Starting A Betta Tank

[Monty2451]

First off I'd like to say hello to everyone as this is my first post. I'm looking forward to becoming a regular on here!

So here we go. I'm going to be getting a Top Fin Aqua Scene 2 gallon tank for my dorm room, I've attached a pic. I've looked into the Eclipse System 3-3 galloon setup, but its simply too big. As far as food goes, I'm planning on getting HBH Betta Bites and Top Fin Blood worms. The decor would be black gravel and a black backdrop to really help the fish stick out.

But what I really need to know is this:
1) Are Betta Bowl Buddies worth it or should I just go with bottled or possibly even distilled water?
2) What are some good tank mates for bettas (if I decide to upgrade my tank later)?
3) Should I look into getting a female betta also or is a 2 gallon tank simply too small?
4)I'm Open to any suggestion on the setup, especially decor (except for going bigger of course), food, etc. and the fish colorations, I'd like some suggestions there.
And I of course welcome any other suggestion you guys/gals may have to offer.

Here's the tank: If you want to see more specs, look it up on petsmart.com.


Thanks everyone!

 

[stang1]

That tank looks ok. You need a filter and a heater and preferably a few plants as Bettas like somewhere to hide.
As for tankmates, Bettas are solitary fish so don't need the company of others.
Normal tap water is fine but you will need to cycle the tank which will take 1-2 weeks. It's worth investing in a master test kit to check your water is ok.
Males and females should never be kept together only for breeding purposes and even then it's only for a short time.
I feed my Bettas bloodworm, daphnia and flakes, they aren't particularly fussy when it comes to food!

 

[catxx]

uuug it looks so bad with that poor goldfish in it!
anyway

1) Tap water should be fine, with some dechlorinator in it, and left to warm up to the same as the tank.
2) You'll need 8 gallons+ really before you consider tank mates, good buddies are small catfish (10 galls+ such as otos, corys or if over 15 galls, small species of plec), snails are good as well.
3) Never ever ever ever keep males and females in the same tank.
4) Is the tank filtered? I'm guessing it is, i like natural decor myself. but that tank is pretty tiny so you won't be smooshing in any giant bits of bogwood hehe! i love bogwood and java ferns.

 

[loggerbomb]

Personally, I'd go bigger. I had my poor Betta in a little bowl I got for a present and though he seemed ok, the bowl always got dirty very fast and was not very pleasant smelling. Poor fish had not much room to swim around either. Not sure what kind of space limits you have but My little 10 gallon tank has a very small footprint of a foot or two, plus with that size you could add a couple friends for your fish.

Bowl Buddies seemed to work for me. Though once you get up to 10 gallons + your better to buy the good bottles of dechlorinator.

Maybe it was the fish I had but I had a male and a female Betta in a 45 gallon tank and the male never bothered the female. Though as others have said, no, don't put both genders in tight quarters. I think you already know not to put in 2 males either.

 

[Monty2451]

Thank you all for your suggestions so far, they are quite helpful; however, like I said this is for a dorm room and I can't go bigger than the 2 gal.tank, not to mention moving a tank bigger than that during breaks would be a really big hassle. But anyway, does anyone have any more suggestions as to decor, food types, and fish coloration? Also, how can I tell the difference between crown tail betta and a betta with fin rot? Thanks everyone!

 

[catxx]

a crowntail:

fin rot:

dark tatty edges, irregular missing chunks, and the edges looking like they're flaking off, thats what fin rot looks like.

 

[t.ropical_m.istx3]

about bettas not being picky about food - mine are very picky. they won't touch bloodworms or flakes, so i bought them pellets. when looking for a fish, look for a healthy looking, possibly smaller guy (if you're going with pet store bettas). at my LFS, the person who came over to talk pointed out the difference in age with my guy and the guys around him. he was smaller and his fins were smaller. before i get jumped about them being smushed in teeny spaces forever, why aren't they all dinky then? if you find one you like that looks healthy, place him face to face with another or bring a small mirror and see if he flares. if he does, you have an active little guy and you should be good, if he looks healthy .

 

[Kyrielle]

For decor, go for small silk plants (not plastic as edges can be too sharp for the betta's fins). If you want a more natural look, a couple of java ferns could fit in there or maybe anubias nana. For gravel, my suggestion is go dark. Dark blue, dark red, dark black...doesn't matter, but I like the look of dark gravel as it makes the betta's colours pop out. A lot of people also go with a pebbly creek bed kind of gravel which is also nice.



Trop: By the way, I think your LFS guy was actually correct. A small one might actually be younger. When I got my betta, he noticably smaller than his buddies around him and had shorter fins (he was perfectly healthy, no fin rot and wasn't recovering)...about a month later, his fins kept growing and he was bit bigger.