Tropical Or Not?

[miltiadis_s]

heyy,,

i would like to know the answer to .. are bettas tropical or coldwater fish or both?? ive read that they are tropical and other places that there not.. the petshop told me that bettas can live in cold water, but not as long compared to as if living in a tropical tank. personally my betta has been in coldwater tank for 4-5 months now and is still living. so im a bit confused.. can someone please help me out.

 

[Captain Retardo]

The Bettas origin is from rice paddies in places like Cambodia, Thailand, other countries around that area (you get it). it is definetely not coldwater, or subtropical, it is a tropical fish that requires temperatures of 75-84 degrees fahrenheit. I would definetly not call that cold!

 

[wendywc]

They are most definately tropical and ideally need a heater for their tank.

 

[soritan]

"Unheated tank" also does not equate to "coldwater tank". If you truely had your bettas in a "coldwater tank", they'd have died long ago (OR are in the process of dying, if they're new fish).

 

[miltiadis_s]

but how could they live in the cold for so long?

sorry .. unheated tank is what my betta is in for 4 month now.. he hasnt died or anything thats why i am confused.

 

[Captain Retardo]

Can you live in Antarctica, I bet you could, maybe for only a week though (probably less). Bettas live for about 3-5 years, 4 months isnt a long time, they will probably die soon.

is the room where you keep the fish very warm, or near a heating device?

 

[soritan]

Do you know what temperature your fish are in?

Bettas live in tropical temperatures, they are a tropical fish. Humans generally keep their homes quite warm, above 70F, and therefor a small quantity of water tends to be in the mid to low tropical water temperatures, without a heater. Ambient room temperature raises the heat to an acceptable level.

 

[miltiadis_s]

ok ... also i use a chlorine conditioner.. do you guys use any other stuff?

 

[soritan]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showforum=26

 

[Captain Retardo]

soritan is right, most people do keep their homes above 70 degrees (I keep mine at 66 because I live in Minnesota ). That is probably why your betta is still living also. Get a heater for your betta anyway.

 

[miltiadis_s]

my house temperature now is 24 degrees celcius.

 

[soritan]

Yeah, my bedroom tends to hover around 24C +/- as well, and when I had my betta in a bowl I didn't heat him, and he was fine. I now have him in a 5.5 US gallon tank, heated, and he's enjoying himself immensely. He's a bit of a geezer, I imagine going from an unheated 1.25G bowl to a heated 5.5G bowl must be like moving to Florida for retirement.

 

[Captain Retardo]

The betta should be fine. It would be better with a heater though

Good Luck!

 

[miltiadis_s]

lol ok guys thanks.. one more.. i want to do the cycle with the betta in the tank. will this work and is it advised to have live plant in the tank?

with my current tank.. the water hasnt gone cloudy or anything during cycling.. dont no if im doing it correctly .. any info would be very helpful thanks

 

[soritan]

is this the 15l tank?