I don't know about toxicity issues with lucky bamboo, but I'm glad you have the best interests of the fish at heart. The more surface area of the water that is exposed to air, the better. Don't forget to change about 30% of the water twice a week, since you will have no filtration. Use a dechlorinator unless you are on a well. Try to keep the temperature stable and as warm as you can. Bettas really like their water at around 80 deg., although they can manage fine at slightly lower temps. Lots of people keep them at room temp. Just make sure the room isn't too cool. Hikari betta bio gold is, IMHO, the best betta food. My Bert was a "rescue" too, and he looked pretty poorly when I got him. But a comfortable environment and bio-gold really did the trick. (Bert is in a heated, filtered 10-gal. tank)

Your idea sounds really pretty, a lot better than the "betta in a vase" thing, and I think your fish will probably be very happy.

PS - what color is your betta? Bert is burgundy red, deep purple and silver. His colors deepened tremendously when I started feeding him the bio-gold. He was almost pastel when I got him.

I bought my little guy because he was the only one on the shelf that wasnt blue or red. He is a gold/cream color and his tail/fins shimmer a pale iridescent blue and have a itty bitty red splash. I have been giving him the bio gold food- and he just spits it back out. He loves the little shrimpies though as long as I crush them up real tiny. I have a type of betta food that is flakes that I give him sometimes for variety. Right now he is in a smaller vase/bowl than I would like, but I am shopping for larger living quarters for him. He is real active and likes to "show off" If you get close to the bowl he will sit in front of you and look back at you and twitch his fins (not "flaring" thought) kinda like to tell you "hello.... feed me!"
On the bamboo, I have been reading around and it should work without hurting the fish. I think that a betta would go well with the "bamboo" they have the same regional "flare" (cant think of any other way to describe it) I may try it as soon as I convince myself to purchase some long pieces of the bamboo.(expensive stuff here)

Skye,
What you could do if you're not sure if the plant would be compatible with the fish is to put a cylinder shaped, glass vase with the Bamboo plant in it (with little stone) down in the center of the beta bowl. Put enough water in the bottom of the vase to just cover the roots...and not drown the bamboo plant....and put the beta fish in the water surrounding the vase. The center vase would need to be as tall or almost as tall as the beta bowl.
Patti

Hi - I love the idea. I was just at a Hawaiian Festival and they had ones that were very tall and curly at the top. It would look great - if it didn't hurt the fish.

I finally found a vase I feel is large enough for the fish. I really hate seeing him cooped up in something small.

If you try it - let us know how it goes.

I have had lucky bamboo in my small indoor pond for 5 months with my baby goldfish and they are fine.

No need to fertilize the bamboo with the fish waste feeding it.

Works great!

Within the last 10 minutes i setup a betta and a lucky bamboo stalk. He(the betta) seems to be doing fine, im a little concerned about the lucky bamboo tho. I read on different websites to keep the stalk in only 2 inches of water. But my bamboo stalk is in about 6 inches of water. Hope it works out.. If anyone has this same setup\similar please email me your results as of today. Thank you.

P.S. Some lucky bamboo is sold with a chemical gel to hold water. WASH THIS OFF! Do NOT! use soap. Just rub and rinse with water and then make sure the water the bamboo is in is treated just incase of chlorine traces.

some websites have suggested using a siamese fighting fish because of its compatibility with the lucky bamboo. If you have enough bamboo it may even be able to live off of the roots if they are exposed.

Can someone tell me. If the bamboo isn't bamboo, what is it? I love this idea. I didn't like the lily plant as I didn't think it did the fish too good. I might try this. I feel so sorry for all the betta's I see. The worst case was at a flea market where they were in tiny triangular bags, no more than 2 inches big. Some had to lie on their sides as there wasn't enough water for them even to swim. In England the RSPCA would confiscate them all.

Hey Clare, bettas can live in pretty tight spots, but it is wise to give it plenty of room and it can live with the bamboo as long as you feed it fish food (don't feed the plant any plant food though) and clean the bowl out regularly. Lucky Bamboo is actually Dracaena Sanaderia don't quote me on that spelling. Hope I helped.

Surfing around, found this merchant, but has info on lucky bamboo.

Here is a link that might be useful: lucky bamboo info

Lucky Bamboo is a type of dracaena. I have also read somewhere that it is ok to grow in water for a while, but needs to eventually live in soil, so you might want to replace your plant after a while :-)
That will look so cool with the betta fish!

Please do not plant the lucky bamboo in soil! Lucky bamboo (dracena) is grown in the rain forests in Asia, and needs similar conditions. I sell lucky bamboo, and have been learning about it for years. I've experimented several ways, and I find that whenever I put a stalk in more than just a couple inches of water, the stalk tends to get 'soggy.' Also.... please don't expect the betta to survive only on the roots........ no matter what kind of plant you use. Granted, you don't have to feed them as often, but definitely supplement with a little betta food two or three times/week.
Hope this helps!

