Betta In A Vase

[littlefishie]

My friend Rob just bought another betta for his mom. From what I know she's ended up inadvertantly killing many bettas, not to mention a cacti. When I got to the house to help Rob set up his new fish tank, I saw that his mom was settling her new betta into a large vase with glass marbles at the bottom. Not so bad.

Then came the horrific plant in it's plastic lid. With marbles.

When Rob goes home tonight he's removing the plant, but I had a "betta" idea for them. He has two spare 5.5 gallon tanks, one with a hood and light [the light needs a little work but it can be done] and an aquaclear mini. There's no heater, but the water in the vase stays at a decent temperature [74] so he probably wouldn't need one.

I thought that perhaps we should set up this 5.5 for her, after cleaning it out and fixing up the light, and add some live plants cut from both of our tanks, and cycle it with some stuff from my tank. Now, the only problem I can see is that she wouldn't understand how to clean out the tank. When she cleans out the vase she pours [!!!] the betta from the vase into a cup, and then washes out the marbles in a strainer. Then the betta goes back in. I also discovered she never used water conditioner before this, so I had to show her how to do that.

I really don't want her to kill this betta too, as it was a spectacular find -- on sale as a VT for $4.99, but it's actually a purpley-red delta. Very pretty and cute.

Obviously I know we should set up the 5.5 for her, but do you think she'd be able to handle taking care of it? I figure filtration will make it easier for her to take care of it, but it'd be cleaning out the gravel/sand [NO DECORATIVE MARBLES!] that'd probably confuse her.

Any ideas/suggestions are more than welcome!

 

[cutechic]

I think that's a good idea. Buy her a small siphon and a clean bucket, and show her how easy it is to do water changes. Explain how much less stressful these water changes will be on the betta. You may also want to explain the benefits of feeding a variety of foods (frozen and live, especially). And invite her to join TFF

Make sure the tank's temperature always stays around 74- even at night and in winter & summer. If it doesn't, it may be beneficial to buy a heater.

 

[littlefishie]

Rob said he'd buy her the gravel vac himself [It's $3.50] and they've already got a bucket because of his tank. I tried explaining a lot of it to her [she got lost at the whole 'beneficial bacteria' bit] and it didn't really seem to sink in. I'm making up a care sheet for her, but I wanted to see what else I could tell her.

She's also not that great with computers, but Rob will be joining TFF later, so he can at least pass on the information. His mom's not too understanding of the internet.

I'll have him fill the tank and check the temperature at night. If it dips below 74 I'll make him get a heater. They're only $15 at Wal-Mart, but it was just another thing she'd have to worry about.

Thanks!