# Betta Fish



## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

Does any one have Betta Fish, if so tell me about him/them, what size tank, plants real or fake, pictures most welcome.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

@ellenlouisepascoe , @kitteh

they should help when they get alerted

due to ellenlouisepascoe, im setting a sorority tank up in the near future


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Hi, I am not an expert on Betta but hopefully the people mentioned above and perhaps @NaomiM can help.

However before you get your fish read up on fishless cycling and the nitrogen cycle. You will need to build up a healthy population of filter bacteria before you add your fish. This takes 4-6 weeks. There are instructions on the web but please say if you need help with this.

Please ignore any comments by pet shops that you just add water and leave it for a few days before adding fish. This information is outdated, incorrect and will harm the fish.

You will need a tank, filter, water conditioner, heater, thermometer and a water test kit ( the api liquid test kit is best).


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## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

I have pond fish so have done the full filter set up thingy outside and I have been reading about cycling the tank, I have a water test kit for the pond which I presume (will have a read up) will work for a tank too, to check ph, nitrate and nitrite levels, but I'm torn because I have seen a lovely tank but they seem to style over substance but I don't know, my head is fuzzy from watching many videos and reading lots.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Great. Using pure ammonia for cycling generally works best. Potentially you could seed the indoor filter with filter mum from your outdoor filter but you do run the risk of transferring disease organisms too so if you can wait it is best I think to create the population from scratch.

Re the tank, consider how practical it is to clean / maintain. If it is good to look at but a pain to clean then it will get annoying g fast.


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## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

Yeah I'll keep the pond fish water separate as it's a little grotty but the fish have just started feeding so are at their most stressful stage of the year so they need a close eye keeping on them, plus I think the toad spawn has just hatched so don't want any grot coming indoors, the tank I was looking at was the Biorb Flow 15l Flow, but I know I will have to put smooth pebbles over the media as I have read that the media can tear the fins, but it's just the usual thing with google, some say that that tank is perfectly fine for a Betta Fish other say it's too small, wrong type etc etc. I'm just confused and the other tank I like is too big to fit where I have room, but there does seem to be a lot of hate on the internet for Biorb tanks.


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## LinznMilly (Jun 24, 2011)

It's been years since I had fish, but amongst them were bettas. It's a myth that they can't handle tanks bigger than 5gal - like all fish, the bigger the tank, the better.

Minimum of 10gal with internal filter, fully cycled. Some will say they can't handle that amount of space, but that's rubbish. Like dogs with their walks, they'll take as much space as you're willing to give them. I took a male veiltail from a container barely big enough for him to turn round in, in the LFS (Local Fish Shop) popped him straight into a 5gal (quarantine) tank with an eheim filter, and, from there, into a 30gal, 4ft tank. He patrolled the length of the tank and was perfectly fine. Only reason I had to downsize him from the 30gal to a 12gal, was because I was doing the unthinkable and keeping a Betta harem tank and mistook a plakat male for a female.  Easily done when they're kept in tiny containers in the shop and don't have the space to develop musculature. But Huey the veiltale was fine, and the betta harem tank was a roaring success. With space, they made baby bettas, not war. 

If you're thinking of a veiltail, you'll want real plants, or silk. Plastic plants can tear the fish's fins if they get caught.

In terms of hardiness, they're the staffies of the fish world - they're very tolerant of handler mistakes/abuse. I seem to recall they preferred it warmer than my other tanks - about 27*c, but anything over 25*C should be fine. In a tank of about 20gal, they should be fine with cories or brittlenose plecs.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

As I understand it (I may be wrong) the biorb has a replaceable filter cartridge rather than a filter which is designed to grow a population of bacteria. Essentially rather than having a filter in which bacteria grow which break down ammonia to nitrite and then other bacteria break down nitrite to nitrate, the biorb cartridge uses chemicals to absorb the ammonia and it also traps the waste. As the absorbent chemicals only have a finite life the cartridge must be completely replaced every month or two.