A good way to "grow" your betta and bamboo would be a large but shallow bowl..... tallness doesn't matter with a betta..... but width can..... get a large round fish bowl..... put rocks make sure the rocks aren't small.....at the bottom and anchor the bamboo to these...... be sure to clean the bowl often or put in something that removes algae..... the plants should pose no threat to the bettas health..... bettas genarlly only eat leaves if they are starving.... so just be sure to feed your fish..... p.s. they are healthiest on a mixed diet of betta food and freeze dried bloodworms...... also be sure to tap the bowl every now and again or put a mirror up to the side..... they will "play" with the other fish..... but put the mirror down if they look agitated..... rembmer there's a reason bettas are kept singularly...... The bamboo actually may provide a safe place for your betta to hide..... they like that.... they come from shallow rice paddies.....and tap the bowl..... bettas seem to according to most have a peculiar interest in human affection...... make sure the draceana is exposed at least a third or 3/4 of the way out of the water...... no need to fertilize its poisonous and the fish will fertilze the plants him or herself..... Remember of course bigger is always better but bettas don't need huge tanks:)

P.S. they are carnivores by nature they don't prefer to nibble on plants..... :)

I have a Betta that I have had for over a year now.He lives in a very large brandy snifter that holds almost 2 qts.of water and has about 2 cups of clear,blue,turquoise and green half marbles in the bottom.Very pretty.After I got him I did a lot of research on the Betta as to what kind of environment is best.Almost everything I found did not agree with putting "any" kind of plant in the bowl with the Betta,for one reason or another.When I bought Okie the people at Pet Smart "recommended" that I put a water plant in the bowl with him.I removed it after a couple of weeks because it got slimy green stuff on it and required changing the water every few days.For myself,the plant was just a nuisance so I opted for not having it.As I said,I have had "Okie" for over a year now and he is healthy and happy and greets me every morning with a kiss.I put my finger to the side of the bowl and he rushes over and gives it a "kiss"!LOL Anyway,I use RO water that I draw up in a pitcher and let sit overnight.I have however refilled his bowl with water straight from the RO tap many times with no problems.I empty the bowl,wash it and the marbles in hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly with hot water and dry inside and out with a paper towel.I then replace everything and put Okie back in.I also keep my house at about 68 to 70 in the summer and winter.As I said,I have never had any problems with this fish even though the ideal temperature for the Betta is 80*.By the way,he is lavender and dark bluish purple with some scarlet on the tip of his fins.He looks tie dyed.When I got him at Pet Smart,in Oklahoma City there were many,many Bettas in little containers.He caught my eye because of the unusual color and he was the only one there that color.
Buckeye-The Betta and Siamese Fighting Fish are one and the same.They originated in Indonesia,Malaysia,Vietnam,Thialand(originally Siam) and parts of China.
Some Betta Facts:Their lifespan is 2 to 3 years.
Ideal water temperature is 80*.At 75* and below they will become listless.
The natural habitat of the Betta is shallow waters and pools,rice patties,and sometime slow moving streams.
The original color of the Betta was a greenish brown,to blend in with the natural habitat and avoid being eaten by predators.They have been bred to be the beautiful colors we enjoy them in.
Bettas are carnivores.They do not eat the roots of plants.
Bettas are oxygen breathers and require a wide top water surface in order to thrive.
The following statement was taken from the site of a Betta breeder:
"The Peace Lily-Betta combination is clearly a popular fad, but it is neither natural nor healthy for the fish. A dog or cat owner would never consider shutting their pet in a small closet with minimal heat, food, and air. The Betta should not be treated any less humanely."
God bless....................Lillie

We just got a betta to add to our menagerie (not that we needed any more :-)) He is the newest addition to 2 dogs, 3 cats and 7 pond goldfish.
I got him because I had a fishbowl with lucky bamboo and thought it would be a nice addition. So far he seems really happy but there seems to be a lot of air bubbles accumulating at the top of the bowl where the lucky bamboo is curled at the top of the water. Anyone seen that before? The bamboo does provide a great way to keep my kitties out of the fish bowl!!
Laura

Laura-The air bubbles may not have anything to do with the plant.Male Bettas build a nest for the eggs laid by the female Betta.They do this by blowing bubbles which are deposited on the top of the water.When the female lays the eggs the male picks them up in his mouth and deposits them in the little bubbles on top of the water.When the female has laid all the eggs the male will kill her if she isn't removed from the environment quickly.The male tends the eggs until they hatch.The bubbles you see are most likely nesting bubbles.The male will build the nest even if there is no female.
BTW..I like pplantlady's idea of putting the lucky bamboo, or any other plant for that matter,in a seperate container and placing it in the fish bowl.That would make it easier to clean the bowl and eliminate any danger to the fish from the plant......Lillie

Here's a picture of our betta in his home. We got the huge glass vase at Ikea along with the glass "rocks" at the bottom. There's a little plastic plant suction-cupped to the side to give him a place to hang out close to the top when he needs to rest. He seems like a happy camper.

