Betta tank size advice

[GaryE]

There are, but you may do well with them. Floating plants are trial and error, and what works in one region's water won't in another's. I grew buckets of guppy grass in my last house, but in this one, no luck. Riccia ruled 3 houses back and died off after I moved. You have to look up plants to see their needs. If you have the lighting, then you gamble. What grows for me may not grow for you, and vice versa.

The one I would love to be aboe to avoid is duckweed. I hate that pest plant. But beyond that, it's a question of exploring.

 

[BigBurgassio]

There are, but you may do well with them. Floating plants are trial and error, and what works in one region's water won't in another's. I grew buckets of guppy grass in my last house, but in this one, no luck. Riccia ruled 3 houses back and died off after I moved. You have to look up plants to see their needs. If you have the lighting, then you gamble. What grows for me may not grow for you, and vice versa.

The one I would love to be aboe to avoid is duckweed. I hate that pest plant. But beyond that, it's a question of exploring.

Cool, Ill check them out and see the spec they require, what i do have thriving at the moment is elodea densa its almost growing too fast, do you think betta would be ok around that plant ? I also plan to add dwarf water lettuce.

 

[GaryE]

Dwarf water lettuce grows poorly without bright natural light. Here, it dies under a window in full light, in winter. The light isn't enough.

Elodea is fine with Bettas.

 

[Colin_T]

Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is my go to for floating plants for Bettas. It's normally very easy to grow, has lots of branches the fish can rest on. And if you get too much, you can plant it in the substrate where it turns into a lovely light green plant. It's also easy to control.

 

[sharkweek178]

Thanks, Is there any plants you would avoid ?

I can't think of a plant. But any decor what has sharp or jagged edges could damage the fins of a betta. So smooth rocks and you want to be careful about the wood you choose.

 

[Lcc86]

I have mini water lettuce and elodea in my betta tank, no issues with either. He loves making bubble nests inside the water lettuce.

 

[BigBurgassio]

After a lot of looking at different tanks I decided he's maybe best staying where he is?

 

[BigBurgassio]

It's just a case of getting the stocking right, the betta is in with , one albino Cory female, one bronze Cory male, two male guppies and one bristle nose pleccy gender unknown, all seems very peaceful with the fish going about thier business and not harrasing others. Any issues with what I have in there?

 

[Magnum Man]

I’m still at the thinking about it phase, but had fish for most of my life, ( and I’m old ) I think there are at least 2 types of people that get betas, a big portion of people that have bettas in a cup, ( bowl, or small tank or jar ) look at them as easily replaceable ( often gold fish owners are the same ) most are not enthusiasts, like you would find here, as regular posting members… it’s expected to buy 4-5 of them per year… and as a non owner yet, I’m not sure what the life expectancy of a fancy beta is???

As enthusiasts, we are looking at ways to make the fish last longer than 4 months, which means maintaining a “tank” and I’ve found generally smaller tanks are more difficult to maintain, than larger ones…

That said, I’m contemplating playing the game, and if I did, I would go one of 2 very different ways… I have a group of 10 gallon tanks, in the work area of my main group of tanks, if I used one of those, I would be the only one who would see it, and unfortunately, they are all full right now, 2 holding earth eaters, I was shipped in error, and I haven’t found a home for… the other option, is a small tank in my dining room, that would be viewed by everyone that enters the house… I had small tanks 25 year’s ago, and vowed not to do that again, they were too much work, but we live in a 100 year old farm house, and a 2-3 gallon jar, would fit the decor of the dining room, and I have a plan I think I could make work for a normal hobby beta, and if I went that route, I’m looking at a 2.5 gallon canning type jar, and would hand choose a cup beta from the local pet store… in the back of my mind, I was thinking a red white and blue one would be fitting, for public viewing, but will likely chose ( save ) one of those bright colored long fins from the cup, at the pet store

 

[BigBurgassio]

I put a black molly in with the betta a few days back and it immediately started Gill flaring then spent the whole time chasing and nipping at the molly, so I removed the molly to another tank with the endler females.

 

[Colin_T]

I’m still at the thinking about it phase, but had fish for most of my life, ( and I’m old ) I think there are at least 2 types of people that get betas, a big portion of people that have bettas in a cup, ( bowl, or small tank or jar ) look at them as easily replaceable ( often gold fish owners are the same ) most are not enthusiasts, like you would find here, as regular posting members… it’s expected to buy 4-5 of them per year… and as a non owner yet, I’m not sure what the life expectancy of a fancy beta is???

Good quality fish that don't have TB or any other disease can live for 5 years. Most are lucky to make it to 3 years and with TB becoming more common in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens), they will start dying sooner and people might only get 1 to 2 years out of them.

Most beginners are happy if they can keep the fish alive for 6 months

 

[BigBurgassio]

I’m still at the thinking about it phase, but had fish for most of my life, ( and I’m old ) I think there are at least 2 types of people that get betas, a big portion of people that have bettas in a cup, ( bowl, or small tank or jar ) look at them as easily replaceable ( often gold fish owners are the same ) most are not enthusiasts, like you would find here, as regular posting members… it’s expected to buy 4-5 of them per year…

There is definitely this perception that Betta's can live in very small spaces, and don't need any much care other than some flake dropped in, sort of similar to they way some keep goldfish, very sad.

 

[Essjay]

We all know there are untrue myths in this hobby. One of these myths is that wild bettas live in puddles so of course we can keep them in tiny tanks. My response is usually - if they live in puddles, how do males and females meet to spawn? The reality is wild bettas live in wide expanses of shallow water, and if this water dries up some of them survive in puddles till it rains again.
And of course we all know that other myth - goldfish are fine kept in tiny decor-free bowls

 

[BigBurgassio]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Penn-Plax-...4344b993f40df9fc46393&th=1&psc=1&gad_source=1

Take a look at the size of that thing, beyond cruel , amazed any one would consider it but many have bought them.

 

[Essjay]

Years ago I was in a shop selling greetings cards and on a shelf behind the checkout there was a 10 cm/4 inch cube with a betta inside. That's 1 litre or 1/4 gallon. If there hadn't been a queue behind me I would have told them what I thought, but I doubt they would have taken any notice. Next time I went in, the cube was not there.
I very much doubt that cube was sold as a "fish tank" but someone had the bright idea to put a fish in one.