New To Bettas- Pics Added

[smallpond]

Hi there all ,
I am new here so this is my first post, please no yelling at me if I get a few things wrong. I was in petsmart today and ended up looking at the bettas, for a really long time. I ended up buying two of them and brought them home, that is very spontaneous for me as I like to plan things out. I am totaly new to bettas and want to learn a bit more about them. I am sure that somethings are touchy subjects (there is one in every area) so if I hit a nerve I am sorry.

I know they can't get put together as they will fight. Living space is cramped so I don't have room for a big tank but what is a normal sized bowl/tank for a betta? I have always thought that they were beautiful fish and just jumped in head first and I hope I don't break my neck !
If I am screwing something up I am doing it out of love (if that makes any sense) and please correct me!

I will have to find a way to post pics of them later....

Cheers,
Mary

 

[zoekin8yg]

Dont worry bettas are rather addictive I started with one and ended up with 7 before I had proper homes from them all! For 1 male betta you will be fine having a 2.5 gallon tank, or you could get a 5 or 10 gallon and place a divider in and keep them both in the same tank. You will need a heater, but can do without a filter (some will say you need one but bettas arent huge waste producers and as long as you keep up with the water changes there isnt likely to be a problem) If you do get a filter bettas dont like a strong current so make sure you get one that you can adjust. Bettas arent best fed on flakes, if you can get some betta pellets and some frozen blood worms, and things like daphnia etc that will be good. Try to leave one day a week where you dont feed them. Bettas are pigs are wont stop eating and can make themselves ill. From time to time its a good idea to feed some kind of veg, like a cooked deshelled crushed pea. If unsure of any illnesses I would suggest coming here first to find out, if you use melafix you need to use a smaller dose, or use bettafix if you can get that. Bettas can also jump so a tank with a lid is a good idea. Lots of plants are also a good idea as bettas love to swim through them and mine rest on the leaves. Er I will stop there Ive rather rambled on! Looking forward to seeing some pics of your new additions!

 

[lisie]

Hey, welcome to the world of bettas!! Glad to have you here!!

Bettas are tropical fish and need to be in water from 75-80 degrees F. The minimum tank/bowl size for a betta is 1 gallon, but you should really have 2-2.5 gallons if you're going to put a heater in it. Putting a heater in a gallon could boil your betta! And make sure you dechlorinate your water... this can be done by using water conditioners and/or aging your water for at least 24 hours.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask! And watch out, bettas are super addicting! Looking forward to seeing pictures of your two little ones!

 

[zoekin8yg]

I knew there were a few things Id forgotten! doh!

 

[smallpond]

guess I am in the right place! At the moment they are in little Hexagon bowls on top of a heating pad. Its not much right now but it isn't as small as the dinky little cups they were in. I think that tommrow or Wednesday I will go back with a tad more money and buy a 5-10 gal. tank and a divider. I brought them home and all my perents though was "oh great here we go again!" I have had goldfish but am really excited about making the bettas a long time hobby.

Aren't there plants that you can buy that will help reduce the ammonia they produce?
If I don't use a filter how do I clean out the water? Do I clean the gravel out as well?
I fed each of them 2 pellets and one of them tried it and spit one out. I have heard the Bettas are fussy eaters so how long will it be before they eat them?
I also read that you should put aquarium salt in the water, is this true? I thought they were freshwater fish.
Sorry, as you can see I am very green at this and still have many questions.

Sorry about all the bubbles
Here is one, the picture really doesn't do him justice, he is georgous when flaired.

And the second betta

They aren't very good pictures, too many bubbles in the way and the hexagonal shape of the bowl doesn't help. I will get better ones when I have a tank.

I haven't named them yet, any ideas?

 

[stargirly1208]

hah i got the same little tank when i compulsively bought my betta... turns out he was a very dirty betta and i had to move him from there fast. see some bettas aren't as bad as others for some reason because my other 2 are just fine. but i have moved him to a 2 gallon hex tank which only cost me $20 and i have a sponge filter in there because bettas don't like currents or choppy water much. but i'm glad to say he's much happier now. i feed mine the betta flake food but i've also fed them the pellets. might take him awhile to get used to pellets because i believe petsmart uses flakes. mine also love blood worms but they're icky to touch. anyways... i know i'm rambling, but i meant to say that that little tank gets dirty pretty quickly and cleaning it is a pain because u have to remove the fish and rinse out the whole thing because the gravel gets super dirty. as for aquarium salt i've never heard of putting any in, and i don't and they seem fine. oh and i use stress coat to dechlorinate the water. that is all, have fun!

 

[Wisperian]

Some answers to your questions. Because you have no filter, just regulary do 30% or so water changes and as for the gravel, unless its infested with algae or something like that, cleaning it won't really be neccesary unless its for like poop and things. & AQUARIUM not TABLE or MARINE salt is added with something like a teaspoon to a certain gallon ratio to prevent some sicknesses and unless you have sensitive scaleless fish or snails in that tank you should use a bit. I'm sure yuo can find some instructions on how much aquarium salt you should use somewhere.

