betta in a 2 gallon?

[Catalina]

Ashley, how did you go about convincing pet stores near you to keep their bettas in better conditions? Unfortunately, i live across the street from a lower end Petco, which can't even take care of its big tanks, and they have tables on end of tiny, putrid bowls with bettas rammed inside of them. It's a huge business, and they are obviously really big sellers. I too am compelled to rescue as many fish as I can, but in this situation, everyone is right in how that is really not the practical solution. However, I really doubt I negatively affected anything by purchasing one fish. He is incredibly beautiful and entertaining, and I do feel that I saved the life of a creature that deserved to live.

So obviously, I was not encouraging people to buy out all their LFS's betta stock and cram a tank into every spare inch of space in their homes. I was just pointing out that having one or two bettas can be a really rewarding experience that benefits another life besides your own.

sweet, you have access to a cycled tank that you can use a culture from in your new one, right? I put gravel from my tank that just completed a fishless cycle in the betta bowl. I also filled it w/ water from the cycled tank. Because it is so small, i think this was enough to cycle it completely, as the levels have not risen in the 2 weeks since.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

The problem in my big(ger) tank is that since i have 2 dirty lil goldfish in there, I have to clean pretty frequently, so the bacteria colonies are not yet stable. (Nitrites well drop to zero, then do a little mini jump to around .10ppm after I gravel-vac or rinse the filter). So I kinda wanted to wait to see how things settle there before I make a betta-house out of the lil tank...

 

[Madame_X]

The problem in my big(ger) tank is that since i have 2 dirty lil goldfish in there, I have to clean pretty frequently, so the bacteria colonies are not yet stable. (Nitrites well drop to zero, then do a little mini jump to around .10ppm after I gravel-vac or rinse the filter). So I kinda wanted to wait to see how things settle there before I make a betta-house out of the lil tank...

Are you rinsing the filter in tapwater? Maybe you're killing off some of your bacterial colony by rinsing too often. That could be why your nitrites are surging.

Its my understanding that you're supposed to gently rinse them in the tankwater that you've drained (into a clean container, of course!).

Of course, I'm still waiting for the silly nitrites to form in my fishless cycle so I'm no expert. Just tryin' to help!

 

[TankGirl]

Bettas are very happy in small containers and anything from no current to higher current and bubbles (though I think they prefer less current/bubbles). They also can tolerate cooler temps so you don't have to worry about a heater, and that is why they go well with white cloud minnows. Java fern does not grow in the gravel, but attaches its roots to objects, so you can rubber band it to a rock or small piece of driftwood, or even a coconut shell half, and it will permanently attach. No gravel required. It is also low light so it will do fine in a little betta hex.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

I'm rinsing the filter in tank water that I siphon off the top.

The problem isn't that there aren't bacteria...(the tank has already cycled completely), it's just that because I'm gravel-vac-ing pretty frequently in a freshly cycled tank...a "stable" population hasn't quite taken hold. Each time I fuss with it, I knock the ecosystem out of balance. It can take a good long time for a bacterial colony to become stable, and a matter of seconds for it to become unstable (anyone who's interested should read up on wastewater treatment!)....especially in my little 10 gallon (isn't something like..the smaller the tank, the harder it is to keep the water quality good?).

My levels aren't really spiking to alarming levels....just kind of obnoxious not quite zero levels

I think i'm probably just being obsessive, since I took too many microbiology classes....

 

[TankGirl]

I would not even worry about cycling a betta tank. You do frequent partial water changes in such a small tank, you don't have to worry about excesses. That is why they do so well in those tiny jars - 100% water changes every day means no cycling. If this tank was to have the UGF as its only filter and you pitched that, then just do "massive" water changes every day. Keep it simple.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Since I'm still pretty new to fishkeeping...I guess I just wanted to make sure my goldies are fat + happy before I bring anyone else home

I think the betta will be far simpler, actually...hopefully it'll poop less too.

 

[Catalina]

TankGirl, i was about to say the same thing, but i shied away for it in fear that it would not be seen as the "right" answer. But yes, I didn't really think about cycling my betta bowl since the water is changed so frequently.

And yes, the betta will poop far less than the goldfish.

