hoping to get a betta fish what do i do?

[moocow96]

My mom wants to get a betta fish and i was going to check online for her to see if there was anything telling us how to care for it.

How big does the bowl/tank need to be? Are they happier in a larger tank?

Do we need a lid? If we got a bowl how would we put a lid on it?

Do we need heater, filter, or anything? Again, my mom wanted to use a fish bowl that we have. How would we put that stuff on it?

I've seen bowls made for betta fish without covers, filters, or heaters, i think. Are those okay?

What should we feed the betta?

My mom wants to put live plants in the bowl. She heard that you can just put in live plants and the fish will eat the roots, that you won't have to feed it anything else.

What types of plants are best?

Am I missing anything? What else do wneed?

[James]

I just have mine in a 2.5 gallon fish bowl, feed it twice a day and change its water once a week,

im not to sure on the plant thing though

[southafrica1001]

hi :D, i will try my best to cover all the information (other members please correct me and add anything on :D)

The tank needs to be at least 2.5 gallons, the bigger though the betta, i would really invest in a 2.5 - 5 gallon aquarium which has everything in it.
a heater is a must as betta's like warm temperatures 78 degrees and above (not to high though) so it the water has to be at least 78 degrees and the heater will make sure there are no fluctuations in the water which can harm your betta.

A lid for a betta is a good idea, as betta's have been known to jump out of there tanks, so again if you can find a nice size tank, it should come with a lid.

You can have a filter and it helps to keep the water clean, however the current cant be to strong as betta's don't like strong currents. Even if you have a filter you still need to be doing 25%- 50% water changes weekly, if you are going with a 2.5 gallon tank then i would recommend a turkey baster (to suck up uneaten food etc from the gravel). also use water conditioner when adding any water to the bowl/tank as it takes out the harmful chemicals in the water (you can get this at any petshop selling fish and fish supplies)

There is one member here who keeps her two betta's in bowls (separate bowls as bettas shouldn't be mixed as they can harm each other), and they use a filter and a heater, and both bowls look just as nice as a tank.

Betta's can be feed betta's pellets, and tropical fish flakes (some betta's don't take to the flakes though), live/frozen food can be given but some live/frozen foods (for example blood worms) can cause a betta to bloat.

If you want to keep live plants, it helps to have a florescent light (usually comes with a tank that has a filter, heater etc with it), and you also have to make sure that the plants are fully aquatic, as plants that cant be fully submerged can eventually rot and cause you water quality to fluctuate. It is a misconception that the betta will eat the roots of a plant and you don't need to feed it, it will eventually kill your betta, so i don't advise you do this.

The best plants would be something like java moss which doesn't need high lighting and can be tied with nylon thread to decorations, also try and avoid floating plants that cover a lot of the surface area at the top (e.g duckweed) as betta's have an organ which enables them to breath oxygen from the surface.

Other things you would need is a fish net, liquid test kits (to test the water parameters e.g ammonia, ph, nitrates and nitrites), turkey baster or syphon tube (cleans the gravel).

Also read the betta FAQ in this forum :
here is the link
http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.p...8c3bf25933454f
it will cover anything i've missed and most probably give better information lol :D

[GeegaFish]

Hi there.

I hope Southafrica's post was helpful to you. There is also a Sticky right here in the Betta section on how to care for a Betta Fish. Also, note, however, that a more experienced member has updated some of the information in the sticky. It hasn't made it in there yet, though. Here's the link to the other thread, where BettaBaby posted some corrections.

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=18504

I've had Bettas myself before and they can be very enjoyable fish, but do require care like any other fish (or pet) that you own. I had one of mine in a 2 gallon open topped fish tank, but I made a simple lid for it out of black screen material (the plasic kind) for fixing window screens. I cut a round piece larger than the top of the bowl and secured it with a rubber band. It worked great and I didn't have to worry about my beloved Betta jumping out. They have amazing accuracy when jumping, even through small openings.

Good luck!

[mcrslipknota7x]

I had Bob(male) for 3 years in a 10 gallon tank without a heater, light, etc.
Melon(female) lives in a 2 gallon bowl and she is 2 years old and still alive.

I guess it just depends on where you have the betta fish and the betta fish.

But, I would definitively get a heater from your betta to be on the safe side.

I feed my betta fish Betta Bites(pellets) every other day and they seem to like it.

You will need to buy betta drops to get all the bad stuff out of your tap water.

You will need to get gravel and decorations and stuff for your betta to hide in.

[southafrica1001]

thanks for the other link, the corrections really should be made into another sticky where it is easy to see :D