Tank Buddies?

[Shuifish]

I have just upgraded from a small 1 gallon fish bowl to a 2.5 gallon glass tank. The tank is so big compared to my betta. Hes a small guy and I was wondering my tank was big enough to add an African Dwarf Frog or a fish or two. I dont know much about all of the other "betta compatible" fish out there so some good links would be appreciated. Heres a pic of my tank:

I was on a some-what limited budget for the tank decorations. I will try and improve that later.

 

[bleepy]

That tank looks a fairly decent size for him, but personally I wouldn't add more than three or four small tankmates to go with him due to the size of the tank.

Tankmates could include the slower neon or cardinals tetras, zebra danios, platies, swords and mollies. However, your betta will most likely eat the fry, so consider this a factor if you are going to breed them, as you will need to set up a fry tank.

Fish that are not compatible would be any serious fin-nippers, like tiger or rosy barbs, some angel fish, dwarf gouramis etc.

 

[rdd1952]

People keep ADFs with bettas all the time. The biggest poblem with adding them or any other fish is that it doesn't look like the tank is filtered. That would make adding more fish or frogs a very risky proposition to say the least. The decorations you have look to be fine. The main thing to keep in mind is that you don't want plastic fake plants that have hard, sharp edges that the betta can tear it's fins on. Silk plants are best for them.

One thing I noticed about the tank is that it looks like there is probably a glass cover but still a gap between the cover and the tank. Bettas have been know to jump through very small holes (lost one that jumped through a 1" square hole that the heater went through) so you may want to address that. You do have the water level down some which should help but on my tank that the betta jumped out of, the water leel was probably 2" below the hole.

 

[littlest]

That tank looks a fairly decent size for him, but personally I wouldn't add more than three or four small tankmates to go with him due to the size of the tank.

Tankmates could include the slower neon or cardinals tetras, zebra danios, platies, swords and mollies. However, your betta will most likely eat the fry, so consider this a factor if you are going to breed them, as you will need to set up a fry tank.

I would never add any of the fish mentioned above to a 2.5 gallon tank - its simply too small

 

[pat3612]

If you add a filter and small heater you should be fine with a couple of dwarf frogs however not right away you really should have a cycled tank before adding frogs if you dont know what this means check it out in the forurms. Pat

 

[chicklette]

Well betas are aggressive so they may pick on the dwarf frog so I would not add them to the tank.

Adding fish depends on how aggressive your betta is. I agree with Pat, I would not add any fish to that tank, it's too small and they may get picked on by the betta.

 

[raptorrex]

People keep ADFs with bettas all the time. The biggest poblem with adding them or any other fish is that it doesn't look like the tank is filtered. That would make adding more fish or frogs a very risky proposition to say the least. The decorations you have look to be fine. The main thing to keep in mind is that you don't want plastic fake plants that have hard, sharp edges that the betta can tear it's fins on. Silk plants are best for them.

One thing I noticed about the tank is that it looks like there is probably a glass cover but still a gap between the cover and the tank. Bettas have been know to jump through very small holes (lost one that jumped through a 1" square hole that the heater went through) so you may want to address that. You do have the water level down some which should help but on my tank that the betta jumped out of, the water leel was probably 2" below the hole.

If you add a filter and small heater you should be fine with a couple of dwarf frogs however not right away you really should have a cycled tank before adding frogs if you dont know what this means check it out in the forurms. Pat

it must be noted that in frog keeping circles, it is not that rare to find them in an unfiltered tank. simply replacing the water every two days or so. and in such a small tank, the noise and flow caused, may well be too much for the frogs. i would suggest that 10ukg is the smallest size tank i would cycle for frogs. plus, though they do not need dry land, they do need somewhere to get out of the water, so they can sing and court!

from my personal point of view, this tank is too small for anything, except the betta it now contains

 

[Miss Wiggle]

from my personal point of view, this tank is too small for anything, except the betta it now contains

agreed

i can totally appreciate that this tank may seem big compared to what you're used to, but it is actually still quite a small tank, it's really the smallest you should keep a betta in (i prefer at least 5 gals), so I wouldn't advise adding any tankmates

