Betta Tank

No one else mentioned this to my knowledge, but in your tank photo, there is far too much gravel in the aquarium. One inch of gravel is plenty, and will be much easier to clean, and will trap far less gunk. Also, if you want to make fewer water changes, adding an Azoo Palm filter to the tank would be a great addition to your tank.

As for avoiding Petco (or Petsmart), opinions on that vary quite a bit depending on who you talk to. I rescued a betta from a local Petco, and he is doing just fine. As suggested, I would inquire when they get their new bettas in (it's Thursday here), and then purchase one at that time. The bettas are much healthier looking when they first arrive at the store, than they are five days later (believe me).

I would definitely purchase a heater. Bettas thrive at temperatures between 76-82F (74F is too cold), so unless you have your aquarium in a room where the temperature is constant, a small 25 watt heater is the way to go, especially for small tanks in the 2-5 gallon range.

While you may not be able to afford it at the moment (my fish could so easily put me in debt! hehe), as aquariumfishguy mentioned, a 2 gallon tank, while it works for a betta is extremely unforgiving to mistakes, or less than frequent water changes. So in the future, you may want to consider a five gallon tank, which would be more stable, and allow your betta to have more swimming space. The Minibow 5, or the Eclipse Hex are both highly recommend aquarium choices.

Best of luck to you, and I hope your new betta has a long and happy life. :)
 
As long as were on the topic. I have a five gallon bow front sitting around doin nothin. I was thinking betta, will the fluval 1 internal I have sitting around be to much current for the little five gallon tank? :p
 
Apache, it could be that you just got some unhealthy fish. Even though your ammonia and nitrite are higher than you'd like to have them, I don't think their are lethal enough to kill a betta in two days.

First, don't buy from that petco anymore. they're not all bad but if you've purchased two fish that have died in days from them, its a safe bet that you should avoid them. I'm not sure of a good shop right near you but I can recommend Tropic Isle Aquarium in Framingham. They're right on Rt 9 and have a good selection of bettas (call ahead though as if you catch them the day before restocking they might only have two or three. They keep them in filtered tanks with separators and always look very healthy.

Clean your tank. There's a chance that there is some type of residue in your tank killing the fish. It could be some bleach or windex or anything you might have used to ckean it before filling it. Get some oxyclean and scrub it well. Rinse it really well. Leave about 2/3 of that gravel out when you reassemble the tank. As someone else mentioned, you only need about an inch of gravel any extra is just going to be a place for waste to collect.

Take care acclimating a new fish. Float him, in the bag, in your aquarium for about 15 minutes. After that open the bag and scoope a little bit of water out. throw that water away and scoop an equal ammount of tank water into the bag. Do that every ten minutes or so. After about an hour you should be able to let the betta swim into the tank and he should be adjusted to your water's temp and chemistry.

Tom
 
Originally posted by apache1375
The readings on the tank were

Ammonia- .25
Nitrite- .1
PH- 7.4

This the tank cycled for a couple of days first.
Click to expand...

I am suprised nobody said anything here about this post... because the tank cannot cycle for a couple days and then be done. A tank takes however much time it takes to cycle the aquarium (usually 4-6 weeks) and you cannot really rush things.

The ammonia can kill fish, although .25 will probably just stress the fish.

Nitrites are considered deadly as well... and while what you have going on right now might just stress the fish, it can lead to problems if the tank never cycles.
 
Thank You all for your information it was very informative and helpful. Should I also remove the ornament or leave it in. I have stopped going to the petco in woburn due to none of there fish are healthy. I am going to get a heater next week for my betta. Also will look into getting the filters that were mentioned. So it would be best to still get the 5 gallon tank for my betta? Any other great help would be great appreciated thank you all for your help and concerns.
 
jacblades: I believe that any betta needs a heater unless the room is kept at a steady 80 degrees or higher all day.

I think the 2 gallon should be fine, but keep in mind you'll have to be on top of the water changes. If you end up getting another tank though, go for a 5 gallon.
 
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The ornament shown in your photo appeared a tad large for the tank, and while it's not a problem, you might have more room with a smaller cave of some sort. Of course if you upgrade the tank to a five gallon, then the current ornament you have would work just fine. I would simply scrub, and wash it with a tooth brush in some warm water before placing it in a new tank.

And aquariumfishguy is absolutely right. A tank will not cycle at all in merely a few days, but as mentioned in 4-6 weeks. What I did with my five gallon tank, while it was cycling, was to make 10% water changes (sometimes more depending on the water params) daily whether I had an ammonia reading or not. Really I would suggest picking up a testing kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. 0.25ppm of ammonia, and 0.1ppm of nitrite will not kill your betta, but it can definitely stress him out, and over time it could cause harm.
 
kikuchiyo: thats fine that you believe that-i am just saying i have more experience with bettas than any other fish and i know them quite well. my comments are from my experiences.

i didnt download the pic untill now-that ornament is a bit...uh...large.
and the gravel is a bit...excessive. if that gravel was in the tank when the other fish died-it might be the cause. gravel is hard to clean-especially that much!

i still say-get some bettamax-just to be sure. it is very handy to have when you keep bettas. it will turn the water green though.

if you get a different tank(with a plain glass bottom) and want a heater-you could get one of those heater mats for reptiles and put it under the tank. those are great and depending on how big it is-you may be able to heat 2 tanks. they do not take up space inside the tank and distribute heat evenly. i have used those for breeding tanks before. i highly recommend them!
 
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That makes sense. I do scrub it with a toothbrush when cleaning the tank. I will take your advice and hold on to it for the 5 gallon tank. When I start cycling it should I just leave the Betta in the two gallon till the 5 gallon is ready?
 
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