looking for very basic care, tank setup, etc info for a single betta

Jennie Beth

Jennie Beth

AC Members
Feb 20, 2009
379
1
18
Graham, WA USA
Hi all,
Took a brief surf thru the threads, and didn't see what I was looking for...
My daughter would like to get a betta, but I won't let her until she has done the research to properly care for one. Has anyone seen a thread here that would give basic care, substrate, planting, filter, heater kind of information? We did get a book at the pet store but it is so generic it is not very helpful.

We do NOT have a fish now, so we have plenty of time to read and research if you have suggestions :)
Thanks,
Jen
 
There are several writeups on it through google, I don't know of any specific to this site. I have a betta in a 6 gallon fluval chi, has a floramax substrate (got it for looks mostly) and a few primrose stems. That's pretty much it, no heater, weekly water changes. The filter on the chi sucks, but it works.
 
I hated my chi lol. I have my betta in a 5gal bowfront set up. It was 40$ from petsmart with everything but the heater,depending on your house temp you may not need one. I used play sand as substrate, found driftwood in lake Erie, and plants from my other tank.
Good on you for making her research!
 
Good info on that Ulitmatebettas page, but I would add a couple of comments.

First people seem to treat betta as something "different" from a normal fish. I guess in some ways they are, in their ability to handle low oxygen levels and survive in ridiculously small containers. But in reality they don't need different care from most other fish.

What that means is that the "generic" aquarium setup and care notes can be applied to a betta, and it will do just fine.

They may prefer different food to some other species, like warm water, and prefer only gentle filtering / current, but if you set up a nice little 10gal tank it wont matter if you put a betta, a guppy or a dwarf gourami in there. Care for the tank correctly and they will be OK.

So my suggestion is to buy a bigger tank than the minimum you need. Sure you can keep a betta in a 2.5gal tank, but that's the only thing that's ever going to do well in there. Get a simple 15gal tank, it's much more forgiving to care for, and because it's so lightly stocked it's going to be easy to cycle and hard to neglect, even if it goes weeks without a water change. AND, if you get the fish keeping bug, the tank is suitable for a variety of other small fish, even kept in with a betta.

Not sure about your area, but all the local pet shops here sell basic 10, 15, 20 gal kits with a basic glass tank, simple filter, heater and all the little incidentals you will need to get started. Get something like that and you will have a palace for your betta to live in, and have other fish keeping options as well.

Ian
 
+1 on getting a bigger tank. At Petco you can pick up a ten gallon starter kit (comes with filter, heater, fish tank, and lights) for only 60 bucks.

I bought a bag of pool filter sand to use a substrate in all of my tanks, it is only 6 bucks for a 50lbs bag. The pool filter sand looks MUCH better than gravel, and is also cheaper.

When you get your betta I reccomend that you feed him betta pellets, don't feed him flakes. Mine loves Hikari Betta pellets, although they are a bit pricey. Feed 3-4 pellets a day. You could also feed him a bit of frozen bloodworms 1-2 times a week, although it's not neccesary.

Good luck, and feel free to ask if you have more questions!

-Cam
 
Thanks much everyone! We sat down and read thru the betta care sheet at the ultimate bettas website, and the other links, and got alot of questions answered...

Here are two still grey areas...
Cycled, with fewer water changes, or uncycled and total water change/cleaning each week? Leaning toward a 10 gal tank. Along with that, it sounded like a total-clean-each-week tank had no filter at all? What about a pump, some bubbles...? Maybe it's because I normally hang out in the pond/goldfish forum, but that seems weird to me...? We did read that bettas don't like or enjoy alot of water movement, but none at all?

Substrate or bare bottom tank? We are new at this, but have read stories of scary 'swamp gas' trapped in the substrate that will leak out during a cleaning and kill all your fishies. Also read that marbles are bad, since bettas can get their heads stuck under a marble while looking for leftovers (?) What about doing a goldfish-style setup, with bare bottom and plants in pots? We need a compromise between cleanable for a firsttimer, and comfortable for the betta. Betta's comfort is most important, but I also need to make this manageable for my daughter. If she gets too overwhelmed, neither she nor the fish will have a good time.
 
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