Questions on new betta (and hello)

I was getting a lid for my goldfish's tank the other day and wandered by the betta section (always do, never buy one), and there was a little white male betta. I know it probably doesn't sound amazing to more experienced betta keepers (I've kept bettas for about 8 years, but not in a particularly special way), but it's the first time I'd ever seen a white betta in person and on a whim I picked him up and bought him. On the way home, we named him Spooky cause he really looks like a little betta ghost. I knew one of my friends had a 3 gallon octagonal tank so I asked him to bring it with the goldfish (we kept him together but now my friends going to bootcamp so I have to take him). It's acrylic, a nice little tank. Has white gravel that matched spooky beautifully. We put little black rock "pillars" (a friend says they looks like gravestones) in and the tank looks amazing stylish. Almost looks more like a contemporary masterpeice than anything spooky. But yeah, spooky looks awesome swimming through his little field of black pillars.

To the point, Spooky's fins aren't exactly lovely. They seem a little stringy, maybe clumpy. It's hard to tell if spooky is faded because he's a white fish and I've only had him for a few days. His water wasn't particularly clean when I got him. He seems fine otherwise, but I'd like to treat him if you think I should.

And my other question, I was looking around at betta FAQs and realized that my tank temps might not be up to par. Should I get heaters? Can I even put heaters in acrylic tanks?

And since this is my first time on the forum, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Brii. I have 6 fish tanks (2 20 gal, 1 29 gal, 1 10 gal, 1 5 gal, 1 3 gal). I have 2 convicts, 1 bolivian ram, 1 albino cory, 1 spotted cory, 3 zebra loaches, 1 yoyo loach, 1 kuhli loach, 6 glowlight tetras, 1 common pleco (if only someone had told me), 2 otos, 1 oranda goldfish (bryce- white with orange head thing), and 2 bettas- Coors (red in 5 gal) and Spooky (betta in question). Sadly I'm going to have to get rid of one of my 20 gals, which means I'll have to give away one of my convicts and a move my yoyo and kuhli to another tank. Bryce and coor's tanks will be moved into an elementary school classroom in the fall (coors normally lives there anyways). Spooky will be the only fish moving with me to college, all the other tanks I'll have to care for whenever I come home. I wouldn't have so many tanks if my family had told me that I wasn't allowed to have my rooms once I left, a little earlier. Course, there wasn't much of an option when one of my convicts decided to go on a killing rampage and the other surviving convict (don't know how he managed), had to be moved to a new tank. The "friendlier" convict has quickly become basically my favorite fish after basically coming back to life in an uncycled tank. The deadly convict will likely be moving in with a bunch of jack dempseys and other convicts with a friend, he may be able to hold his own but might not. It's actually the tank he was spawned and grew up in, so we'll see what happens with that. Maybe he's find a mate and live happily ever after. Maybe he'll irritate the jacks too much, who knows? Best of luck to him...at least it's not a pet shop. And DAMN that is one nice tank.

Wow, I think I wrote too much. But that's my fish, me, and my questions. Thanks for reading

[Damon]

Welcome to the forum. And you cant ask too many questions. We all hope your stay will be a pleasant one.

Yes you can put heaters in acrylic tanks. Jungle makes a 7 watt heater that may work. Do not keep bettas and goldies together. Clean water and a healthy diet will bring your betta's fins back to health.

oh, I wasn't keeping goldfish and bettas together, I know a little better than that, lol. Course, I did have a betta in with my ram for a while and that ended up being not such a great idea...Maybe I should actually explian what fish are in what tanks, lol.
20 tall- 1 convict
20 long- 1 convict, 1 kuhli loach, 1 yoyo loach
29- 1 ram, 3 zebra loaches, 2 corys, 2 otos, 1 pleco, 6 glowlight tetras
10- 1 oranda goldfish (it's just his temp tank, his full size is a 20 gal. we might get him a black moor when he moves back into his normal tank)
5 gal- coors the betta
3 gal- spooky the betta

really, don't worry, the bettas aren't moving in with anyone.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Welcome!
_Your story about Spooky is very interesting
_Yeah if the temp is not around the required one, better have a small heater.

I did have a betta in with my ram for a while

Ya it shouldn't
_With this:

20 long- 1 convict, 1 kuhli loach, 1 yoyo loach

I think you can add some more loaches in without overstocking.

[fishfreaks]

Welcome to fish forums!

[BlackArchFish]

Welcome to Fish Forums! Your tank sounds neat!! Ehehhe. I want a white betta with red on him. White ones look cool! !

[Imbrium]

I've got a white betta with red. I had always seen pictures of white ones online, but I wasn't that impressed. When I finally saw one in person, I had to have him. He's gorgeous. He's also way more aggressive than any of my others, but that's probably a coincidence.

[sollie7]

You don't need heaters just make sure the waters 70 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

[anasfire23]

sollie7, you keep replying to 2 year old threads.. See the green bar along the top of the posts? on the left hand side it says the date it was posted. Don't bother replying to any posts more than a few months old coz it's likely that those members are no long associated with these threads and have already got their answers

[waterfreak177]

how do you tell if there male or female?

[gonnabelawyer]

Originally Posted by anasfire23

sollie7, you keep replying to 2 year old threads.. See the green bar along the top of the posts? on the left hand side it says the date it was posted. Don't bother replying to any posts more than a few months old coz it's likely that those members are no long associated with these threads and have already got their answers

Ahh... but thats doesn't mean that someone else may not benefit from the thread and further replies... like myself. Nothing wrong with resurrecting old threads. I imagine if the mods and admin of the site felt it was a bad idea they would either lock or delete old threads.

Originally Posted by waterfreak177

how do you tell if there male or female?

Usually the females are smaller, their color is more "washed out" and their fins aren't as elaborate or large.

Male Betta
Female Betta