Whilst such filtration could happily support a Betta and a few corys it will be a very expensive method in the long term. A filter, once a healthy bacteria population has been established only needs a rinse in old tank water to keep it happy with maybe a change or media /sponges every couple of years if they get old.

The other downside input the spherical biorbs is that the visual distortion (like looking through a lens) can alter how you see the fish. I much prefer straight sided tanks as you can see the occupants clearly but it is personal preference.

Edited to add I see the flow is more of a conventional shape. It still has the cartridge system. You could rinse out the small sponge and replace the zeolite and carbon in the replace able cartridges to save some money but it is a a bit of a faff imo.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I'm no betta expert either, but in addition to all the great advice given above, bear in mind that bettas are suited to soft, acidic water (which is why I don't keep them, as my local water is 'liquid rock'!)

Look for a tank of 25L or over, and direct the filter output against the glass so that it doesn't cause too much current or surface disruption. As mentioned above, go for either real or silk plants, not plastic. Make sure you have a heater guard, and that any decor is free from sharp edges. Don't overdo the food, and give half a shelled, crushed pea once a week to keep the digestive system healthy.

All the above is just general advice I've picked up from various forums - as I've said, I don't keep bettas myself!


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## 3dogs2cats (Aug 15, 2012)

Hi MontyMaude, I have a male crowntail Betta he is two years old and my pride and joy 

He lives on his own in a 65l long, not high, tank. Bettas can have tank mates but it very much depends on individual bettas some are fine some are not, if you are going to keep one in a community tank be prepared to move it should the need arise. I just prefer to keep him on his own

Betta like plants to rest on and while large tanks are fine, open spaces are not so fill that space with plants.

I have all real plants in his tank but I am not green fingered at all so just keep to anubias - all sizes, and java fern. The plants are tied onto the wood or just left floating, I also have a number of moss balls that he likes to drape himself over. Oh I forgot one silk plant with red leaves because red plants can be difficult to grow but red suits him so silk plant it had to be Honestly if I can have a jungle in my tanks anyone can but if you do go for artificial go for silk not plastic as plastic can be to sharp for their flowing fins, likewise take care with any ornaments or rock, ensure they are smooth and wont snag.

I keep him in black water conditions, the tank water looks tinted due to Indian Almond Leaves and roobias tea, not everyone likes the look of brownish water I do personally and Bud the Betta likes his tea! His tank is kept at 28c

I fed him Atkins pro betta pellets and frozen shrimp, blood worms, daphnia and cyclops. I never ever feed peas, some betta keepers say you can and its fine others say absolutely don`t - I choose to go with the latter

He has lots of personality and is very curious nothing escapes his attention! My husband thinks I care more for Bud than I do him, when I am away I leave a list of instructions and phone to make sure his water temperature is ok and did he eat his breakfast!

Bettas don`t need to have massive tanks in fact I am fishes cycling a new tank right now its only 30l I did say it was for shrimp but I suspect another betta will end up I there! Make sure you have a lid for the tank, they can be jumpers!

Personally I would not like to go much smaller than 30l Bud can really move himself when he thinks he might be missing out on something he swims across his tank in lighting speed, I wouldn`t like to think I was not giving enough space to really swim.

Yes there is a lot of controversy regarding Biorbs! I have had one, the 30l sphere. I think they are a lot of money for what they are and you can get a lot more tank for a lot less money. Having said that I don`t think they are as bad as some people say. The substrate is where the beneficial bacteria will grow and live, this is why you can not replace the media with gravel or sand, the water is drawn down through the media before being pumped back up through the sponge filter cartridge. I discarded the carbon from the filter and just rinsed the sponge in old tank water once every couple of weeks. Biorb tell you to replace the whole filter cartridge every six weeks, there is no need to do this just rinse the sponge out, if you want to use carbon then I think that does need replacing but the sponge does not. I fishless cycled my orb and kept it for number of years I never lost the cycle by not replacing the filter cartridge

. The substrate is sharp, if you do go for one put lots of moss balls and smooth pebbles over it, so long as water flows through and is not blocked it will be fine. Bettas do not like a lot of flow so baffle the air tube by placing a piece of filter sponge in it. Whatever tank and filter you get the filter flow will need baffling, there are various ways to do this, I just have a pop sock over my fluval filter!

