I need help with a new betta set up

[Toxicheart]

Ok this is my first thread, and i am new to this site, but i need some serious help.. from all the crying to the problems i've had with the fish that i got... I had 5 gold fish, and two plecos.... they decided to either eat each other or get some weird sickness..... one of my poor plecos died from that bloating sickness.... anyway.. after the stress, and me feeling down right bad for those poor fish. I decided to get a betta, but not after i get some anwsers so i dont mess up again.. ( i really feel down right horrible.. i wanted the best for those fish.)

I have two tanks, but the one i want to house the betta in is a small one

http://www.petco.com/product/104215/...:referralID=NA

not sure if i can post a link but its a one gallon

what do i need besides food, and some small plants in order to keep it not dying. I have some meds that i have for tropical fish that i was planning on getting soon, but not sure if that would work for a betta, and i wouldn't want to risk it. I already spent 50$ on items for my ten gallon for the guppys i am getting so i don't fail again.

I wont fail again. it breaks my heart to watch them die. yes they were only 15cent fish cept for the plecos, but still i cared about them.

Please tell me what i should buy or get to keep the new betta i want to get happy and healthy.

Thank you so much.

Andrea

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum.I'm so sorry about the loss of your fish! A 1 gallon will work but it's a bit small for a betta. You'll need to do water changes twice a week. I would recommend a 2.5 gallon or larger. Also you can put a heater in a bigger tank. I would recommend getting a good pellet food such as Hikari betta bio gold or Wardleys pellets. You can also feed freeze dried or frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms or daphnia. Freeze dried food needs to be rehydrated and frozen fod needs to be thawed before feeding. A lot of us here fast our bettas once a week to help clean out their digestive systems. I hope this helps.

[ScuitoAmi150]

So sorry to hear about your fish!
I really like that tank, I was considering getting that for my little girl. I would get the Hydor Mini Heater. It is for a 2-5gallon but someone on here uses it for their 1g. For a botton I'd get the glass rocks (kinda like marbles) so there is no sharp edges.
Also get silk plants instead of plastic ones. I would give the Bio-Gold pellets a try, but I've never tried feeding the Brine Shrimp so maybe switching between the two would be best. But I have heard you can't over feed the Bring Shrimp or they'll get Swim Bladder.
Buy some Aquarium Salt incase they ever get stressed or sick. and BettaFix for fin rot.
Good luck!

[Toxicheart]

Thank you so much. I'm going to make sure to buy all the food items, aquarium salt, and bettafix before i buy the little guy. Just in case something goes down right when i bring it home. I wouldn't mind putting the betta in with the Guppys. I heard they would help keep the fry population under, but i can't trust all what i hear at petsmart..... lol
And thats A 10 gallon tank with two guppys a male and female. Anyway i am going to make sure that this little guy has a very nice home, and yea i really don't like the gravel I'm more of the glass pebbles person as well. I'll post pictures of my little guy when i get him in about a week

[ScuitoAmi150]

Good luck! Just post if you need help.
A 10 gallon would be nice for him, but definitely get a regular tank for him....Just incase they don't get along.

[kelly528]

Hey there and welcome to the forum.

First off, I have to say that a 1g is definitely too small for a betta (unless you want to be changing the water 100% every 2-3 days). I would put it aside for now, it would make a fun project for the future (you could keep some plants, snails and shrimp in there after your betta is established.

For best results, I suggest you consider a 5g tank. The bigger the tank, the more margin for error there is. But a 5g is still a nice size.

I also strongly suggest you cycle your tank. If your 10g is already cycled, you can simply use some of the bacteria from the filter. For this reason, I will advise you against gravel... it is really difficult to clean with a siphon and shows a lot of gunk and dirt.

Guppies will eat your own fry, so I don't think your population will get too out of control unless you trap the female when she births and separate the fry.

Don't buy bettafix... it's a really controversial product because the primary ingredient (tea tree oil) has been shown to damage the labyrinth (air breathing) organs of anabantiodine fish. It is basically a watered down version of melafix and pimafix.

On that note, the best medicine is prevention. Never medicate your fish unless absolutely necessary... meds do more harm than good unless as a last resort IMO.

Good luck!
-Kelly

[vaygirl]

Personally, I advice against guppies. I started with two pairs in a 10 gallon and ended up with about 40+. They didn't eat their fry in my case. Or, if you get guppies, try and get only males or only females. Most pet stores don't want to do that.

Endler's Livebearers are similar to guppies and you might have more luck in getting only males. And they're very beautiful. They might be harder to find though.

[Romad]

Hi and welcome.

You also need to buy a water conditioner to remove the harmful chemicals in your tap water before you add it to your tank. Seachem Prime is the best I know of. 1 drop per gallon before adding to the tank when you change your water (which you will have to do frequently with that size tank).

Good luck. There is a great Betta care section on this forum to read for even more info.

[Toxicheart]

I have tons of ph levelers, and other chemicals like that. Oh and the tank is actually a 2 gallon. so that makes me happy :P. As soon as the stuff i ordered online comes in i will buy the betta.

[dramaqueen]

It's not a good idea to mess with your ph. Swings in ph isn't good for fish.