Hi just a few Betta Q's

[VWs and Fish]

Well I'm the owner of my first fish in years. My parents used to have a 55gal tropical fish tank when I was younger. Today I got my own betta. I owned a beautiful blue betta ages ago...until my cat had his way with the poor little guy.

My questions are:
I have a male Betta, what size tank is the perfect size for this guy?
Should I stick with 2 or 3 types of food, or just keep it random with all sorts of stuff?
What are the best foods for these guys?
For pellets does brand matter? ( I would assume yes, but new at this again)

And last but not least...who wants to post pictures of their beautiful Betta's I'd love to see them.

[bettasol]

Any tank or bowl 1/2 gallon or larger will do. If there is no filttration, you will need to add live plants and do weekly water changes. In the wild they eat mostly daphnia and mosquito larvae. .. they will do best on meatly things like frozen bloodworms. .. Live, of course, is preferable, but that can be hard to come by

[(RC)]

Almost any size container will do for a Betta, but the smaller the bowl the more work involved. If your looking to do a weekly water change then you will want something over 2 Gallons. I try to feed a variety of foods and I think right now I'm using 6 or 7 different types. I feed pellets in the morning and live/frozen foods at nite. I've used many different kinds of pellets and don't have a favorite.


RC

[lovdiscus]

Hi! Bettas can stay in just about any size container...however, they do like to swim and I feel it is important that they have some room to do so. I would suggest at least 2 gallons. They do not need filtration. Plants are nice but not necessary. I feed my betta pellets only, once a day. They do love bloodworms and other foods, but that is also not necessary - just a treat. When setting up and changing water always use a dechlorinator. Bettas are pretty easy to care for, just remember to feed them and clean their water at least weekly, and do not overfeed them.
I used to breed bettas and had them all over the house...lol. THey are so cute. I still have a few I kept, but the breeding began to get out of control. Way too much work.
Have fun! Donna

[wushu98]

Make sure that you don't feed the female betta too much
because they will grow, or become fat,
like mine,
it sort of turn into a slender betta......

[Damon]

Well not to sound funny, but you shouldn't overfeed any fish.

[Bella]

I agree with everything everyone's said already, but I just wanted to say that none of my bettas will eat pellets. I feed them freeze dried bloodworms, brine shrimp and sometimes freeze dried earthworms. Every now and then, throw in a pea (cooked but still alittle hard and skinned) to keep things moving, if ya know what I mean

[VWs and Fish]

thanks for all the feedback guys/gals.

Now now I think I want to grab a 1-2 gallon tank with some live plants...do bettas prefer shallow tanks. I noticed that mine likes to do laps around the bottom when I'm not paying attention to him, but when I feed him or stare at him he springs up and becomes curious.

I also had a question about his fins...I've seen a lot of pictures where the fins are REALLY full and spread. Is this what a normal healthy betta should look like, or do they do this from time to time?

Mine looked really droopy when I got him yesterday, but today he has spread his fins a bit more.

One more thing...about food...I only have pellets at the moment...just getting set up ya know, but I noticed that he always wants more food. I've stuck to 4 pellets twice a day and then 2 pellets before I sleep. 4 pellets when I leave for school, 4 when I get back, and 2 at night.

Is my method of feeding alright?

[(RC)]

Depending on the pellets 10 could be a bit much each day. The droopy fins would most likely be because he is a Veil Tail and most of the pictures you see on the net are super deltas which have a wider spread tail. A bigger shallow tank would be better then the same volume tall tank. The more surface area to the tank the better.


RC

[VWs and Fish]

so I went to petco to look around tonight. I'm pretty excited about being a new daddy of my betta fish. I want to get more, once I get the hang of this one.

Anyways. So they have two tanks I'm interested in, and I didn't buy them because I thought they might be too big. One is a 5 1/2 gallon, and one is a 10 gallon. The 5 1/2 is probably 8-10 inches tall, and the 10 is 12 inches tall. I'm pretty sure 10 gallons is too much. Any one know where I can get a 2.5 gallon that's NOT a kit? I like the 5 1/2 gallon but it's a big tank for only one fish.

I also heard the Betta's do well with tetras...is this true?

So what do you guys think about this tank cituation? I really want something bigger than a 1/2 gallon so I can have some live plants, and some nice rocks and such.

[Mommyof2Bettas]

Hi -
I just got my little guy at home a 2.5 gallon tank at Petco the other night. I also got him a cover for the tank that's meant for small reptiles - it is black and has holes all over the top. It does a great job of keeping him in, and letting air in also. it has little knobs on each side of the lid so it can sort of be clamped on.

You can't really have too big of a tank for bettas - the more room, the happier they will probably be, I'd just stay away from really tall and skinny tanks, but rather get tanks that have more surface air, as someone stated before.

If you really wanna make your little guy happy, get him a little tank heater by hydor - they don't sell that at Petco that I know of, but you can find them online... Here's a link:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...;ast=&key=
They raise the temp in the tank up about 4 - 5 degrees in a 2.5 gallon tank.

I just have a little silk plant and a very smooth-sided decoration in it for him to swim through. (actually, i have the exact same setup for at home and at the office) and they are very happy boys.

I also think the 10 pellets a day is too much. One of my bettas got bloated and HUGE feeding him 6 pellets each day - now I feed each of them 2 in the a.m. and 2 in the evening, with blood worms in the afternoon.

Hope this info helps your betta

[VWs and Fish]

Thanks guys all the help is great.

Black Betta is the man...I saw his website...and his rack of bettas is an in genious low cost idea? thumbs up to you!

[(RC)]

I have about $400.00 dollars in the Barrack system . It holds 95 Bettas and it's best thing I've ever done for my Betta Keeping. A Water Change on the system takes me less then 5minutes. Not bad for 95 Jars. I do need to update my web site someday soon.


RC

[VWs and Fish]

It's be cool if you could explain the jars a little better...does the water drip into the top and drip out the bottom?

[thatsfishy]

Everything you ever wanted to know about a drip system: http://www.ibcbettas.org/StadBylawsF...ewbySystem.pdf

[(RC)]

The water drips into the top and out a hole in the side about an inch from the top. I'm going to put together a better set of pictures when I update my site.


RC

[nosilver4u]

Someone mentioned blood worms, and this reminded me of one of the bettas we have at work. He is quite picky, and won't eat pellets, or flake food. The only thing he will eat is blood worms. Took me about 2 weeks to figure this out, as I had always fed my bettas flakes or pellets. He must have eaten just enough to survive, but the rest would always float on top for days.
You don't want to give them too much at a time either. If they don't eat it all right away, chances are, the left-overs will just sit there. That's just my experience with the 6 or so bettas I've had, and it may not be the same for all of them.