One other thing with the biorb is they are difficult to clean and the sphere does distort the view of the fish somewhat, a traditional tank with gravel or sand are much easier in my opinion.

I have probably repeated everything already said - sorry! but I am a really slow at typing and for some reason letters are all sticking and taking ages to display on screen so now I`ve battled with it I`m damn well going to post it!!


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## MontyMaude (Feb 23, 2012)

kittih said:


> As I understand it (I may be wrong) the biorb has a replaceable filter cartridge rather than a filter which is designed to grow a population of bacteria. Essentially rather than having a filter in which bacteria grow which break down ammonia to nitrite and then other bacteria break down nitrite to nitrate, the biorb cartridge uses chemicals to absorb the ammonia and it also traps the waste. As the absorbent chemicals only have a finite life the cartridge must be completely replaced every month or two.
> 
> Whilst such filtration could happily support a Betta and a few corys it will be a very expensive method in the long term. A filter, once a healthy bacteria population has been established only needs a rinse in old tank water to keep it happy with maybe a change or media /sponges every couple of years if they get old.
> 
> ...


I think the media in the bottom has the beneficial bacteria growing on it in it, but this is a flat sided tank so not so much distortion.



NaomiM said:


> I'm no betta expert either, but in addition to all the great advice given above, bear in mind that bettas are suited to soft, acidic water (which is why I don't keep them, as my local water is 'liquid rock'!)
> 
> Look for a tank of 25L or over, and direct the filter output against the glass so that it doesn't cause too much current or surface disruption. As mentioned above, go for either real or silk plants, not plastic. Make sure you have a heater guard, and that any decor is free from sharp edges. Don't overdo the food, and give half a shelled, crushed pea once a week to keep the digestive system healthy.
> 
> All the above is just general advice I've picked up from various forums - as I've said, I don't keep bettas myself!


My water is very hard too, we live on solid chalk, so I might have to check that out.



3dogs2cats said:


> Hi MontyMaude, I have a male crowntail Betta he is two years old and my pride and joy
> 
> He lives on his own in a 65l long, not high, tank. Bettas can have tank mates but it very much depends on individual bettas some are fine some are not, if you are going to keep one in a community tank be prepared to move it should the need arise. I just prefer to keep him on his own
> 
> ...


I like the name Bud, and very informative thank you, I have heard of feeding peas to fish and did try when one of my pond fish got a spot of bloat and looked like a pinecone  not sure if the peas helped but he did deflate eventually. So I shall stay away from the peas. do you have any pictures of Bud


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## 3dogs2cats (Aug 15, 2012)

Ah no I haven`t got any pictures at the moment, I did have some on my old pc but that has died on me so can`t access them. I really do need to take some on my phone and actually learn how to get them off phone onto stick thingy then how to up load them on here! He has a silver body with a red tail.

If your water is very hard you could buy RO water from your LFS, they will re- mineralise it for you or you could install your own RO system and make your own, however if you are only looking at smallish tanks then buying it from a LFS is cheap enough. Does depend on ease of availability, you will not want to be travelling miles for a few litres of water every week I`m sure!

