Save lucy! 5 gallon betta tank

[ocminpin]

Lets start out with saying I didn't know much about fish specifics or aquariums until i came here to AA... I have since gotten wonderful advice and am so happy and grateful to feel so welcomed into such a knowledgeable group of people.

I have a female juvenile betta in a 1 gallon container, Lucy... It has since horrified me to realize I have her in cramped, rather inhumane conditions and want to go and get a 5 gallon tank asap, but SAFELY.

I've had Lucy for about 2 months, with rocks on the bottom, a cave to hide in, and a small plastic plant. I remove her once a week and do a complete 100% water change and rinse out her bowl to get out any of the slick on the inside of the container. I add approx same temperature water back in and add water dechlorinator...

She's a vigorous eater--- pellets, and loves her freeze-dried bloodworms and frozen Baby Brine Shrimp. She will jump for he food and stands on end waiting for me to drop the food in for her... I feed twice a day.

I am going to set up a 5 gal tank for her... Can I just get it, add gravel, plants, her cave, add dechlorinator and put her in? Wondering since she's used to these water conditions...
Do I need to fully cycle it first? She's obviously been ok in what she's been in... I just want her happy with lots of swimming room so she can live a happy life... I tried adding her to my tank with mollies in it, but needless to say the couple lyretails were too much for her... She attacked relentlessly..
Live plants, fake plants? How often feeding? Tank cycle first or in fish cycling...

Thank you for helping educate a girl who grew up with goldfish in bowls and pickle jars...
I appreciate everything you have to say.

 

[ocminpin]

Meet Lucy, who's fins have gotten redder and more defined since I've gotten her
I <3 Lucy



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[eco23]

If you have another cycled, established tank...you can simply donate some filter media from the old tank into the new filter. The bacteria you bring over should be able to handle the waste the Betta produces no problem.

You can also buy an "active" sponge filter from a website online which contains beneficial bacteria. Bettas don't particularly care for strong currents, so sponge filters can be a great choice for their tank. I have mine in a 5 gallon Fluval Chi...and it has a very gentle current the Betta likes. He's building bubble nests 24/7.

I'd also seriously cut back on feeding. I feed around 3 pellets 5 days a week, with occasional bloodworms and peas once a week. They're not overly active fish, so they don't require as much food as other more active fish which exert lots of energy.

* Pretty fish

** Oh...and good for you doing the right thing for your Betta. It's refreshing to hear

 

[Aces11]

I'm not sure about the tank but I'm also trying to get a 5g for my male betta. He also did not succeed it my community tank with platys and endlers- he chased them and flared at them constantly.
And I used to have a female just like yours! Her name was Ruby.

 

[ocminpin]

Oh yea... Heater? I had a Top Fin heater rated for 5-10 gal for my 10 gallon tank and there was a problem.... Both female mollies died overnight... Mid swim in plants... The water felt same temp as usual and read 78... Mercury leak? Or what.. Has me terrified of heaters completely.... I want Lucy to have a heater as well as my other tanks...

 

[Galligak]

Lets start out with saying I didn't know much about fish specifics or aquariums until i came here to AA... I have since gotten wonderful advice and am so happy and grateful to feel so welcomed into such a knowledgeable group of people.

I have a female juvenile betta in a 1 gallon container, Lucy... It has since horrified me to realize I have her in cramped, rather inhumane conditions and want to go and get a 5 gallon tank asap, but SAFELY.

I've had Lucy for about 2 months, with rocks on the bottom, a cave to hide in, and a small plastic plant. I remove her once a week and do a complete 100% water change and rinse out her bowl to get out any of the slick on the inside of the container. I add approx same temperature water back in and add water dechlorinator...

She's a vigorous eater--- pellets, and loves her freeze-dried bloodworms and frozen Baby Brine Shrimp. She will jump for he food and stands on end waiting for me to drop the food in for her... I feed twice a day.

I am going to set up a 5 gal tank for her... Can I just get it, add gravel, plants, her cave, add dechlorinator and put her in? Wondering since she's used to these water conditions...
Do I need to fully cycle it first? She's obviously been ok in what she's been in... I just want her happy with lots of swimming room so she can live a happy life... I tried adding her to my tank with mollies in it, but needless to say the couple lyretails were too much for her... She attacked relentlessly..
Live plants, fake plants? How often feeding? Tank cycle first or in fish cycling...

Thank you for helping educate a girl who grew up with goldfish in bowls and pickle jars...
I appreciate everything you have to say.

First I must say that Lucy looks amazing!

Listen to everyone else because I agree!
As for heater don't be scared every once and a while you'll get a bad one.

 

[librarygirl]

Did you add the heater one day and the fish died the next day? It might have been coincidence, heaters don't generally kill fish. There are instances where they've shorted out and an electric current went into the tank but I doubt that's common. I know bettas like warmer water so a heater would be good in any tropical tank. Do you have a filter on the 1 gal the betta is in now?

Do you have another established tank (the 10 gal)?

You should probably cycle the 5 gal and it should have a filter too just to be on the safe side. If you already have an established tank with a filter just take some of the filter media and put it into the new 5 gal filter, it should help a lot if not instantly cycle it. I'd test the water daily for a week or two though just to make sure there aren't any toxin spikes from mini-cycles (I'd monitor the 10 gal too for a week or so just to make sure any media you pull from there doesn't throw it into a mini-cycle as well).

Kudos to you for upgrading your Bettas home. Very pretty fish.

 

[ocminpin]

Thank you for all your support... Yes I put the heater in on Saturday around lunchtime and Sunday morning I woke up to dead mollies. One about to drop her gigantic batch of fry seemingly any second...
I don't have a heater on Lucy's container... Just the container with dechlorinator... I'm
Thinking now a sponge filter? And a heater.. Do you recommend a brand? I'm holding my breath...

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about that, it could have been a defective heater or not, we'll never really know. But most of us use heaters without issues so I think it's ok.

As for heaters I have an Aqueon heater and I like it; it has a temperature dial that you can set to the temperature you want. I have an in-tank thermometer to double-check and the heater has been reliable so far.

A sponge filter would be fine for just a betta I would think.

 

[ocminpin]

Okay... I will try the aqueon heater for my 10 gallons... And a sponge filter for Miss Lucy's 5 gallon... What heater for her?

 

[New]

i have top fin heaters in my 10 and 5.5 gal tanks, no problems so far

 

[ocminpin]

5-10 gal Top fin was the malfunctioned heater... :-(

 

[librarygirl]

Aqueon has heaters for all size tanks. Just look at the packaging it'll tell you the aquarium size for the heater.