May be getting a betta

[thefishboy]

I may be getting a betta and need some advice/ My sister in law has a special betta tank, i think itis about 1gallon.... It has a hang on filter with adjustable flow.
What food will they eat is it special; betta food or can they eat tetra min vegtable flake and tropical fish food???
I have means of a heater..
Thanks in advance!

[Alex09]

Save yourself alot of grief and get a 2.5 gal+ tank. A one gallon tank (even with a filter) will need to be cleaned out completely every few days.
Bettas are carnivores and need high protein diets. So no on veggie flakes. Get them some food specially prepared for bettas. When looking for food it is best to get something that has a protien source on the first ingredient (check the label on back for list of ingredients). If it has something like wheat or soy then its not as good as something that has fish meal as the first ingredient.

[thefishboy]

Ok thats fine i can get him the food..... I am fine on cleaning him out every day if that makes it possible. I am not allowed a bigger tank but i will try my hardest will he be ok in a 1g??!!

[Alex09]

So long as you are willing to clean out the water every 2-3 days day and can keep it at a stable temp 24/7 I guess he'll be fine.

[thefishboy]

Pk yes i will be willing to do that will he be ok with some gravel from my other tank and some live plants?? Also when cleaning out how would i go about that???

[Oldfishlady]

In a 1gal filtered and planted tank-I would do twice weekly 50% water changes and depending on the number and species of plants you may be able to maintain water quality with one weekly 50%

I have found that the stir and dip method the easiest to do on the 1gal tanks especially with rooted plants.
First-I unplug the filter and heater and then give the substrate a bit of a stir avoiding any plant roots to get the waste up in the water column and use a clean plastic cup and dip half the water out and replace with like temp dechlorinated water-plug the heater and filter back in and the water will clear after about an hour or two
The filter media needs a rinse/swish in old tank water a couple of times a month and when the water flow slows to get the gunk off to maintain good water flow.

Look forward to seeing pic....and yes, seeding the tank with established substrate from a healthy cycled tank is fine and will help jump start the nitrogen cycle.

[thefishboy]

Thank you i will definatley post pics if i can manage to get it,,, It will have some Egeria Densa, Maybe a lil buit of cambomba and ill see what else. Can i also use a pippete to get the large peices of feaces out??
Also can he have like a snail or shrimp in there?? Or is it to small
Thanks