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Bettas and Goldfish?!

13K views 52 replies 16 participants last post by  Neil D 
#1 ·
My cousin is 11 years old, so please bare with me as this is about her. Her parents don't speak english (she is adopted -long story) so I can't discuss these issues with them. I don't have all the information, as basically I got most of this off a phone message)

My cousin has a goldfish (used to be two, one died - no surprise) in a one gallon bowl (I know its too small, I keep telling her that but she won't listen). And she has two bettas, both in their own 1 gallon bowls, Marina and Samoa.

She wants to put her goldfish and one of her betta (i don't know which, the girl or the boy) together. She has an empty ten gallon tank.

I know nothing about goldfish. But from what I can gather, goldfish and bettas can't be together mainly because of their temperature needs. Is this correct? Are there other reasons for this, because my cousin won't listen to just one reason? Bettas are also fin nippers in general, so wouldn't they nip at the fins of the goldfish.

I think she is planning either:
-goldfish and betta together in 10 gallon
or
-goldfish and betta SORORITY

-_-"

She isn't listening to my advice, please give me some backup on this.
Since I've gotten into the betta hobby she has decided to follow, not listening to all of my advice. Because I recently made a sorority, she has decided SHE wants one now. PLEASE HELP. I am afraid for these fish.
 
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#2 ·
Bettas and goldfish should NEVER EVER be kept together, PERIOD. They have completely different needs and temperaments. Goldfish create SO much waste that they NEED 20 gallons each, with extremely heavy filtration. Bettas need still waters with little filtration, and much higher temperatures than goldfish should be kept at. There is no way she should keep them together. The Bettas would be better off in their 1 gallon bowls by themselves.
 
#3 ·
Goldfish get HUGE! fancy get at least 6 inches, common/comet can get 2 feet! Fancy needs at least 20 gallons to one gold fish, common/comet 125 or 200 or something to one goldfish. Goldfish need HEAVY filtration, Bettas of course need light filtration. Goldfish are cold water, Bettas tropical. It's one of the worst fish to keep with a Betta. And in a 10 gallon, neither would last long. Tell her about this. And tell her about the nitrogen cycle and if she really cares for her fish she'll rehome the goldfish (unless she can afford a bigger tank).

What language does her parents speak?
 
#4 ·
Although I certainly don't advise it, I have kept fancy goldfish with bettas in a very large tank in the past. In general, it is a bad idea to keep bettas with goldfish. Fancy goldfish like their water a bit warmer than common goldfish, and they prefer a higher ph than bettas. Goldfish do grow large enough to fit a betta into their mouth eventually. :oops:
 
#5 ·
THANK YOU SWEEDA! :D

Hopefully she will listen! She is kinda getting on my nerves, not listening to anything I tell her.
"My friend has a goldfish, and its in a gallon bowl and hes been alive since NOVEMBER!"
"Could I breed my bettas in a one gallon bowl?"
"Keeping bettas in a half gallon tank is so cruel! ...Can you keep bettas in a half gallon bowl?"
 
#6 ·
THANK YOU baylee767! Its getting impossible to tell her ANYTHING to do with fish, anymore. She contradicts what I say with what her "friends" and "pet store workers" say. I am certainly no expert on fish at all, but some of these things are common sense, or things I've picked up on here! I will definitely keep at her about the goldfish needing a bigger tank! And they speak spanish.

Dragonlady, I can understand you doing something like that. You are WAYYYY more experienced than my cousin is. These are her first pets EVER, and no offense to her, but she isn't the responsible type. In a large tank I'm sure would be OK with adjustments as well as careful observation made by someone experienced, but my cousin just doesn't get it.
 
#7 · (Edited)
In all means necessary - Don't put them together. Your cousin will be killing innocent territorial fish.
 
#8 ·
when i talk to kids about their fish, i try to explain things as simple as i can. does your cousin have the internet, or can she use yours? if so, you should show her pages that show that bettas and goldfish can't be kept together. show her pictures of the World's Biggest Goldfish, and explain to her that if her goldfish were in a large tank, it would be really happy and grow really big. introduce her to this site, and tell her that the people on here know alot more than the people at the pet store(don't' say 'more than your friends and...' that, won't end well. >.>;), and have lots of pretty, happy bettas, and some have goldfish too! i know it's frustrating, but all you can do is be patient and show her how much happier her fish would be if she stopped listening to her friends and the pet store people, and took your advice.
 
#9 ·
You're welcome, Kathstew! I hope you can talk some sense into her. I'd hate to see beautiful fish die because she won't listen. Do your best, but in the end, don't blame yourself if she refuses to take your advice. In the end, it's her decision, however wrong it may be!
 
#10 ·
Lumeril - thanks for the ideas! She does have the internet, so I will send her some sites about goldfish and bettas. I totally never thought about the worlds biggest goldfish, that may just convince her about the tank size! Thats a great idea, thank you!

