Standard size tank for a PK

[LizzyP]

Jonah sadly passed away yesterday. His battle with the filter was just too much for him. He passed before I could make it home. Rest easy, pretty guy. <3


I hate seeing an empty tank, especially since this one is freshly cycled I didn't want to leave it for too long without an ammonia source. Off I went to Petco with my mother and fiance in tow, and we found Frederick. Frederick is an almost completely white (I'm assuming he will marble up with some good nutrition and warm clean water) HMPK.

HE IS SO DARN ADORABLE.

I'll get a picture as soon as he settles in and will swim around with his fins spread out.

But only thing I'm worried about is this is a 3 gallon tank. He seems to be doing good, but is this enough space for a PK? I know since they have shorter fins they need more space than a long finned fish. I do have a 5.5 that my VT is in and I guess I could switch them if they needed to be. But will a 3 gallon be enough space for my little friend? Thanks!

Lizzy :)

[ChoclateBetta]

I would say ten for a king betta.

[LizzyP]

He's not a king. I clearly stated that he's a halfmoon plakat.

[Ilikebutterflies]

I couldn't tell if you are still using the filter or not but a regular sized betta,even a plakat, isn't going to do well with a filter unless you can really slow it down. My HMPK got stuck to the intake a few times on my 2g Eclipse. Now, the King PK does just fine in there with the filter on full blast.

[LizzyP]

It is baffled at the output and a stocking is over the input. Jonah was a very heavily finned CT, so getting sucked in the filter probably wasn't hard. But that still doesn't answer my question.

[Ilikebutterflies]

Mine is a regular ole HMPK and he got stuck to the intake more than once with a stocking over it. So...to answer your question...3 gallons is plenty big for a regular pk. They are the same size as any other regular betta so the same size tank is fine. Who says a PK needs a bigger tank than a long finned betta? That doesn't really make any sense...

[LizzyP]

Smaller fins, easier to zoom around the tank. Long finned males move slower since they have bigger tails.

[bananasammy8]

I think a 3 gallon is perfectly fine for him:) He sounds so cute! If you can post pics i would love to see him!

[Ilikebutterflies]

Ahh. Got ya. Hmm. My regular HMPK's certainly don't zoom. Maybe mine are lazy. They are housed in smaller tanks 2-3 gallons. Now my giants? Some days they act like they are on crack and they need room to race around...but then again they are all well over 3" without their tails and feeding time is very exciting to them.

[LebronTheBetta]

With all the short fins I guess it should at least be a 5 but since females can be able to live in 2.5 gallons without a problem I think it should be fine for your PK.