Betta Newbie I need all you Betta owners help!

[unknown_7]

I never seem to have good luck with betta for some reason, I have had three so far and none lived longer than two weeks. I bought a 1 gallon bowl, I did water changes every 5 days. The tank was bare so nothing scraped their fins. The water was always treated, and I bought them from three different [acronym:15cd579b51="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:15cd579b51], but yet still they always would die. What would you suggest me to do cause I heard they are very nice and entertaining, but none of mine lived long enough to me so realize that. I am starting from scratch so what should I do. Thank you in advance for your advice.

[An t-iasg]

I don't recommend keeping a betta in a bowl. These small bowls won't cycle, and the temperature doesn't stay stable. When you said the bowl was bare, do you mean no gravel or decorations? In a setup like this, there is no media for any good bacteria to live, so no cycle was taking place, although a bowl most likely won't cycle anyway. Bettas that live in bowls often contract diseases, such as finrot, or fungus, because the conditions in the bowl are not good, and the betta gets stressed from the temperature and ammonia fluctuations.

Bettas need a tank with a heater and filter like any other fish. I would get a 5 or 10 gallon tank, and a sponge filter. A small airpump can run the sponge filter, and a gang valve can lessen the airflow going through the sponge if the filter creates more current than the betta is confortable with. For a 5 gallon tank, you'll need a 25-watt heater, and for a 10 gallon tank, you'll need a 50-watt heater. Set the temperature to 80 degrees.

The betta will like some places to rest and hide. Put in some silk plants. Plastic plants may snag their fins, but I've had good luck with silk plants in betta tanks.

This heated, filtered tank will be an excellent home for a betta, and you'll be able to keep one for much longer than a few weeks!

[talloulou]

Did you have a heater? Bettas are tropical and require a heater unless the room temp is consistently warm.

A one gallon container is very small....but I don't believe that would kill a betta in under two weeks.

If the temp in their bowl varied too greatly in a 24 hr period or stayed on the cooler side that might.

What do you feed them? How were they eating before they died? Betta fish really enjoy frozen bloodworms.

Did you use water conditioner when you did water changes?

Did they display any visible symptoms/behaviors before dying?

[vTEC]

its kind of hard to say with that... did they have any fungus or anything unsusual on their bodies before they died?

it sounds like mostly that the water was just either too cold for them, or the sitting water created a film on the surface preventing them from getting air...

Or it couldve been that the fish weren't that healthy to start off with.

[megladonsharky]

Originally Posted by An t-iasg

I don't recommend keeping a betta in a bowl. These small bowls won't cycle, and the temperature doesn't stay stable. When you said the bowl was bare, do you mean no gravel or decorations? In a setup like this, there is no media for any good bacteria to live, so no cycle was taking place, although a bowl most likely won't cycle anyway. Bettas that live in bowls often contract diseases, such as finrot, or fungus, because the conditions in the bowl are not good, and the betta gets stressed from the temperature and ammonia fluctuations.

Bettas need a tank with a heater and filter like any other fish. I would get a 5 or 10 gallon tank, and a sponge filter. A small airpump can run the sponge filter, and a gang valve can lessen the airflow going through the sponge if the filter creates more current than the betta is confortable with. For a 5 gallon tank, you'll need a 25-watt heater, and for a 10 gallon tank, you'll need a 50-watt heater. Set the temperature to 80 degrees.

The betta will like some places to rest and hide. Put in some silk plants. Plastic plants may snag their fins, but I've had good luck with silk plants in betta tanks.

This heated, filtered tank will be an excellent home for a betta, and you'll be able to keep one for much longer than a few weeks!

I have a two gallon with just a male and a fitler... a female with three white clouds in 3-4 gallons see my sig ... these are nt heated but are kept at a stable 75 degrees and are doing very well for 8-12 months , I would add a few live plants.... my 9 gallon is over stocked but all are healthy and happy with lots of filtration and weekly h2o changes... all tanks have live plants

[hb3133]

Sorry for the hijack but I was curious if a single Betta fish would do well in a
20 gallon [acronym:b4c8143775="Freshwater"]FW[/acronym:b4c8143775] community tank? I was thinking of Rasbora and Cory Cat tankmates.

[Meredith]

My betta has a ten gallon tank all to himself complete with filter and heater. I have had him for almost a year. If you can swing it, that is the way I would go.

hb3133, I would be wary of putting the betta in with rasboras. The corys might be ok though.

[Menagerie]

While in Calgary, I joined AA and for once had a betta live! Follow An t-iasg's advice and you will have a happy, healthy betta.

hb3133, I would recommend going with a female in a community tank. I have a lovely female betta in my community tank with cories, loached, dwarf cichlids and white clouds. She is thriving; although, I have to watch her fins. Every once in awhile they are split. A male betta will bring out the fin nippers and the males are slower.