Betta Tank (hex 5 or 6 gal)

[StarStruck8]

5 Gallon tanks are pretty good for bettas, but 10 would be best for a single betta IMO.

If you want to, get real plants. I have 2 small betta silk plants cause i liked them, they were small, but you can get some other small live plants that will do just fine on their own.

Make sure you get a heater as well. Bettas may be able to live in cooler water, but as it was stated in an earlier post, 77 degrees is a good temp for bettas. I keep mine around 79-81, trying for 80 as much as possible and zip seems to be happiest in that range.

You can honestly do a beautiful 10 gallon tank for your betta and he/she will be soooo happy. 10 gals really gives them room to swim around. Im very avid of the 10 gal because i think that no fish deserves to be in a tank smaller than that. Let them spread their fins and swim!!!!!!!

My mom has never had a fish tank before, so I'm going to ease her into it. I mentioned getting a larger tank and she wants to see how she does with a smaller one first. I am still in the learning process of having live plants, so my mom wouldn't be at that level yet. Maybe one day!

I did order a heater for her as well. I have a bunch of silk plants that I can use to provide cover, and am also planning on buying some other decoration for him to hide in. Hopefully she likes having the tank and will move up in size. I've been trying to convince her how relaxing watching a tank with fish in it can be!

 

[StarStruck8]

i had a discussion once with an lfs owner on Prime once. she mentioned that it is not good to use in an unfiltered betta bowl, due to a conflict with the various chemicals not circulating in the water and the labrynth lung organ in bettas. but i see no problem using it in a filtered tank. i use Aquaplus, by Tetra, i think, and i love it (and i think my fishies do too, lol).

a note on eclipse filters: i have read that the filter flow cannot be turned down, unless you plug the intake/output somehow. so if your betta is one of those persnickety ones that doesn't like a lot of flow, you have to go about macgyvering the dang thing, lol. I use plain old sponge filters in my tanks and the fish love them, as long as i don't turn the air flow from the pump too high. once in a while they go play in the output, but most times they stay away from it.

Good for you for wanting to get Mr. Betta out of the vase, those things simply are not big enough.

Ahhh...thank you for the Prime explanation! It makes sense! I'm hoping I can provide enough cover in the 6 gallon to prevent any kind of stress, but worst case scenerio means I have a new tank and I'll have to buy her another one...perhaps the 6.6 long previously mentioned.

 

[SuBXeRo]

I just wanna edit what i said above about the betta conditioner that i use. Its made by API (aquar pharm), and is diluted in comparison to their regular conditioner. It does the same exact thing as the betta conditioner but i am assuming is diluted because betta tanks arent normally larger then a gallon or two so you wouldnt need to condition that much water. The betta conditioner is like 6 drops to a quart, so 24 drops in a gallon where as the conditioner i bought is 6 drops to a gallon.

I can't blame you wanting to start her off small. I did that and well, i ended up going from 2.5 gals to 10 within a week and a half. I also never took care of my own tank before and i learned prety quick. It really isnt too hard. If your mom wants to do it, she will be more than willing to learn. If you try to build the tank as an established one, al she needs to do is feed the fish, do a 10-15% water change everyweek, which in a 10 gal tank is like 1.5 gallons, and change the filter media in about 1-3 month intervals, depending on which of the media needs to be changed. If you have like 3 media types, typically carbon is 1 month, ziolite type stuff everything 3, it all depends on the filter. You should vacuum the gravel too about once a month. For the amount of work you put in, a move from 5 gallons to 10 isnt much of a difference. You will use about 8 gallons in a 10 gal tank because of substrate and decor.

I don't mean to seem pushy about upping the size, i just think that it would be more cost effective to nail it the first time. But if smaller is your preference then go with it, do what wil make you happy.

here is apic of my setup to give you an idea on size.

 

[Cory Keeper]

actually, you should gravel vac every time you do a water change.