New to Bettas, not to the hobby

[Shetland James]

I decided to get my first Betta today. I've never kept them before but I've read a bit about them. Does anyone have any advice on how to best get their colours/fins out in all their glory?

Any tips at all would be useful. He's being kept with 19 neon's and he's been quite docile so far, but I can appreciate that they can just snap and turn around.

Cheers

 

[jjhabe]

I put a mirror on the side of my tank. They like to compete with other bettas and they don't know it's not a different one. I have two one gallon tanks side by side, and that's my favorite set up. I could watch them all day! I bet yours is pretty in there with all the neons.

 

[Shetland James]

We've already had fun with a small mirror. Isn't it a bit wasteful of their energy to be perked up all the time? Wouldn't it lead them to be more aggressive?

This is pretty much a carbon copy of mine: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cFt9mEgmjbc/SeP4NBVJUcI/AAAAAAAAD7Q/PTRGdrPyyOA/s400/10.jpg

 

[BigJim]

Add some waterflow or a female betta. I'm convinced that my bettas grow bigger and healthier in a tank with water movement. The male will also show off for a female, but it can be dicey, depending on the temperaments.

 

[iDream]

shouldnt you have like 2-3 females per male? idk just what i thought was the way to keep males and females together

 

[BigJim]

I've had luck with one female or three to four females. Keeping two females hasn't worked for me. They ganged up on the male and shredded his fins. I moved the females to another tank, added a third female, then another male, and I didn't have any problems. I recently had two of my female bettas die, so it's just the male and one female left. They don't bother one another. Just my experience.

 

[dkpate]

Don't put males and females together unless you can be there to watch all the time, since the breeding can get pretty violent.

The best way to keep them pretty is to get a good pellet (I like Hikari Betta Bio-Gold), keep the water temp between 80-82*F, clean water, and no stress.

You can put the mirror up for about 10 minutes a day, no longer, or the betta can get stressed out.

 

[Shetland James]

Would Balloon mollies have any trouble with a SFF?

 

[Vircomore]

I assume by "SFF" you're talking about a female betta? That might work depending on the temprement of the Betta.

I keep regular Black Mollies and I've seen on several occasions that it is NOT recommended to put mollies with a Male Betta. Their body types are similar enough that the Male Betta confuses them for female bettas and can harass or kill them.

 

[BigJim]

SFF = Siamese Fighting Fish AKA Betta

I've got a black balloon molly in my 29g with a male and female betta. They leave each other alone. You'd probably have more trouble keeping shortfin or sailfin mollies with bettas. They can be more aggressive than balloons and may not get along with bettas.

 

[Shetland James]

My tank is about 13-15g I can't remember exactly. It is quite spacious. There are 19 Neon tetras in with the Betta and he ignores them apart from at feeding time but then all fish chase each other around at this point.