 

[bettacove]

Catalina:
I just talked it over with the manager and told him how it would look so much better, and it would be less work for them, and he would make so much more money off them if they were all healthy ect ect. I brought up the money part a lot too, you've just gotta be very polite and seem really conserned. Fortunatly the managers of the LPS here actually know a bit about fish keeping so they were willing to go along with my ideas

ashley

 

[An t-iasg]

Betta bowl

Hi...I think the novelty 2-gallon jar is fine for the betta. Just make sure you can clean it easily. I'm glad to hear that you aren't using the UGF! Bettas don't mind bubbles. It's just currents and water movement that they don't like. I have my bettas in a 5 1/2 gallon divided tank, and I have a small sponge filter that makes bubbles. You would have to see what size filter you could fit in your jar.

When we go on a long vacation, I take the bettas to my mom's house. I put them in a "critter keeper" about a gallon size, and I found the perfect size bucket to put the critter keeper in. I fill up the critter keeper about halfway so it won't slosh around in the car, and bring some more treated water in a gallon jug. When I get them to my mom's house, I let the water and the critter keepers sit for about half an hour to stabilize the temp, and then I add the new water to the critter keepers. The bettas might be kinda quiet for that first day, but my mom says that they quickly become active again. So if you take your betta from school to your house, that shouldn't be that hard on him, provided it's not the middle of winter!!

Good luck with your new betta!

 

[Sesos]

Hey An t-iasg, what should I do about the UGF that came with my 2 gal hex? Just diconnect it and do frequent water changes?

 

[An t-iasg]

UGF in a small tank

Hi...I would just disconnect the UGF. Well, you could do some ammonia testing, and if the ammonia isn't high (refer to test kit chart) leave it in place, but I bet if you took it out and looked at it there would be all sorts of scum on it and it probably just isn't helping anything.

I have a small sponge filter in my betta tank but I think it might be too big for a 2 gal. You could look in the store and see what other sponge filters are out there and if one would fit. Mine is a Jungle Jr. Dirt Magnet. I really don't know if there are smaller ones but you could ask. The sponge filter provides some biological filtration and makes some bubbles for aeration. You could see if you could find a small airstone and a pump, to provide some bubbles for air & oxygen, but again, you'll have to see what is small enough for a 2 gallon. My air pump is a Tetratec 12, and that's the smallest one by Tetra. Whisper may have some small pump models too. I've seen those 2 gal. hex tanks in the store but not really in operation. Did a small pump come with it, or did it just plug right into the wall?

But all this may be overkill for a 2 gallon hex. Frequent water changes may be your best bet. I don't think you need to do it every day, though. When I had my bettas in 1 gallon bowls, I changed about 80% of the water (just left enough water for them to be covered!) every 4 or 5 days. I did use an ammonia test kit to check their bowl water, and I determined that every 4 to 5 days it would get high enough to do a water change.

I kept my bettas in 1 gallon bowls for nearly a year before I set up this 5 1/2 heated and filtered tank for them. So they can do well in small bowls; just make sure you monitor their water conditions and keep on top of the water changes.

To change the water when they were in bowls, I made new water by putting tap water in a gallon jug, let it come to room temp, added Nov-Aqua and Am-quel (10 drops each per gallon), and 1/4 teaspoon of aquarium salt (adding some salt may help to prevent ich), removed the old water, and put the new water in. It took maybe 15 minutes to do 2 bowls, so it isn't really inconvenient at all to do frequent water changes. Good luck!

 

[tkos]

You can get a small bubble filter with suction cups to attach to the side of the tank at WalMart. It costs around 15 dollars for the pump and tubes and 1 cartridge in canada. I used to use it in a 1 gallon and it always kept the water nice and clear. I actually ran it also in a 5 gallon (turned up) for awhile as the Betta lives there by himself.

 

[Punkymom]

I've had one of those filters before, they work well.

 

[An t-iasg]

2-gallon hex

Hi Sesos,
I was just at the pet store today, and I saw a 2 gal hex tank. The one I saw came with a little pump. If yours did too, you could buy one of the little suction cup filters to run with it. I saw 2 brands -- Penn Plax and Lee's. The Lee's had carbon, floss, and a sponge. That might be a good one. I don't know how much biological fitration this little filter would actually have, so you should still plan to test your water and do frequent changes. But it might be nice for the betta to have a little bit of bubbles for some oxygenation, but don't turn up the pump so high that the water is moving. I have a gang valve on my tank for that reason -- so the pump that my sponge filter is hooked up to just makes bubbles and not waves!

 

[Sesos]

Thanks An t-iasg, I'll check out your recommended options at my local PetCo tomorrow. I'll be sure to report back for all you wanna-be betta owners that have been tuned into this thread.