help ! I've got upgradeitis ! (Attn: Betta Keepers!)

[boothbrave]

It all started with a friend giving me one of his bettas and I've went from a 2L hex tank to a mini bow 2.5 litre filter tank. He's happy and buliding bubble nests galore. ....but now I want to upgrade again !


Where do I stop ?
Is the 2.5L enough ? Could he be happier with a 5, 7, or even 10 litre tank ? What do most betta owners have here and would you rather a bigger tank? I'm thinking (maybe ) the long term of having- let's say one tank with a few female bettas in it with a male betta in another tank for breeding? Though with that scenario what size tanks am I looking at?


thanks members !

(Edited title of post, to grab the attention of the Betta folks!)--CC

 

[Zic]

I would go with a ten gallon tank. The standard is about ten US dollars. I had a betta in with my community ten gallon tank for a while. He was a really cool fish. I've never tried breeding them, so I can't advise on that.

I would say the bigger the tank, the better. That's my general rule about keeping fish. I started with a ten gallon and soon upgradeitis took over......

 

[saaebn]

I had my sons betta in a small 1 gal bowl for about 4 months. Every three days or so I would do a complete water change. I didnt know about treating the water for chemicals, but the betta lived anyway. Anyhow, after walking into a local salvation army type store while my son was in therapy I spotted a 10 gal tank with a bunch of supplies included. I bought it and we put in up in his room. I was worried that it would be too noisy, but he really loves it. He got 4 red wags to go inside and once it cycles he wants an apple snail. I like the fact that I dont have to do a complete water change everyday. But, we are getting so addicted that we spend a ton of time checking the water and watching them.

Have fun!
Thanks,
Stacie

 

[Pacu Man]

i used to have a 5.5 gal feeder tank where the betta kept the feeders in line and it laid eggs alot as well, some plants are also a nice addidtion to a betta tank.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

My only advice is that as you move to larger tanks, remember that longer is better than taller.

 

[demurefemme]

my betta loved it when i put him into an eclipse system three, with plenty of plants. bettas don't care much for water current, so in a filtered tank, they definitely need places to rest. i'm thinking about getting a second system three and a second betta they're such addicting fish!

 

[An t-iasg]

Betta in an Eclipse three

Hi demurefemme,
I had one betta in an Eclipse three and he hated it. He got so stressed and got fin and tail rot very badly. I did have a lot of plants in there. The current was very strong. I still have this fish, but he's not in the Eclipse three anymore! How did you successfully put your betta in there?

If I remember correctly, the flow rate in the eclipse three was 35 GPH. The tank my betta is in now has a sponge filter with a flow rate of 5 GPH and he likes it much better. But I always wondered where I went wrong when I tried to put him in the Eclipse tank. I've read of lots of betta owners using that tank.

 

[tkos]

My betta did fine in a 10 gallon community with lots of plants that has a fair amount of current from an AC Mini. I have found that bettas don't mind a current as long as there is a current free area.

My tank worked great with 3 cory catfish on the bottom and a small school of 5 white cloud minnows. Once a day or so the betta would chase everyone around then everything would settle down. Just make sure to pick peaceful tankmates and probably be careful of most tetras as they are fin nippers.

My betta has now moved to his own 5 gallon with his pet snail and all are happy.

The great thing as was mentioned is that you don't have to worry about water quality as often in a larger tank. This means going on vacation and not worrying.

 

[An t-iasg]

Betta and snail

My betta has now moved to his own 5 gallon with his pet snail and all are happy.

awww...how nice! Where did the snail come from? A live plant or did you buy it separately? I thought snails were kind of bad, but maybe not always? What does it eat -- just scavenges on the bottom? Are they adversely affected by medication? I seem to have to give my bettas Bettamax fairly often.

 

[tkos]

My snail is a Ram's Horn snail. I originally got one from my cousin. I have probably got a few in my plant purchases as well. There is still just the one snail (about 1/4 -1/2 inch in size right now) in the betta tank. He scavanges everything he can. I only feed the betta enough to eat in a small period of time.

Snails can be very good additions to planted tanks. They are generally good scavangers and generally don't over reproduce unless there is a lot of food for them. My other tank gets a lot more snails in it as it is a community tank and gets fed more.

I have used Bettamax in the past and it hasn't hurt the snail. Just don't use meds that have copper in them. That will definatly kill snails.

Bettas are great in bigger tanks. I just use a bubble filter in mine as it isn't too high a bioload and I have gone away on week long vacations with no problems.

 

[An t-iasg]

Snails

Hi tkos,
I'm thinking of getting some real plants for my betta tank. See topic "live plants in a 5 1/2 gallon tank" if you want. Maybe a snail would keep them company.

What kind of bubble filter do you have? I have a Jungle Jr. dirt magnet, run by a small pump with a gang valve so it just makes bubbles and not waves. How do you feed them on week long vacations? When we go on vacation, I used to take the bettas over to my parents' house in their bowls. But now that they have a tank, if I take them over in bowls now, any good bacteria in that tank will die, and I'll come home to a tank full of ammonia. Do you use an automatic feeder? That seems like it would dispense too much for a small tank and I would need 2 since my bettas are divided. 2 dispensers would definitely be too much. Does my mom just have to come over every day and feed them?

 

[tkos]

If I go away for a week or less I just make sure to feed them well in the days before I leave and the morning I leave I drop in some frozen blood worms for him. They can survive for a week or so without food and generally your tank will be nice and algae free when you get back. If you are worried then get your mom to come over every few days to drop a little food in, but it isn't really needed if the fish is healthy.

A snail is really nice or else some ghost or ammano shrimp are cool as well. They don't really add much to the bio load and you don't have to feed them as they can scavenge what they need to eat.

I bought this clear plastic box that you can fill with sponges or floss and then run an air pump through it for bubbles. It is pretty much just a place to hold bacteria as it doesn't really do any cleaning.

I would suggest java fern or else water sprite as plants. Java fern seems to be unappealing to most snails and water sprite grows really fast so if the snail munches on it a bit it will keep growing.

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi tkos,
My parents only live 5 minutes away, so my mom doesn't mind feeding them. She likes them too!

I'm really intrigued about the shrimp! I didn't know there were any freshwater shrimp. I think the saltwater shrimp are really cute and look like little lobsters. Your betta is in a 5 gallon tank by himself, right? If I got a shrimp he would have to go on one side of my tank or the other. Would that be too small for him? There's plenty of water for the betta but maybe not a lot of gravel area.

I just got a plastic corner filter that you fill with carbon and put floss on top, I guess. Do you have to put the floss on top? I'm not replacing my dirt magnet sponge, but I have some bettamax in there now, and I'll run the carbon to get it out. When the bettas were in their bowls, I could just dump the medicine water. That would not be practical in this tank, so I'll just run the carbon until the medicine is out.

I know what a java fern is -- they are pretty. Most live plants are! I'm not sure about the water sprite, though -- is it the kind that just floats on top of the water? That might be good because if that got too big it would be easy to pull some pieces out.

P.S. I looked in your gallery to see the betta and the snail and the shrimp but you didn't put in any pictures yet! I have my one betta's picture in, when he was in the bowl, but I have to find the disk that has my other betta's picture.

 

[tkos]

Water sprite can be planted in the substate or also floated. So can hornwort. Both good choices. My betta loves the floating plants as he swims through them looking for food.

I don't run an carbon in my tank but the box you have seems to be what I have.

The freshwater ghost and ammono shrimp are tiny. Maybe 1/2 an inch long or so. You would be able to fit about 5 in that tank with no problems. They are sometimes sold as feeder shrimp. Just make sure they are freshwater. They should mix with bettas fine.

Yes, I don't have any pics in the gallery but go to my website

http://tkos.unsta.com/photos

some pictures are older. I will try and get some full tank shots, though trying to get a picture of the snail isn't always easy as he is generally busy and there are schedually conflicts.

 

[An t-iasg]

Beautiful Betta!

Hi tkos,
Wow, your betta is really beautiful! Is he purple? That's my favorite color!

My bettas used to be very pretty. Well, they still are, but they've had so many episodes of fin and tail rot that they probably won't regain their original fin length. I feel like such a bad fish person! But they were my first fish ever, and they are about a year and a half old, so I can't be that bad!

That's why I decided to set up this divided, heated and filtered tank for them, to see if it helps control the fin rot. No luck yet -- they each had a bout, and I had some Bettamax in the water for about 6 days. I just put my corner carbon filter in yesterday, and took it out today, to pull the medicine out. The water is so crystal clear now! So the sponge filter is all that's in there now.

