Caring for Betta Fishes

[mwilliams]

Hi Everyone, I have been thinking about getting a Betta fish for my desk here at work. There are several ladies that have them and I just love my fishes... I would really like to setup a little Saltwater Nano tank but I do not want to take the chance in case the electricity should ever go out on the weekends here at the Office.
Just a few questions here....

What kind of water do you use?

Do any have live plants in the container with them?

How often do you change and clean their containers?

I read somewhere not to use Distilled water so could you use RODI water or is that the same as Distilled water?

 

[VeteranX]

I recently started a small Betta tank(1 gallon).It supports 1 Betta quite well. I use bottled Betta water.Live plants look great and help tank health.

 

[King Fisher]

Minimum 3 gallon for a betta. I prefer 5g myself. Reasons.....more room for the betta means better overall health and 3g or more allows for a heater and small filter which is mandatory IMO.

You should cycle a tank first before adding fish....but if you are willing to do 50% water changes twice a week you should be ok not cycling right away. Eventually it will cycle. Don't over feed. Feed 4-5 betta pellets a day. Make sure the fish eats each pellet. I usually do one at a time. Less mess less ammonia and bad water problems. Get a turkey baster to suck up fish poo and uneaten food from the bottom of the tank.

Live Plants are ok and they will not only make the betta feel more secure but will improve water quality. Get easy plants...low light type. There's members on here who have knowledge of the plants that would be good for you.

Don't use RO or Distilled unless you want to be adding mineral supplements to your water every water change. Use tap water with dechlorinator before adding it to the tank. I'll advise you to buy an API master test kit to test your water. Also, match the temp of the water you add to the temp of the tank.

Make sure you keep the tank at 78-80 degrees. If you put decorations in the tank (including live plants) wash them off thoroughly before hand. With decorations, I scrub them with Dawn dish soap and rinse them very well with hot water. Some will say not to use soap...you can use white vinegar and wash thoroughly afterwards. Boiling them could be an option depending on the decoration.

I'm sure I missed something but that should get you started. If you need help with equipment we can help with that too.

 

[mwilliams]

Caring for Betts Fishe

Minimum 3 gallon for a betta. I prefer 5g myself. Reasons.....more room for the betta means better overall health and 3g or more allows for a heater and small filter which is mandatory IMO.

You should cycle a tank first before adding fish....but if you are willing to do 50% water changes twice a week you should be ok not cycling right away. Eventually it will cycle. Don't over feed. Feed 4-5 betta pellets a day. Make sure the fish eats each pellet. I usually do one at a time. Less mess less ammonia and bad water problems. Get a turkey baster to suck up fish poo and uneaten food from the bottom of the tank.

Live Plants are ok and they will not only make the betta feel more secure but will improve water quality. Get easy plants...low light type. There's members on here who have knowledge of the plants that would be good for you.

Don't use RO or Distilled unless you want to be adding mineral supplements to your water every water change. Use tap water with dechlorinator before adding it to the tank. I'll advise you to buy an API master test kit to test your water. Also, match the temp of the water you add to the temp of the tank.

Make sure you keep the tank at 78-80 degrees. If you put decorations in the tank (including live plants) wash them off thoroughly before hand. With decorations, I scrub them with Dawn dish soap and rinse them very well with hot water. Some will say not to use soap...you can use white vinegar and wash thoroughly afterwards. Boiling them could be an option depending on the decoration.

I'm sure I missed something but that should get you started. If you need help with equipment we can help with that too.

Thank you. Great info. Hopefully someone will chime in for the live plants which one are the best.

 

[mwilliams]

Caring for Betts Fishes

I recently started a small Betta tank(1 gallon).It supports 1 Betta quite well. I use bottled Betta water.Live plants look great and help tank health.

Thank you.

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Java fern, java moss, hornwort, anacharis, anubias, and marimo moss balls are all great beginner low light plants. I would +1 everything King Fisher said, definitely 3+ gallons with a heater and slow moving filter. Use normal tap water with dechlorinator, do a small water change once a week, and clean the filter pads once a month or so, just rinsing them off in tank water. If you want help on cycling it to start we can help with that too. I would however if you use normal fake decorations, I would just rinse them off in hot water. I don't take risks with any soap and I've never had a problem not using soap on the decorations.

