Okay, I’m getting a betta soon, but how on earth do you take care of them?
Well, obviously I’m getting a betta fish soon (really fοr mу birthday) аnd wе′ve never hаd a pet before ѕο I wanted tο know whаt wе ѕhουld gеt fοr a boy аnd a girl (I’m nοt sure іt’s going tο bе okay wіth two genders bυt thеу mіght mate ѕο… baby fish!) аnd lіkе whаt size tank (I found a cute one аt 3 gallons) аnd wе аrе getting everything аt Petsmart ѕο here аrе ѕοmе οf mу choices.
* Cast a shadow οn Corner 5 Aquarium bу Marineland : $54.99
* Cast a shadow οn System 3 Aquarium bу MarineLand : $47.99
* Hawkeye Aquariums AquaView 360 Aquarium Kit (3 gal): $29.99
I hаνе аll thе plants picked out (nοt real though) аnd lіkе a rock sculpture bυt whаt dο I need fοr іt’s health (bе really specific) аnd lіkе cleaning tools аnd stuff.
Alѕο, іf уου hаνе a preference fοr a сеrtаіn kind οf food fοr іt lіkе a brand аnd аlѕο thе stones (nο annoy bесаυѕе іt’s SSOO hard tο сlеаn) thеn tеll mе please.
One last thing, whаt, out οf thе choices above, dο уου lіkе thе mοѕt fοr a tank thаt mіght hаνе lіkе 3 οr more betta іn іt.
Thanks, I’m ѕο nοt a fish expert!
Alѕο, іf уου want, уου саn find another сhοісе fοr mе аnd I’ll look іt over bυt іf уου′ve hаd іt before аnd lονеd іt thеn tеll mе PLEASE!!! I hаνе absolutly nο experiance!
I know уου cant рlасе 2 guys tο gether, bυt whаt аbουt a guy аnd a girl? Really, hοw dοеѕ thіѕ rасе still live іf уου ѕаіd u cant hаνе thеm together!
you cant place 2 bettas together they’ll fight but for the tank it doesnt matter the betta can survive n any kind of tank
they eat tropical flakes or dried blood worms
and the tank just wants to be clean whenever it looks dirty
Only one betta per tank. i would get at least the 3 gallon. Be sure to get a heater too. Get the silk plants, not plastic. bettas like hikari betta pellets and bloodworms. Only 3 pellets a day and once a week feed some bloodworms. don’t feed the worms too much or often as they can cause the betta to get stout and also constipation. I’m going to give you a excellent site to read. typing everything you need to know would take too long.
I’ve used this breeder and she has a fantastic site.
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/home.imp
Start at “About Bettas” and read on from there.
I currently have three 2.5 gallon tanks/heated for my bettas. i did away with any annoy and just use silk plants. i siphon up the waste every couple od days and then partial water changes weekly.
But read the site and it will help you be with you what to expect and to get ready for.
Excellent luck and thanks for asking before buying! Most people just go and point! then we get panicky questions the next day.
The reason you don’t house a pair together is becuase they are very rough. In a tank they can’t really get away from one another as they may possibly in the wild. Especially in such a small tank. Believe me, do not keep a pair together.
Whoa. You’re sure you’re not getting a dog? They’re super-duper simple to take care of. I got a one-gallon plastic fish bowl for one male, some betta fish flakes, (do NOT get Betta-Bites!) and a small effigy for it to play around in.
And it was fine for a whole year.
Cleaning: Fish (tehe) the fish out (you can use one of those special nets or just a small cup), place it in a cup of fresh water (Betta fish are fresh water fish), and dump out all the yucky water in a sink. Lightly suds it down, then rinse it thoroughly. Fill it nearly to the top again with room-temperature water. Dump the fish back in. (Note: you might want to feed it BEFORE you clean) You should clean it about once every week.
Now, it sounds like you’re plotting on putting more than one fish in the same tank. DON’T. Betta fish are fighting fish, and are EXTREMELY territorial. (Why do you reckon the pet store keeps them in separate cup-things?) If you place more than one together, they will eat each other. (Even a male and female)
Health: Just clean it often, feed it on a regular basis, and give it like and attention!
I always find stones annoying to clean, but if you want them, the brand doesn’t really matter. Just get some pretty ones!
Oh, and one more tip: don’t use the gravels that claim to “nutrieze” or “clean” the water or something. All they do is cloud the water and (maybe) choke the fishy.
