Could Someone Help Me, Petstore People Are No Help

[SunnySeth]

I would think that the instructions for the pellets are probably not far off. When I feed pellets, i'll usually give 3-4 at a time. Twice a day is plenty on that routine.

Most of us around here keep our bettas in 1 gallon tanks minimum, with a 2.5 gallon tank as the preferred minimum. You can't put anything else in these tanks, or anything less than them. If you want other animals in the tank then you will need a filter and the minimum you should have is a five gallon, with a ten gallon being preferable. In a five gallon I would not suggest anything than some snails, some shrimp, or an african dwarf (not clawed) frog or two. In a ten gallon you have a few more options as to fish.

If you only just bought the fish then it is still getting used to it's new home and to you. Bettas like to have plants and caves to hide in and they will become secure with their surroundings much quicker if they feel they have somewhere that they can retreat to for safety. Eventually your fish will come to associate you with food and will be quite pleased to see you, it just takes time.

Good News Everybody!! since even though i bought a betta just cause of the clerk, i actually came to like fish and aquariums, so i went today and got a ten gallon setup!!! are you's guys happy now? haha

so im gonna let it run for like two weeks, then (and i forgot what you suggested starrynight, but luckily i came close in my decisions) im gonna put JB in there, a dwarf frog, three ghost shrimp, and a powder blue gourami... im excited... but on a side note... noone ever told me how much labor must be put into setting up an aquarium... that took me like two and a half hours, i missed dinner... so much instruction reading and whatnot.... but heres the fruit of my labor; (keep in mind, that i didnt have quite enough money, but by the time i go get the rest of the inhabitants, il get some like caves and fake coral and such)

 

[SunnySeth]

Listen to everyone about the Tank I have a one gallon No filter (My betta has been a lot happier with out a filter) and One gallon is perfect for the college dorm room XP! (Not knowing how old you are though) I feed my fish flakes just because he eats them and I a worried if I give him anything else he'll get to picky on me.

Your fish will get used to you. It wasn't untill this weekend that my betta started blowing bubble nest and coming to hte point of the tank when I come in the room. And I've only had him for a week. It seems most bettas get attached to their owners a lot sooner then mine did.

Congrats on your betta! you should post Pictures of him!

check it out! look at my last reply, i got a ten gallon set up today... had some graduation money left (just graduated this last may to answer your not knowing how old i am )

 

[devon_charm]

I'm affraid that Bettas and gouramis are a no no they will fight as both are very teritorial. You can add JB to the tank now as bettas don't need a cycled set up (the other fish will though) and he will be more than happy about it.

Glad to hear you coming over to the side of the fishies, there is alot of little things that you have to do in order to keep fish like water changes and things but its all worth it trust me.

 

[vanvran]

Uh-oh, sounds like we have another betta-addict here! Yay! Congrats on the tank. Please check the pinned thread under "Bettas" Frequently Asked Questions. There's a wealth of info there including betta tankmates. I don't think gouramis are included. You're pretty limited to shrimp, cories, ottos, white clouds, dwarf frogs. I tried adding some ghost shrimps and my poor little ghosties all huddled in a corner, so I put them back in the big tank. Anway, as far as feeding, I read that flakes cause our little bettas to get constipated - I don't think they digest them well, so I'd stick with pellets, betta bites are great, I also feed mine frozen (thawed of course) mosquito larvae, daphnia, bloodworms. All found at your LFS. There's info on the pinned thread I referred to above. Good luck and welcome!

