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New betta, help with tank setup and water storage

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Flashygrrl 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. Im new to the forum here and new to the betta world. I have had bettas when I was too young to care for them, but since then I have had no marine life experience. I currently have a Betta (and have had for a few weeks now) and he is living in a bowl that is approx. half a gallon. I am only keeping him here until I can go retrieve my 10 and 20 gallon tanks from my brothers house. I have been doing water changes (about 40%) every 2-3 days and I just washed the bowl entirely today. I assume that he is happy in his new home. He has been building a bubble nest for the past few days thats was growing impressive in size until i washed his bowl.

First question:
I purchased a few 1 gallon plastic containers to store treated and aged water in so that when it comes time to do a water change I don't have to prep any water. It is tap water that I treated with drops from the pet store, let stand for over 24 hours with the lid off, then sealed up and set aside. Is this acceptable?

Second question, tank setup:

Filter-
I plan on using the 10 gallon tank as his permanent living quarters once I get it. The idea was to used stained glass pebbles as the substrate with artificial silk plants and a few caves. Is there a specific filer you would recommend for a tank of this size that is only inhabiting a betta? From what I had read I was thinking to use a medium sized sponge filter and introduce a few shrimp and snails to help with the clean up.

Heater-
I have read that some people like to use 2 heaters set on lower settings in opposite ends of the tank to limit temperature extremes in certain locations. I live in southern VA so it can get quite cold in the winter and I dont intend on keeping the apartment at 80.

Additional animals-
I was unsure of whether or not I wanted to add other fish to the setup but I thought some shrimp or snails would be cool and help with the betta poo.

Transitioning-
What is the best way to move a betta from place to place (bowl to bowl). When cleaning his bowl I gently poured him into another bowl that already had some of his water in it. When adding and removing water from his bowl I have been using a cut down air pump hose to siphon water back and forth below the surface to minimize splashing and currents. When I do move him to his tank should I submerge his bowl in the tank as if it were a bag and use the gradual introduction idea?

Sorry for the long first post, I just want to get everything right and make sure that everything I have done so far has be adequate.


Thanks alot
~mac


Here is what I have him in right now. It measures about 6" in diameter and his water level is at about 5.5"
 
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#2 ·
I dont age my water it has not chlorine so i cant answer that question but for the 10 gallon, plans sound great, a sponge filter or a whisper filter would be perfect, i use a whisper in my tanks. I like ghost shrimp but some bettas eat them others are fine. just make sure it would have a place to hide. 2 heaters are not needed. If you are worried about uneaven heating, place the heater next to the filter and the current will keep it nice. If you want a tankmate you could add a few white could mountain minnows, or set up your 20 gallon with some corie cats. Make sure your tank gets cycled. good luck :)
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the quick reply. Not even 10 minutes. Im going out of town tomorrow and wont be back until sunday, so i will have to leave the tending of the bowl to my girlfriend (good thing I cleaned the tank and did a water change today). Ill post about the new setup next week.
 
#5 ·
In a ten gallon I think you have a couple of options for tankmates, as it's a decent sized tank. The white clouds are a good idea. You could also do a school of 8-10 pygmy cories with no problem, or probably even 5 or so regular-sized cory cats. Of course, the 20g would give you even more options.

As long as you're using a good water conditioner and the water is the same temperature coming out of the tap as the water already in the tank, there's really no need to let the water age.

I would suggest using a turkey baster, gravel vacuum or some other type of siphon to remove waste and do your water changes. It's much less stress on the fish than moving him to another container and doing 100% water changes. 50% changes two or three times a week should be fine. Of course you'll be doing much smaller, less frequent changes on the 10 or 20g tanks with filters.

I agree - a sponge filter or power filter with adjustable flow (like the Whisper) make good filter choices for a betta. You also should only need one heater on a tank that small, placed in a high-flow area for even heating.
 
#6 ·
Snails just make more of a mess than they clean up so those are kind of out.

How long do you think it will be till you get the tank from your brother's house? Would it be worth it to go get some kind of Sterilite container from Wal-Mart, drill a few holes in the top and house him in there for now?Might make him happier.

As for transitioning...if you can get him out of there and into the cup or bag he came in, that would be best for floating him. Let him float in the water for 15 mins, then pour some of the new tank water into the cup (turkey baster's great for this), wait 10 minutes, pour some more in, wait 10 minutes and then he can be loose in the new tank. If the old water is questionable at all you can very very gently use your clean hand to scoop him out.
 
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