How do I care for a Betta fish?
27 June 2010
6 Comments
Hi,
I'm hopefully going to purchase my friend a fish tank and fish for her upcoming birthday. However, I don't have a clue about fish! I'd love to buy her a betta fish.
The temperature of the tank would be at room temp. What size tank do I need?
Any feedback will be appreciated!
Kind regards
wtf you dont need a 5 or 10 gallon, that would be spoiling the fish unecessarily and its very expensive, that is unless the fish is abnormally huge–pet store bettas tend to be smaller
i suggest a 3 gallon tank, eclipse brand, thats what im using for my male betta and he has MORE than enough room.
3 gallons is pretty much the bare minimum when it comes to bettas in which they will be happy borderline content
go to petsmart.com and look in their tank section and look at 3 gallon tanks, also do research on google
ok bettas need a min of 5 gallons with a heater and a filter (yes they are a tropical fish so they need a heater) they do best in temps between 78 and 82′f, alot warmer than most tropical fish. feed them pellet type food and live bloodworms.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tetra-Aquarium-Starter-Kit-5-Gallons-Fish-Aquatic-Pets/12177653
this + heater= very happy betta
http://bettacare101.com
I have a betta and have had bettas for two or three years. Ive always kept mine in a 1 gallon tank. But every now and then I would put it in another 10 gallon tank and he seems to like it better. They say if you keep him in a bigger tank he will live longer but idk.I prefer my betta to be in a 1 gallon tank than to rot in a cup. I also feed it two or three different foods every week. I might feed him betta pellets one day, freeze dried bloodworms the next day, and tropical flakes another day. Also try to fast him at least once every week or every other week so he wont get bloated.If your’e going to feed him pellets what you first want to do is soak three or four pellets in water for at least five minutes so that it wont be too hard for him to swallow. If you just give him the pellets without first soaking it then he will most likely get bloated over time and eventually die like my last fish.Also change the water at least once every week and put something in his tank where he can hide such as a cave, plants, or any thing that he can be entertained.
hope i helped:)
Go for a 5 gallon tank or better a 10 gallon.(The tank must have a lid as bettas are great jumpers) The 10 gallon tank would be easier to maintain. Be sure to buy a heater (set to 26C) and a filter (usually comes with the tank). The filter has to "break in", actually to build up beneficial bacteria. This is called cycling. Those bacteria will turn the ammonia (off of the waste of the fish) which is harmful to the fish to nitrates and then to nitrites which are safe for fish. This is the nitrogen cycle. To do this ask the pet shop to give you some water of their tanks and buy some products used to boost the process. With the product it will take 2 days for the filter to be cycled. Without that product it can take weeks. After the filter is cycled you can add the betta fish (btw excellent choice! bettas are hardy and very easy to keep). Having a fish in an uncycled tank is dangerous. So you actually have to buy the tank first and then the fish but if you ask me do it at the same time as the betta is safer in an uncycled tank than a tiny glass of water of the pet shop. For decorations buy some silk plants, not plastic as they can rip the delicate fins of a betta. Buy some driftwood and/or a small cave so the betta can hide and have places to explore. You can also buy a single snail for a tank mate as it’s easy to keep and cleans up the tank. For food buy Hikary betta bio gold (which is the best food for betta) or anything that says (FOR BETTA). Your friend will have to do 25% weekly water changes (ask your shop for ways to do this, or buy a gravel vacuum) and also has to add some water conditioner (must buy that) when changing the water.
P.S. When i was refering to gallons I meant the US gallons and NOT UK (10 US GALLONS=8.3 UK GALLONS=38L)
Hope I helped. It’s going to be a bit expensive but it’s the best present IMO.
Best of luck! ;]
bettas need heaters, and need a tank that is a minimum of 5gallons (though that is pushing it =/)
they need a filter in their tank and the filtermust be ‘cycled’ before putting any fish in it. this is a process which needs to be done with the water to build up the bacteria needed in the filter to take out the bad chemicals and waste the fish will produce. not cycling the fish tank means the fish will be poisoning itself with its own waste, because there are no bacteria to remove it from the water (this is the most common reason as to why people’s pet fish last only days or weeks!)
i suggest that if you want to get you friend any aquatic creatures, you should probably get her ghost shrimp, or snails.
the heater filter and tank will wrk out an expensive present,
and with shrimp and snails you can get away with having a slightly smaller tank, and no heater.
you do however still need to cycle the tank, shrimp are especially sensitive to copper components in tap water (so buy some tap safe as well) chlorine and ammonia, you need to make sure you get the right kind of filter so that the shrimp arent sucked in and are happy. they also prefer real plants and those plants will oxygenate the water well.
Leave your response!
Search
Recent Posts
Our eBay Store
Categories
Most Commented