Betta Tank

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REDCHEVYBLAZER

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
51
I recently acquired another 10 gallon tank. It was free so as you know, hard to turn down. It also looks like it was never used. I put it in the bath tub earlier and filled it with water. Has no issues holding water.

Anyways, I got to thinking of what to put in there, and I thought, Betta?!

I know Betta's are fairly clean fish. Would it be okay to not have a filter for a while? I have another heater I can use to heat the water. I know they are kept in bowls with no filter. Or would it be recommended to put a filter on the tank? I really like Betta fish and would love to have a Betta tank, but I don't think it would be a good idea to put a Betta in my current tank.

Is there any way to specifically set up a tank for one? I know when I lived with my ex we had a Betta in a 1/2 gallon bowl and all that was in there was a small Spongebob house which the Betta seemed to like swimming through, and he also had pink rocks (poor guy, I felt bad for him because my ex chose that color for him). That was it.

Can Betta's eat just normal Tropical fish food? Or is it better to eat Betta food?

Lastly, is there a difference in just a regular Betta, Crowntail, Half Moon, etc?

It'd be great if you could answer as much as possible. I know a lot about fish (learning more and more every day), but nothing about Betta's.
 
I recently acquired another 10 gallon tank. It was free so as you know, hard to turn down. It also looks like it was never used. I put it in the bath tub earlier and filled it with water. Has no issues holding water.

Anyways, I got to thinking of what to put in there, and I thought, Betta?!

I know Betta's are fairly clean fish. Would it be okay to not have a filter for a while? I have another heater I can use to heat the water. I know they are kept in bowls with no filter. Or would it be recommended to put a filter on the tank? I really like Betta fish and would love to have a Betta tank, but I don't think it would be a good idea to put a Betta in my current tank.

Is there any way to specifically set up a tank for one? I know when I lived with my ex we had a Betta in a 1/2 gallon bowl and all that was in there was a small Spongebob house which the Betta seemed to like swimming through, and he also had pink rocks (poor guy, I felt bad for him because my ex chose that color for him). That was it.

Can Betta's eat just normal Tropical fish food? Or is it better to eat Betta food?

Lastly, is there a difference in just a regular Betta, Crowntail, Half Moon, etc?

It'd be great if you could answer as much as possible. I know a lot about fish (learning more and more every day), but nothing about Betta's.

A filter is necessary to keep your tank water clean. As for set-up, several places to hide. A couple caves and some plants would be ideal for him. I have always fed them betta food, but am not sure if there really is much difference.

Betta is just the species of fish. There isn't really a "regular betta". Crowntail and halfmoon are different types of bettas. The ones I love and have yet to be able to get are plakats. I like them because they look so different from the others. I read that plakats were bred to fight originally. The only downside to them is everything I read says plakats are MEAN. I just so happen to like mean fish, though I don't know why, but if mean isn't your thing, then another type of betta that catches your eye would be better.

Several places say that bettas naturally live in shallow puddles. They actually naturally live in rice paddies, which are shallow, but go for hundreds of acres. It will be much happier in a 10-gal.

Keep the tank water clean and your betta will be very happy. Feed once a day what he or she will eat all of. I can't really say the general rule of what they can eat in I think it was a minute, because my first betta would take ten freeze-dried shrimp, which was all he would touch, he would let them sit there for a good ten minutes, and then devour them. So if I took them out after a minute, he wouldn't eat. He was odd.

Do not leave uneaten food in the tank. It will get nasty and dirty up your water on top of it.

Remember, bettas are smart fish. They have very distinct personalities, and in a 10-gal, you will see it. My first one was so mean, he would try to attack my ex-boyfriend if he came within ten feet of the tank. My last one was so docile, he was afraid of a snail feeler. I about died laughing when I saw it.

Any other questions, I'll do my best to help.
 
I would get a filter. You could get one relatively cheap for a 10 gal. I use a Marina S10 on my 10 gal betta tank. They don't like a lot of flow and their fins can get caught on the intake tubes sometimes. The thing I like about the Marina is that it comes with a sponge that fits over the intake to keep the fins getting caught on it.

