Thinking Of Getting A Betta

[spooksy]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a nice Betta fish, I have an 11g tank with natural plants, bogwood and the usual stuff like heater/filter etc.

I have recently installed an air pump which blows air bubbles through an ornament up to the top of the tank, I know that Betta's dont like current so I was just wondering if this would be okay or would I have to remove the air pump?

The tank is a new tank and has been sat for a week to let the water settle, would I be okay putting a Betta fish in a new tank? I know they are very hardy so I guessed it would be okay..?

Many thanks,

Simon

 

[catxx]

it might need to sit for more than a week if its a brand new tank
do a water test before you put a fish in
i nearly killed my betta putting him in a tank too early and the ammonia got to him!
(he's fine now)

 

[Luke_e]

I aint no betta expert, but some people would say 11g is too large, and would recomend a 5g, but some bettas do fine. It depends on if you getting 1 male, or a few females. I'll leave it to someone who knows more, but a few things (unless you already know): Males can only be kept on their own, males can't be kept with females, a few females can be kept together (i am fairly sure this is correct, but not 100%), and the bare minimum is 1g, but it would be best (could be argued though) for 2.5 - 6g..

 

[JackDemp528]

I would say that that is fine, as long as you do some water changes, like weekly. Do let's say, a 15 to 20% water change every week so the ammonia doesn't build up before it is cycled. But the ornament should be ok, but if you notice him being bounced around too much then take it out. And welcome to the world of bettas. I'm sure you'll have about 10 before long. Most of us do!

 

[Flashfire]

From the title I guessed this would be a post where you reply with a sarcastic woopie-doo and then ask an admin to remove the post once and for all. However I noticed that you have a worthwhile question (or two), the betta should be fine going into the tank (unless you live in Croatia and use local water), they are hardy fish and I have often used a few females to break-in tanks. About the air, if the ornament just trickles baby pea sized bubbles it should be fine, if the air flow is so strong that it makes the water at the opposite end of the tank ripple strongly it should either be removed or reduced. Also take care to move it out of the way of all the other stuff in the tank; plants, rocks etc. so that when the betta is just getting on with life he doesn't have to dodge bubbles all the time.

 

[SRC]

With a tank that size, if you don't want your fish to have to deal with going througha cycle, or having to change the water 100% (just removing most of it doesn't prevent the cycle..it just drags it out longer) you might want to consider doing a fishless cycle.

QUOTE(Undawada @ May 12 2005, 10:04 AM)
Things you will need :

"Pure" Ammonia (usually purchased as an all-purpose cleaner, make sure it doesn't have dyes, scents or anything else added)

The following Test Kits :
Ammonia (NH3/NH4)
Nitrite (NO2)
Nitrite (NO3)

An eyedropper


A tank, full of new water, with a filter on and running

A heater and airstone. The heater should be set to keep the tempurature in the 80s
(optional) a bacteria seed from an established tank. This can be an ornament, a plant, a nylon stocking with some gravel, or better yet, some of the filter media.


Firstly, you should add enough ammonia to your tank that it brings the Ammonia reading up to 4 to 6 ppm. The only way to do this is add a drop of ammonia, swirl it around, wait a moment, test the water and repeat. Remember how much ammonia you've added. It will vary depending on what concentration of ammonia you've bought, so there is no real guideline here.

Each day add the same amount of ammonia, and check your ammonia an hour later. When the ammonia reading drops to 0, start testing your water using your Nitrite test kit.

Keep adding the ammonia, and checking the Nitrite every day. The nitrite level should climb, then drop down to 0. This spike will occur over a period of days, so be patient. When your nitrites are at 0 an hour after you add the ammonia, your tank should be cycled. Check your Nitrate to be sure. If your Nitrate reading is high, then you're on the right track.

Now do a big water change (50% to 75%), and add fish.

Congratuations, you're cycled!

 

[spooksy]

Thanks very much for the advice, not sure about the fishless cycling I picked a siamese to go in first as they are a hardy fish and cope with high toxicity levels. I'll be doing regular water changed so hopefully I will keep the stress to a minimum. I will turn the bubbles down on the air pump so as to not disturb the water to much.

Thanks for all the useful advice, i'll be sure to take some pics of my new tank and let you know how the fish are coping .

 

[Betta*b*Happy!]

Just one thing to think about, no lectures,

Just cause they survive doesn't mean they are happy. You could live in a bath of your own pee for a week but wouldn't be pleased about it.

I just like to put things in context.

 

[lljdma06]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a nice Betta fish, I have an 11g tank with natural plants, bogwood and the usual stuff like heater/filter etc.


Simon

Are your plants natural plastic, or natural as in real plants? If the plants are real plants and there are a lot of them, there is no point to doing a fishless cycle, since the plants cosume nitrogen compounds in the form of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, thus leaving the nitrifying bacteria with a reduced amount to consume. Your just adding ammonia to plants who will consume it at a much higher rate than the bacteria will, and in my opinion, that is a waste of time. But I am talking a heavily planted tank, which mine are. I don't know how heavily planted your tank is. Since I've gone planted, I haven't had to cycle a tank in the traditional sense, either with fish or without. Now, I still retain some of my old habits, I don't add a full load of fish at a time, but I never liked doing that anyway. I like the idea of building suspense when adding stock.

So I agree with SRC regarding doing a fishless cycle if the tank isn't heavily planted, or if the plants are fake, or not even real aquatic plants (LFS often sell terrestrial houseplants as aquatics will they ever learn!) , but if the tank is heavily planted, I'll have to disagree about doing a fishless cycle.

Spooksy, can we have a picture of your setup so we can tell for sure? Besides, we like to see pictures anyway, so the ball's in your court.