Considering a Betta

[kcl_jmo]

Hello all,

I am in the process of deciding whether a Betta is an appropriate pet for our family and hoping I can get some clarity from experienced owners.

The situation is:

• UK-based family of six (myself and my husband and four children under 8yo), my husband and I would be the main carers but I want the children to be interested.
• Previous experience on my part of keeping two goldfish successfully in a large tank as a student (100L I think... it was a long time ago!) - my parents had to take them when I moved accomodation and did not look after them so they died - I did prep the tank for a few days before introducing the fish but I don't remember anything about cycling (other than obviously doing regular partial water changes! I never did any water testing)
• Available locations are on a kitchen surface or in our bedroom by the bedside (area maybe 1 x 0.5m)
• I am at home all day every day, give or take, but don't necessarily have lots of spare time (plenty of childcare demands!)
• My husband has allergies so fish/reptiles are the only viable options for pets hence exploring this option.

The information I am interested in to make an informed decision are as follows:

• Water change quantity and frequency required for 20-30L tank and how much faff will this actually be?
• Testing requirements including approx. costs
• Food requirements including approx. costs
• Plants and their care - this bit I really have no idea about!
• Is it really true they can be trained/tamed?

I suppose what I'm really asking for is what a typical monthly schedule caring for a Betta would look like and what the likely ongoing monthly costs would be. Basically what does your schedule look like as a Betta owner?
Estimate of upfront costs would be helpful as well, I'm assuming at least £200+ ($260).

If anyone has an idea of a more suitable alternative then I'd also be interested. I'm keen that whatever we keep is interesting/interactive enough to keep us all engaged in looking after it.

Thanks all!

 

[MattW]

Welcome to the Forum!

I'm no expert, but I'll try my best to answer

Before I attempt to answer anything, a great thing to know is your current water chemistry. I assume that you will be using tap water for this new tank. You can check your water parameters on the local water supplier website. This will allow you to know what sort of fish you can keep. As some fish species prefer soft water while others prefer harder waters. (Bettas do better is softer water)

Before adding fish, you need to cycle the aquarium. This is a guide to help you do that - https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

So water changes are done by most on a weekly basis. I believe the average person does around 50% weekly. A smaller tank can be affected by water parameter issues (like ammonia, nitrate, etc) quicker than a larger tank since its water volume is smaller and won't be as diluted by clean water. If your stocking is small (a single betta), this won't be as big an issue. Changing water can be quite simple. You can use a simple hose and bucket to siphon out water, or use a gravel vacuum if you want to clean gravel. Adding fresh water is the part you need to focus on. If you are using water from the tap, be sure to temperature-match the water in the tank with that which is coming out of your tap. Secondly, and most importantly. You will have to use a water conditioner to remove any chlorine and chloramine, and even heavy metals, which can be detrimental to fish.

For testing, I would recommend buying a liquid test kit. They are on the pricier side but do hold hundreds of tests. I've had the same kit since 2022 and still use it now.
I use this kit £30-35 on average.

There are many possible foods to feed your fish. I would recommend a mixed diet rather than the same food every day. Bettas enjoy protein-rich foods since they are carnivores. Pellets, flake food, Live food, frozen foods. I would recommend Bug bites as a start. Most foods are under the £5-10 mark and will last a while. Try to get live foods like daphnia/copepods when possible. Bettas are hunters and will enjoy chasing down live food.

Plants are one of my favourite parts of an aquarium. There are hundreds of options to choose from. Firstly, I would do a little reading up and research on plants just to get a basic understanding - A good video to watch. You will probably be recommended easy-growing plants like Anubias, Java Fern / Moss, Elodea and others. I would personally reccomend ephyite/rhizome plants. These can be grown out of substrate, meaning you won't have to bury them. Anubias is a hardy plant and a great option, so I would go with some of them and some easy-growing stem plants like Elodea, Water wisteria, Guppy grass and a personal favourite of mine, Limnophila sessiliflora. These stems can be grown with and without substrate also, and can even be used as floating plants.

Yes, they can be . My old betta knew when food was coming after I did two taps of the glass.

In a month, I would do a minimum of 4 water changes. Feeding can be done every day in small amounts, but some would suggest a fasting day as well to make sure the fish is not overfed. Bettas can be very personable fish, so maintain contact with them and provide hiding areas in the tank if the fish does become stressed.

As for monthly costs, you are mainly looking at food and water conditioners at most, so around £20ish, unless you are including electric bills for light, filter, heater, etc?

I can post a list and price of the basics you would need if you'd like

 

[AJ356]

It's great you are doing all this preparation. My personal opinion is that I don't like seeing adult fish in less than a 40 litre tank, including a single Betta.

I had my Betta in a 105 litre with two juvenile bristlenose catfish and the Betta made use of every inch of that 105 litres. If they are healthy, they are very inquisitive.

