need help figuring out what to do with my sisters betta

My sister has a betta in a 2 gallon bowl with fake plants and no heater. She decided she's not making him happy and wants me to take it. I told my sister I would take the betta, but now I am in a situation where I don’t know either. I don’t have a tank for it, but I know it isn’t happy in a bowl. I have a 20 gallon long tank with a BN Pleco and 13 Pygmy and dwarf cories. My plan was to get marbled hatchets fish and green neons. Would it be better to ditch this plan and let the betta live in the tank? I know it isn’t a good idea to have a betta with other fish because of their potentially aggressive behavior, but in this situation which is the better plan moving forward? A betta in a 2 gallon bowl or a betta with some cories, shrimp, and a pleco with a backup plan just in case?

@Byron I want you to know I am not disregarding anything we have talked about as far as stocking for this tank. I am just seeing if there is a better wrong in this situation. I have taken what you have said to heart (about not having the bettas with other fish and not even risking it going wrong) but was not sure if you thought this was an exception. I am torn between knowingly potentially risking harm to the cories and pleco vs knowingly subjecting the betta to inadequate and downright inappropriate living conditions.

@PheonixKingZ


In my opinion this is exactly why parents should be a part of the care of an animal. Even if they just make sure the kid is doing their best and taking care of the pet. I don’t need anyone telling me she shouldn’t have a pet.

I disagree with the title. IMO, if kids are educated about a certain thing, and like it, they will care for it. I've had complete responsibility for a pet starting at 7 years of age. Haven't made that much large mistakes.

I think you would be better off getting a divider, or a breeder box for the betta to live in while you either find it a home, or restart the betta bowl. However, I heavly disagree with the idea that a Male Betta should be kept in a 2 gallon bowl. But the situation is what it is, and you asked for help, so i gave it to you.

I Like Rare Fish said:

I disagree with the title. IMO, if kids are educated about a certain thing, and like it, they will care for it. I've had complete responsibility for a pet starting at 7 years of age. Haven't made that much large mistakes.

I think you would be better off getting a divider, or a breeder box for the betta to live in while you either find it a home, or restart the betta bowl. However, I heavly disagree with the idea that a Male Betta should be kept in a 2 gallon bowl. But the situation is what it is, and you asked for help, so i gave it to you.

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I think there may be a misunderstanding here. I was saying I DONT want the betta in the 2 gallon bowl. IMO 3 gallons heated with live plants or 3 gallons heated and filtered with no live plants is the absolute bare minimum for a betta. 5 gallons is what is much much much better (10 gallons even more so). 3 gallons is not ideal and but it doable with attention to maintenance and water quality.

If the kid is mature and passionate enough to take complete responsibility of the animal, then they don’t need someone monitoring their work and such. The thing is most kids aren’t like that, and having an adult or mature family member making sure the kid (by kid I mean like 4 to 12) is aware of the responsibility that a pet is and that the kid is not neglecting the pet. When you were seven, if you had a fish or pet dying because you weren’t providing for it, would your parent/s or legal guardian/s have simply allowed it? What I mean by “kids shouldn’t have complete responsibility for a pet” is “kids shouldn’t be given a pet and simply be allowed to not take care of it. A parent or legal guarding (or even older sibling or cousin) should be monitoring it at least a little to be able to remind the kid to do better when the care is not sufficient”. I suppose making such blanket statements is simply not very open minded of me, I apologize.

Actually, I strongly believe that the issue ALWAYS lies with the parents, who are supposed to be the Adult in the relationship.They are the ones responsible for the kid and they are the ones that give the kid the pet, or the means to obtain the pet.
Perhaps you should get the parent to read this Forum!

Bad parents will just stick their kid in front of a TV, or give them what they want, when they want it...all for an easier life. When those kids hit The Real World, many struggle and cannot cope as a consequence.
Good parents are totally involved with what their kids do and offer whatever support is required, when it's required.

For your situation, the Betta needs to live in a bucket, whilst you remove the plastic plants and rinse out the substrate, to the very best of your ability, in tank water. Then put just enough substrate back in the bowl to cover the base. You need to buy a load of basic pondweed (Elodea) to put into the bowl. This will help oxygenate the water, manage Betta waste products and give the Betta some security.
You can then put the Betta back in the bowl and keep up with water changes and try to keep it warm.
You then need to nag your parents to get what they should've got in the first place...a proper tank for the Betta. Your sister's getting nothing but bad lessons from her experience and living creatures are suffering along the way, with you caught in the middle. This isn't good for you, your sister, the fish and, in the long run, your parents.

I suspect your kid sister isn't really interested in fish and only wants what you have...because that's what siblings do.

Does the Betta seem aggressive if you hold a mirror up to the tank?

If the answer is no, it might work to add it to your 20g. I always say never add Bettas in with other fish, but this may be the exception. When my BNP was SUPER small, he was in with my Betta in the 10g. Never had an aggression issue, just because they rarely crossed paths. (Different swimming areas)

He may also get along with the corydoras, because they spend all of their time at the bottom of the tank, away from the Betta.


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This all does depend on if the Betta is aggressive or not.

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I do applaud you for your willingness to save your sisters Betta!

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

I suspect your kid sister isn't really interested in fish and only wants what you have...because that's what siblings do.