 

[catxx]

i'm glad you're going back for bigger tanks, those little vases are FAR too tiny!
make sure you get a long tank rather than tall, they're lateral swimmers rather than up and down, they'll appreciate the space to stretch their little fins!

and no plastic plants either! fins get caught and torn

 

[lisie]

They are beautiful!

Aren't there plants that you can buy that will help reduce the ammonia they produce?

Live plants will help keep nitrites down, which is good if you're filterless, but I don't think they do much, if anything, to help with ammonia. Java moss is great, I highly recommend it. Other good low-light plants are anubias, java fern, anacharis, and hornwort.

If I don't use a filter how do I clean out the water? Do I clean the gravel out as well?

In those little hex things, you'll want to change the water completely every day. Once you get them bigger homes, if they both have 2.5-5 gallons each, you can change the water once a week. If you don't use a filter, you'll need to do 100% changes; if you do get a filter, you can do partial changes (I'd do 50-75%). With the gravel, you can do one of two things. If you do 100% changes, you can just dump out most of the water, swish around the remaining water in the tank to get the gunk out from the gravel, and them dump the remaining water. Or you can get a gravel vac, which is what you'd want to use for partial changes, although you can use them for 100% changes too. If at some point you want to rinse the gravel, make sure you do it with dechlorinated water, so you don't kill the good bacteria that live there.

I fed each of them 2 pellets and one of them tried it and spit one out. I have heard the Bettas are fussy eaters so how long will it be before they eat them?

Some bettas will pout when you bring them home because they don't like change. Just offer him food everyday, walk out of the room for a bit, and when you come back, if it's still uneaten, remove it so it doesn't foul the water. Bettas can do over a month without eating, so don't worry. He'll eat when he's hungry.

I also read that you should put aquarium salt in the water, is this true? I thought they were freshwater fish.

They are freshwater fish, which is why you're correct in saying aquarium salt and not marine salt. Aquarium salt is a good way to prevent parasites and other nasty things. There should be directions on the salt package that explains how much to use.

 

[Commander Cool]

I really like your CT in the 2nd pic. Cool colors (from what I can see)!

 

[smallpond]

Thank you everyone for your great advice!

i'm glad you're going back for bigger tanks, those little vases are FAR too tiny!

Don't worry! They are temporary, the sad thing is that they are about twice the size of the little cups in the store.

I really like your CT in the 2nd pic. Cool colors (from what I can see)!

Thanks! They both have amazing color but the cameras I have and the lighting doesn't help at all, maybe being in a tank will offer better pics.
I must have been at petsmart for 2 hours just looking at the bettas before I settled on these two. But they still need names! I am better at naming dogs and horses than fish.

ETA- we aren't on public water, we are on a well and it doesn't get chlorinated so I know I don't need a dechlorinator, but do I need a water conditioner?
They are also going to be in the same tank (with a divider) will they eventually ignore eachother? I have heard that adding plants along the divider helps to calm them down (can't see other fish as much) is this true?

 

[Kyrielle]

Thank you everyone for your great advice!

i'm glad you're going back for bigger tanks, those little vases are FAR too tiny!

Don't worry! They are temporary, the sad thing is that they are about twice the size of the little cups in the store.

I really like your CT in the 2nd pic. Cool colors (from what I can see)!

Thanks! They both have amazing color but the cameras I have and the lighting doesn't help at all, maybe being in a tank will offer better pics.
I must have been at petsmart for 2 hours just looking at the bettas before I settled on these two. But they still need names! I am better at naming dogs and horses than fish.

ETA- we aren't on public water, we are on a well and it doesn't get chlorinated so I know I don't need a dechlorinator, but do I need a water conditioner?
They are also going to be in the same tank (with a divider) will they eventually ignore eachother? I have heard that adding plants along the divider helps to calm them down (can't see other fish as much) is this true?

You could get some stress coat additive for the water or add some aquarium salt to help keep potential diseases under control. I would add the plants along the divider. That way they don't get a full view of another male and constantly flare at each other through the plastic (which would overstress them and the strees would lead to a weakened immune system that would lead to illness). Not to say that flaring on occasion isn't a good thing...you just don't want them to overdo it.

 

[Leitch]

Lol i think something is wrong with your pics or with me..

I dont see any bettas, i see a horse in the first pic and a rope in the second xD

 

[dmarie04]

Lol i think something is wrong with your pics or with me..

I dont see any bettas, i see a horse in the first pic and a rope in the second xD

That's what happens when you drag up threads that are almost a year old!

 

[Leitch]

What!??

Oh my goodness sorry! I just saw it on the similar threads thing down below!

I knew that silly thing was a bad idea

Sorry again.