 

[rdd1952]

People keep ADFs with bettas all the time. The biggest poblem with adding them or any other fish is that it doesn't look like the tank is filtered. That would make adding more fish or frogs a very risky proposition to say the least

If you add a filter and small heater you should be fine with a couple of dwarf frogs however not right away you really should have a cycled tank before adding frogs if you dont know what this means check it out in the forurms. Pat

it must be noted that in frog keeping circles, it is not that rare to find them in an unfiltered tank. simply replacing the water every two days or so. and in such a small tank, the noise and flow caused, may well be too much for the frogs. i would suggest that 10ukg is the smallest size tank i would cycle for frogs. plus, though they do not need dry land, they do need somewhere to get out of the water, so they can sing and court!

from my personal point of view, this tank is too small for anything, except the betta it now contains

Thanks for clarifying that. I was mainly addressing not adding more fish to an unfiltered tank but it didn't come across that way. I have read that ADFs don't particularly like the water flow provided by a filter.

 

[Shuifish]

Thanks for the info. My fish is not aggressive at all...he has a really laid back personality.
I was thinking about the tank size and how people are saying its way too small. I was on a budget when I bought it, but I might be able to buy a larger one in the future. We have either a 5 gal or 10 gal somewere in a temporary storage garage so that will have to wait.
I will look into keeping some sort of filter or heater, but I clean the tank every 4 days or so and the water stays at a steady 74 degrees, even at night.
I still dont totally undertand "cycling" so I will have to do some research tonight.
Once again thanks for the responses.
I also have another question: what is "%" cleaning a tank? How do you do it?

 

[pat3612]

If you mean water changes like 50% etc it means you take 50% or whatever amount you want out of the tank and put in 50% new water treated of course back in. Most people with bigger tanks have vacum siphon hoses you run it around your gravel and it picks up crap and stuff. By the way you could put a few shrimp in your tank your betta might eat them but mine never touch them guess hes to well fed or to much a gentleman.lol shrimp dont go by the per in.rule and ghost shrimp help clean the tank..You can usually get these pretty cheap and they are fun to watch.

 

[fourthtimelucky]

The only thing I'd add to that tank is a single apple snail, he'd help keep the tank clean & algae free.
It's too small for anything else IMHO.
Your betta is very pretty though! I bet he loves his new home. You might consider putting in a cave or a plantpot for him to hide in sometimes.

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks for the info. My fish is not aggressive at all...he has a really laid back personality.
I was thinking about the tank size and how people are saying its way too small. I was on a budget when I bought it, but I might be able to buy a larger one in the future. We have either a 5 gal or 10 gal somewere in a temporary storage garage so that will have to wait.
I will look into keeping some sort of filter or heater, but I clean the tank every 4 days or so and the water stays at a steady 74 degrees, even at night.
I still dont totally undertand "cycling" so I will have to do some research tonight.
Once again thanks for the responses.
I also have another question: what is "%" cleaning a tank? How do you do it?

the story about tank size, has run and run for years. so don't feel bad, even the hobby itself, is far from clear. now then. i would be inclined to leave the tank, uncycled. and do 100% water changes every two days. it may be possible to extend this time as i feel the waste produced by your betta may allow this, but to start, i would ere on the side of caution. a heater though may well be in order, though this too may not be needed. i have an unheated tank at the top of my stairs, and it rarely drops below 22C!
as for the two tanks in storage, i would retrieve the 5 gallon and pop your betta in that, but treat the tank as you do now. i am not sure but i believe you could pop a few shrimp in with the betta. these will help clean and add interest to the aquarium. with the 10g, i would cycle it and add a couple, or three, ADF's. lol much as you love your betta, wait till you have heard the frogs sing.

cycling is the system where we allow a colony of bacteria to breed within the body of the filter, these bacteria feed on the waste your stock produce. making it into something safer, which we remove during water changes. i will let you research on the specifics of cycling, there are many worthy post on the subject on this forum. as part of keeping a cycled tank healthy, we change a percentage of the tank water every week. this varies, according to the stock you keep and the personal choice of the keeper. it is usually 20-25% on a weekly basis.