Amateur Fish Care Taker.

[StarfishHands]

Hi everyone! I have an Elephant Ear Betta Female and she is still alive. She loves swimming in her 5.5 gallon tank. I used sand instead of gravel because I think it looks more natural plus I noticed she kept getting her little fin stuck in the gravel!!![emoji21][emoji21] Omg. So, I replaced it with sand. I added Japanese Peace Lillies (the roots are in the water and the leaves are not). She has a little skull she can do a little swimmy swimmy through. Suprisenly, she is super cute eye she eats. As soon as I put a bloodworm in she goes and gets it. Its like she knows when she's suppose to fed. She does have a heater and a filter. I wish it was an indoor filter but it is not. I have not done research on the indoor filter. The VERY BRIGHT LED lights look a little too bright sometimes. I found out that instead of buying that cruddy betta water I can buy fresh water at the dollar general for $1 and that is the same. Ridiculous...I have a moss ball inside and that is about it. One thing I know I need to work on is finding out when to change her water. Other than that she's always so energetic. Its a pleasure to meet everyone of you. Can't wait too see your very cool pictures of Fish! #Fishpeoplesticktogether

 

[Delapool]

Welcome aboard

 

[King Fisher]

Welcome!! Do a 50% water change every week

 

[Autumnsky]

Check out the article in my signature line, Getting Started/New..., it will give you loads of really useful information.

Welcome and nice to hear your Betta is in a good size home.

 

[JackBinimbul]

Hello, Starfish!

I don't know where you live, but for most people, tap water is fine but you need to use a water conditioner. These usually include a dechlorinator and/or treatments for heavy metals.

As for the water changing, 25-50% every week is pretty standard. If you want to dial it in perfectly, you can get a water test kit like this one from API. Then you can monitor the water levels for safety.

Autumn's articles are also super helpful and a great place to start. Welcome to the fish family!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.