Any Suggestions for Moving to A New Tank

[colorfulpetgirl]

Right now he has a small 2 liter tank. He moves around quite a lot (except when he's resting/sleeping), so I think he needs a bigger tank so he doesn't have to swim up and down and in circles (squares?).
Hopefully sometime in the fall/winter, I'll get him all the things he needs:
heater
filter (probably, heater is the biggest priority because my home doesn't have central heating and sometimes it gets colder inside then outside in the winter T_T)

But I was wondering, how the transfer to a new tank should be handled. What decorations would be safe? And I've heard of some plants that bettas like to nibble on- what are those and could I find them in major retailers?

[babystarz]

For the transfer, you may wish to cycle the tank first (there are lots of posts here on that), but if you want to do it quickly just make sure you condition the water and let it sit next to his current tank about 2/3 of the way full. Once they've been sitting for 6 hours the water temp will have equalized. Transfer the fish and use the water from his old tank to top up the new one. Since the water is all coming from the same source he shouldn't find the new water uncomfortable.

As for plants, yep a lot of the common ones are readily available at pet stores. My local Petco has anubis and peacock ferns and wisteria which are all easy to grow. I don't think the plants they sell are the healthiest though, and they aren't very big. You can get much bigger, healthier plants online for the same price (although you do have to pay shipping) :P

Definitely get some floating plants, bettas love them. They are also good for fry, and sick or weak bettas because the fish can nestle into the plants near the surface so they don't have to move much to get air.

For decoration safety, you want things without any jagged edges that could hurt a fish passing by or that your betta could get stuck in. They tend to like decorations with hidey holes :)

[BettaBuddy123]

I tried the anubis at petco and it has worked out pretty well for me. Try to pick one with healthy leaves and no brown spots. Those leaves will fall off and rot away which can make your water unhealthy. I would also recommend you rinse it and quarantine it so you don't get any snails riding into your tank (unless of course you want them!) Best of luck! I bet your betta will be thrilled!

[colorfulpetgirl]

Originally Posted by babystarz

For the transfer, you may wish to cycle the tank first (there are lots of posts here on that), but if you want to do it quickly just make sure you condition the water and let it sit next to his current tank about 2/3 of the way full. Once they've been sitting for 6 hours the water temp will have equalized. Transfer the fish and use the water from his old tank to top up the new one. Since the water is all coming from the same source he shouldn't find the new water uncomfortable.

As for plants, yep a lot of the common ones are readily available at pet stores. My local Petco has anubis and peacock ferns and wisteria which are all easy to grow. I don't think the plants they sell are the healthiest though, and they aren't very big. You can get much bigger, healthier plants online for the same price (although you do have to pay shipping) :P

Definitely get some floating plants, bettas love them. They are also good for fry, and sick or weak bettas because the fish can nestle into the plants near the surface so they don't have to move much to get air.

For decoration safety, you want things without any jagged edges that could hurt a fish passing by or that your betta could get stuck in. They tend to like decorations with hidey holes :)

Cycling takes weeks, so the second suggestion seems like something I'd do. And I'll definitely see of those plants are there when I go the next time. Thanks.

[colorfulpetgirl]

Originally Posted by BettaBuddy123

I tried the anubis at petco and it has worked out pretty well for me. Try to pick one with healthy leaves and no brown spots. Those leaves will fall off and rot away which can make your water unhealthy. I would also recommend you rinse it and quarantine it so you don't get any snails riding into your tank (unless of course you want them!) Best of luck! I bet your betta will be thrilled!

Snails huh... that could be interesting. Never mind, I'm afraid of anything that looks abnormal XD Thanks.