planning on getting betta

I'm planning on getting a Betta too and I have been told to go with live plants so the Betta's fins won't get shredded. Plastic plants are too harsh.

I've got a betta in a 2 gal hex tank with plastic plants and no fin damage in almost a year.

I Think the filter and water movement depend on the fish itself. For my Betta george I have a small maybe even less then a gal double hexagon tank by Lee's and he does fine with the filter. He'll let it push him around or swim against it if he gets lazy he just stays at the bottom or floats to the top under the filter. At first he was a lil stressed but now he's used to it. Also I only keep the filter on when I'm with him. I wouldn't think with a 20 gal it would be much problem also you can control the amount of flow on most all filters.

I have seen dividers that are like a very fine mesh and white in color to divide tanks. Have you checked out Bigalsonline? Another thing if you want to add other fish that your male betta might not agree with is I've thought of using Isolation type tanks. It's like a mini tank inside a tank and he still gets all the water circulation and everything he needs. Some people would say it might be small but you could always doctor a larger one yourself just make sure all the materials are Fish friendly! Basically of the ones that I've seen they're small plexi glass and open at top so they stay near the surface and they have hold drilled throughout them to circulate the water with the rest of the tank.

I've thought about doing this when I first put George into the 10 gal I'm creating so he can get used to seeing other fish before being submitted to sharing a tank wit them.

Hope this was helpful.

Either go live or silk, just never plastic. That's my opinion....they shouldn't get hurt with silk plants. If you get live, make sure it is hardy as I "heard" that bettas like to nibble. I have a silk plant in with mine, he loves it. I do not know if you will "need" an air stone but I do know from reading that they really dislike disruptive water. I had bubbles blowing in his tank at first, and he managed, but when is shut it down he definitely seemed happier!

Good luck!

I've got an under gravel filter with an airstone in the betta tank and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. In fact, he sometimes floats near the top of the uplift tube where the water/bubbles comes out.

Congrats on doing your research ahead of time. You have already saved yourself and your future fishies lots of headaches

Your bettas will be very happy in such a nice sized tank! Bettas can get along fine with a regular hang-on-back style power filter, especially in a spacious tank like that. Some bettas I've kept have been upset over the addition of a filter, but in time they've all ended up enjoying playing in it. As long as they have an area to go to get away from it, which they will in your size tank, they'll be fine.

One issue I'd watch out for is a divider that restricts your water flow from one side to the other too much. Don't get a real fine screen, it needs to have largish holes in it for the water to flow through freely. If you're crafty at all, I've used that white plastic mesh from the crafting section at wal-mart on several betta dividers with good luck. It has fairly large holes, but is still hard to see through. I've had it dividing males many times and they never seemed to be bothered by their neighbors.

Provide them with either live or silk plants. It may be better to start off with a couple of silk plants for each side and study up on live plants and their upkeep. Most tanks don't come standard with enough lighting to do a lot with plants, so you may need to look into that beforehand.

No, you don't need an airstone. Bubbles cause a lot of surface agitation also which can be counter-productive for you if you choose to have live plants.

You have plenty of room in that tank if you wanted to add some more fish, you might look into panda or pygmy cories. They are great little (about 1.5" adult size) fish with huge personalities. Very fun to watch and a great mix with bettas. If you start having algae problems, check into otos also

There should be thread at the top of this forum with tons of information on cycling a tank. Just the fact that you you've heard about cycling and researched the fish you want to get ahead of time is a great sign.