Betta advice!!!

[rebekahbirch]

Hiya!
need all sorts of information on betta fish - minnimum tank size, list of equiptment, their food, any links available, general facts, good online places to buy them, experiences, potential problems, etc etc!
ANY knowledge on these beautiful fish would be highly apprieciated, thank you!
Becky...XxX
p.s. also, would i still need a filter if i do regular water changes? would i need a filter at all?!

 

[nowzem]

The best place I've found is Betta Fish and Betta Fish Care. It's just like this site but only for bettas! It has a huge treasure of info!

Min tank size...well, imo the bigger the better. Anything under 5 gallons should probably have 50-80% daily water changes (unless it has a filter). Also check aquabid.com for buying bettas. It's like ebay for fish/aquarium supplies.

They also do better in heated tanks, and filters...well I think its easier to cycle and keep a filtered tank clean, unlless its under 5 gallons. As for food, it will depend on your personal preference and that of your betta, but I prefer pellets (over flakes, flakes tend to be messy), frozen blood worms (as a treat), and of course live foods.

Their potential problems are just like any other FW fish, although bettas tend to be hardier and more forgiving than lots of other fish. Watch out for torn fins and any other obvious signs of distress, look for active, "bright-eyed" (curious/flaring/swimming around). Bettas do tend to be much less active without a heater and then may not be very active depending on how cold their water is in the pet store. Again, they are tropical fish, so a heater is advised unless you keep your house around 76-80F.



PS My name is Rebekah too! <3

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

betta should not be in anything under 5gallons people even argue 5g is to small

 

[Morgie]

At least 5 Gallons with a filter and heater. They have some pretty cheap 5.5 G kits that come with everything at petsmart. That's where I got my betta's set up, and he's doing quite well.
What kind of betta are you going to get?

 

[rebekahbirch]

hiya, i really wanted a halfmoon, or butterfly betta, but i live in the uk, so i'll just have to see what i can find! we don't have a petsmart - just a few little pet shops, and a pets at home on the isle of wight! might have to buy betta online - has anyone had experience with aquabid.com? any bettas turn up dead/unhealthy, or are they a good site?
Becky...XxX

 

[nowzem]

I personally don't have any experience with aquabid, but most sellers will offer a live-on-arrival guarantee, if they don't, buy from someone else. Also, read through their negative ratings, or try to avoid people with negative ratings. I found that a lot of the neutrals and negatives were actually kind of trite when I was looking at a particular seller, so just use your best judgement. And good luck!!

 

[HUKIT]

90% of my rare fish have come from Aquabid, ordered numerous times without a hickup. I would just search for what your looking for on that side of pond is possible since I'm not sure how international shipping works, but as long as they're packaged right they should still be fine.

 

[xxwolfpackof1xx]

wont shipping be a killer though and wont it have to go through customs?

 

[HUKIT]

Us shipping is always under $30 for overnight, and I don't know about you but when I'm looking for the fish I wouldn't care if was $60. I have been searching for Festae cichlids for over two years when F2 fry showed up on Aquabid. They also have sellers from all over the world which is why I recommend finding someone overthere to start.

 

[rain87]

Take a look at Welcome To BettaTalk.com
it's a betta website produced by a large scale betta breeder that cares about the individual fish.

 

[siva]

I use aquabid often, but haven't had anything shipped overseas as of yet. There are many impressive bettas listed on there, but most ship from thailand it makes me a bit nervous.

Bettas are my absolute favorite fish, I have a dozen of them My advice for betta care is: 5 gals absolute minimum, filtered, and heated to 80F. I would not use a preset heater as most do not heat this warm, but get one with an adjustable dial so you have complete control. Use a regular water conditioner like Prime. Bettas fins are very sensitive, so it's a good idea to use the pantyhose test on anything going into their tank. Just run some nylon over the plants/decor and if it snags the nylon, it will snag the fins. Because of this, real plans and silk are preferrable, but some plastic is OK if you're careful. I smooth any sharp edges or pokeys on decor with a metal nail file. They do like a cave or hidey hole to go into and love soft plants to lay on. Some will lay on the bottom as well, so I use a smooth substrate. Bettas are also prone to fin rot and swim bladder disease. Keep the water clean with weekly 30% partial water change and feed a good diet to help avoid these things. I recommend alternating Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets (I feed 3 per fish) and frozen bloodworms 6 days a week. On the 7th day, feed a few pellet sized peices of boiled shelled pea. This helps prevent constipation. Avoid dried foods. Take time when acclimating the betta to it's new tank, by floating it in it's cup for 20 mins, then start removing a bit of cup water and adding a bit of tank water every 10 mins..repeat this until the cup is all tank water, then release the betta.