Betta help

Im planning to buy a betta. What are the requirements? also some sites would be nice.

 

I think minimum tank size for a betta is 2- 2 1/2 gallons not for sure mght be smaller. You can feed them brine shrimp, bloodworms, or some sinking food pellets made especially for bettas. I don't know much more except you can't put a male and another male together because they will fight to the death.

 

A lot of people say the bare minimum is 1 gallon, but IMO 2+ gallons is much better. If the tank has a filter, the current may be too much for the betta. Plus, small tanks (<5 gallons) are difficult to cycle and maintain cycled. If you don't have a filter, then you'll have to do 100% water changes. In a 1 gallon, they should be done preferrably twice a week. In a 2 gallon, you might be able to get by with once every 1 - 1 1/2 weeks, and in a 3 gallon, every 2 weeks. Really, you just need to monitor the ammonia and keep it at 0.

Bettas don't need aeration because they have a labyrinth organ and can breath atmospheric air.

Avoid decoration with hard points such as plastic plants becasue they can easily shred their fins.

For food, Fishkin gave some good recomendations. Mine get 3 betta bites (pellets) in the morning and 3 in the evening. And every once in a while I'll substitued the pellets with a few frozen (but thawed) blood worms. Don't use freeze dried foods becasue they can exapand in the betta's stomach and cause problems.

Here's a couple of good articles about bettas

http://flippersandfins.net/BettaCaresheet.asp
http://flippersandfins.net/faq.htm

-Chelle

 

Is it ok to keep them with my black widows, neons and my silver dollars?

 

I wouldn't becaue most tetras are fin nippers and bettas make a prime target. Not only because of their long fins, but because they're relatively slow and easy to catch.

-Chelle

 

Bettas can really live in any water conditions as they originated from Thailand, living in tiny pools of water and even moist mud in the dry seasons. Generally they like smaller tanks on their own as they are very territorial.

As for putting the betta in with other fish - wouldn't recommend it as the betta's fins look like colourful food to most fish and their tail will constantly get nipped until it is really short.

When I started my community tank I put my two bettas in an osolation tank and hung it in the water for a couple of days (with a divider between the two bettas). Anyway, one of them was going psycho stirring up the other fish and trying to break his way through the glass and the other one was just sitting there taking it all in. We put the placid one in the community tank to see how he went and he lives in there now (although he's jumped out of the tank -successfully- once) and the other betta gets his own little tank.

As long as the bettas water is constantly changed and you condition the water first then it should be fine. I normally just fill his tank with the water from the community tank as it is already set up.

Sorry for the essay! Good luck!!