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I suspect something of the sort. She really does care about the individual fish, but it’s not like she’s into fish keeping. I helped her out as much as I was able. She originally had big marbles, some bright fake plants, and no hides so I gave her some sand, an old white teacup which we turned over at an angle, some river pebbles, and an anubias in an effort to make it a bit more natural. I reminded her every night to get him fresh water. I think it was just more work than fish should be and she doesn’t enjoy it anymore. Of course if she had a decent sized tank and filtration it would’ve been so different and that’s makes me sad, both for the fish and for her.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

For your situation, the Betta needs to live in a bucket, whilst you remove the plastic plants and rinse out the substrate, to the very best of your ability, in tank water. Then put just enough substrate back in the bowl to cover the base. You need to buy a load of basic pondweed (Elodea) to put into the bowl. This will help oxygenate the water, manage Betta waste products and give the Betta some security.

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sounds good! I plan to get some duckweed too. I will probably change out the sand all together to avoid the cloudiness. I have some more natural looking stuff anyway that my axolotls tank can sacrifice. I have some plants I can pull from my main tanks, some bamboo and Amazon sword mainly.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

You then need to nag your parents to get what they should've got in the first place...a proper tank for the Betta. Your sister's getting nothing but bad lessons from her experience and living creatures are suffering along the way, with you caught in the middle. This isn't good for you, your sister, the fish and, in the long run, your parents.

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It isn’t that my parents don’t feel the need to provide for the fish, it’s that they don’t quite understand that a betta needs more space and why. In addition, my mom is convinced tanks are harder, messier, and stinkier and that it would ruin the carpet. I am on a two tank limit as long as I live at home, with an exception for the baby koi’s winter tank. My only real options are to try it out in the 20 gallon or make the bowl as sufficient as possible. I have a small heater and I plan to use plastic wrap on the top of the bowl to prevent evaporation so it stays a little warmer hopefully. I could also try to find a larger bowl. I’ve seen 3 and 4 gallons on Amazon which would at least be better than this

If adding the betta to the large tank does not work.

You can get a clean tote or plastic container that is bigger than the tank it’s currently in, give it a good clean without any chemicals or detergents and thoroughly rinse in tap water, then add a small heater and simple sponge filter, that will be fine temporarily.

And if you can just add a sprinkling of sand or substrate from your main tank as this will cover the bottom of the tub as this substrate have the bacteria needed and maybe add a few plants too so this will be a step in right direction while you decide what’s best.

There are usually lots of cheap 5 to 10 gallon tanks for sale online locally, sometimes even free, so may be worth having a look online to see what’s available then take it from there.

In short, I would keep the Betta in the bowl, period. There is no question but that it will be better off, as will the other fish already in the tank.

Adding a male betta to any tank with other small fish is a serious risk, and frankly inhumane. You've no idea as to how the betta may react, nor how the other fish may react. What we do know as scientific fact is that the betta is genetically programmed to live alone and it will always be better alone. There is no argument, this is fact. If the individual betta behaves differently from the norm, that is the exception, and should never be used as the excuse for improper housing.

As for the 2g bowl, thinking only from the aspect of biological science, that is more than sufficient space for a healthy betta. Yes, a 5g tank may make the owner feel better, but none of us can say this about the betta. A fish that is capable of living in wet mud when its habitat water dries up for part of the year is obviously going to think the bowl is paradise--if it can even "think" this way which I seriously doubt.

Risking the health of the fish in the existing tank should not be even considered.

Can you buy your sister a small aquarium for the fish?
Your mum won't have to outlay any money, and your sister gets a bigger tank for the fish. Everyone wins.

To stop the water going cloudy she might have to wash the tank out to get all the stuff out of the gravel.

You can buy a 5 gallon complete kit on walmart.com and they ship it for free . Just $31 plus tax. Just needs a small heater.

I’ve actually pulled all the sand out of the tank and rinse it in chlorine free water twice.

Fishmanic said:

You can buy a 5 gallon complete kit on walmart.com and they ship it for free . Just $31 plus tax. Just needs a small heater.

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The thing is it’s a tank. My mom is not wanting another tank, but she’s ok with a bowl. I can run a sponge filter and a heater in any size bowl I want she just is a afraid of the seals leaking, which clearly doesn’t happen in a bowl lol. She’s convinced tanks are messier for some reason

get a leak alarm for about $7 or so and tell your mother if it did leak you would have plenty of notice before damage is done to floor etc.

Can you get a breeder box/tank that can float inside your 20gallon tank?

You can a get a big breeder box example: 20x10cm or larger and hang it near your filter outflow.
Or you can get an airstone and put it inside or directly below the breeder tank for the water inside to be refreshed continuously.
Remove all dividers inside the box if you don't need them.

There are a few types of breeder tank/box.
Some can be hung inside your 20gallon tank.
It's best to get one that can float instead of just hanging so that whenever you change the water, you don't need to remove it out from your 20 gallons tank.

Some breeder boxes can be hung outside the tank and be connected to an air tubing or even a small water pump for the water to be continuously flowing into the tank.
You can look for some China brands like Ista which are cheaper than Fluval.

OliveFish05 said:

The thing is it’s a tank. My mom is not wanting another tank, but she’s ok with a bowl. I can run a sponge filter and a heater in any size bowl I want she just is a afraid of the seals leaking, which clearly doesn’t happen in a bowl lol. She’s convinced tanks are messier for some reason

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Easily fixed. Buy a large fish bowl that holds 20+ litres. No seams to leak but it has water volume. Put an air operated sponge filter in it and add some plants.