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So, in my LPS, I’ve been seeing these bags of betta beads popping up on the shelves. I do know bettas like to play with small moss balls, ping pong balls, and the like, but they’re popping up around the colorful gravel and tiny betta “kits” and such, so…little on edge about giving my betta a...

Well, that’s good news on the betta: I need to move him for another tank. The filter is a HOB with adjustable flow, since I don’t like sponges, and since I already brought it I’m going to keep it in. Dad told me it was probably cycled, but I came here to check. I did add a few fish food flakes...

So, I have this betta tank I’m cycling. Anyways, I got it set up a while back, but my filter was faulty, so I had to order a new one. I left on a week-long vacation before I could get the filter. When I came back, green algae was growing in the tank. I’ve been checking the ammonia for about a...

In that case, I’m nixing my plan of getting a dragonfish until I can secure a 100 gallon

I’m pretty sure this is also a picture of a juvenile. Looks too small to be full-grown. Or maybe not? They don’t give scientific names for most of the fish. On the website it’s just labeled as a dragonfish with nothing else about it. As I’ve said, really weird pet shop. Best one in the area for...

The pet shop is really weird, and they don’t actually let you browse their fish in person: they have a website with pictures of their fish. You have to call in to see the fish in person. So I’m pretty sure this is just a random picture off the web that they took.

Ok, now I’m confused. Are there different types of dragonfish? The one I want is gray and…kind of knotty-looking, almost? That one is purple. Guess I’ll just save this for when I can get a larger tank?

I recently found a pet store selling dragonfish. Anyways, they look really interesting, and I’m considering buying a new tank and putting one in it. Can they go with four-eyes fish? And what kind of midwater schooling fish is large, brackish-water, and big enough to not get eaten? I’m planning...

And now, for some arcane reason, the yellow bettas are called non-red…gah, names are ridiculous. I’ve seen a billion pet stores calling their metallic bettas “Yellow dragons” or something stupid like that. It seems common to slap a fancy name on a regular betta to get people to buy it.

And on a side note, holy crap are they expensive. 30 bucks for a fish. Like…maybe try to get a male and female and breed them to keep costs down? I think I’ll just take honey gouramis as my yellow fish. They’re pretty, yellow, and do the cute thing with their little “hand” whiskers.

…yeah, I think I’ll just give up and build a betta tank into the stand for my betta needs. Can you elaborate on what you mean by a Cambodian betta, however? I actually have seen the blue-eyed Congo tetras for sale at a really big fish store in Dayton. They were awesome. At the time I thought...

I already have it: there’s Glowlight tetras in the stocking. Honestly, it’s really fine. The mystery snails and shrimp are good, and this frees me some fish space up. I think I might go with a apistogramma species, since they come in some yellows. Do a all-male or all-female group of them. Or...

Hmm. I might end up getting a pair of those, or of imbellis, for my community tank then. They’d probably make a lot better tankmates than a big girl.

I think I really might just go with gold mystery snails and yellow shrimp. They’re pretty enough, and they barely add to bioload.

What about the blue-eyed Congo tetras, then? They’re three inches long…but, you know, they’re also tetras. I’m not gonna do a long-finned betta. I’m thinking more along the lines of a female or plakat. Longfins are gorgeous, but if getting one limits my options this much, I’ll choose a plakat.

Yeah, I just thought it was funny, since, you know, Rainbowfish aren’t four feet long! I’m more leaning towards the panda dwarf cichlid now, since they seem like the best choice for my tank.

And I just found this gem…

That’s a great list. Found about five things. Definitely need more research, but thanks!

That sounds really cool: they weren’t cramped?

I’ll be using RO/DI water for this tank, as I can’t keep anything that’s not insanely hard-water happy in my water. I plan to keep my snails happy by adding minerals, but I’m still trying to figure out how to do that without killing everyone else. It’s going to be very heavily planted, and since...

Eh, if they’re any kind of self-respecting cichlids, they’ll eat everything else in the tank and I can’t plant it with them. I do like them, but if they’re not good community fish, they can’t work.

I really try to avoid getting the wild-type bettas, as I’m fairly sure they’re endangered and I think most of them are wild-caught. Every betta I’ve kept was a splendens, with one imbellis pawned off on me by a friend. Imbellis was cool, awesome in fact, but I still don’t want to support...

Look, dude. I’ve done this before. I get apprehension, but it works really well if you execute everything correctly. Keeping a backup tank for the betta is a must. You are right, though: way more betta than normal are aggressive. Mostly because Petsmart and such usually buys the rejects from...

Yes, I have a way to pick them to avoid aggression. You pick your top five or six bettas and set them on the shelf. Make sure they can see each other. Anyone flaring? Immediately out. Anyone just puffing up a bit? Immediately out. Then, once you’re narrowed down, walk over to the portion of the...

Honestly, I think the “naturally aggressive fish” argument is kind of outdated now. You’ll find the odd one, but unless you make a choice to intentionally buy from Thailand or someplace where they still breed for those traits, you’ll rarely find a fish that’s extremely aggressive. Also, keeping...

My alone bettas got sick way more than them.

…I’ve kept like three communities.

Ok, dilemma solved!

Yes! I’ve always wanted to keep those things!

Ah, crap. I’ll just do lemon tetras, I guess. Those would probably make good enough tankmates. Maybe a yellow betta if I can find them. I don’t want to deal with live food for a killi until I can successfully grow my own blackworms. I do have a plan to build a backup tank into my stand, so if I...

I have considered the imbellis species, but I don’t want to support wild-catching fish in any way. Besides, I’ve heard they’re too shy. I might do a plakat, but I’m really worried about them: in my experience putting bettas in community tanks, the only one that didn’t work out was the one I...

Don’t they eat plants?

Ah…drat, nevermind. I thought it might be possible. I would be putting those two in a 60 gallon breeder, so lots of space…but it would be a community, and the female wouldn’t have much space then. In that case, I’ll just go with my original plan and put a single giant betta in. Wanted a girl...

So, I’m trying to find something yellow I can put with my betta. Any fish. Has to be diurnal. I do already have a lemon bristlenose pleco in the stocking, but I’ve heard they’re hiders and I want to actually see them. My only other idea for a yellow, non-nippy fish is a Platy, but they need high...

So, I know a guy who kept fish back during the old periods of fishkeeping, and he kept a betta pair (Male/Female betta, regular old betta Splendens) together in a 30 gallon with some Cory catfish. It worked for about two years, until his filter, which was a surface skimmer with a hook instead of...

No, it’s 220 ppm of hardness, with a PH above 8. And all my fish like acid, because everything I like has to come from the Amazon. Or alternatively, be a betta. I’m giving up and getting a RO/DI system. Alright, ordered the Safe Start! His tank should be arriving around Wednesday. I’m going to...

Unfortunately, I don’t live near regular breeders, let alone one selling giants. There is a fish store that keeps the bettas well (2 gal tank for every betta, Indian almond leaves in each tank), but they only sell plakat giants and I’m trying to get a Halfmoon. I think I might just risk it and...

There's no such fish as a giant Betta. They are simply older bigger males. No, there definitely are: I’ve been to a fish store that sold them, and they were a solid five inches long and fatter than any betta I’ve ever seen.