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grice_gw

What else do I need?

grice
19 years ago

Hi all. I am new(been over at the housplant site for awhile but just noticed this forum listed. Silly me.)and need advice. I recently purchased two bettas(just love em!!)and two gallon aquariums. The aquariums came with air pump and undergravel filter and plastic plants. So I also purchased food,gravel, and tabs to dechlorinate the water. Is there anything else I need to keep my new friends happy and healthy?

Also,if any of you have any advice/tips on caring for bettas(I have researched but welcome all helpful info)I would be glad to hear from you.

Thanks so much.

Grice

Comments (4)

  • brendan_of_bonsai
    19 years ago

    How deep is your wallet?

    There are folks who keep bettas in whiskey jugs, and there are folks who spend hundreds of dollars on betta barrackses and Indian Almond leaf extract, What you have so far sounds good to me, although you may want to switch to carbon filetered water, Its alot easier to fill the tank directly as apose to using another container to dechlor first and Carbon removes alot of nasties that the tabs don't. not to mention you can drink it too.

  • Minaku
    19 years ago

    Tap water is just fine for your bettas. Do not use the following from the aquarium setup: undergravel filter, air pump, plastic plants. Cycling a 2 gallon tank is not something you should do, so you won't need an UG filter (which is basically useless in such a small tank anyway). In addition, bettas like still water and a calm surface, which the filter and pump will not provide. Lastly, there is a danger that the plastic plants will catch on a betta's fins and shred them, so get silk ones instead. Better yet, get real ones.

    You are missing two vital components to make your fish happy. You need two thermometers and two heaters; the heaters should be 25W. I recommend the Hagen 25W submersible. Bettas are best kept in temperatures between 78 and 80 degrees, no fluctuations. Room temperature is not warm for them; it is too cold.

    What kind of food did you get? Bettas prefer pellet, frozen, and live food over anything else. And you can return the gravel if you want - bettas don't really need it, and it tends to trap uneaten food and poo and creates more ammonia. You won't be able to see through the gravel when you're sucking out that crap (we betta keepers use turkey basters for that sort of thing).

    Lastly, I recommend buying both aquarium salt and Melafix for your bettas. Bettas will blow fins or chew on them regularly, and salt is a good thing to have on hand.

    Good luck!

  • Minaku
    19 years ago

    Re: the thermometer

    Avoid the shinies. Avoid the shinies. Avoid the shiny thermometers. Bettas will flare at their own reflection, and with a shiny thermometer in their tank they will do it nonstop, blow their fins, and get tired.

  • skygee
    19 years ago

    I've found keeping graveless tanks for bettas to be a whole lot easier to clean. But I do use plastic plants as there are some out there that are very soft (aside from looking realistic, too!)

    I also keep my bettas in eclipse tanks (3 gallon and five gallon) -which have biowheel filters. The water flow from these filters is not strong, and I've found that the bettas like to swim in the current. There are corners that are calm where they can make their bubble nests.

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