Okay, I Need Some Help With This

[claudettebillie]

Oh, I know why she doesn't want me getting the stuff. For some reason it just didn't "click". See, I got my ferret in June. Currently, I've spent at least $800 on her. (I made $800 this summer babysitting, though.) Still, right now whenever I buy something big that relates to animals she kind of freaks because of all the money I spent on the pets this summer. (Really, just my ferret, but she sees them as a whole.) THAT'S why she has a problem with me buying all of this!!

 

[Honeythorn]

No, don't keep the fish in a bowl. GET THE TANK FIRST and cycle it. Impaitience will not help. Just buy your 10 gallon tank ( excellent choice by the way the betta will have plenty of space and you have room for dwarf cories as tankmates ) when you can afford it, get a gentle filter and cycle it properly, THEN get your betta.

$35 is about..£18 here. That's an insanely good deal for a tank on it's own let alone a kit. What does the kit consist of apart from the tank?

Using the tank when the fish has gone ( which could be up to 9 years ) is a good way to "sell" the idea to your mother. You won't have to pay out for a new tank, it will be mature and cycled, and after a water change ( and as long as the betta didn't die of anything infectious ) you can get another fish straightaway. Once you've bought everything and set it up the cost of a tank really isn't much at all. Just food really. If you cycle your tank properly before putting fish in, and do weekly water changes , you should have few to no health problems , and should not have to pay for any medications hopefully .

There really is no reason on earth for her to be mad or concerned about expenditure.

 

[claudettebillie]

I'm pretty sure the kit includes everything. I KNOW it has the hood, and the light. I think it has a filter. I didn't really look closely- next time I go there I will check.

Okay, can I just keep the betta in one of the unused 10 gallon tanks without a filter for a little while? I'll make a filter- just I know I won't be able to immediately.

Man, I used to have FOUR 10 gallon tanks, but I dropped one and the other got smashed by the four wheeler.

 

[Honeythorn]

Hang on.. you have a 10 gallon already? Why not just use that instead of going out and buying a new one? But as for what you are asking, yes you can use that temporarily if you want a brand new one in a while.

If it's been used for anything else, any other animal at all you must clean it VERY well. Plenty of hot water and white vinegar will work. Then you must rinse the tank several times again in hot water. Fill it up one last time with water and check there are no leaks or cracks or anything .

With no filter in a 10 gallon, I'd change half the water in the tank every day and replace with dechlorinated water ( make sure the temperature matches or is very close ) in order to keep the ammonia and nitrites as low as possible. With no filter it will soon build up even though it's just one fish. You'd be surprised and it's better to be safe than sorry. If nothing else at least get a heater for the tank.

Do try to make the filter as soon as possible though. It will make things much easier . ( notice if you read all of the pages in the DIY filter thread, you will see that some people have used bigger pots than a fish food pot, you may want to try that )

Also, Bettas like lots of places to rest such as plants. Just some cheap silk plants will do, as long as he has somewhere to hide and rest. You don't have to use gravel or any other substrate if this tank is only temporary ( think of it as a quarantine tank ) and that will make cleaning easier while you save for your new tank.

You can keep the betta like that while you cycle the filter in your new tank, but to be perfectly honest If I were you I'd just not bother getting a betta until you have the new tank to begin with and have cycled it . You will save yourself a lot of bother.

 

[claudettebillie]

Yes, I have 2 ten gallon tanks but I use them for my gerbil- I alternate the tanks to make cleaning easier, but it's not that hard cleaning his tank. He IS the more patient one of my three. Lol. Would it be cheaper to buy the kit? I mean, I just have the glass tank itself. No hood, light, filter- anything. I just figured that kit was cheaper.

 

[NonstickRon]

I'm pretty sure the kit includes everything. I KNOW it has the hood, and the light. I think it has a filter. I didn't really look closely- next time I go there I will check.

Okay, can I just keep the betta in one of the unused 10 gallon tanks without a filter for a little while? I'll make a filter- just I know I won't be able to immediately.

Man, I used to have FOUR 10 gallon tanks, but I dropped one and the other got smashed by the four wheeler.

If you're looking at a ten gallon, thats great. Think outside of the box now, or should I say, outside of the betta. In my ten I have a small school (4) of Flame Tetra a small school (4) of Harlequin Rasboras and a small school (3) of Peppered Cory. Betta can be aggressive to fish that are smaller or fish that have flowing fins, so you'll be limiting yourself right off the bat with what you can keep in there with it. If you ARE set on a 10 gallon, spend some of the time its going to talk your mom into it in researching community fish. There's so much to choose from, don't rush it.

