Betta Fish!

[Dray]

I'm planning on picking up a tank and fish and all the goodies that go with it! I remember that you guys were talking about your bettas and I was wondering if you could offer any tips to go with the care of the little buggers?

I've read through a bunch of different sites on their care and maintenance of the tanks and such, but hearing input from people that I know is really valuable, too!

[Keilin Alyr]

First off, if you want males, one betta per tank. Males do not get along with other fish. I had one harass his poor cory catfish tankmate when we were curious if he'd get along with one. Not trying that again.

I've had mixed results with multiple females in a 10-gallon community tank. I've had three absolutely wonderful ladies school with each other and several danios. I had two later who'd constantly pick fights with each other and had to be placed in separate 1-gallons. If you want multiple fish, females are the way to go, but it can still be a gamble.

Also, I'd highly recommend a tank setup, not just the usual stagnant goldfish bowl that most pet stores carry (although bettas will be okay in 'em, unlike the goldfish they were intended for). Even if it's just a 1-gallon on the desk, circulating and aerated water means a healthier fish. Plus they're prettier, I think.

Lastly, if you can afford one and have the space to stash one, getting a Python will make cleaning the tank(s) so much nicer if you're going with a 10-gallon or larger setup. Water changes suck far, far less with one, trust me. =)

http://www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html

[Shard]

My female is now bottom heavy and has to struggle to reach the top of her bowl, lol. She's old.

Make sure that whatever you get, is clean. Including the fish. They're cheap fish, but one ick covered fish will destroy your whole tank worth of water, so... watch them carefully.

[StarFyre]

No real advice from me, beyond: get glass, not plastic for the tank.

I've never kept one, but a friend of mine from high school did -- it ended up being that the first betta she picked up was sick, and it got her plastic tank infected no matter how much of anything she used on it, so she lost two others before just getting a new glass tank and a new fish.

In other news, beyond sickness, bettas are creepily hard to kill. I know how they're shipped now, thanks to my mom working in a PetSmart warehouse for a few years.

Imagine a sheet of 'bubble-pack', with the airbubbles about 3 inches by 3 inches, partially filled with a blue water. Each airbubble contains a betta. They are then cut free of these sealed pockets and dumped into those cups you find in the stores. Those cups can then sit for about a week in the warehouse, without anyone feeding the fish still, before being shipped out to stores. Creeeeeepy fish.

[Yakima]

I use to have a tank years ago (all my fish got sick and I couldn't keep up with it after that ) I always had bettas in it and never had a problem with males in the tank of other fish. I usually got sword fish, zebras, fan-tail guppies and neon tetras (plus the cleaning fish like cat fish and plecoscmus (?) [algae eaters: http://www.gsas.org/Gallery/pleco.jpg]) I had a ten gallon tank and didn't have trouble till the end when they started getting sick. *shrugs*

If you just want a betta, though, they do well all by their lonesome in a smaller tank. I tend to stick a lot of plants in it because they're natural ditch-dwellers (and yes, even with those big fins they can get around plants...) I don't like the tiny little ones they have for bettas. I have a 1 gallon tank in storage should I ever want to get another.

If you get a betta, grab a mirror once and put it next to the glass. They go crazy over it because they think the fish they see on the other side is an enemy. heehee

[Shard]

When I somehow manage to sell / get rid of my snake (who hasn't eaten in 6 months, and I think she's forgotten how to hunt) I'm keeping the glass enclosure and making a nice large terrarium with it, which I'll probably put some fish in an area within its own container too. Since my cat keeps bringing me frogs, I've got two of them now in a little round one with nice moss and stuff, but I want it bigger.

I loved my pleco, I'm definitely going to get another of those some day.

[Yakima]

Those things can get huge, too. When they would outgrow the tank when my mom had her aquarium she would stick them in the horse water tank because they can get huge. Of course, one jumped out and killed itself. Dumb fish.

[Dray]

We wound up getting a fat and sassy red fish and a little tank, since I'm still new to fish and I didn't want to invest in a bigger tank. We'll see how it goes! I'm glad that they're hard to kill, at least!

This is the first pet that I've ever had that's not partially the responsibility of my parents. XD I hope I do as well with it as I do with my plants... which seem to be taking over the sideboard completely at the back of my house!