80% of people on Facebook groups would seem to happily keep a Betta in about 15 litres, which is poor, in my opinion. But it appears I am in the minority. Doesn't help when you walk into a fish store and the Bettas are in not much more water than a large cup of tea.

I think you've made the right choice in fish in soemways. Others might think different. If you can't go for 40 litre, don't settle for less than 30.

On here, you'll want for nothing in terms of tips, support and problem solving.

I am a bit of a hypocrite on tank size in a way. I have a couple of 85 litre size tanks with too many fish in right now. Working on that.

Good luck.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

• Water change quantity and frequency required for 20-30L tank and how much faff will this actually be?
• Testing requirements including approx. costs
• Food requirements including approx. costs
• Plants and their care - this bit I really have no idea about!
• Is it really true they can be trained/tamed?

I suppose what I'm really asking for is what a typical monthly schedule caring for a Betta would look like and what the likely ongoing monthly costs would be. Basically what does your schedule look like as a Betta owner?
Estimate of upfront costs would be helpful as well, I'm assuming at least £200+ ($260).

Welcome. You've come to the right place. Matt is right; you need to know the chemistry of your tap water, especially the hardness. If you do have hard water there are a few options. Assuming that checks out, your other questions:

• Water change quantity and frequency required for 20-30L tank and how much faff will this actually be?

*Most keepers around here change about 30-50% of the water once a week. If you get a small siphon with a pump bulb on it, and place your tank near a sink? It should only take a few minutes. If it isn't near a sink, you'll need a bucket. But it still should only take a few minutes.

• Testing requirements including approx. costs

*I might go against some of the other advice you need here, but if you're only keeping a single Betta, in a planted tank, and keep up on your water changes, you probably don't need a test kit. Personally, I only test when a tank is new or when something is obviously going wrong. A test kit is necessary for some methods of cycling, but there are other ways.

You can do a cycle with just plants, no test kit necessary. Look up silent cycle on the forum and you'll find all sorts of info. But it isn't complicated: Put in quite a lot of plants, especially floaters. Once they're growing, you can add your Betta and it will be fine. Done. This is what I do with all my tanks, and as long as you don't add too many fish, it works great.

• Food requirements including approx. costs

Bettas do fine on a staple diet of quality flake foods (I'll defer to my UK friends on what brands are worthwhile in your area, and what they cost) with occasional frozen or live treats. Most pet stores should carry frozen brine shrimp and daphnia, at least, and your Betta will love those. If you can get hold of some live food once in a while, even better. But not necessary.

• Plants and their care - this bit I really have no idea about

Plants aren't hard, and they really do make your aquarium more stable, more beautiful, and more comfortable for the fish. If you decide to go the planted route (and you might be picking up on the idea that I recommend it! ha ha) we can help you out. Basically you need some clean sand and a light. If you choose the right plants, fish food and fish poo will do the rest. Hard structure like driftwood can be really nice too.

• Is it really true they can be trained/tamed?

I've heard so, but I've never put in enough work to teach a Betta tricks. But they do have a lot of personality. Once you get them out of their little cups and into a tank with some scenery to explore, they are surprisingly intelligent and interactive. They definitely come to recognize that people = food, and some even will recognize the specific person who feeds them.

I suppose what I'm really asking for is what a typical monthly schedule caring for a Betta would look like and what the likely ongoing monthly costs would be. Basically what does your schedule look like as a Betta owner?

If you get your tank set up right, maintenance on a 20-30l tank shouldn't be much. A few minutes to half an hour a week for water changes (that's how long it takes me to do a 70% change on my 55 gallon, including trimming the plants and cleaning the filters). Setup will cost you a few pounds, but ongoing costs will be quite low.

You'll also want a small heater and a sponge filter and air pump. Plants can do your filtering for you, but you need at least an air stone to circulate the water a bit.



But all of that is getting ahead of the first important thing: Find out how hard your water is. We'll go from there.

 

[fishorama]

I'm going to agree with several others. Bettas aren't hard to keep with basic weekly water changes, vacuuming out waste & a good varied diet. Plants are very helpful for both water quality & betta amusement. They like to snack on plant "goodies" (biofilm & micro-critters).

They have different "personalities", that's part of the fun! If you need a bit more action & have plants &/or hiding places, shrimp can be a nice addition. The betta may eat small shrimp (also fun to watch) but you should be able to keep a colony going. Just something to think about.

A word of warning, most betta splendens (the usual kind) only live for a couple years at best. That can be distressing for kids. But as temporary pets that might not be all bad (I'm not a parent). That can let you "get your feet wet" & see how you like our hobby without too much investment, $$ or emotionally. I hope that's not too brutal to say, I'm trying to give you an honest idea of what to expect in the longer term We're all fish lovers here & we love to help new folks.