If you already have another healthy established tank just take a bit of filter media (a piece of sponge or whatever you have) and add it to the new filter to help cycle it.

Pretty much any decor is fine as long as it isn't sharp as bettas can get injured if they rub against sharp objects. Even some plastic plants can have sharp edges so just be careful.

As for food, I feed mine Omega One Betta pellets or New Life Spectrum Community pellets or HIkari pellets. It doesn't have to be specifcally betta food. He likes all of them so I rotate to give him a bit of variety. 2-3 pellets twice a day is sufficient.
 
Okay. Thanks for answering those questions. Lastly though, I've heard Betta's can be with females but its recommended to have 2 females over just one. Is this true?

I don't want the poor little guy to be lonely.
 
Okay. Thanks for answering those questions. Lastly though, I've heard Betta's can be with females but its recommended to have 2 females over just one. Is this true?

I don't want the poor little guy to be lonely.

Trust me. He won't be lonely. It all depends on the betta. Some are fine with females, some will fight them. I personally would not risk it. He will be happy with just your company.
 
^agreed. People have kept betta females together (a sorority) but you'd need at least a 20 gal to even attempt it. A male and female together would kill each other. A single fish is fine and he or she will entertain themselves. Mine flares at his reflection a lot, so he probably thinks there's another fish there with him lol .
 
I've heard that Ghost Shrimp and African Dwarf Frogs are a good combo for a Betta aquarium. I was actually going to go this route originally, but my ex (was girlfriend at the time) convinced me to do a community tank because there was 2 platy's that she said reminded her of us. There was a crap ton in the tank at her work, but those 2 were always together and those 2 ignored the rest. They ended up dying on me recently though. I was stupid and fell for it. I still to this day have the community tank.

Or would it be best to just leave the Betta to himself?
 
Better to keep the betta alone. Some can work with african dwarf frogs, but some will try to bite their webbing in their feet. Bettas are very solitary fish. Ghost shrimp are likely to become a tasty snack. A lot of people try to figure out how to make a tank work with a betta and several other fish, but most of the time, it doesn't work. The only reason I put a snail in with my last betta was he decided to make a massive mess of food all over his tank and he was so docile he wouldn't attack anything. Bettas don't need any friends in the tank with them. Most of the time, they don't like it. There is no need to try to put anything with him. He'll be quite happy by himself in the tank.
 
I agree that he will be happy by himself but I have to say out of all the Bettas I've had over the years (some 20+) only one did not get along with any tank mates. The trick is to pick compatible tank mates and provide sufficient cover for the betta. Small non-nippy schooling fish often work well. Shrimp are very hit and miss. Most end up as snacks. Dwarf frogs do much better in species only tanks. Best to avoid mixing them with fish.
 
I rescued a betta from my cousins wedding. Put him in my 20 gallon with a couple Platties, a swordtail, snails and shrimp and he is doing great, it's been over 6 months and I even sucked him up in the siphon about 3 months ago and he still great. Dosent bother anything, he is afraid of the shrimp and the other fish don't even know he exists. I also grew out a angel fish for a couple months, and had 3 yoyo loaches in there, and a african dwarf frog. So my betta lived with all sorts of fish and inverts and didn't bother any of them.
 
I gues worst comes to worse I could keep him alone. I may add a few ghost shrimp with him. If I have to I could always relocate the shrimo to my other tank cause I have 3 in my current set up. Those things do a great job cleaning the bottom.
 
I've had a betta that did better in the community tank than his did on his own, and a betta that tried to kill anything that moved, including med-sized mystery snail. It really is about their individual personalities, but in my experience, veiltails are the most docile.
The community guy lives with frogs, danios, snails, cories and shrimp just fine.
 
Looks like when the I get the tank set up and a Betta in I will put in a couple Ghost Shrimp and if they don't do well with Betta I'll just put them in my other tank since my other tank could use a few more.
 
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