fear of small tanks AKA beta help

Hi, I'm an old cichlid fan. About 2 years ago I started in on the salt water world.
keep reading beta lovers.

Ive always underloaded livestock and overloaded on filteration.
Fear of the small tank.

My wife, and now I, really want to do a tiny reef tank.
I knoticed on these boards there are lots of beta lovers (and ya I want one of those too now aaaaaa).

I was wondering for those who have a few different set ups.. which do you like the best?
- filteration
-lights
-shape
-did I say filteration?

I'm especially afraid of the all-in-one set ups. But, they do look nice. I'd love to hear your success or failure storys. plz note which brand and what type of filteration it uses.

Plz respond either as a beta or small reef fan.

esp like to hear from itty bitty
-thanks
adrinal

Heddo! No need to fear small tanks. Bettas are one of the easiest kept fishes. The only trick is not to choose one that is already sick. With that out of the way, since I see you are a must-have-a-filter person, may I suggest the Art Deco Candy AquaVase Combo by Red Sea. It is an open-top mini-aquarium. It's wonderful! It takes up only a 7"x 7" square space. Fits on a desktop or a small space on a shelf. It comes with a light and a nano-filter. It's very quiet and stylish. You just have to keep the room temperature constant - a compromise between you and your betta.
What you are to supply:
- a freshwater substrate (color of your choice)
- water conditioner
- outlets for the filter and light
- a plant (preferrably silk/plastic, non-pointy to avoid tearing fins )
- betta food
- and the betta

Hope this helps in whatever you decide for your betta!

If you wanted to go any bigger than the tank mentioned above, you could always go for the 2.5 Gallon Minibows - you can even get one with a divider and keep 2 bettas. If you buy a kit, all you have to supply is conditioned water. I believe it's called the Little Lagoon, and it comes with a Whisper Mini Filter, light and hood, gravel, and 2 plants. It's a pretty good deal at places like Walmart. My boy just loves his. Also, if you do get the little tank Itty Bitty Betta mentioned, make sure you cover it - bettas like to jump, and I just lost a little girl a few days ago in that tank because she thought she'd teach me a lesson the hard way. If you really do have to have a filter (though sometimes bettas appreciate not having one!), you can buy the little Azoo filters that come with the kit seperately for about $6 and then just add them to a different tank. It's almost always cheaper than going in on the entire AquaVase combo - the prices on these are a bit steep for their small quantity IMO. Good luck, have fun!

wow that was fast!!!

and shazam those are small!!!

so.. the filters are pretty much just for the large bits and water change is the real filteration?

I use ro water for my tanks... would this be too harsh for the little fellas?
if so.. tap water is out but perhaps water from my cichlid tank mixed with "freash" ro?

I'm sure a mod will move this to the betta forum shortly for you so more betta fiends notice it

I wouldn't use RO water for bettas, tap should be fine. Unless you have an extremely high ph your betta will do well. If it's above 8.0 you may want to tinker with the ro/tap combo and get it at about 7.6 or so.

The tank shown in itty bitty's thread is a tad small, I prefer a 2.5 that can be purchased at PetSmart for around 10 bucks,glass lid included, I have several with single bettas and some divided two or three ways, depending on each bettas activity level. You should also ALWAYS keep a lid on your betta..they DO jump and they also need humid air above the water surface and a tight fitting lid provides that.

And yes...weekly 50% water changes and cycled tanks are basically all you need to keep a healthy betta,water changes can be done using a small gravel vac, a turkey baster or a small filter. I love filtration as you do. LOVE IT! But bettas don't like so much water movement,they prefer it still. You should see the tantrums that they throw when I hook up the azoo for a water change

Since we're in the pic forum I'll post a couple of my 2.5's so you can see what they look like

split two ways with a male & a female

And about filtration...I don't use it on the betta tanks. I DO use an azoo filter for a quick clean up during water changes ,here's a three way split.

I also keep a few two gallon hexes,but IMO..they're kind of useless as far as swim space goes. Although this guy would probably beg to differ ,he's lived happily in his for almost a year now. These are from Petco and around 20.00

another hex (last pic, I promise! I started digging through my photos and finding all kinds of betta pics...I could go on & on )

I also have a couple of 1 gallon wedges that come from Wal-Mart and are around 10.00, but I figure for the same 10 bucks I can get a 2.5 at Petsmart

wuvmybetta said:

another hex (last pic, I promise! I started digging through my photos and finding all kinds of betta pics...I could go on & on )

I also have a couple of 1 gallon wedges that come from Wal-Mart and are around 10.00, but I figure for the same 10 bucks I can get a 2.5 at Petsmart

Click to expand...

Why'd you stop? I'm enjoying your pics!

wow, you all are fish machines!!!! I know you dont sleep.

Thanks again for the help... If i do go beta Ill still probably go 5gal for 2 (with sepperator). Of course that will be after I read a beta specialist book.

Merry X-mass