Your kit most definitely will have a tank/hood/filter/heater. (return the one you bought already, put that money toward the kit) Maybe even has a thermometer. It may or may not have bulbs for the hood. You do NOT WANT incandescent bulbs. They get very hot and will raise the temp in your tank significantly as long as they are on. Be sure to buy screw flourescent ones. Wal-mart has the right ones in the fish section of its pet section, they're more narrow than anything you'll find in the regular lightbulb section of the store. They're about $5 each.

 

[claudettebillie]

I'm going to talk to my mom- I know that she'd LOVE to have an aquarium full of fish- she thinks they're pretty and once before my ferret we were considering getting one for the living room- I think it was her buying the tank and all that, me getting and taking care of the fish for her. I'm gonna talk to her and I'll get back to you guys about her decision soon.

 

[LauraFrog]

Can I point out that in a warm climate or centrally heated room bettas do not absolutely require heaters. People get very worried about temperature fluctuations - bettas may not live in tiny puddles, but they DO live in very shallow water most of the time. There are wide temperature fluctuations from day to night in those sorts of environments. All of my bettas live inside where the temperature never drops below 20 degrees. None are in heated tanks. Most do not have filters because they dislike the water movement but the ones that prefer filters have them. The smallest tank I use is 1.5 gallon (filtered) with daily 100% water changes. All of my bettas are happy and healthy.

If you are in a cooler climate I strongly recommend using a heater. A filter in a 10 gal is a good idea because it will really reduce your workload. If the betta doesnt' like the water movement he can ping off down the other end of the tank.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

It's time to get real here. Any fish can be kept in a container that is big enough for it, without a filter. The reason we don't do that is because it is way too much work and the first time you are late with a water change, the fish suffer from the buildup. What it takes to do it is never missing a water change and always changing the water very early in the ammonia build up so there is virtually no ammonia detectable ever. A person using this approach can never go away for the weekend, never get too sick to do the water changes and must be constantly vigilant about looking after the water in the tank. For most of us, that kind of commitment is almost unthinkable but it will work. A much more practical approach is a filter with a properly built up colony of bacteria to prevent toxic amounts of ammonia and nitrites building up in the tank. This is the basis for the advice we normally give people on here but is not the only way to have a fish survive and even thrive. We have here a young person who wants to have a betta and is unable to follow the usual method. Other methods can be made to work if she is willing to devote herself that much to the fish's care.

Most sense in this whole post!!

if you want a betta go for it, it will be fine. anyway, betta are like £2.00 so who cares

yes, cos what the OP clearly cares about is how much money they spend, nothing to do with the welfare of a living creature

We've had several threads in the more recent past where members have had trouble convincing a parent of various fishkeeping needs. What I recall is that one of the most successful techniques with parents is to have -more- interactions about the problem. Its different with every relationship of course, but often if you have a plan each time and are careful to be positive and smile a lot, you will eventually wear them down via lots of little interactions. Sometimes writing up some budget plans or outlining pros/cons on paper and presenting them will be impressive to the parent, who knows? But in general lots of small positive type interactions will begin to show the parent how important the thing is and perhaps being a good listener will help too. Sometimes a parent feels a need to be "heard" about some problem that seems not even directly related to the daughter/son, but is the key to gaining the parents positive attention.

Yup, definately had this a few times, what seems to have worked before and I think could work for you is to firstly do a load of research, pull together pages from the internet about the nitrogen cycle, filtration, betta care and lifespans. Print them all off and ask your Mum if you can have a meeting with her about it. Approach it with maturity, remain polite, deal only in facts not bickering opinions or insults, just say look I want the responsibility to do this, I've done a load of research, talk through each point with me and we'll see if we can come to a compromise that works for everyone.

Most parents we've come across have been so impressed with their kids maturity and approach in this that they then say OK you can have the chance to do it your way and we'll support you.

Oh, I know why she doesn't want me getting the stuff. For some reason it just didn't "click". See, I got my ferret in June. Currently, I've spent at least $800 on her. (I made $800 this summer babysitting, though.) Still, right now whenever I buy something big that relates to animals she kind of freaks because of all the money I spent on the pets this summer. (Really, just my ferret, but she sees them as a whole.) THAT'S why she has a problem with me buying all of this!!

