How to care for a betta?

guppygirl123

Proud Member of the Muffin Mafia
Oct 15, 2006
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Hey guys! :)

I have a family member who is going out of town for a week. She wants me to take care of her betta (which is living in a bowl). I hate to see it in a bowl, as it isn't very healthy and it gets so cold at night here.... I would love to use my breeding trap for baby fish (which floats and is filled with holes for water circulation) to keep it in in my tank, so it has a chance to breath clean water and has the proper temperature, but I don't want to put it in my main tank as I have a female betta.

Anyways, could I do this? If the female betta stays away from the breeding trap there shouldn't be any problems, right? I hope living in a tank (if only for a week) will do him some good.... I hate to see him in an unheated, unfiltered bowl.
 
jm1212 said:
you could surprise her witha welcome back tank with a filter

your female betta will probably go near the net to check him out, and he will probably start flaring as will she

I wish I could, but I'm broke.... :sad:
So I shouldn't try that?
 
a breeder net is a good idea if the betta looks heathy (check for diseases or ailments first). i think the net is not transparent enough for them to see each other (depends what brand you have, most are the same white nets). slowly acclimate the betta to the temperature and water conditions and it should be happy in there for the duration of his stay.
 
guppygirl123 said:
I hope living in a tank (if only for a week) will do him some good.... I hate to see him in an unheated, unfiltered bowl.

I wouldn't put him in the main tank for 2 reasons.

One, it will be a shock, especially if he has been living in poor conditions for some time. His body will not be used to the higher temperature and better water parameters.

And two, he'll get another shock when he gets crammed back into the bowl and low temperatures again.

As nice as it sounds, it really will do more stress than good and could very well kill him. I'd try and convince your friend to permanently upgrade the betta's home.
 
Okay, I'll just try and keep his bowl clean.... I'll put a towel over it at night to keep it from getting too cold also. I just want the little guy to do okay.
 
You can get a 2.5 gal. with a filter at Walmart or Petco for 25$. Or a 1 gal. with filtration for 18$. Then just gravel and maybe a few plants. If I were you, I'd help that betta! And maybe get it a heater too...
 
so that's why get your family member a 2.5 gal or 5 gal with a filter (it should be pretty cheap, i think...) and slowly drip acclimate it! So then
1)not much shock
2)won't be crammed in the bowl again!

i guess problem solved :p:
 
If you wanted to put it into a new tank. I'd follow standard OTS procedures.

Fill the new tank with the old water from the bowl (and the betta)

Slowly add clean dechlor water until the tank is full, on a drip preferabbly, or a small amount per day.

Once it's full, Daily water changes in small amounts until the water is clean. Start with 5%, work your way up to 40-50%. Eventually you'l lbe able to do a 100% if you want without shocking him.
 
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