Betta Care

[mysticeel]

My dad is always complaining how we have so many saltwater tanks but no freshwater. I would really like to get a small freshwater tank. I don't know anything at all about betta's but for the fact that they are very nice looking. I have searched the web and asked around freshwater lfs's about these guys. I seem to get lots of mixed answers. There are a few questions i would love to get answered ^^.

1. What is the smallest size tank for a betta?
2. Do I need any filters or water movement for a betta tank? (some people said i need an air stone, others say I just need a glass jar)
3. how often do i need to do a water change and how much?
4. what is the best food? (flakes, blood worms...ect)

 

[Austin.b]

A filtered, heated 2.5 gallon tank is awesome. Anything under that is too small for a betta. Weekly water changes will suffice. I think I would just do 50% water changes every week

 

[Fishman4u]

I will honor your question regarding your interest.
1 The smallest tank I really suggest is a 3 - 10 gallon max size.
A filtration device would be required to keep the water clean, this will not keep the water fresh, this is why all pro's and experts recommend water changes. The smaller the tank, the more often we need to replace water. All fish poop, wee wee in the water and it is colorless, but harmful in large amounts.
Depending like ?I typed, so if you buy a 3 gallon, you have three days to change 1.5 gallons per day.A ten gallon would need water replaced every three days, however we are all allowed to change 1/3 daily if we so desire, but hence the word, you need to pre condition the water, make sure it never falls below 76 degrees because their immune system will decline. Then dead.
We need to make sure their water is 7.0 which is ok, but they like their water softer which would be around 6.8, 6.5. You need an ammonia tester, ph tester, hardness tester, nitrate tester.
A vacuum to suck up the poop and left over food, or risk contamination. It will also produce ammonia.
I have three females to my likeing, I find them best to care for, they are hardier then the males which are just to sensitive to changes in their environment. I lost 3 males and my females i have live now 4 years and are as large as males only without the long tail.
I feed my ladies, natural thawed from frozen, 1 blood worm every three days, any more and they will become constipated, wind up with swimbladder disease and die.
I feed them very small krill, no betta pellets, they when hard and small are nice but when they are inside they obsorb water and sweel inside their digestive tract.
If you have any other questions, you may email me all you want about taking home a betta, but remember this, dont buy a tank fill it and throw one in, it will die as a result of no healthy bacteria, you must add water to the tank and allow it to sit two weeks with filtration.
Thanks for useing this web site.

 

[Austin.b]

Forgot to add this:

Any normal food is fine, my betta's like pellets and live blood worms, your betta might not eat flakes, but it all depends on your betta

 

[Reygan2]

I've had mine in a filtered, cycled, planted 5 gallon for at least 6 months. I think that is a perfect size for them. You will want to avoid plastic plants because of their delicate fins. You can get the 5g starter kit at Walmart for about $28. I added a 50 watt aqueon heater. I really don't expect the filter to last, so I have an AC30 backup, but so far it's working great. IMO 78-80 degrees F is ideal. I feed pellets and occasionally bloodworms. It is important to keep their water clean. I do weekly 50% pwc's & vacuuming. I feed him one pellet at a time, so I know that there's no leftover food, plus it's fun to watch him "attack" each pellet. He has learned that when I gently tap on the top rim of the tank, it is feeding time, and he will go to a certain spot at the front. They are really fun to watch, not to mention beautiful. Oh, you do not need any airstones or water movement. They need calm water, so I lift the intake tube just enough to lower the current while still allowing water to be filtered.