It's actually much cheaper to get a filter and test kit and do things right in the first place, once a tank has been sucessfully cycled the running costs are just a bottle of dechlor and some food. If you do it wrong you'll have all sorts of disease problems then you'll need to buy expensive medications and treatments to fix the problem. It's def cheaper to spend a little more money upfront and make sure you have it all set up right than it is to try and cut corners, get it wrong and then fix it later.

 

[claudettebillie]

I've kind of used up the essay trick. I made one for my gerbil, my pair of gerbils, and made about three for my ferret. Essays no longer impress my parents. So, if I use a 10 gallon, I only need the tank, a filter, and a testing kit? I could just use something else for a lid? At Petco the tank hood are about $30 alone.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

fish food, tank, filter, test kit, dechlorinator, gravel vac and a bucket is your minimum shopping list.

if you're any good at DIY, or know someone who is and you could help them out then you can easily make a wooden hood pretty cheaply, other than that yeah you can use whatever you like. You can get plastic condensation trays at most lfs's which are literally £1 or so that would do.

you can run tanks without a lid but some fish jump so it depends what you're planning on keeping. betta's are known for jumping so if you do go with the betta then you need a lid.

 

[NonstickRon]

You can definitely go without a hood for a while.

 

[newfishy]

I have made "hoods" out of plastic placemats cut to fit. Ot plastic cross stitch mesh works nice too.

just tell your mom that the betta will be prettier (healthy) and more colorful (healthy) and more active (healthy)
if you get a 5-10 gallon tank with a heater and filter.

that what I do with my husband, if the tank has to be seen by him it better not be ugly.

 

[waterdrop]

Quote from MW:
"It's actually much cheaper to get a filter and test kit and do things right in the first place, once a tank has been sucessfully cycled the running costs are just a bottle of dechlor and some food. If you do it wrong you'll have all sorts of disease problems then you'll need to buy expensive medications and treatments to fix the problem. It's def cheaper to spend a little more money upfront and make sure you have it all set up right than it is to try and cut corners, get it wrong and then fix it later."

Yes!, this seems so true! I've been amazed since my return to the tropical hobby and since discovering all the shared wisdom on this wonderful forum at how fairly cheap the hobby really is when one comes at it with the correct knowledge. I mean, heck, its mostly tap water and usually the tap water is great for the purpose once you understand it. The test kit is essential but isn't much in the long run. The dechlor is maybe the one bottled thing you buy, but there are even great suggestions here about which brands give you the most mileage for your money, like pond dechlors or Prime etc. ...Not saying the hobby isn't expensive if you like it and keep wanting more tanks with expensive equipment, but just that a lot of the things that a beginner would buy when listening to the wrong info source are unnecessary. Even the household ammonia I used for my crazy six months of fishless cycling cost less than a buck!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Quote from MW:
"It's actually much cheaper to get a filter and test kit and do things right in the first place, once a tank has been sucessfully cycled the running costs are just a bottle of dechlor and some food. If you do it wrong you'll have all sorts of disease problems then you'll need to buy expensive medications and treatments to fix the problem. It's def cheaper to spend a little more money upfront and make sure you have it all set up right than it is to try and cut corners, get it wrong and then fix it later."

Yes!, this seems so true! I've been amazed since my return to the tropical hobby and since discovering all the shared wisdom on this wonderful forum at how fairly cheap the hobby really is when one comes at it with the correct knowledge. I mean, heck, its mostly tap water and usually the tap water is great for the purpose once you understand it. The test kit is essential but isn't much in the long run. The dechlor is maybe the one bottled thing you buy, but there are even great suggestions here about which brands give you the most mileage for your money, like pond dechlors or Prime etc. ...Not saying the hobby isn't expensive if you like it and keep wanting more tanks with expensive equipment, but just that a lot of the things that a beginner would buy when listening to the wrong info source are unnecessary. Even the household ammonia I used for my crazy six months of fishless cycling cost less than a buck!

yup, i was gonna set one of my friends up with a little tank not so long ago, so he'd have a cycled tank with filter lights heater but nothing else. He wanted to know how much else he'd need to spend, I wrote up a dream store cupboard list for him including different brands of foods, medications, test kit etc..... was just about everything you'll practically need..... only came to £50.

Not really a fortune tbh!