 

[SunnySeth]

Uh-oh, sounds like we have another betta-addict here! Yay! Congrats on the tank. Please check the pinned thread under "Bettas" Frequently Asked Questions. There's a wealth of info there including betta tankmates. I don't think gouramis are included. You're pretty limited to shrimp, cories, ottos, white clouds, dwarf frogs. I tried adding some ghost shrimps and my poor little ghosties all huddled in a corner, so I put them back in the big tank. Anway, as far as feeding, I read that flakes cause our little bettas to get constipated - I don't think they digest them well, so I'd stick with pellets, betta bites are great, I also feed mine frozen (thawed of course) mosquito larvae, daphnia, bloodworms. All found at your LFS. There's info on the pinned thread I referred to above. Good luck and welcome!

well ive had JB for about five days now, and ive been feeding him biogold pellets... as for gouramis, you both said its a no no, but the fish person told me all the other ones i picked out would pick at the betta and hurt it, and if its too pretty then the betta would fight it, so she recomended a gourami, and i loved the silly little mofo's... but il have to look at the thread thing... there was a different site that i looked at that told all the tank mates of most tropical fish, and gourami's were on the list for bettas too, but il have to look further into that, i can't have fighting or killing going on...

 

[SunnySeth]

I'm affraid that Bettas and gouramis are a no no they will fight as both are very teritorial. You can add JB to the tank now as bettas don't need a cycled set up (the other fish will though) and he will be more than happy about it.

Glad to hear you coming over to the side of the fishies, there is alot of little things that you have to do in order to keep fish like water changes and things but its all worth it trust me.

hmm... well like i said in my last one reply, the fish person, and some other fish sites said gourami's were good to go... but i trust you guys, so il check that out first, i dont want problems... but i thought about puting jb in the new one now, but the fish person said that since that filter hasnt gotten quite ready yet, that the water would get cloudy, and i dont really want to have to hand clean a ton of it just yet... hey by the way, your albino-lookin betta, is so awesome, im a nature photographer here in oregon, and i do alot of flower stuff, and your little pink fishy reminds me alot of the wild flowers around here

 

[divisible by zero]

I have 6-8 ghosties with my betta in a 10g and they all get along fine. I also have 2 glass/ghost cats in there too, and them and the betta get along just fine. Every once in a while he'll chase them around but not too much. I'd suggest getting a piece of hornwart or a plant to float in there. my betta's latest thing is to sit on top of a piece of ludwigia i threw in there to float.

 

[devon_charm]

I'm affraid that Bettas and gouramis are a no no they will fight as both are very teritorial. You can add JB to the tank now as bettas don't need a cycled set up (the other fish will though) and he will be more than happy about it.

Glad to hear you coming over to the side of the fishies, there is alot of little things that you have to do in order to keep fish like water changes and things but its all worth it trust me.

hmm... well like i said in my last one reply, the fish person, and some other fish sites said gourami's were good to go... but i trust you guys, so il check that out first, i dont want problems... but i thought about puting jb in the new one now, but the fish person said that since that filter hasnt gotten quite ready yet, that the water would get cloudy, and i dont really want to have to hand clean a ton of it just yet... hey by the way, your albino-lookin betta, is so awesome, im a nature photographer here in oregon, and i do alot of flower stuff, and your little pink fishy reminds me alot of the wild flowers around here

Why thank you, i love my boys thus the sig shame i don't have enough room to show um all off

As i said before you'll find alot of Betta keeper don't even use filters, i know i don't in most of my tanks and the water always stays clear, you do have to do a couple of extra changes but even with a filter you will need to do at least one 40% change a week. Watch you filter output as well hun coz Bettas don't like a strong flow they get stressed and sick so keep it low. Btw I meant to say before, he's a lovely boy

 

[SunnySeth]

I'm affraid that Bettas and gouramis are a no no they will fight as both are very teritorial. You can add JB to the tank now as bettas don't need a cycled set up (the other fish will though) and he will be more than happy about it.