 

[King Fisher]

Java fern, java moss, hornwort, anacharis, anubias, and marimo moss balls are all great beginner low light plants. I would +1 everything King Fisher said, definitely 3+ gallons with a heater and slow moving filter. Use normal tap water with dechlorinator, do a small water change once a week, and clean the filter pads once a month or so, just rinsing them off in tank water. If you want help on cycling it to start we can help with that too. I would however if you use normal fake decorations, I would just rinse them off in hot water. I don't take risks with any soap and I've never had a problem not using soap on the decorations.

Hot water from tap will not kill bacteria if it's on anything you put in your tank. The only hot water that does that is boiling water. Surely, if you think you can do a good enough job to wash bacteria off a decoration you should be confident in washing soap off a decoration. Many people just rinse things off and put them in and everything is fine. For me...that is the risk.

 

[Reygan2]

https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-29095-Cube-Aquarium-3-Gallon/dp/B008CA7W7E

This is a great little 3 gallon tank for desktop setup. It’s acrylic, so it will scratch, but not if you’re careful cleaning it. I throw out all the junk that comes with it and get the little Azoo filter, the Hydor 25 watt heater, and a Finnex Fugeray Planted Plus clip on LED light. I also add Eco Complete substrate. The setup costs a little over $100, but you’ll have enough Eco Complete for another one and the possibilities are endless for an awesome planted betta tank. Throw in a couple of nerite snails and you’ll never have to clean algae off of anything. I have several of these setups and I absolutely love them. I do have a couple of the pricier rimless glass cubes, but I’ve found that I’m just as happy with this tank.

Here’s one of mine just to give you an idea. It’s completely unscaped. I don’t do anything to it but trim plants once in a blue moon lol.
Aside from water changes of course [emoji16]

 

[King Fisher]

Cool tank. Do you worry about your betta jumping out?

 

[Reygan2]

All of my betta tanks are topless and in 6+ years of keeping them it’s never happened. Not to say it can’t, just never happened to me.

 

[King Fisher]

Someone here, I forgot who, recently had that happen. I guess they are jumpers. I have a cover on mine but he is lazy as hell so I can't imagine him jumping out.

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Someone here, I forgot who, recently had that happen. I guess they are jumpers. I have a cover on mine but he is lazy as hell so I can't imagine him jumping out.

Haha that was actually me that happened to. And yeah I know it doesn't kill anything I just feel better using hot water lol

 

[IHaveAquariums]

https://www.amazon.com/Tetra-29095-Cube-Aquarium-3-Gallon/dp/B008CA7W7E

This is a great little 3 gallon tank for desktop setup. It’s acrylic, so it will scratch, but not if you’re careful cleaning it. I throw out all the junk that comes with it and get the little Azoo filter, the Hydor 25 watt heater, and a Finnex Fugeray Planted Plus clip on LED light. I also add Eco Complete substrate. The setup costs a little over $100, but you’ll have enough Eco Complete for another one and the possibilities are endless for an awesome planted betta tank. Throw in a couple of nerite snails and you’ll never have to clean algae off of anything. I have several of these setups and I absolutely love them. I do have a couple of the pricier rimless glass cubes, but I’ve found that I’m just as happy with this tank.

Here’s one of mine just to give you an idea. It’s completely unscaped. I don’t do anything to it but trim plants once in a blue moon lol.
Aside from water changes of course [emoji16]

I really like the look of your tank!

 

[Reygan2]

I really like the look of your tank!

Thanks! It’s my “plant it wherever and see what happens” type of scape lol. The light isn’t strong enough for the grass in front, so it’s gone.

 

[King Fisher]

Haha that was actually me that happened to. And yeah I know it doesn't kill anything I just feel better using hot water lol

Ahhh....ok. Lol

 

[IHaveAquariums]

Thanks! It’s my “plant it wherever and see what happens” type of scape lol. The light isn’t strong enough for the grass in front, so it’s gone.

Lol maybe I'll use that on my Fluval Flex soon ? Haven't scaped it yet and it's just holding a bunch of ghost shrimp right now haha