Yes My First Crown

[Honeythorn]

HOWEVER - some of the people in this thread have been very aggressive and critical. It doesn't matter how good the advice is, if people feel attacked and heavily criticised, they are less likely to take the advice. Be polite, be nice and give the advice in a caring way, rather than ranting about how awful some people are or how badly they keep their fish. A smile goes a long way, even online.

No one has been attacked, neither has anyone been agressive. The critiscism has been constructive , albeit blunt and useful advice given as to how the OP could improve the situation of his/her fish cheaply and quickly.

Loraxchick - It's less a question of happiness , as you quite rightly point out that this cannot be easily gauged in fish, but a question of good water quality that is easy and simple to manage which will result in healthy fish. Good water quality and ample swimming space is far more likely to give "happiness" such as it is in fish than in something smaller and harder to heat and filter ( as in find equipment for that is suitable ) which can suffer the effects of mistakes, poor management , or lack of/poor care for whatever reason, illness in the owner perhaps, or the owner going away and someone not experienced in the fishes care looking after the tank improperly despite instruction ect ( not remotely as unlikely or infrequent as it sounds sadly ), and most importantly, waste build up due to less water to dilute it.

There's simply no logical reason ( no not even supposed space issues, 14 inches can be found in even the smallest apartment ) for keeping pet bettas in tiny tanks, and unfiltered tanks also, since such setups are by their very small size harder to maintain as you yourself say, and pose more of a risk to the fishes health as the scope for things to go wrong ( as I stated above ) is far greater than in something much bigger, filtered and heated.


Going back to the OP, if he/she is indeed a kid, then one would presume that as a kid he/she has some sort of social life/activities and also probably homework ect to be getting on with. Having a larger easier to maintain tank is the only real logical soloution.

It may be a subject that comes up and goes in circles but it's a valid one and will continue to do so for as long as bettas are kept .

 

[betta989]

OK PEOPLE THERE TERRITORYAL THEY LIKE SMALL AMOUT OF SPACES OMG THERE FINE

 

[Honeythorn]

No, they do not like a small amount of space. They do not have this in the wild BECAUSE they are territorial. What makes you think they prefer this in a tank?

They live in rice paddies and slow moving streams containing thousands of gallons. They do not live in puddles as myth so widely suggests. A great number die in them in the dry season ( those unfortunate enough to be unable to end up in, or flip into a larger puddle nearby)

5 -10 gallons is a small tank size by the way ( that isn't just an opinion it's measureable, it's actually true ).

You simply have to plant the tank thickly with tall plants and broad leaved ones to create a similar effect of dense vegetation and tall stalks as they would have in the wild in order for the betta to feel comfortable .Ornaments/wood/caves are optional to your taste obviously, though a cave or other hollow ornament is often appreciated by the fish.

You didn't read a word of most people posts who told you that 1 gallon is too small and the reasons why such tank size is bad, did you?

 

[Amberleaf]

Yeah, but we're not talking about nano reefers, heres. *points it out to loraxchick*

Well.... ANYWAYS. I keep a Betta in a 2-gallon drum bowl; she's filtered (kind of had to be; the tank would get *so* stinky and algae-moldy-ish after a couple of days that it simply couldn't be avoided) and she's *ALSO* heated (somewhat -- this heater is an #16#####, so just keeps the water slightly above 20*C), and I come into the room, and there she is, near the top of the tank, swimming around and just basically being crazy and watching me. :3 Since nobody usually goes into that room, (it's my little sister's room, but supposedly "she likes to be around people" and some sort of craps like thats), and she is perfectly happy. :3

I do *NOT* want to be flamed for my opinion, or told that I absolutely *need* to get her a bigger tank; I'm not allowed, because 1) my Mom hates the fish because she's been responsible for 1 murder and many, many (too many to count ) cases of harassment at our house, and 2) we paid so much for that bowl ($20CDN) that I can't get another one....

The fish *can* be happy in as small as a 1-gallon bowl *AS LONG AS* we heat it, filter it (not optional in tanks that small), *AND* maintenance it properly. ^^; You say my fish is not happy; well, she's as happy as can be! :3 ^^;

 

[Honeythorn]

No one said your fish wasn't happy. It's simply been pointed out that such a small container has a vastly higher risk of suffering problems such as waste build up and problems heating and filtering efficiently ( the ammonia and nirtites will still build up in a filtered 2 gallon much quicker than a 5 gallon or bigger and will still require more water changes and more work ) which is what makes such a set up a really bad idea . This is something nano reefers have to go through ( the water quality in particular ) which is why their problems are perfectly relevant to betta keeping.

I am absolutely flabbergasted you paid that much for a BOWL of all things . Yet another rip off. You could have got a decent tank of a much bigger size for a fraction of that cost if you'd looked in the right places. Not that there's much you can do about it now but I'm shocked enough to have to point that out regardless.

 

[Amberleaf]

Yeah, I know. Garr.... It's not like I was allowed to get anything *else*, thoughs. T_T;

Still.... The bowl could *at least* fit my sponge filter and some plants and some other blahs, so I'm not complainin'! ^^; 8D