How to Correctly* Care for a Betta (*According to pet store employees)

[homegrown terror]

the only bettas in our house that get flakes are the new girls in the sorority because they're very young and their mouths aren't big enough for pellets yet. they do also LOVE their bloodworms though, even if they have to take two bites to get them down.

[Pices]

I was told that Bettas are cold-water fish and not to worry about water temperature even when the room temp. goes down below 60 degrees. I have a heater in my tank which keeps the water above 74 degrees and my little guy seems happy with that.

[sainthogan]

The girl at the pet store where I got mine said in once sentence that bettas are great jumpers, and then in the very next sentence that I could go next door to the craft store and buy a small bowl for my betta because theirs were expensive and much more than what a betta would need. (Wait a minute, didn't you just say that they are great jumpers? Those craft bowls don't have lids). Then she got very snotty and rude with me when I suggested that the betta I was buying was in fact a female and not a male. She told me that I was "buying a dragonscale betta and their tales are short, so of course it's a male!". It turns out I was correct, and she is a female.

When I went back to buy a bigger tank (I only bought a small 1/2 gallon starter tank to start with), a very eager guy came to try to help me pick out a tank, and kind of scoffed and smirked when I told him I was buying a minimum of a 3 gallon tank for my sick betta that needed a bigger tank to help aid in the recovery. Then he conveniently disappeared back to the register and didn't say a word to me when I checked out.

[ChoclateBetta]

Glad you got the 3 gallon.

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by Pices

I was told that Bettas are cold-water fish and not to worry about water temperature even when the room temp. goes down below 60 degrees. I have a heater in my tank which keeps the water above 74 degrees and my little guy seems happy with that.

I am pretty sure Bettas prefer 78-82F

[ChoclateBetta]

This is kind of creepy one of the petco employees has a 10 gallon and a chocolate betta just like mine.

[sainthogan]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Glad you got the 3 gallon.

I actually went for a 5 gallon instead, she LOVES it. Even though she was sick when I put her in there, she would spend all her energy exploring her new home. And I know you're supposed to put them in small hospital tanks to heal them, I felt she would heal faster in a larger home since she got sick in a small one, and I was right. She's now very healthy and happy!

[whiskandbowl]

Originally Posted by Pices

I was told that Bettas are cold-water fish and not to worry about water temperature even when the room temp. goes down below 60 degrees. I have a heater in my tank which keeps the water above 74 degrees and my little guy seems happy with that.

My boyfriend and I had a betta in an 8gal biOrb. (this was a couple years ago, about the only thing we did right)
We wanted to add more fish, but the Petco employee told us only goldfish, since everything else was tropical and needed a heater.
Then I remember reading/being told that bettas lived in puddles and would freak out in big tanks.


Poor Mikey, hardly any water changes, no heater in a 60*F house, no plants. We always wondered why he just laid in the tank. Sigh. He lived 2 years. RIP

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by sainthogan

I actually went for a 5 gallon instead, she LOVES it. Even though she was sick when I put her in there, she would spend all her energy exploring her new home. And I know you're supposed to put them in small hospital tanks to heal them, I felt she would heal faster in a larger home since she got sick in a small one, and I was right. She's now very healthy and happy!

Glad you got him a good home.

[homegrown terror]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

I am pretty sure Bettas prefer 78-82F

i've heard as a general rule they NEED to be 72-88 as an absolute min/max, with optimal comfort and health at 78-84 you described. that said, i've heard anecdotal evidence of certain bettas thriving at much higher or lower temps, but those are to be considered exceptions rather than the rule.