 

[kcl_jmo]

Thanks for all the response, I will read everything properly later. For now, here's the water report for our area. Let me know if this changes anything. I know we have hard water, that's for sure.

 

[kcl_jmo]

Welcome to the Forum!

I'm no expert, but I'll try my best to answer

Before I attempt to answer anything, a great thing to know is your current water chemistry. I assume that you will be using tap water for this new tank. You can check your water parameters on the local water supplier website. This will allow you to know what sort of fish you can keep. As some fish species prefer soft water while others prefer harder waters. (Bettas do better is softer water)

Before adding fish, you need to cycle the aquarium. This is a guide to help you do that - https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

So water changes are done by most on a weekly basis. I believe the average person does around 50% weekly. A smaller tank can be affected by water parameter issues (like ammonia, nitrate, etc) quicker than a larger tank since its water volume is smaller and won't be as diluted by clean water. If your stocking is small (a single betta), this won't be as big an issue. Changing water can be quite simple. You can use a simple hose and bucket to siphon out water, or use a gravel vacuum if you want to clean gravel. Adding fresh water is the part you need to focus on. If you are using water from the tap, be sure to temperature-match the water in the tank with that which is coming out of your tap. Secondly, and most importantly. You will have to use a water conditioner to remove any chlorine and chloramine, and even heavy metals, which can be detrimental to fish.

For testing, I would recommend buying a liquid test kit. They are on the pricier side but do hold hundreds of tests. I've had the same kit since 2022 and still use it now.
I use this kit £30-35 on average.

There are many possible foods to feed your fish. I would recommend a mixed diet rather than the same food every day. Bettas enjoy protein-rich foods since they are carnivores. Pellets, flake food, Live food, frozen foods. I would recommend Bug bites as a start. Most foods are under the £5-10 mark and will last a while. Try to get live foods like daphnia/copepods when possible. Bettas are hunters and will enjoy chasing down live food.

Plants are one of my favourite parts of an aquarium. There are hundreds of options to choose from. Firstly, I would do a little reading up and research on plants just to get a basic understanding - A good video to watch. You will probably be recommended easy-growing plants like Anubias, Java Fern / Moss, Elodea and others. I would personally reccomend ephyite/rhizome plants. These can be grown out of substrate, meaning you won't have to bury them. Anubias is a hardy plant and a great option, so I would go with some of them and some easy-growing stem plants like Elodea, Water wisteria, Guppy grass and a personal favourite of mine, Limnophila sessiliflora. These stems can be grown with and without substrate also, and can even be used as floating plants.

Yes, they can be . My old betta knew when food was coming after I did two taps of the glass.

In a month, I would do a minimum of 4 water changes. Feeding can be done every day in small amounts, but some would suggest a fasting day as well to make sure the fish is not overfed. Bettas can be very personable fish, so maintain contact with them and provide hiding areas in the tank if the fish does become stressed.

As for monthly costs, you are mainly looking at food and water conditioners at most, so around £20ish, unless you are including electric bills for light, filter, heater, etc?

I can post a list and price of the basics you would need if you'd like

Thanks very much. A list and price of the basics would be great. But for now, here's the water report for our area. Let me know what you think. https://cdn.southeastwater.co.uk/Files/Greywell.pdf I know our area is hard water for sure.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Yes, that water looks pretty hard! I get the idea that most UK water is hard. So, unless you have a reverse osmosis system, you probably want to look into hard-water fish. For a smaller tank, guppies and endlers are the classic choice: Beautiful, inexpensive, fairly easy to find. There are many other live-bearers that enjoy hard water; we have @emeraldking @Abaddon and several other resident experts on those. There are other choices, too, but my tea hasn't started working yet and that's all I have for now.

 

[Essjay]

Looking at the link, your water is 15 dH which is indeed hard water. In the south east, the rock is mainly chalk which is what causes your hard water.
Nitrate is another issue - your average is 32.85 ppm and it is now recognised that it is best kept below 20 ppm for fish health.

WhistlingBadger mentioned reverse osmosis (RO) water. This is water which has had almost everything dissolved in it removed. It has zero nitrate and just about zero hardness as well. You can buy equipment to make RO water, though it works out expensive if you are on a meter as a lot of the tap water goes to waste. Fish shops sell RO and in the UK we have https://www.spotlesswater.co.uk/ It's really intended for window cleaning, car washing etc but it is cheaper than from fish fish shops and suitable for fish tanks.
There are two ways to use RO water - either use all RO and add remineralisation salts, or mix it with tap water and the resulting mixture will be lower in hardness and nitrate than tap water alone (and cheaper than all RO plus remin salts). You would need to prepare the mixture before adding it to the tank, and using the same amount of RO and tap water every time but with a small tank that would be quick to do.

