Got a betta as a gift...help :)

My bettas always like to nibble on the algae wafers and shrimp pellets that dissolve on the bottom of the tank. If you want to feed him something besides the bloodworms, try a bit of dissolved algae wafer. (I would not drop it in dry; it can cause digestive problems if he eats too much and it swells inside of him.)

I would go with the 10 gal because they are cheaper than the 5's and for less $$ you can make your betta much happier. I have a betta in each of my 10 gals where they have floating plants and rock caves to rest/hide in. Their tank mates have included a female betta (some males are more aggressive than others and this may not work with yours), harlequin and brilliant rasboras (never any problems there), a dwarf guorami (had to introduce them to eachother very carefully...started with a tank divider for a month and then rearranged the tank decor just before removing it, but now they get along fine), mollies, platys, danios, and snails. If you want some tank mates for him the rasboras (a small school of 7 or so) would work nicely. They are a nice, quick contrast to the slower moving betta and they don't fight or reproduce constantly. He won't pick on them either. One larger "Mystery" type snail would be fun, too, and would help clean the tank.
 
I keep my Betta in a Eclipse System 3. For those unfamiliar, it's a acrylic 3 gallon tank where the hood contains a built in biowheel filter and a flourescent light. The light actually puts out enough heat to keep the water close to 80F. Nicely they put the light and filter on separate cords so you can put the light on a timer. The filter has quite a bit of flow, so I took a AquaClear 20 sponge and put it over the intake to slow it down to a more tolerable level.

The tank sits in my kitchen in a spot everyone can see him but it is out of direct sunlight. It's a planted tank with a frill plant, a rotocula, and a java fern. Substrate is a thin layer of flourite topped with a thin layer of black gravel. So far the plants are needing a trim as they're started to outgrow the tank. The water stays very clear and no algae after over a month.

Anyway, the Betta lives in there with a Ghost Shrimp who cleans up any excess food. The Betta would only eat frozen brine shrimp, he wouldn't swallow pellets or flakes at all. The Ghost Shrimp gobbles up what he doesn't eat that sunk to the gravel.

They appear to be happy. The Betta wanders around the tank and when I get the food out he comes to the front and wiggles around staring at me. A couple times I found him down at the bottom hanging out with the Ghost Shrimp.

The Eclipse 3 is a pretty cheap tank, expect it to be $35-50. The filter cartidges can be hard to find though, it takes Eclipse Type Z but I found that Doc Foster & Smith sells 9 packs of them for a decent price. Otherwise you could just insert a sponge instead if you don't want to do carbon filtering at all.
 
brigid_marie said:
... after an hour or so, i put a few pellets in and he just puts them in his mouth, spits them out, and then lets them sink to the bottom. So I drove out and bought him some freeze dried blood worms... he loves them. The pellets are "Wardley Betta pellets"... should I try something else for my picky eater?
Click to expand...

If you can, ask the people at the store where your betta was purchased from what they've been feeding him. There's a good chance he'll eat what he's used to eating.

Most betta pellets are pretty hard and dry. I used to see my betta struggle to swallow them, so now I soak them in a little water for a few minutes to soften them up, and he has no problems now.

On the package I have, freeze-dried blood worms are considered "treats" for bettas, to be fed only once or twice a week. They're pure protein, and I believe a betta needs some other nutrients too (for a balanced diet).

Betta flakes are also good. Mine gets mostly flakes and pellets, and blood worms (a few times a week).
 
My betta is in a 29 gallon community tank so gets what everyone else gets.... freeze dried bloodworms, frozen bloodworms/daphni/mysis shrimp, betta pellets, flake food, fresh zucchini and algae wafers. I have had him 1.5 years and he was full grown when I got him so I think he's doing pretty well :)
 
I keep my betta in a 2 gallon setup witha small danio to play with and some floating plants. That is where he chooses to sleep every night. Anything bigger than a tiny cup is fine for him but of course bigger is better.

I think the idea of a ten gallon is wonderful for him and I'm sure he will love it. If you want to divide it with a divider, I would try to find one that is opaque so they can't see each other. However, they are hard to find. Having them flair all of the time is not good for him. If he sees another male betta all the time he will want to fight him which is why he flairs. Too much of this causes a lot of stress which can lead to other problems. If I were you, I would put him in the ten like you plan but instead of dividing the tank let him have the whole tank witha small school of another fish such as the harlequin rasboras to play with.

Enjoy him. The betta is a beautiful fish.

Be happy!

Marinemom
 
My wife and I have three bettas that we own. Betta, the male betta, swims in a decorated 10-gallon tank. He is currently building his bubblenest. Aphrodite, my wife's female betta, swims in a two-liter soda bottle converted into a ghost chimney inside the 10-gallon tank until she is ready to breed. Bloody Mary, my female betta, swims in a fishbowl. The ghost chimney and fishbowl for the females is supplied with airlines feeding into them despite the fact that they are labyrinth fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom