View Full Version : betta's..
Paccula
01-31-2005, 10:48 AM
okay, so I may not be the most experienced fish keeper here, but I know the basics. lately I got my boyfriend interested, and he got himself a betta. he got this betta book and he visits his betta forums every so often. but the things he says just confuse the heck out of me! the way he talks makes it sound like bettas are some forign being, not like any other fish. I know they are unique, but not that different?
anyway, he says betta keepers say that to cycle a new tank you set up it and give it "a day a gallon" before adding fish. I'm not wondering if this is correct or not, because I know how the bacteria that cycle a tank work, and it takes more than a day (for a 1gal tank, or any other). My question is, where does this practice come from? does it have any basis in truth?(for huge tanks, maybe)
That sounds like a bunch of crazy talk. Waiting 1 day per gallon will do nothing but allow chlorine to offgas. That is generally the crap that fish stores with inexperienced peopel tell you. A tank needs bacteria and food to cycle.
bettas have an extra organ to help breathe air but so do gouramis and they are still just very pretty fish.
beviking
01-31-2005, 11:42 AM
What an awesome line of bull! A day a gallon? That must have originated out of the...2nd...maybe 3rd grade. Good for you to rationalize it down to 1 gal will NOT cycle in 1 day!
Sounds like the forum he's logged into is of the opinion that their fish is the BEST fish IN THE WORLD! If they didn't believe that they wouldn't have their own forum. Weirdos... :rolleyes:
Paccula
01-31-2005, 11:59 AM
yeah, that's what I thought too, thanks guys. I knew bettas had laborenth organs and can get oxygen from air, which is how people rationalize keeping them in tiny cups!! (if I ever had a pet store, I would NOT carry anything under 5 gallons) but they are still living fish that need space and comfort to thrive. My boyfriend says the betta people say not to keep bettas in too big a tank (no matter how well furnished and planted) or it will get "lonely"!! that sounds very strange to me. personaly, I would LOVE to put it in my 10gallon, and move my tetras to a 30, but we don't have that kind of money. I know male bettas are solitary, and if anyones afraid of it getting "lonely" the size of tank won't matter, and they could always throw in some ottos or corys, right?
Too big of a tank makes them lonely? Thats hillarious. I'd rather my fish were lonely and had space to move, than lonely and confined to a small cell. Yeah bettas will exist with other fish, for sure cories. Not sure about ottos as I've never owned or learned about them. If they get lonely just put a mirror or something reflective in there to keep them busy. :p
My betta in a 5 gallon spends all day exploring. In a 1 gallon he just sat still. Hmmm, lonely? I had him in a planted 10 gallon for awhile with other fish but he often missed feeding time as he was too busy exploring so I moved him back to the 5 by himself.
I sit the tank near the tv and we watch tv together. He will hang out beside me during tv time. It is quite funny really.
So if you are worried about a lonely betta then interact with it everyday. I even have a glass fish on a string I swim through the tank in order to get my little betta all excited.
Too big of a tank makes them lonely? Thats hillarious. I'd rather my fish were lonely and had space to move, than lonely and confined to a small cell. Yeah bettas will exist with other fish, for sure cories. Not sure about ottos as I've never owned or learned about them. If they get lonely just put a mirror or something reflective in there to keep them busy. :p
yes but dont leave the mirror there or it will always be stressed out! :) I have a male in a 50G and he lives with otos and many other fish, so otos are fine.
kveeti
01-31-2005, 4:25 PM
I even have a glass fish on a string I swim through the tank in order to get my little betta all excited.
LOL! I loved that TKOS! I have a 2 gallon "goldfish bowl" full of those glass fish (a couple as freebies with my Big Al's orders). It's the cat's favourite drinking bowl. I never thought about swimming one around for my bettas.
My guy loves it. Well he hates it, but it sure makes him dance around the tank. I have to make sure to take it out after a minute or so or he starts to sulk in a corner.