 

[AJ356]

Yes, that water looks pretty hard! I get the idea that most UK water is hard. So, unless you have a reverse osmosis system, you probably want to look into hard-water fish. For a smaller tank, guppies and endlers are the classic choice: Beautiful, inexpensive, fairly easy to find. There are many other live-bearers that enjoy hard water; we have @emeraldking @Abaddon and several other resident experts on those. There are other choices, too, but my tea hasn't started working yet and that's all I have for now.

I believe from the water report that the hardness is 15 degrees german which is 267ppm. Seriously Fish, which most of us agree probably, is a reliable source of info, and has the upper hardness range for a Betta as 268ppm.

I know we prefer to aim for the middle range of water parameter recommendations which would be about 143ppm hardness for a Betta.

I am in the camp of hard water fish should be kept in hard water and sort water in soft. Obviously, this can be key for the long term health and resilience of the fish.

I don't think 15 degrees German, 267 ppm is a complete non starter for a Betta? What do others think? Maybe I am being too generous and coming away from my principles?

I am not sure going down to the fish shop every week or two weeks for Reverse Osmosis water is part of the plan here? But perhaps?

The water report shows about as high, or nearly high nitrates as you get in UK tap water, so 50% use of RO water would reduce hardness to about 134ppm and help lower nitrates.

Is it possible that your husband can be forced or otherwise coerced into going to the fish store every 2 weeks for reverse osmosis water? That's if you even have one near you that does it. Or maybe order reverse osmosis water? I don't think the husband will sanction a home installed reverse osmosis system for a 30 litre tank? Some husband's can be overruled.

I don't trust the cheap RO water that you can get from a communal pump in the UK. I think I am just paranoid though

 

[gwand]

You can buy distilled water instead of RO water. Distilled water is sold at many supermarkets.

 

[Back in the fold]

You can buy R/O water and distilled to cut the hardness or you could go whole hog and get yourself a home R/O unit and have good drinking water but whatever you do , get a Betta . They are great fish and fun to have . Each one is a true individual and have their own personality . I always have one around and have for years .

 

[kcl_jmo]

Looking at the link, your water is 15 dH which is indeed hard water. In the south east, the rock is mainly chalk which is what causes your hard water.
Nitrate is another issue - your average is 32.85 ppm and it is now recognised that it is best kept below 20 ppm for fish health.

WhistlingBadger mentioned reverse osmosis (RO) water. This is water which has had almost everything dissolved in it removed. It has zero nitrate and just about zero hardness as well. You can buy equipment to make RO water, though it works out expensive if you are on a meter as a lot of the tap water goes to waste. Fish shops sell RO and in the UK we have https://www.spotlesswater.co.uk/ It's really intended for window cleaning, car washing etc but it is cheaper than from fish fish shops and suitable for fish tanks.
There are two ways to use RO water - either use all RO and add remineralisation salts, or mix it with tap water and the resulting mixture will be lower in hardness and nitrate than tap water alone (and cheaper than all RO plus remin salts). You would need to prepare the mixture before adding it to the tank, and using the same amount of RO and tap water every time but with a small tank that would be quick to do.

Thanks for this. Had a look at SpotlessWater - they do actually market themselves as providing aquarium owners as well as window cleaners etc so obviously got word of a new type of customer! - could you tell me how much it costs per month (ish) to use this water for aquarium use? It's not easy to find out costing as it seems to be a membership type service on their site.

 

[kcl_jmo]

I love animals and I really want the children to grow up with at least some..... but honestly, I feel like it's impossible to consider anything without it becoming very very complicated *sigh*

 

[kcl_jmo]

I believe from the water report that the hardness is 15 degrees german which is 267ppm. Seriously Fish, which most of us agree probably, is a reliable source of info, and has the upper hardness range for a Betta as 268ppm.

I know we prefer to aim for the middle range of water parameter recommendations which would be about 143ppm hardness for a Betta.

I am in the camp of hard water fish should be kept in hard water and sort water in soft. Obviously, this can be key for the long term health and resilience of the fish.

I don't think 15 degrees German, 267 ppm is a complete non starter for a Betta? What do others think? Maybe I am being too generous and coming away from my principles?

I am not sure going down to the fish shop every week or two weeks for Reverse Osmosis water is part of the plan here? But perhaps?

The water report shows about as high, or nearly high nitrates as you get in UK tap water, so 50% use of RO water would reduce hardness to about 134ppm and help lower nitrates.

Is it possible that your husband can be forced or otherwise coerced into going to the fish store every 2 weeks for reverse osmosis water? That's if you even have one near you that does it. Or maybe order reverse osmosis water? I don't think the husband will sanction a home installed reverse osmosis system for a 30 litre tank? Some husband's can be overruled.

I don't trust the cheap RO water that you can get from a communal pump in the UK. I think I am just paranoid though

You are totally write that going to a fish shop for water every week is not part of the plan in any way! And I don't think that I myself will sanction a home installed RO system!