Alder cone in Betta bowl?

[lkh]

Has anyone used an alder cone in a betta bowl (< 1 gallon)? I'm wondering if the benefits would be outweighs by a too-drastic change in ph. What do you think?

 

[lkh]

By the way, he isn't my betta. The lady at the front desk at my mom's assisted living keeps this bowl. As bowls go, this is a nice one (planted, a shell for a hiding spot) and she keeps up with water changes. The betta seemed happy--blowing lots of bubbles. Since his last water change he's been a little off (one of his eyes is a little wonky so I'm wondering about popeye). I wondered if softening the water might help him, but I don't want to do anything that would make matters worse. I'd appreciate advice, if you have any!

 

[Sprinkle]

I know that this is an old thread, but bettas should not be kept in bowls at all. They should be in tank with filtration and a heater. I know this is not your betta, I'd take him. He is unhappy, the bowl is too small, should be 2.5 gallons at least, and when he blows bubbles it doesn't mean he is happy, it might mean he is doing this out of boredom. Probably he's dead by now.

 

[lkh]

Actually, it was a pretty good sized bowl (2 gallons). He lived for four years, and until the very end he was very interactive with people who stopped by ”his” desk. His owner had kept bettas before and the one before this was six when he died. *I* kept bettas in a filtered, 3-gallon sun tea jar with a spigot (which made cleanings a breeze-even let you draw out water from the bottom, which is almost as good as a gravel vac) with a little crab heating pad which kept the temp around 78. I never had one live longer than hers, so I wasn’t about to preach at this lady.

Anyway, nobody answered my alder cone question and eventually this guy’s eye healed on its own. They changed things around at the assisted living and his owner got a different desk in a different part of the building. Something about the change disagreed with him and he died shortly after the move.

 

[NoodleCats]

An alder cone in the tank would have been just fine for future use.

 

[lkh]

Thanks! (And yes, I know I initially said it was smaller than a gallon–I realized I’d made a mistake the next day when I passed her desk, but forgot to fix it here.).

 

[Sprinkle]

Actually, it was a pretty good sized bowl (2 gallons). He lived for four years, and until the very end he was very interactive with people who stopped by ”his” desk. His owner had kept bettas before and the one before this was six when he died. *I* kept bettas in a filtered, 3-gallon sun tea jar with a spigot (which made cleanings a breeze-even let you draw out water from the bottom, which is almost as good as a gravel vac) with a little crab heating pad which kept the temp around 78. I never had one live longer than hers, so I wasn’t about to preach at this lady.

Anyway, nobody answered my alder cone question and eventually this guy’s eye healed on its own. They changed things around at the assisted living and his owner got a different desk in a different part of the building. Something about the change disagreed with him and he died shortly after the move.

That is actually pretty lovely to hear, I'm glad he lived a happy life And yes, alder cone will be fine for future use. I heard it releases taninns and the taninns help with bacterial issues in fish.
I never had one live long, my 4th betta now has dropsy I believe, but no pineconing for now and he flares at his own reflection in mirror ...there is still hope for him...