 female platies and one fancy goldfish.

 

[Bubbl3s]

Coming back to this because I have another question…
If gourami are community fish, would he be ok in a 30g bowfront tank once he’s healed and quarantined? Other occupants are 3 soon to be 4 female platies and one fancy goldfish.

Gouramis need tropical conditions so aren't good tank mates for goldfish. However, they can be kept in a community tank with other peaceful community species.

 

[foxgirl158]

Gouramis need tropical conditions so aren't good tank mates for goldfish. However, they can be kept in a community tank with other peaceful community species.

My tank is kept at 75-76 F, I believe that was in the range for him. I know it’s not the most ideal temp for the goldfish, but it’s still in an ok range for him.
(Edited for clarity)

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Coming back to this because I have another question…
If gourami are community fish, would he be ok in a 30g bowfront tank once he’s healed and quarantined? Other occupants are 3 soon to be 4 female platies and one fancy goldfish.

Do you have a longer term plan for the goldfish? Because fancy goldfish can get large, and will eventually outgrow a 30g. The temp is definitely a bit warmer than I'd prefer for goldfish, they really prefer cooler water. And bear in mind that in warmer water, the goldfish will eat more, poop more, and have a heavy bioload, so frequent water changes will be needed.

If any of the female platies are storing sperm and have fry, the goldfish is likely to eat the fry. Gourami also appreciate a lot of plant cover, and goldfish treat aquarium plants like a salad bar. Also what substrate do you use? Because gravel can be a concern for goldfish as they often attempt to eat it and can cause a blockage, but gourami and platies won't thrive in a bare bottom, plantless tank.

I can't see this combo of fish and tank working for very long, and I wouldn't put the gourami in the same tank as the goldfish for these reasons.

 

[foxgirl158]

I know it’s not the best situation for the Goldie, but the trough outside isn’t deep enough to stop from freezing all the way through in winter. I try to do 25-50% water changes every week. It’s a secondhand tank, so it’s got awful fluorescent black and neon gravel and fake plants. My New Years resolution was to figure out how to rescape it and replace the gravel with sand or fluval substrate or something similar to fluval, and add some sturdy plants. The Goldie was a cheap one from Petsmart and was already severely stunted when we got him two years ago.
All of the females but one have already had babies, and I’m not worried about more because, as you said the Goldie will eat them. Any surviving fry I will most likely rehome if they have any more.

 

[foxgirl158]

Think about the gouramis current situation as well. Even my setup is better than what he has now I’m positive.