New To Betta Splenden's.

[Randy]

Hi, I'm Randy. This is my new betta splenden, Rufus. What type is he?

 

[fishykisses]

i think he looks like a comb tail - very handsome boy

 

[ral]

Yes, I agree, looks like a combtail

 

[catxx]

you are going to put him a bigger tank though aren't you?

 

[Durbkat]

Yeah are you? Thats EXTREMLY to small a betta needs at least a 1 gallon tank.

 

[Randy]

Uh.. Why? That's heaven compared to what they had him in at the fish store.

 

[Durbkat]

Would you like to live in a pantry for your whole life? I think not. So if your were a betta would you like to spend your whole life only able barley turn around and be able to eat and breath. It can get REALLY boring and if I were him I'd jump out and kill my self. So you should AT LEAST get him a 1 gallon tank. They are only $5 or less and your betta will love the extra place.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

yes, but so is living in a jail cell compared to a dog kennel.

this thread gives a nice, quantitative explanation of why bigger is better for your betta:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=114357&hl=

to quote:

Ammonia is the number killer of tropical fish. In the same way we breath out CO2, fish release ammonia. A person in a small sealed environment will eventually die from the CO2 build-up, It is the same with your fish.

Most fish are kept in filtered aquarium were the filters clean up ammonia from the water. Betta's are often kept in small bowls and tanks without filters. The only way to remove or reduce ammonia levels from this environment is to remove the old water and add new.

I found a Ammonia and Water Color Chart which indicates that as little as an ammonia level of 0.5 parts per million (ppm) is harmful to a fish. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. conducted a study that a betta in a one quart (473 ml) container will produce fed once a day will produce 16 ppm of amonia in five days. That comes to a production level of 3.2 ppm of ammonia per day in 1 quarter.

Basically, in that small a container, the fish is not very active, so its ammonia production is less than it would be in a larger tank. But even with that, a daily change will not keep the ammonia levels below 0.5 ppm.

The typical betta contianer her for the betta hobbyist is a 1.1 gallon or 4163ml (8Lx4Wx8H).
Given the same figures use by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a betta should create 0.36 ppm of ammonia per day.

This would mean that, to keep ammonia levels down below, 0.5 ppm would require at least a 100% water change every other day.

A betta in a 1.1G is also likely to be more active than a betta in a 473ml container so this figures are preety conservative I guess.

so even a gallon still means you really have to do a lot of work to keep the water clean.

beyond just helping your betta live longer, controlling the ammonia levels in his tank is very important to keeping his fins beautiful. ammonia attacks betta fins and eats away at the edges of them--not very attractive! your betta will have much larger and fuller fins if he is kept in very clean water.

keeping your betta in a container larger than a gallon is good not just because it helps you keep him healthy, it also makes a much better display of your fish's beauty.

 

[Randy]

Would you like to live in a pantry for your whole life? I think not. So if your were a betta would you like to spend your whole life only able barley turn around and be able to eat and breath. It can get REALLY boring and if I were him I'd jump out and kill my self. So you should AT LEAST get him a 1 gallon tank. They are only $5 or less and your betta will love the extra place.

The bowl is half a gallon, you use one so what means I can't? Plus it's not boring, I put some Java Moss and a Java Fern in there. And I do live in a pantry pretty much, a one room apartment and I'm perfectly happy.

 

[Durbkat]

The bowl is half a gallon, you use one so what means I can't? Plus it's not boring, I put some Java Moss and a Java Fern in there. And I do live in a pantry pretty much, a one room apartment and I'm perfectly happy.

Oh sorry I thought a 1/2g looks like this http/images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002Z7R...SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg this is what mine looks like.
but yours looks like this from what I can tell with the pic http/www.accessequality.co.uk/images/im_fp.jpg

 

[FishEnthusiast]

1/2 a gallon still isn't enough for a betta. It is not fair to the fish to keep them in such cramped spaces. 1G is minimum and more is better. I also agree he is a combtail, and as such he should really be in a larger containter to prevent his fins from curling. Combtails and crowntails seem to do best in 2G or more with a little current. It helps to keep their fins straight. Do your fish a favor and get him something bigger.

You can get 2G vases at craft stores for really cheap. Wouldn't you rather spend $5 now to keep your fish happy and healthy for a couple of years rather than have him die an untimely death and have to spend $5 to replace him in a year?

 

[Randy]

Craft store? Uh. We don't have any of those here. The only stores we have are K-Mart and Petland. I checked both, K-Mart doesn't even have bowls for sale and Petland is selling them for almost twenty dollars for a single one gallon, not including gravel and such.

 

[Durbkat]

Do you have a feeders supply or superpetz?

 

[Randy]

No. My town is very small, the only places to shop for things like that are Petland and K-Mart, as I said.

 

[Auratus]

Wal-mart should have the plastic kritter keepters from 1/4 of a gallon all the way up to one gallon in the pet department. They also have those triangle shaped tanks for $11. They are a gallon and come with a light and fake plant. They also come with a pump and undergravel filter but I don't recommend using it. It's standard at all wal-mart stores. They are a chain and their stock is pretty much the same throughout the country. If they don't have any I'd ask if they could order some for you.