Post Pic's Of Your Bettas And Its Home

Not if its under 3 gallons as the water quality will be pretty much the same as the cup, and fish need to swim which they cannot do in a tiny container, in ther wild bettas live in miles and miles and miles of rice paddy fields.

So no these tanks are not over doing it, just merely meeting bare requirements then adding things to make the bettas quality of life better.
 
3 gallons as the minimum? Wow.. For a 3.99 Fish (Veiltail)

I can understand if you told me the minimum was 1 gallon but come on, 3 gallons is a bit excessive as the mininum.
 
The price of a fish makes no difference to what its requirements are! Thats like saying the 3.99 betta is not worth spending money on:(
 
No it's not 3 gallons bare minimum the price of the fish is not the issue, the torture the fish will be going through in anything smaller is.

Please read the pinned threads on betta care and cycleing, almost everyone here after doing there research would not dream of keeping a pet betta in anything less than 3 gallons.

Please listen to what people are telling you most have kept fish for decades and will give you all the help and reliable advise you need, even most newbies who have picked up a thing or 2 can point you in the right direction.
 
You know, Cloud, if you really want, you can see the difference for yourself. Take a betta who has been living in a 1gal container for a while and try putting him in something at least 3x5 times that size. And see if you really cannot tell that the fish is happier.

I'm no great "example" as a betta keeper. My betta at work now lives in a large bowl, which stays at the right temperature due to ambient temperature being very high, but does not have a filter. I make up for the lack of filter by being very consciencous about my water changes, so that ammonia is always next to 0.

Anyways - when I got my first betta 3 months ago, I had the same misconception as many newbie owners. I specifically got a betta because I bought into the lie that you can just keep them in a small container and so it was going be "perfect" for at work. I had seen somebody else have their betta in a 5 inch bowl and since I considered that cruel, I used a "generous" 3/4 gal bowl, which was like a ball cut in half, so there was more lateral room for him to swim. He had stones and a little plant, was being fed, had his water changed routinely and was in good health. He could have been swimming back and forth, but he hardly moved around and mostly just rested on his little plant.

I was trying to learn more about bettas and unfortunately at first got to all the wrong places. I even read on one website where somebody claimed that he had a betta in a large community tank and that his betta did not swim around at all, but just kind of hung out in one corner - LOL. Anyways, so I thought I was doing "fine". I wanted to find out how often exactly I needed to change the water and could not find any exact answer, except that somebody on a forum said to test the water daily for ammonia until it shows and then change the water always a day earlier.

I got an ammonia testing kit and soon found out that with this small of a container I would have needed to do a water change every 24-48 hours in order to be able to maintain the "quality" of the water. Since my fish is at work and I can't really do "daily maintenance" I decided that I needed to get him into a container 3 times as large, so that I could reduce water changes to only once a week.

So I got this huge 3.5-4 gal bubble bowl. Originally I really just bought it out of "laziness" to cut down the amount of water changes I needed to do. And as soon as I put Azumo into his new large home he has been like a "new fish". I kept everything the same. The water, the temperature, the stones at the bottom, his plant, his food. I only added one more large ornament (fake tree trunk with a bunch of holes), since there was more room. And now he is swimming around all the time and NEVER rests on his plant he used to rest on. Everybody in my office instantly noticed the change and commented on the fact that he was so much more active now.

And having seen this with my very own eyes I am a firm believer in what everybody on this forum says. 3gal is the lowest TOLERABLE and generally people should not really consider anything below 5gal. My situation currently is that I am working two jobs and I am only home long enough to catch some sleep and get going again. So I actually am able to interact with by betta a lot more when he is at work than if I had him at home. I am doing everything I can to give him the best possible living conditions and I swore myself that if he does not get to live out the minimum of 2 years in this set up that I will not buy another betta to replace him. As I am definitely not into putting any animal through any kind of hardship. If I had know what I know now I would have never bought a betta. I fell in love with Azumo and it would break my heart to give him up now, so I am keeping him and making the best of it.

So the problem is really that the LFS need to make money. So Petco sells these "pretty" coral betta stands which hold a 4" diameter bowl as the betta "home" and the salesmen will happily tell you that this is a perfect home for a betta. I mean just looking at how many bettas they get in shows you that half of them must die right in the store and the majority of the other half are "replacements" for those bettas who died in people's "betta vases" etc. Many people on this forum buy bettas from their LFS just to save one of these beautiful creatures and that's why they feel so strongly about this.

Anyways this thread was really supposed to be a happy display of peoples fish and tanks and maybe we should start another thread if there is going to be a lot more back and forth on this. All I can say is SEEING IS BELIEVING. And rather than arguing about how you think the guys answering you are wrong, I suggest you actually try it and SEE for yourself. Only if a betta is kept in poor condition would you NOT see the marked difference of their disposition and activity level when keeping them in a 1 gal container versus a 3-5 gal container.
 
Well said Galanta!

I actually scaped sushi's tank, I went on a little adventure around lake ontario, and found these beautiful pieces of drift wood, and a COCONUT!....So I boiled them and he loves the new set up, however he does miss the castle....and staring at the shells....

I'll post a picture here later :)

Great job on the tanks everyone! I can't believe how much money I have spent on this boy, but it's totally worth it! It would break my heart if he doesn't live long
 
just my two cents, just because in the past people used to use one gallons doesnt mean it should still be so, 3-5g is the recommended minimum for quality of life, you are buying a fish as a pet not an ornament, price shouldnt be an object when it comes to caring for them properly. Smoking when it first came out used to be good for you, now look where we are, progressed with knowledge of learning what is right, as it should be with fishkeeping, care and equipment upgrade along with the knowledge and style of looking after particular species. I have my betta in a 10g with one ADF, it is quite excessive but he was just so much happier in the space from a 3g that it provided us joy as well as him. Everyone is going to have their own particular views on this, but just consider living in a cupboard for the rest of your life.

To get back onto the thread I am off to find updated pic of tank with Calcifer and Klaus (sorry to bore you guys again what can I say I love them to bits!)

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Not much new, will hopefully have new betta and tank arrangement in a 5g to show over the weekend :)
 
I left Jasper in my 10 gallon once my shark died =[ and addd some tankmates for him, I have 7 Rummy nose tetras and a couple of female guppys and endlers

I added some more plants today and he is a happy little boy! :wub:

he does love his tree!
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Just a year ago a one gallon tank seemed to be the minimum in this forum, awkward.
 
Not really, people move on and progress etc :) I only recently came into the betta world, most online sources say 1-3g but my personal recommendation from the forum and my own experiences now would be 3-5g. For the lifestyle of the fish andstability of the water. Have you any pics to add to the thread? Love to see your betta named Betta!
 
Pictures would be a bad idea. lol

"OMG why is the tank so SMALL!!!!"
 
Cloud you joined the forum yesterday. Was it entirely to wind people up about cruel sized tanks?
 
People may comment on the tank but it would be good to see your fish and its home, and if you are stuck with idea of smaller sized tank for your betta then stand by it. It is good to see the range of tanks and their layouts and occupants
 
Cloud you joined the forum yesterday. Was it entirely to wind people up about cruel sized tanks?

No.

People may comment on the tank but it would be good to see your fish and its home, and if you are stuck with idea of smaller sized tank for your betta then stand by it. It is good to see the range of tanks and their layouts and occupants

I will try to get it up one day.
 

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