You Think I Should Get A Betta?

[Austin_09]

Lately I have been thinking of getting a betta for my 2.5 gallon tank which has nothing in it. I haven't really paid attention to the prices at the store here in town but hopefully they will be good. I haven't really been attracted to the bettas here because they keep them in small little plastic cages in the tanks so i cant really see what they would be like swimming around. They just kind of sit there and dont move. It is kind of sad actually. But I've seen your guys's pictures and it makes me want one. So, if I do get one how should I take care of it? Does its water need to be heated? Cause if it does then I mine as well not even get it.. YOu cant get a heater in that small little thing. Does it need some sort of air bubbler? If it does that will be easy enough to get I'll just need to go buy a small air stone. And what kind of food do they eat? Just normal tropical fish food? If you could answer my questions that would be really great and really helpful. Thanks in advance!

Oh and one other thing. Filtration. I was wondering if you use a filter for such small tanks or do you just have to alot of water changes?

 

[BWBettas]

Hi First Of All Welcome To the Forums And Second Of All My Answer...

It IS possible to heat a small ttank like that. I think depending on your country you can get a 25 watt or even smaller i think 15 watt one will be ok. Dont worry abotu a filter just change half the water every 3 days with well aged and if possible IAL treated water

 

[Austin_09]

Yeah, okay, thanks for the advice. I live in the U.S. but am in a tiny little town and dont have very good places to shop. I'll check and around and se what we have here.

So is it not necessary to have a heated tank for a betta? I don't want hime to freez. If I do get one It will be down in my room with my other tanks and it gets pretty chilly down there.. (around in mid to low 60's range)

 

[Durbkat]

You should feed your bettas either tropical granules or HBH pellets. An air stone is not needed because bettas can get air from the water surface. Make sure the tank has a lid on it because they can and will jump when they get the chance. Here are some links to a web site on how to care for bettas http/www.bettatalk.com/basic_care.htm
http/www.bettatalk.com/housing.htm
http/www.bettatalk.com/acclimatation.htm
http/www.bettatalk.com/water.htm
http/www.bettatalk.com/food.htm
http/www.bettatalk.com/vacation.htm

I know its alot of links but it will help you be a better betta owner.

 

[Austin_09]

Thanks alot for the links Durbkat. I'll take a look at them. I think While I'm in town tomarrow after school I'll pick up a betta. could someone tell me if their tanks need to be heated? I'm wondering because I've seen people keep them in bowns and vases withought an heaters and they've seemed to do fine. but on a website i was reading it said to keep the water at 78-80 degrees... What do you guys think?

 

[Durbkat]

Well are you comfertable in your house with out having to have a sweater on, if so then the betta would be fine but like if you have to have a sweater on and you are cold then chances are the betta is cold but the easier way to do it is by getting a thermometer and seeing what the temp is. If it is lower than 74 then you could get a small heater for it. But I don't heat my betta tanks and I just wrap the tanks up with towels at night.

 

[Austin_09]

ah, okay great. thanks. I'll do that and I'll leave the light on alot of the time just for a little extra wormth if he may need it. You've been alot of help!

 

[MegTheFish]

If I do get one It will be down in my room with my other tanks and it gets pretty chilly down there.. (around in mid to low 60's range)

Thats a little too chilly for a betta, anything below 70 degrees isn't such a good idea. You COULD try it, but he would probably be very sluggish and not move around much because of the cold water. My brother had a betta down in his room, and it was the coldest room in the house, and the betta wouldn't eat. This probably had something to do with the temperature of the water, so personally, I wouldn't risk it.
Keeping the light on won't help much, it might heat the water a few degrees for a little while, but enless you can keep the light on 24/7 then it wouldn't help as there would be too much of a temperature flunctuation. Some people place a heating pad under the tank, maybe you could try that?

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

Using a light for heat and/or wrapping a tank/bowl with a towel at night is NOT adequate heating for a betta. Unless your tank stays at a CONSTANT 78'ish degrees without a heater, then some form of heater will be a neccessity. A heating pad will work if it maintains a constant temperature. If not, you'll need to get a small heater, 25 watt or less if possible.

 

[waldo]

Do you have a wal mart near? You can get a 7.5 watt heater for $8.00

 

[Austin_09]

Okay, today when I go to the store I'll have a look around and see what they have. No, we don't have a walmart anywhere near here. The closest one to us is about 2.5 hours away. What are heating pads? Are those the things that you plug into the wall and you wrap it around your leg or something? If I put one of those underneath the tank wouldn't it put it off balance? I'll go to look around Ben Franklin and Alco and see if they have anything like that.

When I said "(around in mid to low 60's range)" I meant during winter time which it is now.

And I was wondering how you keep your water around 78 degrees withought a heater when the normal house temperature is about 72.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

I'm cold-natured so my house tends to be a little warmer than most. My tanks stay around 78-79 degrees year-round. I also live in the southern US where it stays warmer during the winter as well.

 

[Austin_09]

Yes! I just got hope about an hour ago. I put the Betta I bought into his tank and he is beautiful! The water was a bit cold so I put the heater that I had in the 10g and put it into his tank. (yes I know its a bit overkill but it'll have to do.) I'll leave it on until the temperature is right and then unplug it so it won't get too hot. I'll take a picture of him as soon as I can and post it. He's kind of a purpleish blue color. He was the best looking one they had. They had one that was a really dark blue and was almost black, but his tail was pretty short and was kind of shredded. He seems to be doing fine right now. I have a refletive paper on the back as a background and when he looks at it I think he sees himself and he puffs up his gills and swims around in a few circles. Thats just him being agressive right. Hes not dieing or anything? But yeah, just had to tell you guys! I'm really excited and can't wait to get pics!

 

[Durbkat]

Thats called flaring and it isn't good for them to see their reflection all the time so if you want to see it flare don't do it to often.

 

[Austin_09]

Ah, okay. I'll take that reflective paper off and see if I can find some black construction paper or something... I don't have any real backgrounds for it...