Questions

[kingofthefishppl]

I just inherited a betta. A friend bought it for his kid and naturally the kid lost interest. Since i had an aquarium he thought i would like it. I've had him about 2 weeks and like alot of people thought his little half gallon tube was fine. After lots of reading and because i have a heart, Just barely, as my wife says i want to get him something where he can stretch out. I have a 20 gallon with some neon tetras, zebra Danios one weather loach (also Inherited) and a larger tetra (see previous remark) but not sure how he would do in it as a community tank.

So for the questions:

1. would ten gallon tank be to big for him? I've been wanting to do a heavily planted tank and thought that would be awesome to have my silver betta running through a jungle of plants.

2. If i go with ten gallon is there anything else i could house with him in it such as shrimp or some snails to help keep the Algae down?

I'm a newb and i know it as far as bettas go and while i don't want him beating up on anyone I've grown quite fond of him and would hate to see something happen to him. He is a beautiful fish and he does seem happy but i wouldn't like being stuck in what amounts in human terms to a small one room shack. ANy help would be great and i'm sure i will come up with lots more questions as i go along. I'm doing about 25 to 30% water changes fairly regularly but he has no room for a heater or anything else in his little tube thing.

[ChoclateBetta]

Yes ten is great and some fish could live with him bit berated are great .5 is too small remember the heater and filter the twenty sounds bad I am pretty sure weather laches are temperate and ZD male poor tank mates.

[DoctorWhoLuver]

Ten gallon is definitely not too big :). Some bettas do fine in a community tank, but others don't. Male bettas are only aggressive towards other male bettas; however some have been known to attack other long-tailed fish, such as fancy male guppies. I think he'll do fine with tetras and the danios. It varies from fish to fish :)

[ChoclateBetta]

Mine attacks any fish norton the bottom and most bettas attack colorful and long finned fish.

[teeneythebetta]

Originally Posted by kingofthefishppl

I just inherited a betta. A friend bought it for his kid and naturally the kid lost interest. Since i had an aquarium he thought i would like it. I've had him about 2 weeks and like alot of people thought his little half gallon tube was fine. After lots of reading and because i have a heart, Just barely, as my wife says i want to get him something where he can stretch out. I have a 20 gallon with some neon tetras, zebra Danios one weather loach (also Inherited) and a larger tetra (see previous remark) but not sure how he would do in it as a community tank.

So for the questions:

1. would ten gallon tank be to big for him? I've been wanting to do a heavily planted tank and thought that would be awesome to have my silver betta running through a jungle of plants.

2. If i go with ten gallon is there anything else i could house with him in it such as shrimp or some snails to help keep the Algae down?

I'm a newb and i know it as far as bettas go and while i don't want him beating up on anyone I've grown quite fond of him and would hate to see something happen to him. He is a beautiful fish and he does seem happy but i wouldn't like being stuck in what amounts in human terms to a small one room shack. ANy help would be great and i'm sure i will come up with lots more questions as i go along. I'm doing about 25 to 30% water changes fairly regularly but he has no room for a heater or anything else in his little tube thing.

A ten gallon tank would be amazing. I had mine in a 10 gal tank and she was very active. One thing I liked about having a tank that size is that it is fun to decorate!

You can get some shrimp, but most bettas will eat them. Some dont. Snails will eat algae but if algae does not grow, they will need to be fed algae wafers/other veggies (depends on the type of snail you get) and snails will poop. A LOT. theyre pooping machines. I had two in my 10 gal and IMO they were more trouble than theyre worth lol.
Algae is caused by high phosphates and/or too much light.
You can buy some marimo moss balls, which absorb a lot of the nutrients that algae would use, thus helping to prevent it. Also do not leave your tank light on for too long.

How big is the cube? If it is 1/2 gallon you should do daily water changes, do 50% one day and 100% the next day. Ammonia builds up extremely fast in small tanks like that.
Im guessing youre familiar with this already but you will defenitely want to cycle your 10 gallon tank.
Fish in: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=107771
Fish less: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=111960

Good luck with your betta!

[ChoclateBetta]

Plus lack of excerise and temp glad you have a ten too remember decorations.

[kingofthefishppl]

THanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna start getting the ten gallon ready and can hopefully move him in soon. I still want to find something he can coexist with that will keep Algae down. But for now my main focus will be getting him out of his holding cell.

[Laki]

What kind of tail does the betta have?? Long finned males (veiltale, halfmoon, rose tails, double tails) can do fine in a 10g but will need A LOT of plants and things to rest on. Some people here have had tails blow out or rip or nipped because the bettas are in large tank and cannot swim very well. So just a heads up, Also, there are tutorials on how to baffle the filter outtake to stop too much water current fr a long finned betta :)

BTW, congrats on the betta!!

[ChoclateBetta]

I use Delta-Tail Nerite snails are best.

[teeneythebetta]

I agree nerite snails are great bc they cannot successfully reproduce in fresh water