Here’s some expert websites, but I hope you’ll find they’re exceptionally simple creatures! One *more* thing: they like their bowl to be went around to see the sights!
http://care.betta-fish.com.ar/
http://www.aquariumguys.com/betta-fish-care-article.html
http://www.bettafish.com/
Congrats on the fish, pleased birthday, and excellent luck!
boys have to be alone!!!!!!girls can be with girls though !!! and they wouldnt be able to mate and have babies in a 3 gallon tank you;d need a 20 gallon so that is out the question.i have the 1 gallon hawkeye tank for my boy betta its definatly on of the cheaper ones but my fish is still alive.the first week thaT you have the hawkeye tank theres bubblesat the top of the water which will go away in a week .ummmm buy a net because any food that ur fish does not eat u might wanna take out because that will make the tank get dirtier quicker…. dont buy pellet food flakes work alot better for them.i would not place in more than two bettas in a 3 gallon not because you wanna combine the lengths of the fish say you have two fish that are an inch each then that earnings you need 2 gallons or more .inch =1 gallon you need .
i hope i helped goodluck with ur bettas
Get the largest tank you can afford. Contrary to well loved belief, Bettas DO NOT like small tanks because they live in “small rice paddies”. Rice Paddies are really this huge: http://www.cultureshocktherapy.com/pic/id/rice_paddy.jpg
You’ll also need a small filter and heater in the tank. Only do 25% water changes weekly, NEVER completely drain the whole tank and scrub it. And please don’t take the fish out even as you clean the tank, this just adds unnecessary stress to him.
2 Bettas cannot be together because they will fight. You can only have a male and female Betta together for a couple of minutes even as they’re breeding. After they spawn, the male will try and kill the female, so you have to remove her then.
anything the betta can swim around in
That Hawkeye Aquarium Kit comes with a couple things you don’t need and nothing that you do (besides the tank itself), so I don’t reckon you should buy that one.
As I be with you it, both the Eclipses come with a Bio-Wheel filter, right? Those are fantastic filters, I have 2 (for my 75 gallon, much larger filters of course, but the same basic design). I reckon you should go ahead and get the 5 gallon, as it is only a small more but will be a much better environment for your fish. Possibly, the filter may be a small strong for the Betta, in which case you can make it slower than the lowest setting this way: http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/347/
You will need to buy a couple other things though, that don’t come with that. Principally, you need a mini-heater. This is because Bettas are tropical fish, and they need temperatures between 76-86 degrees F. I like the Hydor Mini Aquarium Heater – 7.5 watts. You’ll also need a thermometer, I suggest getting a glass one with alcohol surrounded by that sticks to the inner glass, this should only be a few bucks, and tends to be much more accurate than the stick-on kind.
It is absolutely vital that you get a water conditioner, as well. Your fish will be poisoned by chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals without one. I use Aqua Safe for myself, and have found that one to work quite well. Follow the dosage directions on the back. You may also consider getting test kits for Ammonia and NitrIte. When you first place the Betta in the tank, his waste will just collect, and too high concentrations will poison him. Eventually, a colony of bacteria that keeps the water free of toxic Ammonia and NitrIte will renovate, but until then you need to monitor these levels and take them out of the water whenever they get high (when ammonia gets to 0.25 ppm) through switching out part of the water. Eventually the tank will “cycle” and you can go to one partial water change of 25% per week. Make sure you add aqua safe to the new water before you place it in, every time.
In case of algae, you can just use a soft kitchen sponge (with NO soap whatsoever, never place soap in the tank!) and just get any algae off with that. The partial water changes will keep the water clean. Never clean the filter, particularly the bio-wheel, as that will kill all the bacteria keeping the water free of toxic substances. You can buy a small siphon at the pet store to clean the bottom of the tank, submerge the tube in water, and once there is no air in the tube, take in both ends with your thumb/hand, then place one end in a container lower than the tank, and it will automatically start suctioning from the tank. To stop this, take in the part in the aquarium with your thumb again, lift it out of the water, and then it will stop suctioning. If, even as it is sucking, you place it near the bottom it will get out all the yucky stuff among the stones and bottom.
As for food, try and give a variety. For a staple, I like Hikari Betta Bio Gold pellets, 3-5 per day will be plenty. You can also get Flakes, just make sure they are specifically for Bettas. Freeze Dried or Frozen Brine Shrimp or Blood Worms would be a excellent 2-3 times per week supplement.
Bettas have very fragile fins, so you need to take care in the kind of decorations you get him. You should only get silk plants, not plastic. Also, make sure there are no sharp edges on the sculpture. To see if it is too sharp, run a pantyhose against it. If it tears the pantyhose, then it will tear the Betta’s fin. If not, you are excellent to go.
As for rocks on the bottom, make sure you don’t get the pretty glass kinds. These tend to break eventually, and then you have small bits of sharp glass in the tank, which obviously is undesirable. Smooth stones sold at the pet store will work fine. Make sure you get them from the pet store and the fish part, as some types of stone from other places can mess with the water chemistry.
Also, you really can only get one Betta. Males, as you know, will kill each other. So will a male and female, though.
Basically, a male only welcomes in a female when she is stout with eggs. Afterwards, he chases her off, he is the one who cares for the eggs. Once she leaves the territory of that male, she may find other eggs from other couples, and she will try to eat these to give herself a food source. Males, naturally, have evolved to guard their nests against females that come in who aren’t heavy with eggs (and won’t be able to serve any purpose in the territory but threatening the nest). So they automatically try to kill any female that isn’t ready to mate. As most females are not ready to mate most of the time, and only with careful conditioning become ready to mate, you can’t keep a male and female together.
One last thing, here is a website with pictures of the various common illnesses of Bettas, so you will be able to recognize if one is sick and not buy it (the pics start about 1/4 of the way down, and the whole site is useful by the way): http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm