I need betta basics, help me out!

[carey]

In a nutshell, I am now down to 5 tanks from a high of 9 and have always been curious about betta fish. I think after keeping all these tanks for so long I am ready to maybe, just maybe save some from poor bettas from walmart.

I currently maintain about 500g of aquariums but I have room for some more fish tanks. I have read a bit about bettas and realize that a "bowl" is not the way to go with one, but what is the right size? I know some will say 10g 20g but realistically what is a decent size to ensure a happy betta? How many can go in one tank? I believe I have read that they fight, but in what combination as far as male/female? Could I have a tank of females? Do they mate up at all? See, I told you I need some help! LOL

I've seen these betta condo things at petco and they seem like a cool idea, but they are only like 1 or 2g tanks for each one. I have also seen some on amazon that stack, but again they are small as far as gallons, at least to me.

I have exceptional skills as far as water changes and care of tanks. I put in the time needed and usually dont take shortcuts. Whatever thoughts you have that could work to save as many fish as possible from walmart I would love to hear. I am always up for a challenge!

Thanks everyone, I am a regular over on the saltwater section of the forum and even though I keep a 125g cichlid tank i don't get to the freshwater side here very often so help a fellow forum poster out. lol

And yes, I have a tendency to write really really long posts so I apologize,

 

[Gibberwatt]

OK, first off, a five gallon is probably your minimum, but you can go as big as you like, in terms of space. The limit is one dude, or as many ladies as you can stuff in - the dudes only like the ladies in the time between when the dude is courting her, and the time she lays her eggs. otherwise, the dude couldn't care less.

If you felt like it, you could get a dude in a separate tank, and have that tank for breeding. it would need low water flow and good conditions, to protect the bubble nest. Put a lady in there every now and again, let them do their private stuff, and take the lady out (The guys protect the nests from ALL forms of life), and prepare yourself for fry. I think. Anyone else is free to tell me where I got it totally wrong.

 

[Masha]

You can have more than one female betta, but if you have two few of them, they'll beat one another up. I think the ideal number is about 6 - people call a tank like that a "betta sorority" and you have to be careful about how you introduce the new fish, as it's all about letting them establish a hierarchy without fighting about it.

Google betta sorority and you'll find a lot of great articles on just how to do it

 

[carey]

Ok, so lots of females is ok but only a single male can be in one tank? And what about a male/female pair, could they be in the same tank all the time? Or just when mating?

Thanks guys, you are helping alot!

 

[Raleighfishnerd]

I have kept multiple females in a tank with a male, in fact all of my freshwater community tanks have had at least one male and one female sometimes 3-7 females. Just be sure there are no places where they can get stuck by wedging themselves. I lost a male that way and had a female who's tail got eaten while she was stuck, saved her but don't think her tail will ever grow back


Sent from the Death Star

 

[Mebbid]

Ok, so lots of females is ok but only a single male can be in one tank? And what about a male/female pair, could they be in the same tank all the time? Or just when mating?

Thanks guys, you are helping alot!

Generally, it's a poor idea to try a combination of males and females in the same tank. The male will tend to beat the crap out of females. It can work but I would assume that's a rarity unless you don't mind fin damage on the females.

However, bettas do good with just about any other community fish assuming they aren't one with flashy showy tails such as guppies.

 

[betta_cuties]

I have a tank with 7 females and 1 male. They do great together! Live plants would be great, as they would provide a natural feel. If you mix genders, make sure there are many hiding places.

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[carey]

OK, so, lol, I think if I go ahead with my rescue plan I will stick to females, just to avoid any issues. Plus I am not interested in breeding them so I guess I male isn't really necessary.

Now to stocking thoughts.....Keep in mind that I am into this idea to save fish from lanquishing on the shelves at walmart, thats my primary concern so the more I can fit the better. lol I am good with water changes and keeping the tank stable so overstocking might not even be an issue.
But to the point, how many females can I put in a tank? Not looking to go very large, I figure a 30g would be the biggest I could go. Or two tens....these will go in the kitchen so space is somewhat limited. i also have a 16g tall tank that I am not using. Couple of routes I could take with this project.

Let em know! Thanks so much everyone who has posted, I really appreciate it!

 

[Mebbid]

OK, so, lol, I think if I go ahead with my rescue plan I will stick to females, just to avoid any issues. Plus I am not interested in breeding them so I guess I male isn't really necessary.

Now to stocking thoughts.....Keep in mind that I am into this idea to save fish from lanquishing on the shelves at walmart, thats my primary concern so the more I can fit the better. lol I am good with water changes and keeping the tank stable so overstocking might not even be an issue.
But to the point, how many females can I put in a tank? Not looking to go very large, I figure a 30g would be the biggest I could go. Or two tens....these will go in the kitchen so space is somewhat limited. i also have a 16g tall tank that I am not using. Couple of routes I could take with this project.

Let em know! Thanks so much everyone who has posted, I really appreciate it!

I would go with the 30 for sure over 2 tens. As for a number, 6 is the minimum recommended number of females per tank. More would work as well, but just be sure to give them lots of hiding places.

 

[carey]

I would add a good amount of plants, whether live or fake. I have tried live plantings before and failed miserably. lol

But yeah, whatever they would need I would be more than willing to get. I believe they need low flow too correct? So a hangon filter would be sufficient? A heater of course...what about air stones? yes or no? anything else I would need?
I would love to have about 10 fishies, but is that pushing it for the 30g? Are they swimmers if given a large tank? I have only seen them looking dead and still in cups so have no idea how they react to having swim space, which of course would dictate how many I add.
Also, are the betta foods required? Petco has an entire shelf full of special betta things. lol
Also, they sell special betta water, whats up with that?

 

[betta_cuties]

The betta water is useless... Just use prime or a declorinator. I use topfin declor and it works great I would buy betta pelletes and freeze dried blood worms. Bettas love to swim, but 10 for a 30g would be fine. I like Adisons betta pro, but that's just me Try different foods and see what your bettas like. A quick warning though; you might catch the betta bug and end up with 5 betta tanks before you know it

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[carey]

Thanks so much betta_cuties! I appreciate all the help.

I hope I dont get the betta bug, lol, I already have 5 tanks up and running. A 180g reef, 125g cichlids, 90 fish only sw, 60 reef and a 40b reef. lol

I think it would be awesome to have some bettas and to save them. Just hope I am up to the task, I do really well with saltwater but have never ever had a betta. They look so beautiful when the fins are out and they arent lying on the bottom of a stupid cup. lol

Do bettas need super clean water like discus do? I have an ro/di unit so can produce super clean water if they would do better with it.

 

[Mebbid]

Thanks so much betta_cuties! I appreciate all the help.

I hope I dont get the betta bug, lol, I already have 5 tanks up and running. A 180g reef, 125g cichlids, 90 fish only sw, 60 reef and a 40b reef. lol

I think it would be awesome to have some bettas and to save them. Just hope I am up to the task, I do really well with saltwater but have never ever had a betta. They look so beautiful when the fins are out and they arent lying on the bottom of a stupid cup. lol

Do bettas need super clean water like discus do? I have an ro/di unit so can produce super clean water if they would do better with it.

Bettas are some of the easiest fish around You don't need to bother with the ro/di and in fact the ro/di is a bad thing for fresh water tanks. Just keep up on weekly maintenance and keep the nitrates below 40ppm and everything will do great

 

[betta_cuties]

They are very hardy IMHO, just remember they have been in those cups and shipping all over the creation for weeks without water changes or food. It might be hard to find females at Walmart, if I were you I would make sure they are females and not short tail males. Check out this link to be sure of the genders. http://www.bettatalk.com/how_to_sex_bettas.htm . It is so easy to catch the betta bug! I caught it from my cousins poor betta in a tiny bowl with no filter or heater! Needless to say, my first betta was a rescue mission as well . As far as filtration goes, bettas don't like much water flow, so a spounge filter would be the best. An air pump is not needed, as bettas are labyrinth fish, so they breathe air from the surface. A HOB would be a no-no, because of the heavy flow. I have this filter in all of my tanks. http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/spongefilter.html

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[Britty]

I think it's great you're in the scope to save a Betta, or a even a few from the confines of Walmart!

I recently set up a Betta tank for my wife and the feeling of rescuing one from the confines of the LFS 3 inch cube was enormous. So sad they are kept like this.

We ended up using a bowl. Not sure why people are against bowls? They are terrific when they are sized correctly, free of siliconed seams and when filled everything inside looks slightly bigger due to the magnification of the curved glass. It's become a real talking point amongst friends and family who visit compared to my standard rectangular main tank which gets a passing interest LOL.

It's a 8.5 gallon bowl, 40cm diameter, 35cm tall. Plenty of space for one betta. After adding a bit of substrate, decorations, filter and a 25watt heater the bowl took 7 gallons of water. This is orders of magnitude better compared to what he was living in.

We also put in two amazon swords, some hairgrass and a hollow resin tree stump decorations with lots of exploring and big hidey holes which he can swim right through to the other sides without hitting his fins. I made a clear acrylic lid and installed in a 15watt LED plant gro fixture, low light shining down into the bowl from above on a split timer.

For water quality control we use a small sponge filter with a Marina 200 air pump. I opened the base of the resin stump and fit the sponge filter inside it. You cant see the filter when its all done, (my wife didn't want to be able to see it out in the open) but its working very effectively. I drilled holes in the top of the stump for the air to escape.

Also fit in a small air stone under the substrate to provide more surface exchange and to help the sponge filter action to push some water around. But the overall water flow is quite gentle.

It's been 3 months now after we fishless cycled the sponge filter and set him up in his new tank. We ended up getting an iridescent blue veiltail but there were lots of great looking Betta in the store. We picked him because he reacted to our presence and had a certain fervour like he just wanted to get out of there and SWIM! The Betta is still as thrilled as he was when he first got into his new home. He's always swimming laps, always curious, always exploring, always ready to eat and he always comes to greet you when you go peering inside. On rare occassions he will flare up at random things, just to show them who's boss I guess. Fun to watch.

The tank and water are very simple to maintain. He's really happy. We do one vac, clean and 40% water change a week and I've done one real big clean in 2 months where I also pulled the decorations out and gave the filter sponge a squeeze to get all the muck out. Thats all. The tank always looks pristine as the Betta never gets very messy anyway. He's easy to look after.

Maybe all this will give you some ideas, or further inspiration. I can't recommend a Betta enough. It's worth the effort!

 

[carey]

Very cool, more input! I love this site! lol

So if a hangon filter isnt the way to go, then just a sponge filter? I have a larger sponge type filter I bought for potentially using in a sw qt tank but just need a new sponge. This is really all I would need? Even in a 30g tank? Do you all have any links as to what you think would be best? I'm not 100% on which one I should get.
I'm glad to hear that they are easy to keep fish, some of the most beautiful fish tend to be difficult to keep, ie: mandarins. ( though i managed to keep my mandy the mandarin for several years)
Just trying to be super sure before I go down the betta road, thats why i am asking what must be silly questions. lol

 

[carey]

How about this filter?

http://www.amazon.com/Penn-Cascade-...upplies_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WPNEAAZM0Z89V50344A

 

[betta_cuties]

That filter would be too much flow. It needs to be a spounge and not a internal. You can use a power head or air pump with it. The spounge provides all the filtration you need, but I do thing you should do some live plants. I use the linked setup for my 55 soroity and it works great. http://www.amazon.com/Hydro-IV-Spon...qid=1407735586&sr=8-18&keywords=sponge+filter
http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-A852-Q...UTF8&qid=1407736015&sr=1-1&keywords=fluval+q2


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[Mattyfelts]

For a single male betta, I would go a 5g, with some anubias or java fern and hob filter. Would be pretty nice

 

[Mattyfelts]

I also dont agree with the "has to be a sponge" advice. I never have used a sponge, on my 10 gallon betta i used an old topfin 10G HOB filter and it was fine. no issues at all, as long as its not tossing the betta everywhere youll be okay.