Good idea about the RO water. Hadn't thought of that even though we have a filter. And I'm glad to get a recommendation of good food.

Here is a link that might be useful: Buddy, our Betta

Pammo-I like you fish bowl.I also really love your countertop!.............Lillie

Don't worry too much about having your lucky bamboo in too much water. As long as the top of the sealed stem isn't covered it should be alright. As a general guidline, I don't put water any higher than where the new leafy start is, that way I'm guranteed not to cover the top.

If you don't have your lucky bamboo in a container with any critters whatsoever, what would you fertalize them with?
mine is in a large pot with pothos, spider plants, and an unidentified plant that was given to me as a gift.

Lillie,
I would like a list of the top ten best plants that a beta likes to live with. Along with that could you please tell me what the worst plants to put with a beta would be. Please let me know.
Lil' Rox

Lil'Rox-Sorry I can't help you with the plants.I have no idea which plants are compatible with the Betta.The only one I have seen used is the peace lily.You might do a search on the internet.There is a lot of information out there.Personally,I would not use a plant at all with a Betta.I think just putting them in a nice bowl and watching the beauty of the fish itself is sufficent.
Remember,if you do use a plant with your Betta leave top of the water space for the Betta to breathe as they are surface breathers.Also,bettas are carnivores and do not eat plants or roots and will not survive on the roots of the plant.You will have to feed him a special food for Bettas.
I am not fond of plants in the water also because they make it more difficult to keep the water clean.The Betta's water must be changed once a week normally,and this might also interfere with the plants growth and survival.I would stick to a beautiful container and a beautiful Betta,without the plant.........Lillie

has anyone discovered anything wrong with putting the betta in with the lucky bamboo. i have the perfect betta box tank and id like to put a piece of bamboo in with him... if anyone has some long term info on this or a pic of what it could look like give me some help. im not going to do anything until i have more info on this lucky bamboo with a betta...

Read pplantlady's post.She had a great idea for incorporating the bamboo with the Betta.I would be very leery of using any type of houseplant in a bowl with a Betta.And remember,Bettas are carnivores,not vegetarians and can't live on the roots of any plant.You must feed them every day!!!
There is a very good post of information concerning Bettas and their care on the other Betta thread on this forum.
Sadly,my little Okie(my betta)died a week ago.He was 3 years old..........Lillie

I initially did a tester bowl with a betta and a few stalks of lucky bamboo a few months ago. The bamboo was in about 2 inches of gravel, with about 8 inches of water on top of the gravel leaving between 4 and 6 inches of exposes stalk above the water line (I had 3 stalks in there at the time).

The betta seemed to really enjoy swimming around the bamboo. He went from hanging out around a favorite resting rock to swimming laps around the bowl and sitting on one of the leaves that dipped below the waters surface.

A month or so later, he (the betta) asked me to upgrade his place. Yes, my fish can talk. So I bought a 10-gallon tank and transplanted everything. The water level was raised a bit higher leaving less bamboo exposed to the air so I was concerned. But after a few weeks, the bamboo still seemed to be doing well.

Fast forward a couple more months: the betta and plants are doing extremely well and I still find the betta resting on some of the lower leaves. I have even slowly added a few tank mates and more live plants to the mix.

I highly recomend doing this if you have a small aquarium and a fish that doesn't jump out of his/her home since you might not be able to put a top on the aquarium. The fish are happy, the bamboo is growing extremely well, and it makes a great conversation piece whenever anyone comes over.

:)

I heard that using a bamboo plant in your fish tank will help keep it clean. Has anyone else heard this? I want to put my bamboo plant in with my Betta but it would sure be nice if it helped keep the tank clean. Thanks,

I plan on making this arrangement too. But to help the cage keep clean I'm going to put one or two snails in it with my betta. I have a frog tank simuliar to this with one lucky bamboo in it my frog and gravel plus this thing they call living gravel. Well he's been living for two years and i just put new water in it. I never clean it just add water and he's doing good. I feel bad cause he's in such a small tank but my fish always die if i move them or clean the tank. My betta tank is bigger than my frogs tank so i hope it is healthy. Where does everyone get their fish. Petco, Walmart,petsmart, or online. Also how is that fish doing and how sick was it when you got it. I want to decide on the healthiest place to get it.

the best place to get your fish I would have to say pets mart.