New Betta - Taking Help from Experience Betta Keepers and Others :D

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Well i'm going to be leaving soon to get a betta. I've had a betta when I was a kid, but i've never did any serious betta keeping since i've gotten back into the hobby. My 5G is empty with just plants, so I thought it would be nice to have some life in there besides plants and snails.


Just wondering if there is anything I should keep watch for or things I should do to keep him or her as healthy as possible. I feel bad for those little guys in the cups so I want to make sure i'm not putting him into a worst situation.


Like I said, you experience betta owners out there, tell me what I should make sure to do. Thank you.

 

[partypalooza5]

I had a betta in a 10G tank with some neon tetras, a snail, and some ghost shrimp. and he was happy for about 2 years. I don't think there's anything special you need to do. Betta's are pretty hardy from what I've seen.

 

[new2betas]

You will need a small heater (25w) to keep him around 80-82 degrees. Vary their diet, as with most fish, and he should be fine.

 

[darkmule27]

One thing to remember is that bettas are carnivores. They are also HUGE pigs. If you feed four times a day, they will eat four times a day. Only other thing I've noticed is most bettas prefer granules/teensy pellets to flakes.

One thing every betta seems to love is a floating plant, either fake or real (for fake, go to the reptile section and get floating turtle plants...WAY cheaper!). The betta in my 20G at home will grab and move his fake duckweed if a single piece goes to the wrong part of the aquarium. He also stores food in it, lol.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Got the betta and some pictures.

Well I went to petsmart to look at all the bettas. I picked the one I did because he has good color, plus he was actually kind of playful just in the cup, compared to the others so I got him for $5.99. The pictures aren't the best because we was exploring once he got in the tank so he was moving quite a bit. I put a couple of my cichlid pellets in the tank and he put them in his mouth then spit it out. Don't know if he just wasn't hungry or he doesn't like them or what. I'm going to try some blood worms later tonight, I know he'll love those.

Since it seemed like a lot of the things people told me were about tank setup, i'll tell you mine.

I have a powerfilter, set on lowest current because I know they don't like current. I have tons of corkscrew val and other plants that come over the top of the water, so they are basiclly floating plants, plus I got some red-root floaters on the way so he will love those aswell. I have a 50W heater that heats the water around 76-80 degrees. No higher or lower. He has plenty of plants to hide in, my mom couldn't even find him earlier he was hiden well. It's a 5G tank, i'm going to start running an airstone at night for him since I have Co2 going into the tank.

If anything seems wrong or you still want to tell him somethings to know, i'll appreciate it.

Here are the pictures:

I'll have better pictures later on when he calms down a bit, when he is done exploring.

 

[new2betas]

He's pretty, Ben! I would really suggest getting his temp up to 80-82 as this is the preferred temp for bettas. Mine love bloodworms as well as peas occasionally. Your tank sounds great for him with all of the plants, he will really love that. Is your tank 5g hex (high) or long?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

He's pretty, Ben! I would really suggest getting his temp up to 80-82 as this is the preferred temp for bettas. Mine love bloodworms as well as peas occasionally. Your tank sounds great for him with all of the plants, he will really love that. Is your tank 5g hex (high) or long?

It's not a hex, it's the classic rectangle shape like any 10G, just a 5G.


Well on my heater you can't control the heat, just stays in the 76-80 range. I bought a heater for the tank but it's kind of big. I might switch them around and see if it will fit in the filter, which where the one is now. If I can i'll switch so I can have a constant 80 degrees. If I can't it'll be fine i'm sure.

 

[joy13]

He is very nice looking!! The thing about bloodworms they can constipate a betta. At least once a week offer it a shelled pea. He looks very young give him about 6 months in that big tank and you will see a big change!

I have a couple of little ole men about 5 now.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

He is very nice looking!! The thing about bloodworms they can constipate a betta. At least once a week offer it a shelled pea. He looks very young give him about 6 months in that big tank and you will see a big change!

I have a couple of little ole men about 5 now.

I never knew that about bloodworms and bettas. I'll try to give him a shelled pea at least once a week. He is very young you can easily tell.