My First Betta Maybe?

[WendyVa]

First off I would like to say hello.

An that I know zilch about Betta fish.

A little back ground first. I have a 40 gallon tank that has come into my possession . I was setting it up for my Fire angel fish till I can get my 55 set up for them. Witch leaves me with an empty already cycled 10 gallon tank. It has silk plants an black substrate an a good heater an filter lighting an hood.

My questions are these....

Would this be good for 1 male Betta an maybe 6 to 10 neon tetras to be in?
What would you suggest for a center piece? wood, rock, log,??? holes?? no holes?? for the Betta an neon's
Whats the best food for Betta fish??
Am I missing anything he will need to be happy?
Last but not least where is the best place to get them my lfs is a good one for nice fish (not a big chain)
Is there a better place online to order from for getting the prettiest healthiest males who live a long time?????

Thank you all in advance for the help an information

[purplemuffin]

A ten gallon would be a great community tank! I'm not sure about neon tetras--some bettas do ok with them, others don't seem to. Pygmy cories are great, and you can also try ADFs, basically a fish that doesn't have long fins(Like guppies!) and isn't a known fin-nipper!

The best thing you can feed bettas is pellets, followed by live/frozen blood worms and brine shrimp as snacks! Flakes are not so good, too easy to over feed, not enough nutrition!

Bettas will need a heater! Keep them at around 78-82 degrees. Filters are great, but be careful if the current is too strong!

www.aquabid.com has GREAT bettas(and other fish) if you don't mind paying shipping! A lot of the sellers are from Thailand though which will mean about 5 to 8 dollars extra on top of shipping. They ship the betta to a 'transhipper' and then the transhipper ships him to you.

Betta care seems to change from place to place..Sometimes big chains in one area will take decent care of them, other times even a small lfs will take AWFUL care of them.. look for clean water, active fish, and no diseases you can see!


Bettas like live plants but also like hides, make sure nothing is sharp! take pantyhose to test--if it rips the pantyhose, it will rip his fins!

[Adastra]

Every betta is an individual and not all of them take to a community environment. If you're going to do a community setup, I recommend peaceful bottom dwellers like pygmy cories. It's a good idea to put the cories in first from a biological standpoint since you ultimately need a school of six or more of them, and you will have to slowly work up your numbers so that your tank doesn't encounter a mini-cycle, and it is ideal from a behavioral standpoint since bettas are a territorial fish. If you put in the betta first, and add the cories later, they will be encroaching on what he believes is his territory, so he will be more prone to attacking them if they are added later as opposed to being there before his arrival.

Driftwood is a great decoration for bettas, but try to pick smooth pieces without a lot of holes. If there are holes in it, they must be big enough for the fish to swim through easily. Bettas and many other fish die horrible deaths in gnarled wood and sharp decorations with small holes--fish are very curious and they will try to swim through anything, even if it is too small for them to fit through. Be very conscious of this when picking your decor, and if you do happen to find holes later, seal them with sealant or stuff them firmly with rocks or moss.

As for getting quality bettas, I recommend checking out your local aquarium society and craigslist for local breeders. Most aquarium societies and clubs will allow you to post on their forums and even attend meetings without paying any kind of dues or membership fees--it's a great way to network with local fish keepers and arrange for livestock and live plant trades. This is the most cost effective way to source quality bettas and not contribute to the pet industry. If you don't mind paying extra for having your bettas shipped to you, aquabid is a resource you should consider. There are also fish available for adoption on this forum and other betta forums on the web if it's important to you to help rescued fish, save the life of a breeder cull, or to help a fish that needs to be rehomed.

[WendyVa]

Thanks for the reply's, Lots of information :)
I will be making a trip to my lfs this weekend to see what they have for Betta, Neon and Pygmy Cory.
Not really going for a community tank as I am working on one of those (55g) I had thought I read somewhere that Betta was good with neon's but as I said before I don't have any personal background with them but I just love the look of them.
Make my choice from there, I have been on aqua bid before, but have never used it. Just wasn't sure about but now I may have to see what they have.

[Alex09]

Pygmy cories may be hard to find in some places unless you order online. Regular size (any variety) of cories will work as well too. Only you will have less as they are bigger. 3-4 of them will be good :)

Some people have success with neon tetras. Some haven't. Sometimes the betta will kill the tetras and sometimes the tetras will nip at the betta's fins.