SashmimiBetta - I will do my very best to keep her bettas and goldfish seperate!
 
#11 ·
Thanks Sweeda. It just bugs me, because before she got the goldfish, she asked me for help to research what they need. I looked up the info, sent her websites (we talk through webcam because she lives too far away) explained things for her - EVERYTHING. And then she went and didn't listen. I guess she will learn eventually. I really don't want to see or hear about her fish dying though. It breaks my heart hearing that they died, and it could have been easily prevented, you know?
 
#12 ·
this is the pic i often use to show people how huge goldies can get. :p



it's gonna be tough, since kids her age are hard-headed, but as long as you play it right, she'll see how much happier all her fish will be, with proper care. you could say something like, "see how big and happy that goldfish looks? how'd you like your goldfish to get that big? you could show it off to all your friends, and brag about how long yours lived!". :d
 
#13 ·
WOW, that is a crazy size comparison! I'd LOVE to raise a goldfish from that tiny size to something huge like that. Some day, I want to get a huge tank (200 gallons at least), and keep beautiful fantail goldfish. I love them, but they require SO much room!
 
#19 ·
i work with kids all day long! lol so i understand how hard it is to try and explain things to them...especially when they are in the wrong.

Have you tried telling her how would she like to only live a small bathroom with one other person that takes up so much space?

Or have you told her that goldfish grow from the inside out? (I think thats true? let me know if im wrong) And since they grow from the inside out they could actually "explode" :(:( Ouch.
 
#20 ·
The thing is kids her age are stubburn, hard headed and sometimes their ego's are bigger then they are. (No offense but I remember how me and my friends were at this age: We were near psycho's.)

I hate to say this but when a goldfish is together with another fish sometimes Mr. Goldy gets hungry....I learned this the hard way at 7 when two of my goldfish literally ate each other to death. There was no blood...There were no guts hanging out....They were interlocked totally ripped apart. I still have the awful image in my head whenever I remember it. That could get worse with how aggressive betta's are, male or female they're a very aggressive species.

Tell her that Petshop employee's usually are only trying to sell her a fish not help her take care of a pet. Tell her that whilst her friends are probably trying to help to do her own research and that if she gets a bigger tank for her goldfish alone that he may very well grow up to be as big as a koi fish.

BTW what kind of Goldfish does she have? Comet? Sunburst? Black Moor? Ryukin?
 
#21 ·
Don't put them together because the Betta will usually torture the goldfish until it dies. When i bought a goldfish from petco and put it with my Betta, it was killed within three days.
 
#23 ·
That goldfish is HUGE!
The other night I had a dream of raising a goldfish that became so big it lived in an outdoor swimming pool, and it still wasn't big enough! LOL

She has been convinced!!!!! She is no longer interested in keeping them together, THANK GOD! I don't know what happened, but it didn't take nearly as much explaining as I thought. I think her fish may have gotten in a bit of a fight and she didn't want to tell me. Either way, the fish are a lot safer now. But I still need to work on her about the goldfish needing a bigger tank! Jeez, its gonna take a while!

Lumeril - I can't believe someone just stole your tank! Thats horrible! I don't understand how people can do things like that!

babyk - I have told her that, unfortunately that was when she brought the "my friend has had a goldfish since November" excuse. I will keep at it though, I think the fact that one of them dying has shaken her a little.

vaygirl - I would love to have a fish live fourty years old! Although, it would be heartbreaking losing the fish to old age eventually. You know, more attached to it because it lived for so long. :(

Arashi Takamine - Aw, thats horrible! Poor little goldies! I've told her about the pet stores only wanting to make a sale. She is still innocent-minded and believes they are saying the truth for the pets welfare. She doesn't know what type it is, just that its a goldfish -_-"
 
#46 · (Edited)
Arashi Takamine - Aw, thats horrible! Poor little goldies! I've told her about the pet stores only wanting to make a sale. She is still innocent-minded and believes they are saying the truth for the pets welfare. She doesn't know what type it is, just that its a goldfish -_-"
I know how she feels when I had first delved into fish keeping I had another goldfish and a goldfish bowl pretty typical for a kid my age apparently and the petsmart woman told us to put half the tank water in the new water. No acclimating, no warning just said: "Dump the fish in do waterchanges no soap and feed it. Call it good." That tiny thing lived for three years...I feel guilty now that I didn't give her at least a ten gallon (Looking back on it she was no bigger then a single neon tetra.) To live in.

I learned better after doing research on keeping betta's and I had fun preparing everything. Now my boys are a big part of my routine and I can't imagine life without fish again.
 
#30 ·
She does have an account on here. LOL

Wouldn't exactly want her to see this thread though.... :p
She's only been on here once or twice. I don't think she understands/cares that much about this website. :/
 
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