new betta friend!

[Pasqua]

Hi everyone...!

I am very excited at the moment. I have been scouring your site for the last few weeks and have finally decided to sign up and join in the convo =)

Ok so I may have been slightly persuaded by the fact that I was hoping for a little advice too.

On Monday (five days ago) I bought my first betta fish. Nothing too fancy, hes a crown fighter, or crown tail, ..however it is worded. I decided this after much research and deliberations and considerations and was hoping for him to share my 5 gallon tank with my three guppies who have been in there a couple months. The guppies are not fancy ones, have short little rounded tails, they are all fairly placid, and for the first few days my betta was too. And then yesterday I got home and found my male guppy (also the smallest) had a chunk of his tail missing =(

So, betta is being rehomed. He is currently sitting in a half gallon glass jar that I had in the cupboard as I did not have anywhere else at the time for him. Stole some water, gravel and a plant from the other tank and popped him in there for the meantime until I can sort something else out. (I know I know! too small - but it is only very temporary I promise!).

My question now is, I want to buy a new home for him this weekend but thought I'd pop on here first and maybe get some advice or pointers or tips if anyone feels like handing them out before I go and buy something completely wrong. And also, while researching and browsing before, I came accross a great thread where everyone had pictures of their betta set ups and I was greatly inspired! I am currently trying to think of something for my betta but don't have any ideas yet.

So, a five gallon is big enough for one male betta right? I wouldn't put anything else with him now, it would just be him. Whats the decor theme in your betta tank? So far I have been to scared to try real plants at this point but are there any that would be quite easy to maintain that I could use for my betta? It would be great to have one or two live plants for him but I wouldn't know where to start with that! everything I have read about live tank plants seems to complicated =S

So that is all for now from me and my betta - who is yet to be named (working on that one too).

=) thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[a123andpoof]

Hey there and welcome! A five gallon is perfect though if you wanted something smaller that would be fine to. Being your in Austrailia I don't know what you have for tanks, but I am sure one of the many australians will be here to chime in. For live plants I have wisteria and camboba (sp?) and it is really low maintance. I just needed the right light. It grows very quickly and all thats needed is some trimming. I HIGHLY reccomend live plants my boy was 100x happier and I have the pics to prove it. Maybe do a mixure of live plants and fake just to get a feel for them. I am new to them to, but they really are simple. Good luck!

[Pasqua]

Thanks a123!

I ended up getting a five gallon as its actually the cheapest tank that I can get locally that is of a decent size ($29). The only cheaper ones are the twenty dollar tiny betta 'cube' things they sell, and five gallons or bigger at any other store starts at about $60.

So I bought my new tank today =D and filled it up. Did get some live plants. They had sold out of wisteria, and I found that cabomba (if thats the one you meant?) is actually banned here as it has been overtaking our local waterways and the native plants and fish dont like it. I am not quite sure what I got, the lady referred to one of them as a bubble something and I don't know about the other two, but I will see how they go.

I am very happy with how my new tank is looking =D it is cycling now, hopefully my betta (still unnamed lol) can hold out a little bit longer while I get his new home ready. I can just imagine he is going to love all the space again lol.

Thanks for your advice a123 =)

[LittleWatty]

Well, if you plan on going out to get any other plants, I've heard Anubias is fairly low maintenance, and can survive some pretty bad conditions (low CO2, low light, etc.). I only got my first betta a day and a half ago, but decided to take the plunge and got about a dozen live plants XD Well... it started out as 5 or 6, but there was more than one plant in some of the ones I purchased, so it turned out to be more :D

Just make sure you're testing ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates every day while he's in that half gallon, doing appropriate water changes, and he'll be fine ^.^

[mattoboy]

2.5 Aqueon Mini Bow - best way to go for a betta!

[Pucky21811]

Marimo moss balls! If they sell them in Australia. They are kind of pricey ($7 each) but are low maintenence and are so cool to watch when they move!

[Anitax3x]

Anacharis helps SO MUCH to improve water quality! I have found it grows like crazy. anubias is also great and I like the mossballs too, all super easy to take care of. Although I would condition the anacharis to being in warmer water with your heater because sometimes it can melt if it is shocked. Hope you post pics soon!

[a123andpoof]

Yep thats the plant I meant! Thats a bummer I like it. If you can get wisteria I highly recommend them. I have some in my tank and they grow quickly and are pretty lol
Would love to see pics of your tank and your new boy!

[Pasqua]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I have seen something that looks like a ball of moss in one of the pet stores and I do know at least one place stocks wisteria. I'll see how he goes in the current set up as I don't want to crowd him too much, and I'll look into those plants if i want to get more =)=)
Can't post a pic here ATM as i am on my phone but i did add a pic of the tank to the main sticky post pictures of your Betts home here thread yesterday so you can check it out there =) let me know what you think.

Also my fishie has a name!! It just came to me today with the help of a friend. His name is Sebastian... Because he is red and crabby !! =P <insert pic of the little mermaid crab here>.

I don't have any good pics of hum yet but I'll try to get some tonight =)

Thanks for the info sharing everyone! It is greatly appreciated =)

[SarahandOscar]

[quote=Pasqua;1104654]Thanks a123!

I ended up getting a five gallon as its actually the cheapest tank that I can get locally that is of a decent size ($29). The only cheaper ones are the twenty dollar tiny betta 'cube' things they sell, and five gallons or bigger at any other store starts at about $60.

What tank did you get and from which store? I'm in Sydney and have been to every pet store within a 2 hour radius for the last 2 months haha.

I've opted with the aqua one mirage series (basic tank no filter) If your in Sydney i could help with the cheapest and best places to go =)