Betta Advice

[JoeGuzzo]

i am in the midst of rescuing a betta from near death and currently have in in a single gallon petco tank. i wanted to buy him a bigger one but im going to wait to see if he survives no point in buying a new tank and then have him die on me. but i was thinking about this 2 gallon cylinder tank..obviously that is appropriate for just him but i wanted to put other fish in with him, not many i was thinin just like a few neon tetras or something?

does this sound like a good idea or would i need to get an even bigger tank?

p.s. the tank doesnt have a real filter it has one of those undergravel filters that isnt really a filter it just has bubbles that force water up it. also didnt know if that was a good idea or not

 

[Cazgar]

Hope he survives, sounds like you're doing your best.
A 2 gallon isn't really big enough, a 5 gallon would be much better, even then you couldn't have a shoal of tetras, maybe a couple of endlers nothing more

 

[Amanita.m]

2 gallons is small for a Betta IMO, certainly too small for any other fish. Neons should be in groups of 6 or more. To have a community tank,
you should have 10 gallon+ depending on the number of fish u wanted. A 10 gallon would hold maybe 8-10 small fish and a Betta. The tank should be filtered, and heated, and the water conditions closely monitored with a good liquid testing kit, API makes a decent kit.
U will need to do pretty much daily water changes in the one gallon tank u have him in, I'd change 30%-50% a day.
U should ideally cycle the new tank before adding fish. There are articles on cycling a tank in beginners areas, also a few threads in the Betta section. Good luck!

 

[pablothebetta]

Hope he turns out ok. UGFs aren't the best really, a small internal would be better or a small hang on the back type filter if you get an apropriate tank (but bear in mind bettas will jump without lids, so you'd want to make a cover for it).

If you want to stay with small tanks, I wouldn't recommend going for less than 5 gallons, in which case you could keep a few male endlers with him at most aside from shrimps/snail(s). If you went for a 10, a nice group of pygmy cories, microrasbora or ember tetra might work well.

 

[JoeGuzzo]

#40## thats what i was going to do because i have a 10 gallon tank that im not using and iw as going to put him in it with other fish but my oldest sister just told me she wanted it so i told her i would give it to her and i really want to keep it but i feel bad telling her i want it even though all fish she has tried to keep have died.

oh and how to bettas do with swordtails? because my youngest sister has a 6.6 gallon tank with only a few neon tetras and two swordtails maybe ill just put it in there with them if you guys think he would do alright?

 

[Cazgar]

I wouldn't advise putting a Betta & swordtails in a 6 gallon.
Imo swordtails need a far bigger tank.
If I were you I'd get a minimum 5 gallon for the Betta & keep him on his own, or get a 10 gallon & have a few endlers or micro rasboras

 

[JoeGuzzo]

alright ill see what i do because i definitely want to get him a bigger tank anyway but i just wanted to get one big enough to put him in it with other fish because i feel like alone they are miserable, i feel like they are only "fighting" fish because ironically they are social fish..even if they dont really socialize with other things i feel like they always need something going on around them.

but yea i dont want to go buy another 10 gallon kit just because my sister cant go buy one herself i feel like it would be awaste of my money especially because i only had my 10 gallon set up for 2 months maybe 3 when i first got it and that was it.

idk maybe ill just get him the 2 gallon tank and put him with a snail or shrimp or something

 

[OldMan47]

The swordies definitely need a bigger tank, they are very fast swimmers that need some room for regular exercise. When to comes to micro tanks like a 2 1/2 gallon, three are plenty of tiny possible tank mates. Off the cuff, as a livebearer specialist, I can recommend some nice Heterandria formosa for example. They can easily be bred in a 2 to 5 gallon tank and would help your betta by providing him with some company.
Let's go to it now. I find it completely unacceptable, at least for me, to keep a solitary betta splendens male. Mine are always a part of a larger group of fish. I don't consider it humane to keep a solitary betta, ever. The poor guys deserve some company. That does not mean that I do not recognize that solitary bettas are indeed kept by professional breeders in tiny containers. It merely reflects my own prejudices.