Silly question. How much does it cost per year to own a betta?

[1fish2fish]

I agree with code red. Unless your trying to factor how much water your using into the equation, after the initial $50-100 for the set up it rarely costs me more than $20 a year for my fish (except when I have to add new tanks LOL). If you get a regular sized can of pellets, a thing or two of frozen foods, and maybe one can of freeze dried something or others plus a carton of aquarium salt.. it will cost you about $10-15 and can easily last a year or more depending on how much you feed.

I also feed my guys live brine shrimp weekly as a treat which costs $1 a scoop at my LFS. Hopefully I can set up a DIY after I get rid of my fry and just raise my own brine.

[doggyhog]

Yep. Although I do go through water conditioner and pellets pretty fast!! I calculated that I feed my fish over 50 pellets a day... Yup. LOL

My Mom is always teasing me that she's gonna make me start paying half the electric bill. Hope she's kidding.... Hehe.

[AndiH]

In all reality, bettas are one of the cheapest fish to set up for. You don't have to use real plants if you are careful when choosing fake ones. In my experience fake works just as well and you don't have to worry about them dying and you dont need to worry about what type of light with fake plants. A 5g at Walmart with hood, heater and filter costs $30. If the filter is too strong (which it definitely will be in the kit, you can slow the flow with a bit of sponge in the intake until you can get one with a softer flow. Play sand or pea gravel from Lowes is less than $5 for a huge bag. A 25w heater, 15w light, and the smallest filters shouldnt run more than $5 a month and I would think even that would be more than true cost. So, start up is 30+5+4 (for fish)+4 (for food). Pick up plants as you can afford it and you can start up for less than $50.

You will need to get water conditioner, but the kit comes with a sample that should last for a few water changes. You can easily cut start up costs too by checking yard sales and craigslist for used aquariums and equipment.

[1fish2fish]

I think the one thing we all forgot is the almighty test kit. A decent kit is going to run you at least $30. The strips don't work and the cheapest kit I've found is the API Freshwater Master. There is a liquid one sometimes available at wal-mart for cheaper but it lacks some important tests.

[AndiH]

True enough Jackie, but until he can afford it, most LFS will test. He just has to be sure they use a liquid test.