Hope you manage to introduce a Betta into your life, you won`t regret it, they are such little characters


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## milliemouse (Feb 20, 2017)

I have a male betta who is blue, red and black called Stormzy! Although he does get called all sorts like 'little one' 'cheeky' 'grumpy' etc.. purely because they have so much character lol 

He's currently housed in a 28L tank with real plants including amazon sword, twisted vallis, moss balls etc. He loves resting on the moss balls and sometimes squeezes himself between two of them! Similar to @3dogs2cats I am definitely not green fingered so tend to stick to the plants that are very low maintenance and low light! In my tank I have a layer of plant substrate and then a layer of gravel on top of this. Although ideally I would of liked sand and I think I will end up replacing it to that in the future.

I've found that my betta is very fussy and will only eat certain foods, no flakes or freeze-dried foods or pellets! He will only eat the crumbly type of food that I have only been able to find on amazon so far and its not that cheap.. typical! Each betta has a different personality so it depends on how they react with other fish if you wanted to keep them in a community, I've been fine keeping mine with two otto's as my clean up crew.. (although betta's have a very little bio-load which makes tank maintenance easier). They are usually fine with other fish that don't have any bright colours or long fins but like I said, each betta is different.

Love my little betta


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

Sorry guys, I still have no computer so finding it hard to keep up with anything when I am tagged! I currently have 2 male betta's ( separate tanks obviously ) I have one in a 19L acrylic tank and another in a 57L glass tank with some tank mates including panda cory and neon tetras. I would say definitely go for real plants and if you can't source or keep real alive go for silk. Betta are notorious for tearing their fins on things that might seem smooth to us and this includes plastic plants.like others have said they prefer low flow so be prepared to baffle the flow of your filter whether that be facing it towards the glass or adding bits of sponge onto the end of the outflow pipe like I have had to do in my 19L tank.

They like resting spots near the surface, you can buy betta hammocks and tunnels that float near the top I have rocks that reach the top in my 57L tank so plenty of places to rest. Mine also enjoy floating plants like water lettuce and duckweed.

I try not to mess with my water ie changing the PH etc as I find stability is better than perfection

These are my two 
Dovaakhin









Ragnar


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> These are my two
> Dovaakhin
> View attachment 304002
> 
> ]


wow! that doesnt even look like the same fish that you took on at the beginning, no nibbled fins there
well done


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## ellenlouisepascoe (Jul 12, 2013)

@mrs phas we had another saga last week I found him practically dead at the top of his tank however he is 100% back to full health after some nursing. This was him the day after I found him ill.


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## smallpetshop22 (Dec 30, 2017)

I don't have a picture, but I have a male crowntail that is all royal blue with some reds here and there. He is about 2-3 inches long and lives in a tank that is 2.5 gallons. I am hopefully going to get another one soon!


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## smallpetshop22 (Dec 30, 2017)

smallpetshop22 said:


> I don't have a picture, but I have a male crowntail that is all royal blue with some reds here and there. He is about 2-3 inches long and lives in a tank that is 2.5 gallons. I am hopefully going to get another one soon!


I almost forgot, his name is Skylar. I know Skylar is a girl name, but I really liked it and I thought it fit him and his appearance well.


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## smallpetshop22 (Dec 30, 2017)

ellenlouisepascoe said:


> Sorry guys, I still have no computer so finding it hard to keep up with anything when I am tagged! I currently have 2 male betta's ( separate tanks obviously ) I have one in a 19L acrylic tank and another in a 57L glass tank with some tank mates including panda cory and neon tetras. I would say definitely go for real plants and if you can't source or keep real alive go for silk. Betta are notorious for tearing their fins on things that might seem smooth to us and this includes plastic plants.like others have said they prefer low flow so be prepared to baffle the flow of your filter whether that be facing it towards the glass or adding bits of sponge onto the end of the outflow pipe like I have had to do in my 19L tank.
> 
> They like resting spots near the surface, you can buy betta hammocks and tunnels that float near the top I have rocks that reach the top in my 57L tank so plenty of places to rest. Mine also enjoy floating plants like water lettuce and duckweed.
> 
> ...


They are both so beautiful! I especially love Ragnar and his coloring!


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