I saw in your pictures that you had a little suction cup filter. I've seen them -- it's a Small World filter, right? What is in the cartridge or can you put whatever media you want in there? That corner filter is so darn noisy. I was thinking of getting a little suction cup filter with carbon, if I need to run carbon again. I'll have to see how long the water stays clear, too. Is it necessary to run the carbon once in a while for clarity? Or does the sponge filter handle that too? I've only had this tank set up for about two weeks, but I think the bettas are happy! Are there any other tips you can share for keeping your betta's fins so beautiful?

 

[tkos]

Well I have replaced that filter. It was the one I used in my 1 gallon betta tank and is the way I cycled the new 5 gallon tank. It is now just a small internal sponge filter.

The small filter had a sponge, carbon and xeolite (I think that's what it is) which removes ammonia. The catridges aren't able to be opened so that is what you get.

I never run carbon in my betta tank, just sponges. Everything is always good. The live plants also help keep things clean as well. Make sure to not use plastic plants with bettas as that just ends up ripping their fins.

I have noticed a few small rips in my bettas fin a couple of times but the betta max just fixed everything right up. Do you add new bettamax everyday? Also make sure that your bettamax isn't too old. After about a year it really isn't good anymore.

I change my water once a week (about 20%) and that is really it.

Oh and yes, he is dark blue and purple in colour with white tips on my pectoral fins.

 

[An t-iasg]

When I was using the Bettamax, I put 2 capsules in the tank, then every other day I changed one gallon -- made the tap water in a gallon empty bottled water jug, and then put one capsule of Bettamax in. In the future, how should I do the bettamax? This was the first time I put it in the tank. Also, is there any reason that you don't run carbon? Is it bad for the bettas? It sure made the water clear!

One betta's pectoral fins (are those the long skinny ones that hang down?) used to be white-tipped, but now they are only half their original length. They never grew back. The fin and tail rot is not active anymore, but it seems like the fins don't grow back fully. I know a lot of people successfully keep bettas in bowls, but the temperature fluctuated a lot in mine. That's why I set up this heated tank. My future bettas will go in the tank too, so maybe they will never get the fin rot. I was so "dumb" with my first betta! But he still seems to be a happy little guy!

 

[tkos]

Sorry but I used bettamin. At least I think that is what it is called. It is a liquid so it is different.

I don't run carbon because it stops working in 1 week. And carbon forms ionic bonds but will drop one bond for something more ionic. Thus, if you run carbon for a month and it adsorbs lots of nasty stuff and you drop some medicine in that is more ionic it will grab the medicine and drop the bond with the bad stuff. So there is potential that while running carbon you could release bad stuff (such as metal ions) into the tank. Just a small chnace but it does exist. Plus I sponges and filter floss do a fine job of growing bacteria, which is what I want.

 

[demurefemme]

Re: Betta in an Eclipse three

Hi demurefemme,
I had one betta in an Eclipse three and he hated it. ... How did you successfully put your betta in there? quote]

the first time i put a betta in was because he had gotten bad fin rot. it cleared up with medecine, and he seemed much happier in the tank. unfortunately, on some bad advice from my lfs, i added a fish that i was assured would be compatible (even though i had my doubts), and through the fighting he got badly nipped (before i could get the other fish out and returned), and the fin rot came back with a vengeance.

but the second betta that i introduced to the eclipse seemed to like it as well. i had water sprites, moneywort, and anubias in there, and the moneywort was his favorite. he would drape his fins over it to relax, and built bubble nests like crazy in the new tank. maybe it was just personal preference?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi demurefemme, Did you do anything to slow the water return in the Eclipse 3? I've heard of clipping the impeller fins to slow the water return. The current is what mine hated the most. But now that I have a 2nd betta, and they are both in the divided tank, the 2nd betta (1st one hates current) plays in the bubbles made by the sponge filter. That's why I put him on that side. It is kinda strange how different they can be!

What medicine did you give your betta to clear up the fin rot? I've used Bettamax, Jungle fungus eliminator (even though I didn't see any fuzzies on him), and amoxycillin and ampicillin (not all at once, of course!) All these meds work, but a month or so later he would get it again. I used bleach water in his bowl, to try to kill any remaining bacteria, and it didn't seem to make a difference. Now they are in their tank. I think the stable water temp. is better for them. For some reason, my bowl temp. fluctuated too much, and maybe started the fin/tail rot in the first place.

P.S. I have family in Denton, and I visited for a few weeks and had a good time. That was the first time I was ever at a Sonic! Unfortunately we don't have any here.