[JKatkina]

Shard, your cat brings you live frogs? XD That's awesome. Your cat brings you pets.

TL and I came home from the petshop with a beautiful little guy, dark red with greeny-blue shimmer along his sides. He seems fiesty! He's chillin' in his bag right now, acclimatizing to the temperature of his tank water. We didn't get quite a gallon tank, but at 3.4 liters it's as close as we could get without getting something really big, I think.

XD I are nervous new fish mom. Even if these guys are crazy hard to kill and all.

[Keilin Alyr]

Mine brings me pieces of beetles. Sometimes if I'm "lucky", they're still twitching. My cat's special.

Don't forget to condition the water and neutralize all those tap water chemicals before adding the little guy. Way back with my first betta I'd forgotten to treat the water once or twice before adding him... not sure how he managed to survive as long as he did sometimes, poor thing. XD

[Dray]

We did that! I'm just wondering... when we clean the tank out, do we take the fish out of the tank, pour half the water out, refill it and re-treat it? :o What about all of the poop that builds up at the bottom?

[Shard]

Yeah pretty much. They don't like having all new water. Unless there's a good reason (like a dead fish) to change it all at once.

And lol yeah my cat will bring stuff for the other cats to play with. Grasshoppers, lizards, lizard tails (lol), frogs, baby birds, a mouse or two. So when I have the terrarium set up, that's where pretty much everything (still living and ground-based anyway) will wind up.

[Guest]

I have two bettas (A female named Blue and a red male named John Malkofish). The gallon fishbowl isn't a bad way to go with them (one fish per bowl), so long as you do weekly water changes. Those are important because even after a few days, the fish will be swimming in his own waste, and it will be unpleasant for him. The poop that settles to the bottom isn't as much of an issue, it's the urine that mixes with the water you more need to be concerned about. And the water changes will help that.

I actually don't recommend putting in a filter system. >_> Bettas thrive in stagnant, clean water, and currents can stress them out. If you do put in one, make sure it's on low enough that it's not stirring up the water all the time. Sponge filters are okay in tanks, but for bowls any filter is really too much.

Also, an important thing I didn't immediately know; bettas don't eat flake food, they eat pellets (but live food is better, which you'll likely have to order from a breeder if you want it). If you feed pellets, only give them one or two a day. Or your fish will explode.

I think that's it... sorry if it's a lot of info.

[Dray]

For pellets, are you talking about the tiny nubbly sized ones that are about the size as a grain of couscous or quinoa or millet, or something bigger? I already know that feeding them peas is the devil, apparently... but when everyone says 'only feed them enough that they can eat within two minutes' that isn't very clear!

[Yakima]

XD they have specific food for betta's dray. It usally has a picture of a betta on it. XD

[JKatkina]

That they do -- but the store we went to had a bunch of different betta-specific food, actually! We got stuff that comes in pellets, but they're teensy, like half a grain of rice.

[Yakima]

Yep, they normally are. They also like misquotes, too. (just don't feed it to them all the time or a lot, or so I was told.)

[Guest]

Yep, the teeny-weeny nubby ones are good. And if you think about it, a betta's stomach is the size of his eyeball, so the food can't be that big. I feed mine Betta Bio-Gold or something (I lost the box back, lol), but it's something you could potentially find at a Wal-Mart. Just no flake food for them or anything. And peas? Never even heard of feeding the peas. O_o One whole pea would definitely be too much in one day though.

[Keilin Alyr]

Our girls used to get spoiled once in a while, I used to feed them mosquito larvae once in a blue moon. Stuff's rather easy to come by here in the summer: walk past a stagnant, deep puddle, you've got a disconcerting amount of tiny tadpole-like things. Fish food.

Just make sure whatever food you do buy for them is specifically labeled as betta food. They'll try and eat anything, but I've noticed they're a bit picky as to what they'll actually keep down. Mine had favorite brands of betta food and would turn their fishy noses up at cheaper stuff. Kind of like my cats. =P

Here's some more feeding advice, though the site itself isn't too bad: http://www.bettatalk.com/food.htm

[Dray]

XD I was just saying this morning that our fish was acting like a cat: looking disdainfully at the food while we were watching them, and then only eating it when we went away. At least he comes over to look at me when I visit him, now! :D