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Thinking about getting a Betta Fish (:

2K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
So, I asked my parents about it for christmas. They said I could get it if I work for it and I did all my research and I think this is all I need. Could someone help me out?

Tank: Eclipse System 3 - Has built in filter+ light
Filter cartridges
Gravel - Topfin assorted
Food - Omega 1 Betta Buffet
Plastic plants - Top fin hygrophilia plants.
Topfin Betta conditioner

Is there anything else I need? And can someone give me some pointers for a new betta owner?
 
#7 ·
I do a 20% water change weekly on my tank, no matter what my water parameters show. I use a siphon with a gravel vac attachment on the end. Remove 20% of the water and then refill with water (treated with Prime0 that has been warmed to the exact degree of the tank.
Will you get a liquid test kit and are you planning on cycling the tank??
 
#9 ·
Quote:
"Cycling" a tank is the process of culturing colonies of beneficial bacteria in your tank. Fish waste (urine and feces), decaying plant and animal tissue and decaying fish food all create ammonia in your tank. Ammonia is highly toxic to fish and can kill them even at low concentrations. In order for your fish to survive in a fish tank, they can't be exposed to ammonia. Luckily, there is a type of bacteria that converts the harmful ammonia into another chemical called nitrite. As ammonia is introduced to your tank (either by adding fish or another ammonia source) these bacteria multiply. Eventually, there are enough of them to completely convert any ammonia that is introduced to the tank into nitrite. Unfortunately, nitrite is just as toxic to your fish as ammonia, if not moreso. However, there is a second type of bacteria that converts this nitrite into nitrate, a chemical that is only harmful to fish in very large concentrations. As the first type of bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, the second type of bacteria begins to grow in number. After more time, there are enough of these bacteria present to convert all of your nitrite into nitrate. After both types of bacteria are established, your tank is "cycled." At this point, you should never have detectable levels of ammonia or nitrite in your tank and you only need to do water changes to keep the nitrate levels in check.

There are two ways to cycle a tank, fishless and with fish. When cycling with fish, the fish you add act as the ammonia source during the cycle. However, because the ammonia and nitrite that are produced during the cycle are toxic, you need to do water changes frequently when cycling with fish to keep them alive. The second way is to cycle without fish and use some other ammonia source, such as pure ammonia, fish food or even an uncooked shrimp. This is the preferred method as it allows you to stock the tank as you please (instead of with the fish you cycled with) and also doesn't subject any fish to ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

The best way to monitor the progress of the cycle is to get a good liquid test kit like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. It contains tests for pH as well as ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Testing the water lets you know exactly how far along the cycle is and when it's over, and therefore when it's safe to add fish.

Since the bacteria that you grow during the cycle aren't waterborne (they live on surfaces in the aquarium like the gravel, decor and especially the filter media) you can transfer some of these items over to a cycling aquarium from an established tank to help speed up your cycle.
 
#10 ·
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Okay so what you're saying is; I fill the tank with water, put in all the stuff except for fish,(purifying stuff, hiding spots, plants) put in like fish food pellets and turn on the filter and wait for 1-3 weeks? Or until the cycle is over? What are the signals that my tank is ready for fish?
 
#11 ·
May I suggest that you use pure ammonia instead of fish food. It is much less messy, believe me as I have done it both ways. Also, with the pure ammonia you can spike it up right away while the fish food takes a while to even produce ammonia making the entire process take longer. Basically, you add ammonia daily and test every few days until you have 0 ammonia and nitrites, and a reading for nitrate. If your ammonia reading starts to get really high, over 5ppm, then just stop adding ammonia until it starts to go down. It is not an exact science, just do what works, add a little ammonia and test a few hours later, this will give you a feel for how much you should add. Because there is no fish in the tank it is really not something to overly stress about so long as the cycle does complete. Before you add fish you will need to do a large water change to bring the nitrates down to acceptable levels. As long as you don't clean the filter or vaccuum the gravel (another reason that I suggest ammonia instead of fish food is that it doesn't gunk up the gravel which would then require cleaning) the tank will be fine bacteria wise.

If you have any questions during the process feel free to ask :)
 
#12 ·
Woah O_O Okay, So I have it down. Alright. You can buy pure ammonia in stores, correct? I'm pretty young so I don't know if my mom will let me handle the ammonia but I'll try to persuade her. Heh; this is alot more work than I expected for one betta. But I want it to live a good life so I'm gonna do all these things.
 
#13 ·
Yup, I got mine at Hannaford, so if your mom goes grocery shopping you could just ask her nicely to pick some up for you ;) Remember, you want 100% pure ammonia (doesn't matter the concentration) with no perfumes or other chemical additives. Just hold your breath while putting the drops in because you really don't want to breathe that stuff in!

I'm really glad that you care so much about your fish! It really will be worth it in the long run. I really do believe that larger, cycled tanks are the way to go. I mean, my guy (in a cycled, heated, filtered 5.5 gal.) is eating and flaring immediately after a water change. It really is the most low-stress situation possible :)
 
#14 ·
Pure ammonia can be difficult to track down but I've heard it's sold at Ace Hardware. I've never used this method as I haven't been able to find the stuff near me. Plus, you have to keep dosing it. When you've got a lot of fish tanks, it can be hard to remember to do stuff like that. I've personally used uncooked shrimp to cycle a lot of my tanks. Just put one in a piece of pantyhose (or a filter media bag which should be available at Petsmart or any fish store and is probably cheaper than pantyhose) and throw it in your tank. As it rots, it will create a constant supply of ammonia. There's really nothing more to it other than to test your water to know how the cycle is progressing.

If I were setting up a new betta tank, this would be my shopping list:

-Test kit - $18 (this is extremely important. You need it to know how the cycle is progressing and is pretty much an essential tool for all fishkeepers. Don't get the paper test strips! They're inaccurate and actually more expensive. This test kit goes for about $30 or more in stores so it's better to buy online):
Freshwater Master Test Kit

-A plain ol' 10g glass tank from Petsmart for about $11 or $12 (5.5g tanks cost about the same, but the bigger the better, so why not a 10g?)

-A filter with an adjustable flow rate like this one ($13):
Whisper In-Tank Filter 10i - 90 gph

-A heater like this one ($17):
Visi-Therm Stealth Heater - 50W - 8 3/4 in. - up to 15 gallon

-Glass canopy ($10):
20" Glass Canopy (Perfecto)

-A strip fluorescent light from Home Depot (~$10)

-Gravel or sand (you can buy a 50lb bag of play sand at Home Depot for like $4 and it looks great...just rinse it really well before you add it to the tank)

-Silk plants (or live plants like java fern and java moss)

-A piece of driftwood or two

-Some pieces of slate from a landscaping store to make some caves (bettas love caves!)

-A net

-A gravel vaccum

-Water conditioner (Tetra Aquasafe or Prime are great)

-Fish food (Hikari Bio-Gold pellets as a staple diet, frozen bloodworms for twice weekly treats)

-Thermometer


That's it, really. The initial setup is somewhat expensive but the long-term upkeep is really, really cheap. A 10g tank would allow you to keep your betta fish along with a shoal of six or so corydoras catfish, which make great tankmates and are really funny little fish. The 10g tank, canopy, filter and lights comes to $45, which is the same price the Eclipse 3 runs for. Plus, the Eclipse filter tends to be pretty strong which can bug bettas.
 
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