Kepping Betta Fish

[Bojangles]

A friend told me about these and said there a wondeful fish to keep

so am thinking of buying a new tank for my parents sitting room ( i will be the one looking after then tho)

So can someone give me abit of info on what i need?

At the moment i already have a 100 watt heater and hopfully if my friend takes my goldie for his pond i wont need o buy a tank so will have a spare 15 gallon tank (after a good clean)

 

[Bojangles]

Bump

Did a bit of looking about on youtube and such and these fish are lovely

So my plan is to empty my goldfish tank and re design it then add some betta

So i have a few questions

1/ How many will i be able to put in a 15 gallon tank?

2/ Is it best just to add females?

3/ will i need to buy a new filter? ... the one i have at the moment is a stingray 15 and it has a fast current coming out of it

4/ What is best to put in the tank for betta plant wise and is it best to give them lots of hiding spaces?

 

[bronzecat]

1/ How many will i be able to put in a 15 gallon tank?

2/ Is it best just to add females?

3/ will i need to buy a new filter? ... the one i have at the moment is a stingray 15 and it has a fast current coming out of it

4/ What is best to put in the tank for betta plant wise and is it best to give them lots of hiding spaces?

Hi
You have a few choices with a 15 gallon. But, males cannot be kept with other males or females (unless breeding).

You could either make a nice home for 1 male and maybe a few carefully chosen tank mates.
Or, have 7/8 females.
Or, If its a regular rectangle shaped tank, you could divide it 5 gals and 10 gals. Male in the 5 and 4/5 females in the 10.

Not used the stingray filter, but are they not adjustable? If not, too strong a flow will not suit a male betta.

Bettas do like plants. I use a combination of real and silk (not pastic) They also like things like coconut shell caves.

Andy

 

[Corleone]

You could either make a nice home for 1 male and maybe a few carefully chosen tank mates.

A few suggestions I see offered regularly: Snails, otos, corydoras, white clouds, harlequin rasboras (this last one doesn't get mentioned so often, so I don't know so much).

In general, it's best to avoid gouramis, any long finned fish like guppies, and sometimes anything too brightly colored like platys, since these have been known to bring out aggression in bettas in various degrees. Fish with even the slightest chance to nip, like tetras, are best avoided, since even harmless play can quickly turn into bullying with a male betta. Similarly anything territorial that might drive the betta out of its section of the tank is probably a bad idea.

You could have a shoal of minnows or rasboras, a group of dwarf corys, and if you want an algae eater, I'd suggest a few mixed snails. My four species "wonder team" of snails keeps my tank spotless.

Any time you keep a betta with other fish, you have to be careful, since it ultimately comes down to the betta's personality. Some bettas are very placid, and people have kept them with fish I'd advised against like guppies and platys, and then some, like mine, are evil and will attack your fingers if you dare to touch his water, so you might end up with a very empty looking 15 gallon tank.

 

[Bojangles]

The stingray filter cant be adjusted but i can pick up a Fluval filter for £15 if they are better?

I think i will go for a group of females maybe 6 or 7 with a shoal of minnows ( ialready have 3 minnows that shared the tank with my goldfish would they be ok to mix with a new shoal? )

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
I run a Fluval in my 15 gallon female betta tank. If you're gonna go for females the stingray should be fine

When stocking females, there will be some petty bullying. Try and put in at least 3/4 to start with. Any time after you want to introduce any more, it helps to remove the current females (Bag them seperately), move a few things around in the tank which will break down an terrortories. Then add all of them back together. If you noticed that one of them was particularly dominating release it last.

Andy

 

[Bojangles]

I will leave the stingray too see if they are happy with it

Would it be ok to put these in an uncycled tank if i did 2 water changes a week or should i wait till my other 15 gallon tank cyle ends ?

 

[bronzecat]

Would it be ok to put these in an uncycled tank if i did 2 water changes a week or should i wait till my other 15 gallon tank cyle ends ?

If the stingray has been used up till now, and not had the media wash out, you could just give the tank a spring clean, keep the fiter media in some tank water while you do it, squeeze the media out in the old water, and put it back in the tank. There shoud be some beneficial bacteria still in it. You'll still be better off doing small water changes, say 30% a week, unless you find the ammonia or nitrite rising.

 

[Bojangles]

Would it be ok to put these in an uncycled tank if i did 2 water changes a week or should i wait till my other 15 gallon tank cyle ends ?

If the stingray has been used up till now, and not had the media wash out, you could just give the tank a spring clean, keep the fiter media in some tank water while you do it, squeeze the media out in the old water, and put it back in the tank. There shoud be some beneficial bacteria still in it. You'll still be better off doing small water changes, say 30% a week, unless you find the ammonia or nitrite rising.

Thanks will do it that way then

All the advice is much much appreciated

 

[ThePiggy]

What is best to put in the tank for betta plant wise and is it best to give them lots of hiding spaces?

They need lots of plants and caves and nooks and crannies. Plants that go up the the water level are good because bettas like to rest on the leaves.

My bettas each have their own piece of roman architecture that they love. Looks like this:

I think it's a nice theme and they love swimming through the pillars.