Glad to hear you coming over to the side of the fishies, there is alot of little things that you have to do in order to keep fish like water changes and things but its all worth it trust me.

hmm... well like i said in my last one reply, the fish person, and some other fish sites said gourami's were good to go... but i trust you guys, so il check that out first, i dont want problems... but i thought about puting jb in the new one now, but the fish person said that since that filter hasnt gotten quite ready yet, that the water would get cloudy, and i dont really want to have to hand clean a ton of it just yet... hey by the way, your albino-lookin betta, is so awesome, im a nature photographer here in oregon, and i do alot of flower stuff, and your little pink fishy reminds me alot of the wild flowers around here

Why thank you, i love my boys thus the sig shame i don't have enough room to show um all off

As i said before you'll find alot of Betta keeper don't even use filters, i know i don't in most of my tanks and the water always stays clear, you do have to do a couple of extra changes but even with a filter you will need to do at least one 40% change a week. Watch you filter output as well hun coz Bettas don't like a strong flow they get stressed and sick so keep it low. Btw I meant to say before, he's a lovely boy

hmm... 40% huh... ok... i was thinking like 20% but your all the ones with fish... so my filter is very basic (it was all together as a starter kit), so it doesnt have a knob or anything to change the water flow settings... so i dont know how much is too much, and how much is too little... but now your making me nervous... my dracaena marginata(tree) of one year just got sick, and is now irriversibly dieing... and i really dont want that to happen to JB...

 

[devon_charm]

I did have an unadjustable filter in with my fry i used a lil bit of thin sponge put over the output and help with a elastic band thouhg babies didn't like it one bit so my girls have it now and even they pull faces lol.

Don't get worried about it only your betta can tell you if he's happy or not and its not like he will get sick over night just coz of the filter. If he seems to sit on the bottom all the time then your filter is probably too strong but if he swims around the tank he's fine and its an added plus if he starts to make bubbles.

You'll be fine, plus you have us guys to help you out if you need it

 

[vanvran]

I have 6-8 ghosties with my betta in a 10g and they all get along fine. I also have 2 glass/ghost cats in there too, and them and the betta get along just fine. Every once in a while he'll chase them around but not too much. I'd suggest getting a piece of hornwart or a plant to float in there. my betta's latest thing is to sit on top of a piece of ludwigia i threw in there to float.

Do you have lighting in your tank? My 5 gallon doesn't have a lid or light, so plants don't last in there.

 

[SunnySeth]

I did have an unadjustable filter in with my fry i used a lil bit of thin sponge put over the output and help with a elastic band thouhg babies didn't like it one bit so my girls have it now and even they pull faces lol.

Don't get worried about it only your betta can tell you if he's happy or not and its not like he will get sick over night just coz of the filter. If he seems to sit on the bottom all the time then your filter is probably too strong but if he swims around the tank he's fine and its an added plus if he starts to make bubbles.

You'll be fine, plus you have us guys to help you out if you need it

so if he sits at the bottom thats not good? cause in the half gallon he does that often, i thought it was just him chillin out... but yesterday he was pretty happy, actually yesterday for the first time, he wasnt scared of me when i came up, and when i opened the top of the lid he went straight up cause he knew that food was comming... so when you say blow bubbles... like go uup to the top, eat air, and blow bubbles? cause he's been doing that since i got him...

hey devon, do you have like an online album or myspace or something that shows the rest of your fishies?

 

[divisible by zero]

I have 6-8 ghosties with my betta in a 10g and they all get along fine. I also have 2 glass/ghost cats in there too, and them and the betta get along just fine. Every once in a while he'll chase them around but not too much. I'd suggest getting a piece of hornwart or a plant to float in there. my betta's latest thing is to sit on top of a piece of ludwigia i threw in there to float.

Do you have lighting in your tank? My 5 gallon doesn't have a lid or light, so plants don't last in there.

yes i have just a standard light, but the hornwart doen't need much, but it's surely not flourishing like in my 55g. I just throw little pieces in now and again when it breaks off from the main bunches

 

[jourdy288]

At the risk of sounding crazy, is he in the ten gallon? Anyway, don't forget to cycle it first.

 

[SunnySeth]

At the risk of sounding crazy, is he in the ten gallon? Anyway, don't forget to cycle it first.

If you mean JB, no he's not in it yet, im gonna put him in in about a week, and get the rest of the fish in about two weeks...