Rescued a male betta need advice

[jpegan]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine asked me to rescue her Betta from her recently. It was in an extremely small area probably less than a gallon for months without a filter or temperature control. It stuffed itself in a really tight space and its spine looks almost permanently curved . Luckily he is still with us and I have moved him to a 35 gallon tank with proper temperature and filtering. So far he has been much more active and I have even seen him eating which was great.

I am new to the aquarium hobby and want to add some non fish animals like sea stars or snails, and maybe eventually a few tetras or some other small peaceful fish. I am open to any and all advice to help improve the quality of life for this betta, as well as any advice on proper tank mates. Let me know if you need more info or some pictures !

Thanks for your help
-Jack

[Aiken Drum]

35 gallon is a huge amount of water for a betta. So there is definitely scope to add some other fish and invertebrates in there. I would always advise caution when mixing other fish with bettas as bettas dont always take well to having company, but in such a large tank with plenty of territory that risk should be very minimal.

I would read up somewhat on the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank. With only 1 fish in such a large water volume cycling largely irrelevant, but if you plan to add more fish then your cycle will need to catch up.

Invertebrates. Snails should be very safe additions. Nerite snails are great tank cleaners. Mystery snails are a little more attractive and interesting. Im not sure what you mean by sea stars. Starfish? The things you find in the sea? These are marine inverts and will die in freshwater.

Fish. Corys are good tank mates and will do a good job cleaning up any uneaten food from the substrate. Neon tetras and platys are considered good betta tank mates. Try and avoid anything too fancy with long fins that the betta might see as a rival. Be aware that this will all be dependant on the temperament of your induvidual betta, so have a plan for if things go wrong. Tank mates for bettas are for your benefit not the bettas. They are happy in smaller tanks (say 3 to 5g) and on their own.

[Joe_D]

I have had Betas in the past when they were once just commonly called "Siamese fighting fish "
There was no problem is a community tank with no fin nippers.

They are territorial .
So it is best to add them last.. Otherwise they will think most of the tank is their territory and cause issues when other fish are added.
In an already stocked tank with peaceful fish, they will just tend to go to a "safe" area to rest . ..

[ADsnail]

You could fill the space with cool places for him to hide and explore. The betta log, of course; live or silk plants so his fins won't shred. It's funny how the more places they have to hide, the more they feel like going out into the open. Mine loves whizzing around through arches and squeezing between tight places like he's on an obstacle course.

If I had that much room, I'd put in even more decor for myself, with a theme. Ancient crumbling ruins, fantasy forest, at the beach, etc. I have a dwarf crawfish in a tank with the theme The Dump: this bottom dweller has an alligator skull, old tires, a crashed car, etc. I think my next one is going to be a vacation theme: TV, easy chair, bar-b-q. It's amazing what's out there in aquarium decor these days.